Duplicate Windows Updares

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Teflon wrote:

Thank you Mr. Bear. Much more information than I ever anticipated,
but ALL very useful and much appreciated.

Sorry, I don't remember which of your posts I was reading in which
thread (you do have quite a few that I find very informative),
although I seem to recall it sounded a whole lot like a portion of
this post. Was doing research on getting rid of a hung update that
keeps failing. Since it is the Office Genuine Advantage Notice -
KB949810, I don't think not having it installed will be a problem,
just don't like to keep getting that FAILED notice with the red flag.
Will delete the %windir%\SoftwareDistribution folder and start over.

Thanks again. Oh yeah, WinXP SP3 IE8

KB949810 (and KB905474) is an Optional, non-security update which can be
hidden without deleting SoftwareDistribution folder.

1. Stop the Automatic Updates service:

Start > Run > (type in) services.msc > [OK]
Double-click Automatic Updates > Click on Stop
(Stopping the service will take a moment)

2. Delete the contents of the Download folder:

Start > Run > (type in) %windir%\SoftwareDistribution > [OK]
Open the Download folder and delete its contents
Close the window.

3. Go to Windows Update website | Select CUSTOM and allow the scan to
complete | Uncheck/deselect KB949810 [and IE8, if offered again] and hide
it ("Don't show me this update again").

4. Start the Automatic Updates service:

Start > Run > (type in) services.msc > [OK]
Double-click Automatic Updates > Click on Start
(Starting the service will take a moment)

IN RE your reply to Jose's post: Many others have been griping about
"WUAUCLT.EXE slowing down my computer" this month and I suspect it's due
to
the record number of updates & server demand (which I discussed in my
previous reply). If things don't calm down soon AND you've installed (or
hidden) all pertinent updates (which you can check by doing a CUSTOM scan
athttp://windowsupdate.microsoft.com), see if a Reset resolves the
behavior:

How do I reset Windows Update components?
=> Ignore the APPLIES TO section if Win7; Access KB971058 via Internet
Explorer (32-bit) only; Run the Fix It in DEFAULT and then AGGRESSIVE
modes,
then reboot [1]http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

You're welcome & thanks for your feedback.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] Full Disclosure: Running the Fix It in AGGRESSIVE mode will delete
your
Update History but not the list of installed updates in Add/Remove
Programs.

Well Bear, I gave it a try and still no happiness in Mudville. Opened
the Download folder in Software Distribution folder and deleted all of
the contents. Went to MS Update site and selected Custom. Results
were - one Critical Update - the KB949810 Office Gen Advantage - same
as before. And like before, it indicated it was already downloaded
and available for installation. The option to 'Not Show It Again',
was grayed out. Checked the Download folder and nothing in it. So,
where could that installer for KB949810 be hiding?

If you did all four (4) steps in my previous reply, the update should no
longer be in the update queue & should be "hide-able."

That being said, try running the reset Fix It in AGGRESSIVE mode.

The scan for updates was as slow as ever. Is that mainly due to my
system's resource constraints, or is it the slowness of the app's
communication with the servers?

Lot's and lot's of chatter/griping about this from primarily WinXP users
with relatively-low RAM (e.g., less than 1 GB). See my reply in this
related discussion:
http://social.answers.microsoft.com...9a9a03b/#44e80262-9a91-4ddb-9770-63810962cb8c

I use the MS vs Win update option since I do have Office installed and
want to get updates for it, as well as all the other bits and pieces
MS has put on my system over the years, like .Net and Silverlight.
Are those apps really necessary?

Your computer (and the applications installed on it) wouldn't work without a
minimal set of .NET Framework versions installed. That being said,
Windows/Microsoft Update will offer you all sorts of Optional, non-security
updates for .NET Framework (e.g., KB982167; KB982168; KB982524; KB982671;
KB951847). Very generally speaking, you don't "need" to install ANY of
them.

RE the 4 hours mentioned by Jose, could that be happening because the
MS Security Essentials app is installed?...

Installing MSE (or Office or Silvernet or Windows Live Essentials) will
"flip" you to Microsoft Update if it's not already your default update
source but MSE isn't causing the behavior. (In fact, you can "flip" back to
Windows Update and MSE will still continue to auto-update.)

Oh yeah, why don't you recommend IE8?

I never said I don't recommend IE8. I have often said that I don't
recommend installing IE8 via Windows Update. I don't think IE7 should have
been "pushed" via Windows Update and I don't think IE8 should be either.

I also dislike MS's current tactic of "pushing" the MSN Optimized version of
IE8 and the IE8 with Bing Bar and Silverlight version.

 

[Teflon]

Teflon wrote:

<lotos of snippage>

Thank you Mr. Bear. Much more information than I ever anticipated,
but ALL very useful and much appreciated.
Sorry, I don't remember which of your posts I was reading in which
thread (you do have quite a few that I find very informative),
although I seem to recall it sounded a whole lot like a portion of
this post. Was doing research on getting rid of a hung update that
keeps failing. Since it is the Office Genuine Advantage Notice -
KB949810, I don't think not having it installed will be a problem,
just don't like to keep getting that FAILED notice with the red flag.
Will delete the %windir%\SoftwareDistribution folder and start over.
Thanks again. Oh yeah, WinXP SP3 IE8
KB949810 (and KB905474) is an Optional, non-security update which can be
hidden without deleting SoftwareDistribution folder.
1. Stop the Automatic Updates service:
Start > Run > (type in) services.msc > [OK]
Double-click Automatic Updates > Click on Stop
(Stopping the service will take a moment)
2. Delete the contents of the Download folder:
Start > Run > (type in) %windir%\SoftwareDistribution > [OK]
Open the Download folder and delete its contents
Close the window.
3. Go to Windows Update website | Select CUSTOM and allow the scan to
complete | Uncheck/deselect KB949810 [and IE8, if offered again] and hide
it ("Don't show me this update again").
4. Start the Automatic Updates service:
Start > Run > (type in) services.msc > [OK]
Double-click Automatic Updates > Click on Start
(Starting the service will take a moment)
IN RE your reply to Jose's post: Many others have been griping about
"WUAUCLT.EXE slowing down my computer" this month and I suspect it's due
to
the record number of updates & server demand (which I discussed in my
previous reply). If things don't calm down soon AND you've installed (or
hidden) all pertinent updates (which you can check by doing a CUSTOM scan
athttp://windowsupdate.microsoft.com), see if a Reset resolves the
behavior:
How do I reset Windows Update components?
=> Ignore the APPLIES TO section if Win7; Access KB971058 via Internet
Explorer (32-bit) only; Run the Fix It in DEFAULT and then AGGRESSIVE
modes,
then reboot [1]http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058
You're welcome & thanks for your feedback.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] Full Disclosure: Running the Fix It in AGGRESSIVE mode will delete
your
Update History but not the list of installed updates in Add/Remove
Programs.

Well Bear, I gave it a try and still no happiness in Mudville.  Opened
the Download folder in Software Distribution folder and deleted all of
the contents.  Went to MS Update site and selected Custom.  Results
were - one Critical Update - the KB949810 Office Gen Advantage - same
as before.  And like before, it indicated it was already downloaded
and available for installation.  The option to  'Not Show It Again',
was grayed out.  Checked the Download folder and nothing in it.  So,
where could that installer for KB949810 be hiding?

If you did all four (4) steps in my previous reply, the update should no
longer be in the update queue & should be "hide-able."

That being said, try running the reset Fix It in AGGRESSIVE mode.

The scan for updates was as slow as ever.  Is that mainly due to my
system's resource constraints, or is it the slowness of the app's
communication with the servers?

Lot's and lot's of chatter/griping about this from primarily WinXP users
with relatively-low RAM (e.g., less than 1 GB).  See my reply in this
related discussion:http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu/thread/ef18f...

I use the MS vs Win update option since I do have Office installed and
want to get updates for it, as well as all the other bits and pieces
MS has put on my system over the years, like .Net and Silverlight.
Are those apps really necessary?

Your computer (and the applications installed on it) wouldn't work without a
minimal set of .NET Framework versions installed.  That being said,
Windows/Microsoft Update will offer you all sorts of Optional, non-security
updates for .NET Framework (e.g., KB982167; KB982168; KB982524; KB982671;
KB951847).  Very generally speaking, you don't "need" to install ANY of
them.

RE the 4 hours mentioned by Jose, could that be happening because the
MS Security Essentials app is installed?...

Installing MSE (or Office or Silvernet or Windows Live Essentials) will
"flip" you to Microsoft Update if it's not already your default update
source but MSE isn't causing the behavior.  (In fact, you can "flip" back to
Windows Update and MSE will still continue to auto-update.)

Oh yeah, why don't you recommend IE8?

I never said I don't recommend IE8.  I have often said that I don't
recommend installing IE8 via Windows Update.  I don't think IE7 should have
been "pushed" via Windows Update and I don't think IE8 should be either.

I also dislike MS's current tactic of "pushing" the MSN Optimized versionof
IE8 and the IE8 with Bing Bar and Silverlight version.

Bear, thanks for the info, some success on the Update front. I went
back over those steps you recommended and took the entire Software
Distribution folder out of the equation by renaming it SDOLD. Went to
the MS Update site and selected Custom. After a relatively quick scan
(less that 10 minutes) the results showed no Critical updates and KB
949810 was not listed in the Optionals. Therefore, KB949810 did not
show as downloaded ready to install. There was nothing in Update
History (as I expected), but I would think I could just move the
history file from that old SDOLD folder to the new Software
Distribution folder and I would have my history back. If so, which
file contains the history info?

I also assume I can now just delete that SDOLD folder, but wanted to
check first.

 

[Teflon]

Then I rebooted and watched WUAUCLT in Process Explorer and it was
gone in about 3 minutes with an uneventful log of nothing to do.  I
see in the log that WU is going to check again in 4 hours and it does
and then it runs and takes an hour or so and finally I just get
frustrated and kill it (and it wants to run again in 4 hours).

Jose, 2 questions for you:

Which log are you looking at that indicates "WU is going to check
again in 4 hours"?

With AU turned off, does it take an hour to do a scan when you go to
the MS Update site to initiate the scan?

Thanks

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Teflon wrote:

Bear, thanks for the info, some success on the Update front. I went
back over those steps you recommended and took the entire Software
Distribution folder out of the equation by renaming it SDOLD. Went to
the MS Update site and selected Custom. After a relatively quick scan
(less that 10 minutes) the results showed no Critical updates and KB
949810 was not listed in the Optionals. Therefore, KB949810 did not
show as downloaded ready to install. There was nothing in Update
History (as I expected), but I would think I could just move the
history file from that old SDOLD folder to the new Software
Distribution folder and I would have my history back. If so, which
file contains the history info?

I also assume I can now just delete that SDOLD folder, but wanted to
check first.

Remember the First Rule of Computers: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just
delete SDOLD & move on with your life.

FWIW running the http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058 Fix It in AGGRESSIVE
mode (followed by a reboot) would have automated the process for you.

 

[Teflon]

Teflon wrote:




Remember the First Rule of Computers: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Just
delete SDOLD & move on with your life.

Always a good practice in a lot of situations.

FWIW running thehttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058Fix It in AGGRESSIVE
mode (followed by a reboot) would have automated the process for you.

I know, but this way, I got to learn something about the detailed
workings of that fix. Thanks, moving on here Boss.

 

[Unknown]

Remember the First Rule of Computers: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Just delete SDOLD & move on with your life.

This is by far the dumbest statement ever made regarding computers.
If you aren't experiencing failures don't update? Don't make things better?
Don't prevent bad things from happening?

 

[Michael]

This is by far the dumbest statement ever made regarding computers.
If you aren't experiencing failures don't update? Don't make things
better?
Don't prevent bad things from happening?

"Unknown" LOLOLOLOLOL! Tough words coming from a moron afraid to use his
name.

 

[Teflon]

Teflon wrote:




Remember the First Rule of Computers: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Just
delete SDOLD & move on with your life.

FWIW running thehttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058Fix It in AGGRESSIVE
mode (followed by a reboot) would have automated the process for you.

Bear, I tried the Update process again, just to confirm it was fixed,
but NO, it was back to the multi-hours to scan bit. So I did the
whole thing again - Stopped AU, renamed the Software Distribution
folder, Started AU - and clicked on the Windows Update icon at the top
of the left pane on the Start menu. Selected Custom scan and it
produced a list of non-critical updates in under 3 minutes. Looked at
the name of the site and it was in fact, Windows Update, whereas in
the past, it has always been the Microsoft Update site.

Closed IE, then clicked on that same Windows Update icon, but this
time, the site it went to was the Microsoft Update site, and the hour
long scan routine started once again. (The same scenario Jose
described)

I read in another post that the MS vs Win site could cause that
problem. How does one change the default update site to Windows
Update? Does that site list ALL Critical updates for MS apps, like
Office? If not, is the Office update site still up? Again, I thought
I read someplace that a user had to use the Microsoft Update site if
they wanted to get updates for all MS apps.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. Got to believe all of this is
helping some other very frustrated folks as well.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Teflon wrote:

Bear, I tried the Update process again, just to confirm it was fixed,
but NO, it was back to the multi-hours to scan bit. So I did the
whole thing again - Stopped AU, renamed the Software Distribution
folder, Started AU - and clicked on the Windows Update icon at the top
of the left pane on the Start menu. Selected Custom scan and it
produced a list of non-critical updates in under 3 minutes. Looked at
the name of the site and it was in fact, Windows Update, whereas in
the past, it has always been the Microsoft Update site.

Closed IE, then clicked on that same Windows Update icon, but this
time, the site it went to was the Microsoft Update site, and the hour
long scan routine started once again. (The same scenario Jose
described)

I read in another post that the MS vs Win site could cause that
problem. How does one change the default update site to Windows
Update? Does that site list ALL Critical updates for MS apps, like
Office? If not, is the Office update site still up? Again, I thought
I read someplace that a user had to use the Microsoft Update site if
they wanted to get updates for all MS apps.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. Got to believe all of this is
helping some other very frustrated folks as well.

We've drifted way off-topic in this thread. I'll conclude with the
following references:

Most of your questions will be answered in this post of mine in a long,
long, LONG & convoluted related & recent thread:
http://social.answers.microsoft.com...9a9a03b/#44e80262-9a91-4ddb-9770-63810962cb8c

This one may be less confusing:
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu/thread/f8aec5e9-2f04-44c3-9e67-8f46a38b8d37

Now see
http://social.answers.microsoft.com...a300922/#d098eb64-7910-4f3c-9f64-2b82806193b6.

If you need any further assistance, please begin your own, new thread [!!]
in either of these Answers forums:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xpperformance

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu

 

[Teflon]

Teflon wrote:

<snip>

Bear, I tried the Update process again, just to confirm it was fixed,
but NO, it was back to the multi-hours to scan bit.  So I did the
whole thing again - Stopped AU, renamed the Software Distribution
folder, Started AU - and clicked on the Windows Update icon at the top
of the left pane on the Start menu.  Selected Custom scan and it
produced a list of non-critical updates in under 3 minutes.  Looked at
the name of the site and it was in fact, Windows Update, whereas in
the past, it has always been the Microsoft Update site.

Closed IE, then clicked on that same Windows Update icon, but this
time, the site it went to was the Microsoft Update site, and the hour
long scan routine started once again.  (The same scenario Jose
described)

I read in another post that the MS vs Win site could cause that
problem.  How does one change the default update site to Windows
Update?  Does that site list ALL Critical updates for MS apps, like
Office?  If not, is the Office update site still up?  Again, I thought
I read someplace that a user had to use the Microsoft Update site if
they wanted to get updates for all MS apps.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.  Got to believe all of this is
helping some other very frustrated folks as well.

We've drifted way off-topic in this thread.  I'll conclude with the
following references:

Most of your questions will be answered in this post of mine in a long,
long, LONG & convoluted related & recent thread:http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu/thread/ef18f...

This one may be less confusing:http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu/thread/f8aec...

Now seehttp://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xpperformance/thread....

If you need any further assistance, please begin your own, new thread [!!]
in either of these Answers forums:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xpperformance

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu

Sorry about that, I got carried away with having finally found a
solution to a very vexing problem. Will follow your references,
thanks, and give the forum a try, though I prefer the news group
format. Getting shunted off to the forums seems akin to getting sent
from recess to the old folks home. BTDT

 

[Tom B]

Here's another thread with discussion of problems with wuauclt.exe - - Maybe
there's a common denominator here:

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...12ed&mid=bdb1ec01-7a5c-41e9-b425-5b39db0512ed