How to Run Windows Update in Windows XP
Routine maintenance is highly recommended to guarantee efficient and reliable PC performance, even when there is nothing clearly wrong with your computer. Failure to perform maintenance on your PC will eventually cost you – whether it’s in the form of money spent on repair or replacement, loss of data and/or time wasted.
These days money unnecessarily spent hurts more than ever, and the important files that we keep stored on our computers are sometimes irreplaceable. Maintenance can help you achieve the best performance out of your PC without making a costly trip to your local repair shop to help you fix a problem you could have prevented yourself.
Running Windows Update is essential to maintaining your OS
Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer. Microsoft release patches and updates to Windows and Windows applications through this mechanism.
Running Windows Update is not something that should be thought of as a time-consuming waste of bandwidth, rather as an essential part of system maintenance, just like keeping Antivirus definitions up to date.
Security updates or critical updates eliminate vulnerability to known malware and security exploits. Other updates correct errors and enhance functionality. If you opt to turn off Windows update notifications, you make your PC vulnerable – and if you get stung by a security problem or “bug”, well, you only have yourself to blame.
There is no excuse for running an out of date system. Many vendors release patches even for older versions of their software, so if your business depends on that Windows 98 computer, then you should still be able to keep it up to date. Of course, you should also upgrade to something newer anyway, so that when the time comes for support to be dropped, you don’t get caught out!
The maintenance of your computer is important in order to minimize personal loss and to provide you with more peace of mind. While we often associate personal loss primarily with financial loss, there is much more at stake when it comes to your personal computer.
More about Windows Update
Security updates are routinely provided on the second Tuesday of each month, Patch Tuesday, but can be provided whenever a new update is urgently required to prevent a newly discovered or prevalent exploit targeting Windows users. Windows Update can be configured to install critical updates automatically so long as your computer is connected to the Internet, without you needing to install them manually, or even be aware that an update is required.
Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7 provide a Control Panel to configure update settings and check for updates. The Windows Update Control Panel is also the means to download Windows Ultimate Extras, optional software for Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. For previous versions of Microsoft Windows, updates can be downloaded from the Windows Update website.
Aug 112010
Windows users reported receiving the “blue screen of death“ on their computers after installing Microsoft’s latest security updates released in February.
Most of the people complaining on a Windows forum said they had the problem on Windows XP, but one person also reported problems on Windows 7.
Users posted a fix on the site that they said seemed to work, but that didn’t necessarily quell the anger.
“Where at Microsoft do I send my invoice for hours spent fixing this BS?” one person wrote.
The problem appears to be with one specific update, which addresses a vulnerability in the 32-bit Windows kernel that could allow elevation of privilege that was disclosed in January.
The fix requires users to have an installation CD, but not all computer manufacturers ship systems with a disc for re-installing the operating system, according to the Krebs on Security blog, which first reported the problems.
In addition, Netbooks do not have CD-ROM drives, making the problem even more difficult for them to fix, security blogger Brian Krebs wrote.
Several people reported on the Windows forum site that Microsoft told them the company would not be providing a fix for Netbooks and that Netbook users would have to get support from the equipment manufacturer.
Microsoft is investigating the reports to determine the cause of the problems, according to a statement from Jerry Bryant, senior security communications manager lead at Microsoft.
Anyone believed to have been affected can visit: https://consumersecuritysupport.microsoft.com, the statement said. Those in the United States can contact Customer Service and Support at no charge using the PC Safety hotline at 1-866-727-2338 (PCSAFETY). Those outside the United States can find local contact numbers at http://support.microsoft.com/international.
Update
Microsoft published a blog post later in the same day with this additional information:
Our initial analysis suggests that the issue occurs after installing MS10-015 (KB977165). However, we have not confirmed that the issue is specific to MS10-015 or if it is an interoperability problem with another component or third-party software. Our teams are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. We also stopped offering this update through Windows Update as soon as we discovered the restart issues. However, those using enterprise deployment systems such as SMS or WSUS will still see and be able to deploy these packages.
While we work to address this issue, customers who choose not to install the update can implement the workaround outlined in the bulletin. CVE-2010-0232 was publicly disclosed and we previously issued Security Advisory 979682 in response. Customers can disable the NTVDM subsystem as a workaround and we have provided an automated method of doing that with a Microsoft Fix It that you can find here.
The Fix (copied from link above). Note: Step 2 has been modified NOT to have a space between the KBXXXXXX and following $ as was in the original post.
Follow these steps:
1) Boot from your Windows XP CD or DVD and start the recovery console
Once you’re at the Repair Screen:
2) Type this command: CHDIR $NtUninstallKB978262 $\spuninst
3) Type this command: BATCH spuninst.txt
4) Type this command: systemroot
5) Repeat steps 2-4 for each of the following updates provided by FindMeFollowMe:
- KB978262
- KB971468
- KB978037
- KB975713
- KB978251
- KB978706
- KB977165
- KB975560
- KB977914
6) When complete, type this command: exit
Your computer should restart and everything should be back to normal.
This apparent fix to the problem was posted on a Windows forum.
(Credit: Microsoft)
Malware has infected 27,000 machines… read more.
Company intends to ban automatic usage of USB drivers… Read more.
Time has finally ran out for Windows XP owners with Microsoft replacing free support of the operating system with a paid one. Users with a dysfunctional XP system will have to pay per incident, per the hour. This makes this manual repair process an expensive ordeal, while up until now it has been merely a cumbersome one.
Windows XP Support(ed)!
Happily, Reimage is still here to help with our state of the art automated PC repair technology and PC booster.
Reimage.com automatically reinstalls an operating system and does not touch user data or applications, the repair takes an average of 22 minutes. You will never have to reinstall your XP again.
Reimage’s PC Repair Resources
Additional resources exist for those looking to repair their PCs, such as:
- A PC Repair Directory (PC technician list)
- Extensive Knowledge Base
- PC repair industry articles
- Free PC diagnosis (not repair).
- For a free technical consultation call: +1 (877) 7343734 - Mon-Fri: 9am-10pm EST
Reimage’s internal reporting system has been showing that there is an increase in the number of repairs with the following combo: Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 11. So why are we seeing more of these upgrades? It seems like people that chose to stay with their old PC do not upgrade to Vista (here is an odd case. The reason may be that:
- Their hardware wouldn’t support it well (too weak and Vista drivers that are needed for legacy hardware are sometimes hard to find).
- It is expensive to pay for a new PC that also runs Vista well (it also may backfire at times), most people settle for their good old PC with good old XP but add to it latest updates from Microsoft.
However, newer versions of IE and WMP were designed for newer PCs and tested and optimized for Vista (and not for the discontinued XP)… XP users who try to maximize their experience by upgrading to IE8 and WMP11 absurdly get a slower and slower PC and a user experience which is worse than before!
This phenomena is called “bloatware“. Now, usually an obvious solution for bloatware is uninstalling the bloat and making it float by finding more lightweight alternatives (e.g. Foxit Reader instead of Acrobat Reader). However, after you’ve installed IE8 / WMP11 it is very hard to uninstall these applications especially if you’re not a geek.
References from the web:
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/12551/new-media/slow-take-up-of-internet-explorer-8-on-day-one
http://www.freewarefiles.com/review_5_51_40237.html
http://forums.techguy.org/multimedia/544911-media-player-11-slow-load.html
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/30563022/windows-media-player-11-r.aspx
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=241585
http://www.aeroxp.org/board/index.php?showtopic=9699
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Media-Player-11-using-50-CPU-running-really-slow-t160970.html