<snipped>
<Well - not really - it was responded to on a forum instead of in the
newsgroups>
<In my response you will find a link to the entire conversation>
Thanks to those people who have contributed to this solution in
regard to fixing Windows Automatic Updates. You can go through all
the MS solutions you want but you will not find this.
It is as stated, caused by malware that renames registry entries.
After cleaning out the malware with the various available methods:
SpyBot S&D, MalwareBytes, Superantispyware and as many others as
you can. Even pay for Prevx because they all find other ones if
you've been hit bad (or bought a machine from some idiot who knows
not what they do) and don't forget to donate where possible:
Start > Run > regedit (open registry editor)
Then: Edit > Find > fystem
Find: ImagePath entries
Click/select then go to Edit > Permissions > check Full Control
Then right-click ImagePath > Modify
Change the f to S
F3 on keyboard to go through all entries and edit permissions then
the entry.
Next: Run > services.msc
Find: Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), double-click
and change start-up type to manual the click Start. Change start-up
type back to automatic.
Still in services: Find Automatic Updates and start as above if not
started.
Go to the updates site and start again. All should be well. If not
you'll be a lot closer to fixing it.
Another Forum poster that leaves everyone actually reading the original
newsgroup post scratching their head at what they are referring to...
This is the conversation, uninterrupted and fully quoted:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...nd_support/browse_frm/thread/9f55813d9ffb690f
Now - as to how to properly cleanup and fix your Windows Update system -
especially given that this concerns Windows XP - this has been posted many
times over. Here is everything you could do to ensure your Windows XP
(32-bit) updates system is working as it should be and you are fairly
certain (90%) that you are free of malware that would affect the
functionality of it in any way...
The details they have added on how to search the registry are nice, I
admint.
But - the more it is posted, the more it will come up when searched for in
the many different ways it could be searched for - so here it is one more
time... ;-)
Start button --> RUN
(no "RUN"? Press the "Windows Key" + R on your keyboard)
--> type in:
winver
--> Click OK.
The picture at the top of the window that opens will give you the general
(Operating System name and flavor) while the line starting with the word
"version" will give you the rest of the story.
Post _both_ in response to this message verbatim. ;-)
Fix your file/registry permissions...
Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under "Advanced Troubleshooting"
titled, "Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377
*will take time
(** Ignore the last step - you should have SP3 installed - if not - you can
do that *later* - it is not necessary to continue with the cleanup.)
Reboot and ...
Search your registry for %fystem and replace the "f" with an "s". May be
three or four matches, may be none. You may even have to take ownership
(even after doing the above) of the keys in order to make the change.
Reboot and ...
Download/install this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
After installing, do the following:
Start button --> RUN --> type in:
"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe" g!
--> Click OK.
(The quotation marks and percentage signs and spacing should be exact.)
Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):
SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/
MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/
After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.
Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
Reboot.
CHKDSK
How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
* will take time and a reboot
Defragment
How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848
* will take time
Ensure your hardware drivers are up to date (from the hardware
manufacturer's respective web pages.) Never get hardware drivers
for hardware that was not created/sold by Microsoft from Microsoft.
Installing the latest updates may have you rebooting several times,
which is fine - but after you are sure you are done - still...
Reboot.
Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/...6F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en
Reboot.
and...
Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:
Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.
Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.
(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...
Reboot.
Then follow the instructions here:
How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058
Reboot.
Log on as an user with administrative rights and open Internet Explorer
and visit
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a
CUSTOM scan...
Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.
Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.
Reboot again.
If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time. Rebooting as needed.
The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones or
"Windows Live" ones for now. I would completely avoid the
Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do not see any urgent need to install
Internet Explorer 8 at this time.
Seriously - do all that. This is like antibiotics - don't skip a single
step, don't quit because you think things will be okay now - go through
until the end, until you have done everything given in the order given. If
you have a problem with a step come ask and let someone here get you
through that step. If you don't understand how to do a step, come back and
ask here about that step and let someone walk you through it.
In any case - no matter what - when you are done doing whatever you decide
to do - please - come back here and let everyone know what you did and
how things turned out.
