Re-apply updates after repair install

[Mike]

Hi,

I broke my installation of Windows XP SP2 after messing around with a
new vga card and had to perform a repair install. This mostly worked
OK, but my installations of SQL from VS2003.NET and the SQL component
of Outlook Business Contact manager both now seem to be broken.
Additionally MediaPlayer 9 is complaining that a dll file version is
too old and won't run because of that.

I think that the problems would be resolved if the updates to the
various installed programs could be reapplied. Unfortunately, I only
have a dial-up connection to this PC at this time (until recently I
did have broadband and was quite careful about updating the system).
Because of this, I would prefer not to re-download all the updates
from the MS website and I would like to know whether it is possible to
re-install them from the places they were originally downloaded to on
the current system ? Or will they all have been deleted since then ?

Alternatively, I do have broadband access at work and I could download
all required patches there and blow them to a disk for use at home.
Is there any way of doing this, and how would I know which updates my
home PC needs, and how could I ask my work PC to ask for them from the
MS server ?

Many thanks,

Mike Davies

 

[Guest]

I hope you take my bad news as well intended. Microsoft has recently disabled
the "Windows Catalog" support that would have made those updates available
for download. You now go to the "Windows Marketplace" site instead, from the
old catalog links.

If you need SP2, look for a path something like:
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\355f788b6de8a3ec79e9aa172e6317f1\update\update.exe
Running the update.exe will install it.
Starting from sp2 will make things a bit less painful for the rest of the
updates on dialup.

I suppose it's possible to talk about using "Software Updare Server" (SUS),
but I feel that approach a lot more labor intensive than simply waiting out
the dialup.

 

[Mike]

I hope you take my bad news as well intended. Microsoft has recently disabled
the "Windows Catalog" support that would have made those updates available
for download. You now go to the "Windows Marketplace" site instead, from the
old catalog links.

Actually, I think it may be back up - did you mean the facility at
"http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog" ?

If so then it does seem like it would be useful for my needs, but how
can I obtain a list of required updates from my non-broadband
machine ?

If you need SP2, look for a path something like:
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\355f788b6de8a3ec79e9aa172e6317f1\update\update.exe
Running the update.exe will install it.
Starting from sp2 will make things a bit less painful for the rest of the
updates on dialup.

I slipstreamed SP2 but I got a load of "file not found" errors during
the installation, despite checking the CD ROM to verify the referenced
files were actually present (they were but for some reason the
installation routine could'nt see them)

I suppose it's possible to talk about using "Software Updare Server" (SUS),
but I feel that approach a lot more labor intensive than simply waiting out
the dialup.

I've never heard of that...

Thanks for your advice,

Mike

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi,

I broke my installation of Windows XP SP2 after messing around with a
new vga card and had to perform a repair install. This mostly worked
OK, but my installations of SQL from VS2003.NET and the SQL component
of Outlook Business Contact manager both now seem to be broken.
Additionally MediaPlayer 9 is complaining that a dll file version is
too old and won't run because of that.

I think that the problems would be resolved if the updates to the
various installed programs could be reapplied. Unfortunately, I only
have a dial-up connection to this PC at this time (until recently I
did have broadband and was quite careful about updating the system).
Because of this, I would prefer not to re-download all the updates
from the MS website and I would like to know whether it is possible to
re-install them from the places they were originally downloaded to on
the current system ? Or will they all have been deleted since then ?

Alternatively, I do have broadband access at work and I could download
all required patches there and blow them to a disk for use at home.
Is there any way of doing this, and how would I know which updates my
home PC needs, and how could I ask my work PC to ask for them from the
MS server ?

Many thanks,

Mike Davies

Is it possible for you to take your system to a place where there *is*
broadband? Say, an internet cafe, or a PC service business, or a friend at
an office who would allow temporary connection to the network?

This might save you several hours, and not cost much. If they have a spare
monitor, you'd only have to take the case, keyboard, and mouse.

HTH
-pk

 

[Mike]

Is it possible for you to take your system to a place where there *is*

broadband? Say, an internet cafe, or a PC service business, or a friend at
an office who would allow temporary connection to the network?

This might save you several hours, and not cost much. If they have a spare
monitor, you'd only have to take the case, keyboard, and mouse.

It's possible, but it's a bit of a nuisance, can you tell me what
happens to the files Windows downloads as updates ? I mean does it
just discard them afterwards, or are they kept somewhere for re-
use ? It seems daft to me if it just throws them away, after all it
does keep all the install cabs on the disk.

Thanks,

Mike