Reversing Critical Updates & Security Updates

[Bob S]

I installed XP pro a couple of weeks ago and have been installing all of
the critical updates and security updates as they have appeared in my
system tray. I have noticed that many of them say that if you install
it you cannot reverse the procedure (or something like that).

Two things confuse me about that.

1. My "Add or Remove Programs" list is half full of about 20 entries of
Hotfixes for XP. This would seem to say that they have been set up to
be removed if needed.

2. Could not the System Restore successfully restore the system to a
state before the updates?

Thanks for your help.

 

[PA Bear]

Bob S wrote:

True.

More or less, yes. Be certain by creating a Restore Point before installing
anything, including Windows updates & patches.
--
HTH...Please post back to this thread

~Robear Dyer (aka PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE)
AH-VSOP

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp

 

[Bob S]

Thanks Robear. Which do you suggest: doing an uninstall of the update
or using System Restore to go back to a restore point just before the
update?

 

[PA Bear]

Whoa, cowboy! Back up a bit: What problems are you having that you think
uninstalling an update or System Restore might solve?
--
HTH...Please post back to this thread

~Robear Dyer (aka PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE)
AH-VSOP

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp

 

[Bob S]

Setup:
OS: I have recently installed XP Pro on both my desktop and my laptop.
The package I bought to install on my laptop had SP1 included. The
other did not.

OS Updates: After installing XP Pro with SP1 on the laptop (a week ago)
I have been installing the OS updates as they have come in.

After installing XP Pro (without SP1) on my desktop ( a while back) I
opted to start installing each of the updates. After a while I saw that
while the laptop did have SP1 included on the original install, the
desktop did not. So I went to the MS/XP update site and it indicated
that I needed SP1, but that it would only be about 2 MB download.
However, it took a long time and seemed to be downloading a lot more
than 2MB. I wondered at that point whether I had gotten my updates out
of order. More under problems.

Apps: The apps and files on my laptop HD are almost identicle to those
on my desktop HD, so that I can be effective while "on the road".
One of the main apps I use is WordPerfect Office 2000 (SP4). Initially
after install of XP on both the desktop and the laptop, everthing
(including WPO software) worked fine on both my desktop and laptop. It
all still works fine on my laptop, but not my desktop.

Problems: After I had installed quite a few of the updates on the
desktop I noticed that when I tried to export a WPO 2k addressbook to
..csv file for importing into Outlook, I got the error message "export
failed". This did not happen on the laptop. Then after installing the
following updates WPO had a lot of problems.
Q810565, Q814033, Q817287, Update v.4

At that point I did a system restore to a restore point before these 3
updates and tried WPO again. It worked fine except for the earlier
address-book export problem.

Then I posted my question and that is where I am at this time.

Questions:
1. Are my updates tangled?
2. Can you suggest how to get my WPO Addressbook export working without
the "export failed" message?
3. When I did the system restore it told me that it had renamed 7 .dll
files - adding (2) or (3) to them. Should I do anything about these
files?

Thanks for your help.
Bob

 

[PA Bear]

*Ick*.

It *appears* your only problem after installing updates is with WordPerfect
Office SP4. Have you considered backing up your data and then
uninstalling/reinstalling WordPerfect Office SP4 (IOW address the bad news,
don't kill the messenger).

Your anti-virus application should be disabled and all other running
processes closed before going to Windows Update and when
downloading/installing from any MS page. Was this the enironment in which
you installed everything?

WinXP-SP1 is indeed a *huge* download (also available on CD:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/ordercd.asp).
Assuming you downloaded it and other updates via Windows Update, you should
be well aware that it must be installed separately and prior to installing
any other recommended updates.

Not knowing any of the above, it's hard to say, Bob. I suppose you could
Uninstall any remaining updates listed in Add/Remove Programs, reboot, and
then re-visit Windows Update. Windows Update.log and iuhist.xml will list
any problems encountered when installing updates.

Nope...unless the address book might be Read Only.

No. By using System Restore you were, in essence, reverting to earlier
versions of the DLLs which the updates had, er..., updated with newer
versions.

Windows Update newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE)
AH-VSOP

 

[Bob S]

Thanks PA Bear,

After doing all of the things I listed below and before posting this
thread, I did try doing a full uninstall of WPO SP4 and then a clean
reinstall. I really hoped it would do the trick, but it did not.

Here is how my updates went with the desktop. Upon doing the initial
install of XP, I answered the question about updates telling it to go
ahead and download them when they become available and ask me if I want
to install them. (I assumed that the first update would be SP1.) In
practice, I said *Yes* to each update as it came.

Then when I noticed the first problem I checked the version of XP on
both of my computers. I saw that the laptop had *Service Pack 1* at the
end, and the desktop did NOT even thoughI had said yes to so many
updates. From what you said below, I do not think it was so smart; but
at that point I went to the update center and clicked download for SP1.
The version number on my desktop now reads:
Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp2.030422-1633: Service Pack 1).

If SP1 MUST be installed before the others, it sounds like my updates
are tangled. This is how they read.

8 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix - KB...
4 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2)[See Q329... for more information]
3 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q32...
5 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q81...

BTW I do not find any of these hotfixes in my "Add and Remove Programs"
screen on my laptop. The version for XP on my laptop is:
Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp1.020828-1920: Service Pack 1).

Questions:
1. Should I uninstall the hotfixes (from the Add and Remove Programs
screen) and then go to the update site and reinstall SP1 first?
2. What order should I uninstall them in?

Thanks again.

Bob

 

[PA Bear]

Your query should be posted to Windows Update newsgroup, Bob. The experts
there can best advise you. Crosspost your reply to
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate.

1. Repeat:

Your anti-virus application should be disabled and all other running
processes closed before going to Windows Update and when
downloading/installing from any MS page. Was this the enironment in
which you installed [all updates]?

Did/do you get all your updates via Windows Update or did/do you pick &
choose the ones you think you need?

2. Copy/paste the following line into an IE Addressbar, click GO, then
copy/paste the results into your reply:

javascript:navigator.appMinorVersion
--
HTH...Please post back to this thread

~Robear Dyer (aka PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE)

After doing all of the things I listed below and before posting this
thread, I did try doing a full uninstall of WPO SP4 and then a clean
reinstall. I really hoped it would do the trick, but it did not.

Here is how my updates went with the desktop. Upon doing the initial
install of XP, I answered the question about updates telling it to go
ahead and download them when they become available and ask me if I want
to install them. (I assumed that the first update would be SP1.) In
practice, I said *Yes* to each update as it came.

Then when I noticed the first problem I checked the version of XP on
both of my computers. I saw that the laptop had *Service Pack 1* at the
end, and the desktop did NOT even thoughI had said yes to so many
updates. From what you said below, I do not think it was so smart; but
at that point I went to the update center and clicked download for SP1.
The version number on my desktop now reads:
Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp2.030422-1633: Service Pack 1).

If SP1 MUST be installed before the others, it sounds like my updates
are tangled. This is how they read.

8 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix - KB...
4 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2)[See Q329... for more information]
3 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q32...
5 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q81...

BTW I do not find any of these hotfixes in my "Add and Remove Programs"
screen on my laptop. The version for XP on my laptop is:
Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp1.020828-1920: Service Pack 1).

Questions:
1. Should I uninstall the hotfixes (from the Add and Remove Programs
screen) and then go to the update site and reinstall SP1 first?
2. What order should I uninstall them in?

It *appears* your only problem after installing updates is with
WordPerfect Office SP4. Have you considered backing up your data and
then uninstalling/reinstalling WordPerfect Office SP4 (IOW address the
bad news, don't kill the messenger).

Your anti-virus application should be disabled and all other running
processes closed before going to Windows Update and when
downloading/installing from any MS page. Was this the enironment in
which you installed everything?

WinXP-SP1 is indeed a *huge* download (also available on CD:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/ordercd.asp).
Assuming you downloaded it and other updates via Windows Update,
you should be well aware
that it must be installed separately and prior to
installing any other recommended updates.

1. Are my updates tangled?

Not knowing any of the above, it's hard to say, Bob. I suppose you
could Uninstall any remaining updates listed in Add/Remove Programs,
reboot, and then re-visit Windows Update. Windows Update.log and
iuhist.xml will list
any problems encountered when installing updates.

2. Can you suggest how to get my WPO Addressbook export working...

Nope...unless the address book might be Read Only.

3. When I did the system restore it told me that it had renamed 7
.dll
files - adding (2) or (3) to them. Should I do anything about these
files?

No. By using System Restore you were, in essence, reverting to earlier
versions of the DLLs which the updates had, er..., updated with newer
versions.

Windows Update newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE)
AH-VSOP

Bob S wrote:

Setup:
OS: I have recently installed XP Pro on both my desktop and my
laptop. The package I bought to install on my laptop had SP1
included. The
other did not.

OS Updates: After installing XP Pro with SP1 on the laptop (a week
ago)
I have been installing the OS updates as they have come in.

After installing XP Pro (without SP1) on my desktop ( a while back) I
opted to start installing each of the updates. After a while I saw
that while the laptop did have SP1 included on the original install,
the
desktop did not. So I went to the MS/XP update site and it indicated
that I needed SP1, but that it would only be about 2 MB download.
However, it took a long time and seemed to be downloading a lot more
than 2MB. I wondered at that point whether I had gotten my updates
out
of order. More under problems.

Apps: The apps and files on my laptop HD are almost identicle to
those
on my desktop HD, so that I can be effective while "on the road".
One of the main apps I use is WordPerfect Office 2000 (SP4).
Initially
after install of XP on both the desktop and the laptop, everthing
(including WPO software) worked fine on both my desktop and laptop.
It
all still works fine on my laptop, but not my desktop.

Problems: After I had installed quite a few of the updates on the
desktop I noticed that when I tried to export a WPO 2k addressbook to
.csv file for importing into Outlook, I got the error message "export
failed". This did not happen on the laptop. Then after installing
the following updates WPO had a lot of problems.
Q810565, Q814033, Q817287, Update v.4

At that point I did a system restore to a restore point before these 3
updates and tried WPO again. It worked fine except for the earlier
address-book export problem.

Then I posted my question and that is where I am at this time.

Questions:
1. Are my updates tangled?
2. Can you suggest how to get my WPO Addressbook export working
without
the "export failed" message?
3. When I did the system restore it told me that it had renamed 7
.dll
files - adding (2) or (3) to them. Should I do anything about these
files?

PA Bear wrote:

Whoa, cowboy! Back up a bit: What problems are you having that you
think uninstalling an update or System Restore might solve?

 

[Bob S]

I am cross-posting this query on the windowsupdate NG on the
recommendation of PA Bear (MVP on the general NG). I hope this works as
I have not cross-posted before.

Below PA Bear asked me to Copy/paste the following line into an IE
Addressbar, click GO, then copy/paste the results into your reply:

javascript:navigator.appMinorVersion

The results were: ;SP1;

First I will answer PA Bear's questions. Then I will ask my own
questions. Then I will give you more info that I think is pertenant.

Answers to PA Bear's questions:
1. I am not positive that I had my anti-virus disabled before all
downloads of the XP updates.
2. I took all of the updates as they were presented to me.

My Questions:
1. Should I uninstall the hotfixes (from the Add and Remove Programs
screen) and then go to the update site and reinstall SP1 first?
2. What order should I uninstall them in?


More Pertinant Info:
Updates on my XP Pro (on my desktop computer):
Upon doing the initial install of XP, I answered the question about
updates telling it to go ahead and download them when they become
available and ask me if I want to install them. (I assumed that the
first update would be SP1.) In practice, I said *Yes* to each update as
it came.

Then when I noticed the first problem I checked the version of XP on
both of my computers. I saw that the laptop had *Service Pack 1* at the
end, and the desktop did NOT even thoughI had said yes to so many
updates. At that point I went to the update center and clicked download
for SP1. It said the download would only be about 2 Mb, but it took a
long time. The version number on my desktop now reads:
Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp2.030422-1633: Service Pack 1).

It sounded (from PA Bear) that SP1 MUST be installed before the others.
That being the case, it seems that my updates are tangled. This is
how they read.

8 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix - KB...
4 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2)[See Q329... for more information]
3 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q32...
5 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q81...


Problems: After I had installed quite a few of the updates on the
desktop I noticed that when I tried to export a WPO 2k addressbook to
..csv file for importing into Outlook, I got the error message "export
failed". This did not happen on the laptop. Then after installing
the following updates WPO had a lot of problems.
Q810565, Q814033, Q817287, Update v.4
At that point I did a system restore to a restore point before these 3
updates and tried WPO again. It worked fine except for the earlier
address-book export problem.
Then I tried fully uninstalling WPO 2k and doing a clean install of it.
Thad did not fix the problem. Then I posted my question on the
General NG.

Your query should be posted to Windows Update newsgroup, Bob. The experts
there can best advise you. Crosspost your reply to
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate.

1. Repeat:

Your anti-virus application should be disabled and all other running
processes closed before going to Windows Update and when
downloading/installing from any MS page. Was this the enironment in
which you installed [all updates]?

Did/do you get all your updates via Windows Update or did/do you pick &
choose the ones you think you need?

2. Copy/paste the following line into an IE Addressbar, click GO, then
copy/paste the results into your reply:

javascript:navigator.appMinorVersion

 

[PA Bear]

[Note: Bob has used System Restore to "back out" of recent updates. See
http://snurl.com/2ve6.]

Bob, the results you pasted in tell us that all updates other than SP1 are
not present.

Take care of him, Mow, MauriceN et al., OK? <G>
--
~PA Bear

I am cross-posting this query on the windowsupdate NG on the
recommendation of PA Bear (MVP on the general NG). I hope this works as
I have not cross-posted before.

Below PA Bear asked me to Copy/paste the following line into an IE
Addressbar, click GO, then copy/paste the results into your reply:

javascript:navigator.appMinorVersion

The results were: ;SP1;

First I will answer PA Bear's questions. Then I will ask my own
questions. Then I will give you more info that I think is pertenant.

Answers to PA Bear's questions:
1. I am not positive that I had my anti-virus disabled before all
downloads of the XP updates.
2. I took all of the updates as they were presented to me.

My Questions:
1. Should I uninstall the hotfixes (from the Add and Remove Programs
screen) and then go to the update site and reinstall SP1 first?
2. What order should I uninstall them in?


More Pertinant Info:
Updates on my XP Pro (on my desktop computer):
Upon doing the initial install of XP, I answered the question about
updates telling it to go ahead and download them when they become
available and ask me if I want to install them. (I assumed that the
first update would be SP1.) In practice, I said *Yes* to each update as
it came.

Then when I noticed the first problem I checked the version of XP on
both of my computers. I saw that the laptop had *Service Pack 1* at the
end, and the desktop did NOT even thoughI had said yes to so many
updates. At that point I went to the update center and clicked download
for SP1. It said the download would only be about 2 Mb, but it took a
long time. The version number on my desktop now reads:
Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp2.030422-1633: Service Pack 1).

It sounded (from PA Bear) that SP1 MUST be installed before the others.
That being the case, it seems that my updates are tangled. This is
how they read.

8 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix - KB...
4 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2)[See Q329... for more information]
3 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q32...
5 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q81...


Problems: After I had installed quite a few of the updates on the
desktop I noticed that when I tried to export a WPO 2k addressbook to
.csv file for importing into Outlook, I got the error message "export
failed". This did not happen on the laptop. Then after installing
the following updates WPO had a lot of problems.
Q810565, Q814033, Q817287, Update v.4
At that point I did a system restore to a restore point before these 3
updates and tried WPO again. It worked fine except for the earlier
address-book export problem.
Then I tried fully uninstalling WPO 2k and doing a clean install of it.
Thad did not fix the problem. Then I posted my question on the
General NG.

Your query should be posted to Windows Update newsgroup, Bob. The
experts there can best advise you. Crosspost your reply to
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate.

1. Repeat:
Your anti-virus application should be disabled and all other running
processes closed before going to Windows Update and when
downloading/installing from any MS page. Was this the enironment in
which you installed [all updates]?

Did/do you get all your updates via Windows Update or did/do you pick &
choose the ones you think you need?

2. Copy/paste the following line into an IE Addressbar, click GO, then
copy/paste the results into your reply:

javascript:navigator.appMinorVersion

 

[Alex Nichol]

I installed XP pro a couple of weeks ago and have been installing all of
the critical updates and security updates as they have appeared in my
system tray. I have noticed that many of them say that if you install
it you cannot reverse the procedure (or something like that).

Two things confuse me about that.

1. My "Add or Remove Programs" list is half full of about 20 entries of
Hotfixes for XP. This would seem to say that they have been set up to
be removed if needed.

It is only *some* Updates that cannot be removed. The ones you see are
ones that could be. Each by the way has a corresponding folder (hidden)
Windows\$NTUninstallQnnnnnn$ of the files that would be restored, and
which you can delete if you are sure you will not want to uninstall the
fix, described at
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;nnnnnn

2. Could not the System Restore successfully restore the system to a
state before the updates?

Usually yes - provided you decide to do it before the restore point
drops away, remembering that it is essentially a short-term matter. But
you *may* find that certain updates clear out existing points to start
over. But it is a way for example to uninstall DIrectX 9

 

[Bob S]

Thank you PA Bear for helping me make the cross-list to the
windowsupdate NG. I will await help from Mow, MauriceN, et al.

I trust your assessment on the updates present. The things I do not
understand are:
1. Why are there still 20 XP Hotfixes still in my Add or Remove
Programs list?
2. Why when I go to the Windows Update site does it only list 4 updates
that I need, totaling to about 5.8 Mb?

There is a lot about updates that I do not know. I am glad I am here
with they folks who do.

[Note: Bob has used System Restore to "back out" of recent updates. See
http://snurl.com/2ve6.]

Bob, the results you pasted in tell us that all updates other than SP1 are
not present.

Take care of him, Mow, MauriceN et al., OK? <G>
--
~PA Bear

I am cross-posting this query on the windowsupdate NG on the
recommendation of PA Bear (MVP on the general NG). I hope this works as
I have not cross-posted before.

Below PA Bear asked me to Copy/paste the following line into an IE
Addressbar, click GO, then copy/paste the results into your reply:

javascript:navigator.appMinorVersion

The results were: ;SP1;

First I will answer PA Bear's questions. Then I will ask my own
questions. Then I will give you more info that I think is pertenant.

Answers to PA Bear's questions:
1. I am not positive that I had my anti-virus disabled before all
downloads of the XP updates.
2. I took all of the updates as they were presented to me.

My Questions:
1. Should I uninstall the hotfixes (from the Add and Remove Programs
screen) and then go to the update site and reinstall SP1 first?
2. What order should I uninstall them in?


More Pertinant Info:
Updates on my XP Pro (on my desktop computer):
Upon doing the initial install of XP, I answered the question about
updates telling it to go ahead and download them when they become
available and ask me if I want to install them. (I assumed that the
first update would be SP1.) In practice, I said *Yes* to each update as
it came.

Then when I noticed the first problem I checked the version of XP on
both of my computers. I saw that the laptop had *Service Pack 1* at the
end, and the desktop did NOT even thoughI had said yes to so many
updates. At that point I went to the update center and clicked download
for SP1. It said the download would only be about 2 Mb, but it took a
long time. The version number on my desktop now reads:
Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp2.030422-1633: Service Pack 1).

It sounded (from PA Bear) that SP1 MUST be installed before the others.
That being the case, it seems that my updates are tangled. This is
how they read.

8 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix - KB...
4 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2)[See Q329... for more information]
3 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q32...
5 are entitled Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q81...


Problems: After I had installed quite a few of the updates on the
desktop I noticed that when I tried to export a WPO 2k addressbook to
.csv file for importing into Outlook, I got the error message "export
failed". This did not happen on the laptop. Then after installing
the following updates WPO had a lot of problems.
Q810565, Q814033, Q817287, Update v.4
At that point I did a system restore to a restore point before these 3
updates and tried WPO again. It worked fine except for the earlier
address-book export problem.
Then I tried fully uninstalling WPO 2k and doing a clean install of it.
Thad did not fix the problem. Then I posted my question on the
General NG.

PA Bear wrote:

Your query should be posted to Windows Update newsgroup, Bob. The
experts there can best advise you. Crosspost your reply to
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate.

1. Repeat:

Your anti-virus application should be disabled and all other running
processes closed before going to Windows Update and when
downloading/installing from any MS page. Was this the enironment in
which you installed [all updates]?

Did/do you get all your updates via Windows Update or did/do you pick &
choose the ones you think you need?

2. Copy/paste the following line into an IE Addressbar, click GO, then
copy/paste the results into your reply:

javascript:navigator.appMinorVersion