Suddenly XP won't update

[Jan Matejka]

Today I got a notice for a windows update for XP. I clicked on the little
icon in the task bar and the installation process began only to immediately
terminate with an error message that Windows Installer 3.1 could not be
installed. I tried rebooting the computer and then a manual update. Same
problem. Other updates from MS website updated without problem...just not
Windows Installer 3.1 Any idea what is going on here. OS XP pro withy sp2
and all critical updates to date?

 

[Taurarian]

Try downloading the windows installer and then see if you can install it
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c&DisplayLang=en

If that doesn't work, then take a look at the update log

Open Internet Explorer and either type or copy and then paste this into the Address
bar:
%windir%\windowsupdate.log


Scroll down towards the bottom for the latest entries to locate the error code(s)
associated with the latest failed attempt to download/install. Are there any specific
errors?

You may need to post to the WU Newsgroup and copy and paste your update log in the
posting (which contains any errors)

Windows Update newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate
or
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...=microsoft.public.windowsupdate&lang=en&cr=US