Unable to install Windows Update

[Guest]

I recently used my Windows disc to repair my installation of Windows XP Pro
SP2. However, this has left me in need of some security updates. Apparently a
spyware program has taken advantage of this momentary vulnerability, as I am
now unable to open Internet Explorer without it displaying a new start page
and crashing. I need to update my computer so I can install Windows Defender,
but without access to IE I can't install Windows update. Does anyone know of
a way around this?

 

[DL]

So what happens when you use Help>Update within IE?
or if you type in www.microsoft.com

 

[Malke]

I recently used my Windows disc to repair my installation of Windows XP Pro
SP2. However, this has left me in need of some security updates. Apparently a
spyware program has taken advantage of this momentary vulnerability, as I am
now unable to open Internet Explorer without it displaying a new start page
and crashing. I need to update my computer so I can install Windows Defender,
but without access to IE I can't install Windows update. Does anyone know of
a way around this?

What was the reason you felt you needed to do a Repair Install? It
sounds like whatever was originally wrong with the machine was not cured
by the Repair Install and you need to address the underlying problems.

More details about your computer and the recent history of the machine
will allow you to get focused help:

How to Post:
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


Malke

 

[Guest]

I can't, as IE crashes *immediately* on startup. At first it stayed open just
long enough to display a different home page, but now it crashes and displays
an error message without even opening the main window. (The error message is
just a generic "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to
close.")

I can visit microsoft.com in other browsers (I'm using Firefox), but Windows
Update won't work with those.

 

[Guest]

I believe this is a separate problem, because Internet Explorer worked fine
before the repair.

The reason I did the repair was that multiple programs were periodically
having odd glitches and error messages (too many to enumerate, many of them
cited memory problems, though). I had already tried disabling all of my
memory-resident programs, running spyware and virus checks (using the latest
versions of Trend Micro PC-Cillin and Spybot), and running hardware
diagnostics (chkdsk as well as the diagnostic suite that came with the
computer). Everything came up clear, so it seemed likely that the problem was
actually with Windows.

When I restarted the computer after the repair, PC-Cillin informed me (after
a bit) that I was missing important updates and needed to run Windows Update.
And that was when I discovered the problem with IE. I ran Spybot, and it
found and deleted a couple of programs, but it said it had been unable to
delete something and needed to run at the next startup. So I restarted the
computer. Spybot ran, but froze halfway through its scan. I had to do a
forced reboot. Now whenever I run Spybot it finds (and supposedly deletes) a
program called 'Statcounter', but Internet Explorer still won't start up.

I generally keep the security on my computer pretty tight, and I'm pretty
sure I didn't have any spyware before the repair, as I run frequent scans and
keep my definitions updated.

Incidentally, the repair has not fixed the original problems, although the
glitches seem to have become somewhat less frequent.

I don't know if it's relevant, but my computer is a Dell XPS M1210 laptop
with a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 T5600, 1 GB of RAM, and a 69 GB hard drive with
4 GB free.

Thank you!

 

[Guest]

I had a sudden brainstorm that seems to have worked. I tried reinstalling
IE&. The installation failed, but when I restarted my computer, IE was
working again. So I tried going to Windows Update. I got an error message,
but searching for that led me to a knowledge base article that seems to have
helped. Windows Update is running now, and hopefully it will work. Thanks for
your time!

 

[PA Bear]

Updates are not installed successfully from Windows Update, from Microsoft
Update, or by using Automatic Updates after you repair a Windows XP
installation:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

Echoing Malke, what problems were you having that you thought a Repair
Install would address?