Removing stuck downloads at turn-off

[Guest]

Just got a new laptop with XP, and after a couple trips to the internet, I
started getting MS or AOL upgrade downloads. When I use the mouse to "turn
off", the message says not to shut down the computer manually. At first it
worked properly, going thru each download install, then eventually shutting
off. Now it's back-logging downloads (27 to date, and I've had the computer 1
day) and is stuck on the first one.. like it's stuck in a loop. After 25
minutes, it was still at download number 1. Any ideas how to purge or bypass
this process, or just forget about it and shut down manually?

Thanks, Paul

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Just got a new laptop with XP, and after a couple trips to the internet, I
started getting MS or AOL upgrade downloads. When I use the mouse to "turn
off", the message says not to shut down the computer manually. At first it
worked properly, going thru each download install, then eventually
shutting
off. Now it's back-logging downloads (27 to date, and I've had the
computer 1
day) and is stuck on the first one.. like it's stuck in a loop. After 25
minutes, it was still at download number 1. Any ideas how to purge or
bypass
this process, or just forget about it and shut down manually?

Thanks, Paul

Go into Control Panel, Automatic updates, and turn it off for now.
Restart, and yes, shut down even if it asks you to wait.

On restart open IE and go to Tools,. Windows Update. Use Manual or Custom
and get the updates needed. Let it do this; let it get all of them. For
a new XP SP2 install, that can mean around 80 updates. It can take a
couple of hours on a hispeed connection. Go for dinner, watch a movie.
Come back periodically to check it. Restart when done, and recheck.
Check the status to see if any failed and why.

Once all the available updates are done, you can consider whether to turn
automatic updates back on. Yes, it can be useful. Yes, it can bog a
system down incredibly, particularly at startup, without really telling you
what it's doing.

If you have dial-up - you may want to leave this OFF and forget about it
till you can take the computer somewhere with hispeed.

HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

Go into Control Panel, Automatic updates, and turn it off for now.
Restart, and yes, shut down even if it asks you to wait.

On restart open IE and go to Tools,. Windows Update. Use Manual or Custom
and get the updates needed. Let it do this; let it get all of them. For
a new XP SP2 install, that can mean around 80 updates. It can take a
couple of hours on a hispeed connection. Go for dinner, watch a movie.
Come back periodically to check it. Restart when done, and recheck.
Check the status to see if any failed and why.

Once all the available updates are done, you can consider whether to turn
automatic updates back on. Yes, it can be useful. Yes, it can bog a
system down incredibly, particularly at startup, without really telling you
what it's doing.

If you have dial-up - you may want to leave this OFF and forget about it
till you can take the computer somewhere with hispeed.

HTH
-pk

Thanks for the quick response Patrick. I'll definately give it a shot. I
have highspeed internet and another XP based computer, and never had a
problem like this with updates. Thought something might be wrong. Again,
thanks.

Best, Paul