HELP! windows update has gone seriously wrong...

[James314]

Hello all,

I recently went to update manually via start and then windows update. The problem is that the page loads and says 'done' but the page is blank - no error messages or anything. I can access windows update but only from these links:

http://v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

but not this one, which is the one that windows update tries to load:

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

I download Microsoft's Baseline Security Advisor which tells you if anything is misconfigured in IE. When it loads it says that i have 'active x controls prohibited for this page ' which i do not! Then and pobably as a result of this, MSBA tells me that i need the MSXML parser in order for it to run, bu i do have this. But to be sure i re-installed it; no differance!

A few weeks ago i installed the following security hardening programs:

pivx's hardenIT
& secureIT

I know that hardenIT does mess with registry values but i cannot recall how! I uninstalled both programs to no avail. I am worried that hardenIT may have messed with some kinf of active x value, and so disabling it. But these are just guesses, it could be something far simpler than that, that i have missed.

I would appreciate as much help on this as possible as if i cannot sort it i will reinstall windows. Even though i can still acess windows updates from the other links, the parser issue and god knows what else are still at large.

thanks all,

J.

[pkiff]

I don't know about HardenIT and SecureIT or what effect they might have had, but I can make a few preliminary suggestions of things to do before you start thinking about reinstalling your OS.

First of all, a bit more detail about your system might help people to help you. What OS are you running, and what version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) are you running?

I have a couple suggestions regardless:

1. Have you checked whether Active X controls are enabled in MSIE? You should be able to change these settings from within MSIE without messing with your registry and this should overwrite whatever changes might have been made by other programs that you have now uninstalled. It sounds like you don't think you've disabled any of your Active X controls, but it is worth double checking.

2. Have you checked whether your current Internet security settings will allow you to access Microsoft sites in "trusted" mode or not? What are your current security settings for the Internet?

And I have a general observation/suggestion:
You should not have to reinstall your OS to solve this problem. In the worst case scenario, you may have to reinstall Microsoft Internet Explorer.

You may have even files on your computer that will allow you to reinstall/repair your MSIE installation without downloading anything new. These would be in a folder in your Windows directory called "Windows Update Files" or something, and inside that folder would be a text file called "It is safe to delete this folder.txt" or something like that.

But I would not jump into reinstalling things until you've checked a few settings first.

Phil.

[James314]

Thanks for your well thought out reply Phil. I am currently running Windows XP Pro, SP1 with internet explorer version 6.

In answer to your questions:

1. I have checked active x controls and everything is where it should be. I know this because I am able to use windows update from those links which also require active x to run.

2. Yes, i added the microsoft link to my trusted list and still it would not open properly. My current settings for IE are as follows:

medium-low for local intranet (i do not access a local intranet)
nothing in trsuted sites at all
restricted sites high - i have the Agnis IE Spyad list installed.

I do not want to re-install, but am worried that this is registry deep. Although as I said i might be wrong. Because of this I will wait to see what everyone has to say.

thanks again you for your response, keep 'em coming!

J.

[GomJabbar]

This probably won't help you, but I thought I would mention it anyway. When I first got my DSL line, from the get go I installed a SMC router to go with the Broadmax DSL modem (for Earthlink). I was able to go on the internet, browse, download e-mail, etc., but Windows Update wouldn't work. It turns out that I had to set up my router to use PPPOE, and change the configuration in the DSL modem as well.

It seems like I've heard that VPN connections can sometimes mess things up. Also going through a proxy server can sometimes mess things up.

[James314]

Thanks for the response Gomjabber but I do not have a router and nor do I use a Proxy server; I just have a simple dial-up collection.

J.

[James314]

Can someone tell me if XP comes with a MSXML Parser, and if so, which version. i just d/l version 4 to see if it would help and it hasnt, so i would like to know if its worth getting rid of it? I dont want various parser versions clashing on my computer.

[jdhurst]

One thing you might try is to download SP2 (huge file) and install it manually. That sometimes (but not always) clears up errors. Make sure the IBM drivers are up-to-date before applying SP2. ... JD Hurst

[James314]

Yeah I thought that too, I am waiting for it to be delivered as I ordered it from Microsoft.

[James314]

I would appreciate it if someone could answer my above question regarding the MXSML parser as I dont know what to do.

thanks,

J.