Automatic Updates don't work

[SJ]

I've put off trying to fix this for a while, but with the
advent of SP2, I'd like it to work.

I have Automatic Update turned on and set to download but
not install, but it never downloads anything. When I
visit Windows Update, there are clearly items that I
should be getting if it was working properly. I am on a
home network accessing the web through a Cable
Modem/Linksys Router setup. I have BlackICE PC Protection
and AdAware Standard with AdWatch running. I've notice
that other programs (like Norton's LiveUpdate) that are
set to automatically update themselves also don't work.
BlackICE also has a self-update feature and it doesn't
work. I never get any error messages, they just don't
seem to ever update anything. All programs work fine if I
manually update but nothing ever gets download without
manually doing it.

Can anyone offer advice on this?

Thanks,
SJ

 

[Phil]

Sounds like your firewall is blocking outbound access or blocking ports you
need to have available. Took a look into your firewall seetings for outbound
connections. Also turn off the xp firewall.

 

[Guest]

Early routers were static, only ports open were web surfing, then e-mail
ports were added, now today, you can configure the ports for whats open and
whats closed, each application uses "specific ports" to send and recieve
data, ect, look
on these app , like e-mail client it says outgoing 51xx(smtp),, pop3 (50xx)
these ports must be open, that for each application, update is another
application with
ports.

 

[James]

I'm having the exact same problem, although it's only
come about since I've required Service Pack 2. It's also
come about since around the time Windows Update version 5
started to be used, so I wonder if there's a bug in it or
something.

Anyway, I'm stubbornly waiting to get SP2 via Automatic
Updates, even though I know it's available manually from
the Windows Update site now ... and it would probably
work via that site. But I want to know Automatic Updates
will work in the future, so that's why I'm sticking with
the automatic update for the time being.

Fortunately, I've got a Microsoft Windows Online Support
Professional working with me on this problem, and I've
also pointed out this thread to him. So maybe either he
or I can come back later to update you when either of us
know more.

James

 

[David Wicks]

I also have had this problem. It started when I got the update to
Windows Update version 5. Windows Update version 4 worked great.
Having done some newsgroup research I tried the suggested tricks of
adding various Microsoft servers to trusted host lists in both Internet
Explorer and my firewall (Norton). No luck.

But, I found that if I turned Norton Firewall off then Windows Update
would work normally. It started downloading but not wanting to sit
there unprotected I turned the firewall back on. That hung up the
download and the update failed. So Windows Update is not an option
because I'm not going to set there for even 1 minute without a firewall,
let alone the time it takes to get a 80MB update.

I finally downloaded the complete SP2 file and installed it. As it
turns out, under SP2, Windows Update now appears to come up normally
again.

So here is my intrepretation on this sequence of events... Symantec put
out a firewall update designed to work with SP2 and I had picked it up.
Windows Update put out an update that was designed to work with SP2 and
I picked it up. But at this point I'm still running pre-SP2. While
these two patches are designed to work with SP2, apparently someone
forgot to test to see if they still work together pre-SP2. Once you get
over the hump of getting SP2 installed, Windows Update and Norton
Firewall will start working together properly again. It's just
unfortunate that for many the best way to get the extra security of SP2
may be to turn off security altogether to get it.

David Wicks

 

[Guest]

James,

Yes, please do let me know what the resolution is that
they give you. I have not installed SP2 yet. Other
responses here indicate that it may be a router hardware
firewall issue, which I will check out. Thanks to all for
your responses.

Steve