Windows Update Ceased to Work 1

[Missbarbara]

Hi
On Monday 21st June having completed a full clean Reinstallation of XP Pro which included SP1, I then went to the Microsoft Update site and brought the system up to date without any issues. Yesterday (29th June), I went to the update site and checked for any more updates of which there were 3 more critical updates.

When I got to the 'Install Updates' page I hit the 'Update button and........Nothing. I tried several times during the course of the day still to no avail. I did some exploration on the net and found a few possible answers including re-registering 'regsvr32 msscript.ocx,regsvr32 dispex.dll,regsvr32 vbscript.dll and regsvr32 scrrun.dll. On advice, I also checked the 'JS' file association which I found to be incorrect as it was associated for some reason with Notepad instead of 'WScript.exe'. OK - I changed that to what I assume is the correct configuration (WScript.exe "%1" %*) - still no update.
Currently I have set my cookies to 'Prompt' and I say that because I have not as yet given any Microsoft Cookies regular permission but since yesterday I don't so much as get a cookie pop up when I go to the update site.

I used a workaround last night by searching in the Microsoft database for the specific updates and then managed to download them ok but that does not of course solve the issue.

I have left the Windows Update link in the start menu and that is also dead as a dodo.

Any Ideas.

Barbara

 

[torin8]

I've had a similar problem on mine - the way I fixed it was to delete all the cookies and the contents of the temporary internet files (manually delete everything by going to the folder). Also might be worth checking whether you have a WUTemp folder - if so, send the contents to the recycle bin. Then restart the computer and retry the windows update page.

 

[bcastner]

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822798

The troubleshooter also recommends:

Suggestion 1:

This error can occur if you have mapped network drives configured and you don't have the correct permissions to access them. Try disconnecting all mapped network drives and then try accessing the Windows Update site and see if the installs still fail.

Suggestion 2:

If you are using the NTFS file system on your hard drive(s) then try these steps.

Check permissions on the C:\WUTemp folder (if you have more than one hard drive, check this folder on each drive).

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Navigate to the C:\WUTemp folder.
3. Right-click on the folder name and select Properties from the popup menu.
4. Click on the Security tab.
5. Set Full Control access for the following accounts:

Users
Power Users
Administrators

6. Click Apply, then OK.
7. Now try accessing the Windows Update site.

Suggestion 3:

1. Click on Start, Run and type "REGEDIT" (w/o the quotes). The Registry Editor will open.

*WARNING*

Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems
resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

2. Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate

3. On the upper menu, click on Edit, and select Permissions from the drop-down list.
4. Give Administrator (And / Or System) Full Control and Read permissions by checking the allow boxes. NOTE: In certain instances these boxes are grayed out. Insure that all accounts have appropriate permissions.
5. Click Apply, then OK.
6. Close the Registry Editor.
7. If you had to make any changes, then try the Windows Update site and see if the error persists.

 

[Missbarbara]

An Addenda to the Windows update issue.

I must thank 'bcastner' as I solved the issue with his 'Suggestion 3'.

I did find it odd that on a fresh installation where I was Administrator I found it necessary to effectively reset all the permissions as I had no issues previously.

Having said that, I use Task Schedular and currently it informs me that it will not run a programme due to an incorrect password. As yet i've not tried it since I change the permissions within the registry.

This is not the first time a Windows XP install has done that as it seems that sometimes, your new Administrator password seems to be arbitrarily changed to god knows what by Windows XP.

On one previous installation my 6 letter password became a 14 letter password )

Barbara