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I am having a significant security problem with MSIE 6.0. I connect to the
Internet by cablemodem, and although I am protected by the ZoneAlarm
consumer firewall, I use Windows Update relatively frequently through MSIE
6.0. I have a WinXP Home machine.
About two months ago, when I went to run Windows Update, I began to get a
message that I needed to update my version of the Windows Update software
itself. But whenever I click on Update Now to do that, after about 10
seconds I am brought back to the same screen. Again, and again.
After that, whenever I went to run anything in my Windows Office suite of
apps (Excel, Word, and the rest), the program would attempt to reinstall
from CD. (I cannot find my CDs right now, and I have no time to undertake a
significant search in the attic for them, since I have a wife, baby, job,
grad school, and other things to do.) In addition, the functionality of
being able to, say, click on a spreadsheet and have it open up in Excel, was
lost.
I have checked the MS support website, and they in fact are aware of this
problem. But they have not yet fixed it, even though I have been checking
their site regularly for weeks now. They are just aware of it. I guess
they are completely stumped:
Problem Description:
When attempting to access Windows Update, the page that directs you to
update your Windows
Update software appears. Clicking "Update Now" results in the same page
being displayed,
making it impossible to perform the update.
Resolutions:
We are still researching this issue.
MS did go on to offer some suggested ideas to try. My unhappy results with
them are in CAPS:
Some advanced users have resolved this problem by following the steps below.
If you have
trouble finding the files or string value listed below you should not
attempt this resolution. Deleting the wrong items in this process can damage
your computer.
1. Close Internet Explorer.
2. Delete IUCtl.dll and the IUEngine.dll from both the system32\dllcache and
system32 folders.
DELETED BOTH FILES BUT THEY IMMEDIATELY GREW BACK. TWICE.
3. Delete the registry string value "SelfupdateStatus" present in the
HKLM\Software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\windowsupdate\IUcontrol key.
4. Delete iuenginenew.dll, if it exists.
Downloading and installing new Windows Update site software may also resolve
this issue.
Follow the instructions in the article on manually installing the Windows
Update software,
located elsewhere on this page.
-----------
For Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003:
download our controls from
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/cab/x86/unicode/iuctl.cab and save
them to your desktop. Extract the .cab file following the steps below:
1. Go to the desktop and right click the iuctl.cab file.
2. Click "Open".
3. Select all the files listed.
4. Right click on them and click "Extract."
5. Point to a known location (like the desktop) and click "OK."
6. Go to the location you selected and right click the iuctl.inf file.
5. Click "Install."
THERE IS ONLY ONE FILE INSIDE THE CAB, AND IT IS A DLL, NOT AN INF FILE. IT
WILL NOT RUN.
-----------------
You may also be able to resolve this issue by deleting the files in your
temporary Internet
cache. Follow the instructions below:
1. Close the Internet Explorer.
2. Right-click the Internet Explorer icon.
2. Click "Properties."
3. On the General tab, click "Delete Files."
THERE IS NO "DELETE FILES" ON THE GENERAL TAB
In short -- help! We all know that by this point in the year 2003, there is
a lot of crap going around the Net that you need to get updates to protect
against. If Microsoft cannot provide me with an update, however, what can I
do?
At this point, I fail to see the need to shell out bucks to get support by
paying Microsoft money -- if I already paid them several hundred dollars for
Windows, several hundred dollars for MS Office, and several hundred dollars
for MS Front Page, at this point, additional money to support programs that
have always worked for me, seems to me would be throwing good money after
bad. I am pretty disappointed Microsoft wants me to pay money to fix
something that should have continued to work all along. Plus, given the
above, do they even know how to fix this problem? Either they have a
solution, that is only for paying customers who want to pay yet again, and
they want to hide that solution from others; or else, they don't have a
solution, so why should I pay them to tell me that verbally?
I really don't want to bash Microsoft. But this is almost a Kafka-esque
situation -- the Update itself is in need of Updating, before I can hope to
actually Update, but I cannot Update. And the company will not respond,
there is no e-mail address on their support website, though they would be
happy if I would sign up for a .Net framework. Which I would consider
doing, if they would tell me what the benefits and the downsides would be.
But I simply have no more money to pay them, to fix software that I paid
them nearly four digits worth of dollars for (Windows, Office Suite, and
Front Page) -- and would they even respond if I did pay them? Do they have
a solution at all, and if so, shouldn't it be on their website already?
Matt
(e-mail address removed)
Internet by cablemodem, and although I am protected by the ZoneAlarm
consumer firewall, I use Windows Update relatively frequently through MSIE
6.0. I have a WinXP Home machine.
About two months ago, when I went to run Windows Update, I began to get a
message that I needed to update my version of the Windows Update software
itself. But whenever I click on Update Now to do that, after about 10
seconds I am brought back to the same screen. Again, and again.
After that, whenever I went to run anything in my Windows Office suite of
apps (Excel, Word, and the rest), the program would attempt to reinstall
from CD. (I cannot find my CDs right now, and I have no time to undertake a
significant search in the attic for them, since I have a wife, baby, job,
grad school, and other things to do.) In addition, the functionality of
being able to, say, click on a spreadsheet and have it open up in Excel, was
lost.
I have checked the MS support website, and they in fact are aware of this
problem. But they have not yet fixed it, even though I have been checking
their site regularly for weeks now. They are just aware of it. I guess
they are completely stumped:
Problem Description:
When attempting to access Windows Update, the page that directs you to
update your Windows
Update software appears. Clicking "Update Now" results in the same page
being displayed,
making it impossible to perform the update.
Resolutions:
We are still researching this issue.
MS did go on to offer some suggested ideas to try. My unhappy results with
them are in CAPS:
Some advanced users have resolved this problem by following the steps below.
If you have
trouble finding the files or string value listed below you should not
attempt this resolution. Deleting the wrong items in this process can damage
your computer.
1. Close Internet Explorer.
2. Delete IUCtl.dll and the IUEngine.dll from both the system32\dllcache and
system32 folders.
DELETED BOTH FILES BUT THEY IMMEDIATELY GREW BACK. TWICE.
3. Delete the registry string value "SelfupdateStatus" present in the
HKLM\Software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\windowsupdate\IUcontrol key.
4. Delete iuenginenew.dll, if it exists.
Downloading and installing new Windows Update site software may also resolve
this issue.
Follow the instructions in the article on manually installing the Windows
Update software,
located elsewhere on this page.
-----------
For Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003:
download our controls from
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/cab/x86/unicode/iuctl.cab and save
them to your desktop. Extract the .cab file following the steps below:
1. Go to the desktop and right click the iuctl.cab file.
2. Click "Open".
3. Select all the files listed.
4. Right click on them and click "Extract."
5. Point to a known location (like the desktop) and click "OK."
6. Go to the location you selected and right click the iuctl.inf file.
5. Click "Install."
THERE IS ONLY ONE FILE INSIDE THE CAB, AND IT IS A DLL, NOT AN INF FILE. IT
WILL NOT RUN.
-----------------
You may also be able to resolve this issue by deleting the files in your
temporary Internet
cache. Follow the instructions below:
1. Close the Internet Explorer.
2. Right-click the Internet Explorer icon.
2. Click "Properties."
3. On the General tab, click "Delete Files."
THERE IS NO "DELETE FILES" ON THE GENERAL TAB
In short -- help! We all know that by this point in the year 2003, there is
a lot of crap going around the Net that you need to get updates to protect
against. If Microsoft cannot provide me with an update, however, what can I
do?
At this point, I fail to see the need to shell out bucks to get support by
paying Microsoft money -- if I already paid them several hundred dollars for
Windows, several hundred dollars for MS Office, and several hundred dollars
for MS Front Page, at this point, additional money to support programs that
have always worked for me, seems to me would be throwing good money after
bad. I am pretty disappointed Microsoft wants me to pay money to fix
something that should have continued to work all along. Plus, given the
above, do they even know how to fix this problem? Either they have a
solution, that is only for paying customers who want to pay yet again, and
they want to hide that solution from others; or else, they don't have a
solution, so why should I pay them to tell me that verbally?
I really don't want to bash Microsoft. But this is almost a Kafka-esque
situation -- the Update itself is in need of Updating, before I can hope to
actually Update, but I cannot Update. And the company will not respond,
there is no e-mail address on their support website, though they would be
happy if I would sign up for a .Net framework. Which I would consider
doing, if they would tell me what the benefits and the downsides would be.
But I simply have no more money to pay them, to fix software that I paid
them nearly four digits worth of dollars for (Windows, Office Suite, and
Front Page) -- and would they even respond if I did pay them? Do they have
a solution at all, and if so, shouldn't it be on their website already?
Matt
(e-mail address removed)