Comments on: Fixing Windows Update on XP SP3

Free tech support from Microsoft fixed my Windows Update problem.

[nenslo]

I'm the first-line tech support at my company and have been loath to patch everyone's PCs with SP3 because of this bug. Our most recent machines have come with SP3 preinstalled and I've found that this issue doesn't affect them all, which just made the process of diagnosing the issue that much more difficult. Thankfully, your post has helped me fix the machines with the bug.

[mhinnewyork]

@nenslo - In an earlier posting on this I speculated that the problem only occurs on machines running IE6. Just a guess on my part, but your observation lends credence to it. New machines with SP3 pre-installed would also have IE7 pre-installed. Michael Horowitz

[Druide_Fr]

I recently built a new computer at home from scratch, and decided to install XP in order to keep the ability to run old games. (I have Vista on my other machines and I'm very satisfied with it, but some games just don't play well on this OS). I purchased a new license of XP, but could not find it with SP3, so I purchased one with SP2 instead. I figured that upgrading to IE7 and SP3 would not be a problem, would it?

Well, it is a problem. I succeeded in upgrading to SP3 and IE7, but now Windows Update keep failing. The symptoms are exactly what is described above, except that when I look into WindowsUpdate.log (thanks for the hint) I see different error messages.

I had originally a problem with upgrading to IE7. This I solved by unregistering and reregistering a couple dll.

Lately the update to Windows .NET 1.1 and 2 kept failling. After a couple hours of work, and trying many of the solutions described here and on the Microsoft support site, I managed to get it to work, more or less (the installation of .NET 1.1 SP1 succeeded, but Windows Update seems not to be aware of that, and keep wanting to reinstall it). In order to do that I had to 1) remove the NET framework programs (from the Add/Remove Program feature) 2) unregister a bunch of dll 3) remove a dll and a directory from c:\windows 4) reregister another bunch of dll 5) go into the register and remove a bunch of keys 6) reboot three times 7) manually download .NET versions 1.1 and 2.0 8) then use Windows Update to get .NET 1.1 SP 1

Just for fun, I installed with success an unrelated Updated (Microsoft Search 4.0, I think it was), and it went without a hitch.

Something is broken in the new Update, and it is a subtle problem. I never repaired my OS, and it was installed clean on a brand new drive, so that's not a factor.

The amount of work and the skill required to maintain my XP version up to date seem to me to be way beyond what can be reasonably expected from the average user. This therefore means that many users will give up and keep their computer out of date, with all the security risks that may represent.

I myself wonder if it was worth the trouble. I mean, how important is Microsoft .NET Framework? I am not going to spend two hours every time they issue a new update.

[daibell]

I've now upgraded around a dozen Dell Vostros to SP3 and about 25% have then had Windows Update fail so it's a serious problem and appears to be random in whether it will fail after the SP3 upgrade. I've used the following fix found on the web and it has worked every time and appears to be the easiest fix I've seen amongst the fixes on the web:

Go to C:\Windows\System32 and find and register Wups2.dll. To do that, right click on it and select 'Open With' then 'Choose Program' and find C:\Windows\System32\Regsvr32.
If you choose to 'Always use the selected program to open this kind of file' then all you will have to do is double click on any .dll to register it. Once you have registered Wups2.dll your problem will disappear.

[kferraro]

Yes, happened twice to me too, and now I am curious about the IE6 link as that is what was being used on both machines that failed. I did the rergistration of the .dll and solved the problem. I am doing my third install right now and it looks like the updater is working correctly, so no rhyme nor reason. Fails on Dell Vostro 1000 and Latitude D600, works on Gateway e2610. You would think MS would get on the ball and fix this.

[pugz3d]

I didn't have this issue with my old gaming system, but did when rebuilding my sister's infected PC. After a clean install from the Dell OEM SP2 disc, it updated 1 batch ok I think, and then it refused to apply .NET 1.1 SP1 and a couple security updates. Reinstalling the agent worked like a charm. Thanks for including the steps instead of just linking to another site. Muchas Gracias.

[bfsamaral]

Recently I decided to clean a laptop and installed a fresh Windows XP Pro SP2. Then I checked for updates and found the SP3. When the installation ended, I checked for updates once again but all of them say that the updates can't be installed.

Even the IE7 gave an error when I tried to update from IE6, both from windows update and manual installer.

Can it be the same problem that you're talking about? Someone know a tip to solve one more Windows issue?

Thanks in advance.

[dcabanaw]

I had similar issues...

It seemed that automatic updates was turned on then off at one point but the service had already downloaded the updates. I turned the service back on updated through it. After that I was able to update windows through the website with other updates that the automatic service had not downloaded.

[spdye]

I need help with one of my systems as it was interrupted in the middle of an update and now it reboots and loops without loading windows. I tried f8 and last known good config, but it does not load windows either. Does anyone know how to recover from this loop. Do I NEED to repair my windows install. will this affect my future automatic updates. I have win xp sp3. thanks

[spdye]

OK i got it solved using the chkdsk /r comand in the recovery console. thanks

[drfeelgood824]

So i'm not crazy...ha! Ever since I upgraded from SP2-SP3, I have numerous system errors, resulting in explorer.exe never fully loading. There was a system of event logs that attributed problems to DCOM.
These are the updates that won't install, as of 8-26-2008:
Security Update for Windows XP with Windows Media Format Runtime 9.5 and 11 (KB941569)
Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework, Version 2.0 (KB928365)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)
Security Update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 2 (KB936181)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)
Update for Windows XP (KB951978)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
Security Update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP (KB938127)
Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows XP (KB953839)
Update for Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP (KB939683)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP (KB936782)
Update for Windows Media Format 11 SDK for Windows XP (KB929399)
Security Update for Outlook Express for Windows XP (KB951066)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB946648)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB952954)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950974)
Update for Windows XP (KB951072)
Update for Windows XP (KB952287)

[lynellett]

I need help. My problem is windows update goes and finds all the updates. I have some number of updates, but 0 bytes, 0 minutes. The computers with this problem have IE 7 and SP3. I have tried everything I can find regarding this problem. Also, I have had no additional information from Microsoft "experts". I have not heard anything from Microsoft since July 11th in which they let me know my problem was being transferred to the "experts".

I've run WindowsUpdate exe file, re-registered the DLLs and sent Microsoft all the logs requested. Anyone have any thing to help fix this problem.

[Jedi2155]

I've had this problem on 3 systems...out of about 10 updates....so I'd say it affects a fair number of them.

[aberkitten]

Can anyone answer this simple question for me?

I'm fairly savvy when it comes to technology, but I'm having difficulty understanding why the Windows Update being broken is such an issue. I don't use IE at all, let alone IE7 [Mozilla user tried and true] or Automatic Updates. So if the Windows Update becomes broken when trying to install a patch for IE7, theoretically this wouldn't effect me, correct?

Someone please let me know if I'm completely off base here!! :"P

Just wanted to let you know that I took Microsoft's SP3 download automaticly about 3 days ago. Since that time I have had to boot and reboot the system MANY times to get some important work done. I tried system restore that did not work. System will run some software but not others, freezes up after about 15-20 minutes no matter what you are doing on the machine. I have my data backed up but I use this machine on a daily basis for a lot of minor stuff and it would be great to get it running right. I also belong to a computer club and I plan to ask this question at our next general meeting (200) to see if anyone has had a problem. I am going to take the advice noted above and see if I can get MS to help.

[a99grandprixgtp]

My main computer went down after I installed SP3 and the tried to update flash player. I was told to reinstall the OS but I can't find the disc (XP Pro) Anyone have any ideas where to get one?

[jaksawiweko-cnet-com]

Good Afternoon, please send to me Microsoft Up date XP SP3, thank you very much.