PLEASE FIX BROKEN IE6 AFTER TODAY"S UPDATES!!!

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Hmm, I guess I'm not as lucky. My machine has the IE problem after the April
2006 patch release. Here is what I did:

1. After discovering the problem I did a system restore to a known good
time. This got IE working again.
2. Re-ran the Microsoft Update and installed the patches again. Bad idea.
After the reboot the problem with IE was back.
3. I uninstalled KB911562 and rebooted. IE was still broken.
4. I uninstalled KB912812 and rebooted. IE was still broken.
5. I uninstalled KB908531 and rebooted. IE seemed to work fine. I still
have KB911567 installed.

I called MS free Security support for Canada but they were closed. Sigh....
 
Chuck said:
Well now, If this dont beat all! My add remove programs box doesnt
show the update that caused my problem! Fine how do you do!
Microsoft, fixed yet?
Some of you may be interested in Sandi's link to a fix for the IE
address bar issue. She put it in the "windows update forces me to
type http..." discussion below.
It is a registry fix for autofill. At least I can navigate somewhere
until this thing is fixed.

Hi Chuck,
In the windows update group someone claims that renaming "verclsid.exe" to
something else (it was installed with the update) like maybe
"verclsidold.exe" is a workaround.
Changing the name should keep it from starting.

Things that I have learned the hard way about updates.
1.Never have autoupdate turned on.
2.Waiting a week or maybe two before installing updates is no big deal,and
in turn I can see which ones will screw my system up.
3.Only install one at a time.
4.Never install an update that says "this exploit cannot be exploited
remotely".
 
Mike,

Thanks for the post.

Removing KB908531 not only restored IE, but also restored all Office Apps.
to normal functionality.

It definitely appears that KB908531 is the problem.
 
Thank you for the information. I did notice several versions of that file
running in the task manager. I will try that.
I guess I had gotten use to the updates being pretty reliable. I dont allow
auto update. I allow it to tell me when they are available and usually
scrutinize the need before I get around to it. I hope Bill smacks someone for
this. Thanks again.
 
Hi Mike,
I just wanted to let you and others know that your suggestion worked good.
I also want Microsoft to know that their website still wants me to install
kb908531 which is the animal that caused this nightmare. Is anybody from MS
listening?
If you are, DO NOT make an update that XP system restore can't undo. That
thing is there for a reason.
My earlier referral to Sandi's registry fix did not work for me, Mike's did.
Thanks again Mike...
 
Mike,
Thanks for the info, worked grerat!


Mike said:
Try this:

1. Go to Start --> Control Panel --> Add or Remove Programs
2. Make sure the "Show updates" box at the top is checked.
3. Find Security Update for Windows XP (KB908531) and click it.
4. Click the Remove button.
5. Click Finish to restart computer.
 
This is lame on the part of MS. I spent half the day yesterday trying to sort
out my inability to attach docs in Outlook before realizing what the issue
was. After removing the update all is well in the world. All except the fix
is still up and unchanged on the Windows Update site. Is everyone sleeping on
the MS campus? Hey I know it's a rainy day in Seattle but what the heck. I
would think they could find someone to take the "fix" down until it's "fixed".
 
I too had a problem with URL's. Not being a "techie", I first tried the MS
website, without luck. Then I rembered these forums. The first thread I
read was my exact problem. I use the Autoupdater because I don't really know
what the heck I'm doing, so I let the program do it for me. Stupid. Now
that I have deleted that update, things are back to normal. Thanks for the
help! John
 
I'm glad I was able to help.
--
Mike Pawlak

Hi Mike,
I just wanted to let you and others know that your suggestion worked
good. I also want Microsoft to know that their website still wants me
to install kb908531 which is the animal that caused this nightmare.
Is anybody from MS listening?
If you are, DO NOT make an update that XP system restore can't undo.
That thing is there for a reason.
My earlier referral to Sandi's registry fix did not work for me,
Mike's did. Thanks again Mike...
 
Posting in a more official-looking way this time to salve PA Bear's
understandable skepticism. :-)



We've determined that the majority of the issues people are having with
MS06-015 / KB908531 are due to a bad interaction between the security update
and a software component included with various HP hardware devices,
including but not limited to printers, scanners, and cameras.



Here are two fixes which should fix problems caused by the interaction with
the HP software:





Option 1 - Modify the registry

------------------------------



- (If you have multiple user accounts set up) Log onto the computer using an
account with Administrator privileges



- Click the Start button, then click Run and type "regedit" at the prompt,
without the quotes; this will start Registry Editor



- Locate the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell
Extensions\Cached key in Registry Editor



- Right click on the key and select New / DWORD Value



- Rename the resulting value "{A4DF5659-0801-4A60-9607-1C48695EFDA9}
{000214E6-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} 0x401", without the quotes



- Right click the value, select Modify, and type "1" into the Value Data
field



- Close Registry Editor





Option 2 - Kill the HP process

------------------------------



- Wait until Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, or whichever component is
encountering problems is in an unresponsive state



- Click the Start button, then select Run and type "taskmgr" at the prompt,
without the quotes; this will start Task Manager



- Locate any instances of hpgs2wnd.exe or hpgs2wnf.exe in Task Manager, then
right click on them and select End Process



(Note: Option 2 this may disable some HP device-specific functionality until
you restart your computer.)





If your computer is not currently unresponsive, you should only have to do
Option 1 or Option 2, not both. If your computer is currently unresponsive,
you should be fixed by doing Option 2.



I'm very sorry about the inconvenience this has caused you all; hopefully
this will get things back on track. Please note that MS06-015 fixes a
critical security vulnerability, so it's very important that you reinstall
it as soon as possible if you've uninstalled it. Please also keep in mind
that disabling Auto Update will leave your computer unprotected even after
we release security updates. I understand that this experience has been
very frustrating for many of you, but I really must still strongly recommend
that you leave Auto Update enabled for your own safety.



Last but not least -- if anyone encounters similar problems after attempting
both options above, please post about it here so that we can continue to
investigate.



Thanks,

Steve



This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
Steve,

Is this intended to be a permanet fix or something until MS has time to
repackage KB908531? I understand option #2 but don't see how this will solve
the problem in the long term. If you end those processes install the KB
again then restart you would be back in the same situation correct? I am
guessing the last place MS is going to have your basic user trying to fix
this is by making Reg Edits.

In your example I have BOTH of those HP processes running because of my HP
Photosmart printer. I don't understand how ending them would fix the problem
and allow the KB to be installed. They would restart the next time the
system is rebooted.
In several conversations I have had with MS support today they have
suggested in every situation to UNINSTALL the KB untill such time it can be
fixed. I know in my situation I renamed verclsid.exe (which has 6 instances
in task manager) restarted and XP is working better that ever. My
understanding after talking with MS, this is the problem file causing the
hangs and other issues. I would think this KB is to be repackaged and MS
will not be offering the reg fixes or term services you mentioned as a
permanent solution?

Thank you for any information you can provide.
 
Actually, it appears that I spoke too soon. Option 2 will correct the
problem for the logged-in user, but not for all users on a computer with
multiple user accounts. For that reason, Option 1 is the preferred option.

Such are the perils of posting while the investigation is still underway.
:-)

Thanks,
Steve

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
Thank you.
--
~PA Bear
Posting in a more official-looking way this time to salve PA Bear's
understandable skepticism. :-)



We've determined that the majority of the issues people are having with
MS06-015 / KB908531 are due to a bad interaction between the security
update and a software component included with various HP hardware devices,
including but not limited to printers, scanners, and cameras.



Here are two fixes which should fix problems caused by the interaction
with the HP software:





Option 1 - Modify the registry

------------------------------



- (If you have multiple user accounts set up) Log onto the computer using
an account with Administrator privileges



- Click the Start button, then click Run and type "regedit" at the prompt,
without the quotes; this will start Registry Editor



- Locate the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell
Extensions\Cached key in Registry Editor



- Right click on the key and select New / DWORD Value



- Rename the resulting value "{A4DF5659-0801-4A60-9607-1C48695EFDA9}
{000214E6-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} 0x401", without the quotes



- Right click the value, select Modify, and type "1" into the Value Data
field



- Close Registry Editor





Option 2 - Kill the HP process

------------------------------



- Wait until Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, or whichever component
is encountering problems is in an unresponsive state



- Click the Start button, then select Run and type "taskmgr" at the
prompt, without the quotes; this will start Task Manager



- Locate any instances of hpgs2wnd.exe or hpgs2wnf.exe in Task Manager,
then right click on them and select End Process



(Note: Option 2 this may disable some HP device-specific functionality
until you restart your computer.)





If your computer is not currently unresponsive, you should only have to do
Option 1 or Option 2, not both. If your computer is currently
unresponsive, you should be fixed by doing Option 2.



I'm very sorry about the inconvenience this has caused you all; hopefully
this will get things back on track. Please note that MS06-015 fixes a
critical security vulnerability, so it's very important that you reinstall
it as soon as possible if you've uninstalled it. Please also keep in mind
that disabling Auto Update will leave your computer unprotected even after
we release security updates. I understand that this experience has been
very frustrating for many of you, but I really must still strongly
recommend that you leave Auto Update enabled for your own safety.



Last but not least -- if anyone encounters similar problems after
attempting both options above, please post about it here so that we can
continue to investigate.



Thanks,

Steve



This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
 
Stephen,

Thanks. This fixed the problem. I have an HP 1500 LaserJet and a 5470C
scanner. To others making this fix, if you attempt to copy and paste the
registry key, paste it into Word first and remove any paragraph marks in the
middle of the key (there was one in the middle of the key when I did this,
since it wraps to a new line in Stephen's message). Also, back up your
registry or make a restore point before doing this in case you don't get it
exactly right.
 
Such are the perils of posting while the investigation is still underway.
:-) <<

I appreciate that, but why hasn't the patch been rescinded and taken down?
Only a very small percentage of users are likely to navigate their way here
or to any other support sites (especially if they browsing is shot), so
posting a temporary fix isn't as helpful as it could be. Far more users are
probably struggling to work out what has gone wrong with their system and
could follow the advice of my son (a Mac user) who said a complete reinstall
of Windows was the only fix.*

Take down the faulty patch now. Put up a replacement that removes any faulty
patches that have been installed and subsequently put up a working fix.

In reality users have been vulnerable to the threat since they installed
Windows (even if it hadn't been identified), so another couple of days to get
a working fix is likely to do less damage than "breaking" systems of all
users.


Nigel

* Despite being a computering under-grad, he won't make a detective or IT
support tech!
 
MAP - A big AMEN to your 4 rules. I totally agree with your reasoning yet
Microsoft wants us to keep on getting those updates automatically. The least
they could do is remove the updates that they know are causing problems so
unsuspecting souls don't keep shooting themselves in the foot. I too like to
know exactly what goes on my computer and when so I know what caused my
problems. If it's so blasted important to get these "security" updates then
they should post even temporary fixes to the update site so we don't have to
go mucking around the registry ourselves like Stephen Hui's message says.
Not that I don't appreciate his response to this problem and anyone who feels
comfortable making such changes will certainly appreciate it, but I suspect
the vast majority of people who have automatic updates on probably don't have
a clue as to how to make registry changes safely. Plus, HP interactions may
not be the only problem, I've seen other posts that allude to that. I think
I'll just wait it out and see what develops.
 
Seems that our techs are having better success uninstalling the HP
Memories software. The reg key only works part of the time. At the
office, this softare isn't mission critical. At home, people probably
enjoy using this software and aren't going to want to remove it but may
have to.
 
I adjusted the registry as you suggested, reloaded the update, and had the
same locked result after the fact. Outlook still locks when you attempt to
add an attachment. I deleted the update, deleted the registry value, and
everything is well again. Is Microsoft going to get their heads removed from
their collective posteriors and fix this issue or just let it dangle in the
breeze? Most people wouldn't be competent to do a registry fix. This is not a
solution.
 
Contact Microsoft support at 800-936-5700; there is a registry key fix
which resolves this issue.
 
Microsoft has had a fix since April 12. Call MS support at 800-936-5700
for the registry fix.
 
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