Posted on 09/27/2007 12:48:41 PM PDT by ShadowAce
A silent update that Microsoft deployed widely in July and August is preventing the "repair" feature of Windows XP from completing successfully.
Ever since the Redmond company's recent download of new support files for Windows Update, users of XP's repair function have been unable to install the latest 80 patches from Microsoft.
Repaired installations of XP can't be updated
Accounts of conflicts with XP's repair option came to our attention after Microsoft's "silent install" of Windows Update (WU) executable files, known as version 7.0.600.381, was reported in the Sept. 13 and 20 issues of the Windows Secrets Newsletter.
The trouble occurs when users reinstall XP's system files using the repair capability found on genuine XP CD-ROMs. (The feature is not present on "Restore CDs.") The repair option, which is typically employed when XP for some reason becomes unbootable, rolls many aspects of XP back to a pristine state. It wipes out many updates and patches and sets Internet Explorer back to the version that originally shipped with the operating system.
Normally, users who repair XP can easily download and install the latest patches, using the Automatic Updates control panel or navigating directly to Microsoft's Windows Update site.
However, after using the repair option from an XP CD-ROM, Windows Update now downloads and installs the new 7.0.600.381 executable files. Some WU executables aren't registered with the operating system, preventing Windows Update from working as intended. This, in turn, prevents Microsoft's 80 latest patches from installing — even if the patches successfully downloaded to the PC.
I was able to reproduce and confirm the problem on a test machine. When WU tries to download the most recent patches to a "repaired" XP machine, Microsoft's Web site simply states: "A problem on your computer is preventing the updates from being downloaded or installed." (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1. After a repair install of XP, which resets the operating system to its original state, Windows Update can't install the 80 most-recent patches from Microsoft.
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Most ordinary Windows users might never attempt a repair install, but the problem will affect many administrators who must repair Windows frequently. Anyone who runs XP's repair function will find that isolating the cause of the failed updates is not a simple matter.
Beginning in July, it is not possible for Windows users to install updates without first receiving the 7.0.6000.381 version of nine Windows Update support files. (See my Sept. 13 story for details.) If Automatic Updates is turned on, the .381 update will be installed automatically. If AU is not turned on, you'll be prompted to let Windows Update upgrade itself before you can installing any other updates. Consequently, users are forced to get the silent update before they can attempt to install Microsoft's latest security patches.
The problem apparently arises because seven of the DLLs (dynamic link library files) used by WU fail to be registered with Windows. If files of the same name had previously been registered — as happened when Windows Update upgraded itself in the past — the new DLL files are registered, too, and no problem occurs. On a "repaired" copy of XP, however, no such registration has occurred, and failing to register the new DLLs costs Windows Update the ability to install any patches.
Registering DLL files is normally the role of an installer program. Unlike previous upgrades to WU, however, Microsoft has published no link to an installer or a downloadable version of 7.0.6000.381. Strangely, there's no Knowledge Base article at all explaining the new version. The lack of a KB article (and the links that usually appear therein) makes it impossible for admins to run an installer to see if it would correct the registration problem.
One possible fix is to install an older version of the Windows Update files (downloadable from Step 2 of Microsoft Knowledge Base article 927891) over the newer version. This involves launching the installer from a command line using a switch known as /wuforce.
That corrects the registration problem, although even in this case you must still accept the .381 stealth update (again) before you can get any updates. The fact that the /wuforce procedure solves the problem suggests that the installer for .381 is the source of the bug.
Manually registering files solves the problem
If you find that Windows Update refuses to install most patches, you can register its missing DLLs yourself. This can be accomplished by manually entering seven commands (shown in Step 2, below) at a command prompt. If you need to run the fix on multiple machines, it's easiest to use a batch file, as Steps 1 through 5 explain:
Step 1. Open Notepad (or any text editor).
Step 2. Copy and paste the following command lines into the Notepad window (the /s switch runs the commands silently, freeing you from having to press Enter after each line):
regsvr32 /s wuapi.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 /s wucltui.dll
regsvr32 /s wups2.dll
regsvr32 /s wups.dll
regsvr32 /s wuweb.dll
Step 3. Save the file to your desktop, using a .bat or .cmd extension.
Step 4. Double-click the icon of the .bat or .cmd file.
Step 5. A command window will open, run the commands, and then close.
The next time you visit the Windows Update site, you should not have any problem installing the latest patches.
In my articles in the last two weeks on the silent installation of the Windows Update support files, I stated that the stealthy upgrade seemed harmless. Now that we know that version .381 prevents a repaired instance of XP from getting critical patches, "harmless" no longer describes the situation. The crippling of Windows Update illustrates why many computer professionals demand to review updates for software conflicts before widely installing upgrades.
"I understand the need to update the infrastructure for Windows Update," says Gordon Pegue, systems administrator for Chavez Grieves Engineers, a structural engineering firm in Albuquerque, N.M. "But I think Microsoft dropped the ball a little bit communicating how the system works. Administrators should know these sorts of things, in case problems arise."
A Microsoft spokeswoman offered to provide an official response about the situation, but I received no reply by press time.
If you ever need to run the repair option on XP, first see the detailed description provided by the Michael Stevens Tech Web site.
I'd like to thank Windows Secrets contributing editor Susan Bradley for her help in bringing reports of this problem to light.
That only applies if you are running a copy of Vista Business or Vista Ultimate. See this.
“The record companies may like it but music business people hate it”
Music people make very little money on albums. The record companies have that locked up tight. The record companies are clearly monopolistic and have successfully used price fixing to minimize further competition.
Look at this Vista sucks video. lol,,, I just spent a lot of money fixing my motherboard to avoid vista.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0sy2i5FMcI
Do ya have to press one for english ?..........;o)
Music business people hate vista because it doesn't work with music programs, a considerable number of which are PC based.
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Geoffery, I hear ya. I have never particularly liked Microsoft operating systems, but XP is the best thing Microsoft has produced. Of course as you say, one must stay off those porn sites. I try real hard to stay off them on purpose, and I use Trend Micro blockers to stay off them unintentionally and so far this Windows computer is working as well as my Mac laptop.
Welcome to FR. You’ll love the OS war threads...
I made the mistake once a couple of years ago of trying to use the XP repair install. Never again. But on the other hand I’m still running on the XP clean install I had to do the repair that repair install. I don’t see vista in my future for a long time.
Vista is garbage, has no continuity from the development from 95 to XP to Vista.
It really is garbage.
I don’t miss running Windows at all.
Not buying this story ... OR ... Vista.
I've seen it happen. Did you do a fresh install, or a repair install? If your hard drive completely crashed, you probably did a fresh install, which is different.
A repair install is for when Windows just refuses to boot, or run stably without a hardware problem. Of course, I always tell people that they're ALWAYS better off doing a fresh install. But that requires backing up your data, wiping the disk, installign Windows, then (re)installing all your applications. A repair install saves you the effort.
Mark
I’m having the same problem with Vista!
My new laptop is a $1800 paper weight right now!
bttt for later
does anyone know anything about
jernonce.dll?
it loads with an error message when i boot up on my bill gates xp.
The real name of the file is “IERNONCE.DLL”. It is a file that runs the first time that IE 7 (or one of the service packs) runs after an update.
Check your startup files, probably in the registry, and delete the reference to IERNONCE.DLL.
Probably didn’t clean out the registry info after it ran once.
Otherwise, what's a good cheap laptop with real parallel and serial ports? They were hard to find a few years ago, and I doubt they've gotten easier.
We do on average 4 - 5 XP repairs a week. I have not ran into this problem yet. For the most part, the repairs are the fault of the end users and not the OS. If they would stay off those porn sites their computers wouldn’t keep needing repair. This is my first time posting a message here, so please excuse any spelling/grammar errors.
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I really don’t visit those trashy places but you’ve just confirmed my suspicions. Unwitting user surfs those sites and gets his computer loaded up with malicious crap. Many porn sites are probably outside the US with lots of hooks and lures
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3795070/WindowsXP_Professional_SP2
XP is downloading very fast here. Vista is slow download which says to me there is more demand for XP and people who got stuck with a new VISTA computer (only ones you can find at Best Buy, Walmart etc) want an unfettered copy of XP to slap on their new computer
Lots of demand for XP pro on ebay
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