A flustered Microsoft posts Windows Update trick
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By
Virginia Culler
Our Sept. 27 story on problems caused by Windows Update's stealth installs was widely circulated by other news sites. In the wake of the media coverage and user complaints, Microsoft quickly cobbled together a response that confirms the problem and provides a manual fix. |
Microsoft scrambles to respond to negative press
Associate editor Scott Dunn's lead story last week broke the news that executable files recently installed silently by Windows Update actually prevent further updates from working in some cases. Windows XP users who run the "repair" option from a CD-ROM of the operating system find that all security patches subsequently fail to install.
Many blogs and computer industry publications picked up on the trail. Several sources conducted their own tests and verified Scott's findings. ZDNet confirmed that Windows Update does not repair itself in this problematic scenario, apparently no matter how long it's left alone. Computerworld also released an article confirming the story.
In response to the flurry of comments, complaints, and criticisms, Microsoft jumped into action. Windows Update program manager Nate Clinton assembled a blog post, which went live at 2:11 a.m. Pacific Time the day after our newsletter went out. His report confirmed the problem, outlined a solution, and promised that a Knowledge Base (KB) article would be posted soon.
That article, KB 943144, appeared later that day. In addition to repeating the repair steps from Clinton's blog, the piece discusses the source of the problem, indirectly admitting that the stealth update was at fault:
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"The latest version of Windows Update includes a file that was not available in the release version of Windows XP. This file is named Wups2.dll. ... Because the registry files that correspond to the Wups2.dll file are missing, update installations are unsuccessful."
Last week, Scott listed seven separate DLLs that needed to be manually registered to enable a "repair" install of XP to receive patches. Microsoft researched the code and found that only one of these files is the hang-up: wups2.dll.
Microsoft's official fix for the problem requires that you enter only three commands in a command window to register that one DLL. The other six DLLs don't require this.
For 32-bit Windows, open a command prompt and enter the following lines:
net stop wuauserv
regsvr32 %windir%\system32\wups2.dll
net start wuauserv
For 64-bit Windows, the second line differs due to the location of the DLL file:
net stop wuauserv
regsvr32 %windir%\syswow64\wups2.dll
net start wuauserv
In each case, the first and last commands stop and then restart the Windows Update service. This is a precaution to keep the service from becoming unstable. In our tests on a 32-bit system, however, a single short command — regsvr32 wups2.dll — solved the problem without confusing the WU/AU service.
Side-stepping the primary issue
Although the KB article alludes to the stealth updates, Microsoft did not address the core issue or take responsibility for causing the problem in the first place. Basic pieces of the puzzle are still missing.
Users should be able to read a KB article discussing the executables that Windows Update silently installed and manually download the .381 version of the installed files (a procedure that's typically available for other patches). It would also be nice for Microsoft to stop writing files silently to disk when users configure Windows not to install downloads without warning.
Until Microsoft steps up and addresses these issues, many customers will remain suspicious of Microsoft in general and Windows Update in particular.
Dial-A-Fix solves multiple update problems
When she has trouble with Microsoft Updates, reader Gabrielle Accatino relies on the free Dial-A-Fix utility from DjLizard.net. This software helped a number of users who ran XP's repair option and then could not install security patches, as we described in the Sept. 27 newsletter.
Dial-A-Fix corrects a number of problems with Windows Update, Microsoft Installer (.msi) files, and more. However, the developer offers only limited support for the tool. The site strongly recommends that novice users seek experienced help before using this utility. Beta version 0.60.0.24, which is now available, is recommended over version 0.57.7.
Reader Accatino will receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of her choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your tips via the Windows Secrets contact page.
The Known Issues column brings you comments on our recent articles. Virginia Culler is managing editor of WindowsSecrets.com.
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