Windows won't update

I've had this problem for a while and finally wanting to get to the bottom of it.

I've downloaded some updates and I have the yellow shield in the taskbar, so I click it and install the updates I have downloaded.

This is for Windows XP Home and it is genuine.

When they try to install everyone fails and I have no idea why?

Here is a screenshot:

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3041/hmmxy0.png


Many thanks,
Nick.

 

When they fail, you should be redirected to a Windows Update page that has a hexadecimal error code (looks like 0x0000865 or similar). We'll need this, if you could provide it, please.

 

I don't get that, it just goes to the next screen which shows this:

 

Ohhh, yes, my mistake. You're doing this automatically. You don't visit any webpage this way.

Can we try manually?

Start --> All Programs --> Windows Update (use the 'Custom' option when prompted)

This MAY get us updated, but more likely, it will fail again, and we will get this error code to correct the issue.

 

It asks me to update Windows Updater but also fails:

 

What antivirus program do you use? Does it have real-time scanning?

 

Don't have AV or a Firewall. I Googled the code and it said about turning a mode off in Spybot which I have but it didn't resolve it - I think it might be a separate issue.

 

No antivirus or firewall...
Tsk, tsk.


Please go through this process.

http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/selfhelp/Support.aspx?displaylang=en

 

Like I said it is genuine.

It hasn't resolved the issue though.

 

I wasn't concerned if it was genuine.

I wanted you to do the diagnostics.

You did that, right?

Or did you skip straight to validate now?

 

You can also try adding these to IE's trusted sites:

http://*.update.microsoft.com
http://update.microsoft.com
https://*update.microsoft.com

 

It passed all the diagnostics but I still get the error, I added those URLs to trusted sites too, hmm.

 

For troubleshooting issues, perhaps you could uninstall Spybot?

 

i had a similar problem and contacted ms after many failed attempts to correct this. This is what she wrote:

NOTE: Some third party programs can also affect the Windows Update service. If you are running any third party applications such as Spyblocker, Internet or web accelerators (programs designed to boost the speed of the Internet connection), security or anti-virus programs (Norton, McAfee, etc.), I recommend we temporarily disable or shut them down and then try accessing the Windows Update site later. Please be sure to enable them again when completing the update process.



Suggestion 1: Clean up Windows Update temporary folder
===========================================

1. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.



Net stop WuAuServ



2. Click Start, Run, type: %windir% and press Enter.
3. In the opened folder, rename the folder SoftwareDistribution to Sdold.
4. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.



Net start WuAuServ



If the issue still persists, please move on to suggestion 2.



Suggestion 2: Reinstall Windows Update Agent 3.0

======================================

1. Please download the file from the following link:

http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe



2. Save the file to C: drive.

3. Click Start->Run, type: "C:\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe /wuforce" (without quotations) and then press Enter to install the Windows Update engine.



There is a space between "C:\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe" and "/wuforce"



Note: If you are using Windows Vista, please save the downloaded file to the D: drive, because the file cannot be launched directly from the C: root directory.



If it still does not work, please proceed to suggestion 3 to reinstall Windows Installer 3.1.



Suggestion 3: Reinstall Windows Installer 3.1

==================================

1. Press Start and choose Run.

2. Type in "cmd" (without quotation marks) and press OK.

3. In the command line, type in the following command and press Enter:
MSIexec /unregister



4. Then, type in the following command and press Enter:
MSIexec /regserver



After finishing the above steps, please check the result again. If the issue persists, please click Start, click Control Panel, and click Add/Remove Programs to check if Windows Installer 3.1 has been installed. If it has, please highlight and remove it. After that, please reinstall Windows Installer 3.1 from the following link.



Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2)



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c&DisplayLang=en

 

You could try dial a fix.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4899.html

 

It worked, I needed to reboot after those changes I did, and I can use Windows Updater fine now, so thanks ibbonkers!

However back to the original problem, my downloads still fail to install. Here are those codes you needed:
Error Code: 0x80070005

 

I searched that particular error and found this on MS
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q185169/

 

For some reason I can't get on Windows Update again, I'm getting that error again. Is there a way to make it stay fixed?

 

Sod it, going to format and reinstall Windows, stupid buggy software.

Thanks for you help though guys.