KB896688 on W98SE - now Update is "Administrators Only"!?!?!

[G Lykos]

Greetings!

Installed the captioned update today. Now, when I start Windows Update
(Win98SE), it flips right to a dead-end screen advising "Administrators
Only! To install items from Windows Update, you must be logged on as an
administrator or a member of the Administrators group. If your computer is
connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from
completing this procedure."

Don't know what's going on, don't find this helpful, and see mention
elsewhere of uninstalling this update but don't see where to do so on
Windows 98 SE. Suggestions (other than change OS) welcome.

Thanks,
George

[PA Bear]

How did you install 896688, via Windows Update or a file you downloaded from
another MS page?

Although it states "WinXP only", see this section of V4Windows Update
Troubleshooter:

When trying to use the Windows Update Web site you receive an
"Administrators Only" error message
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/troubleshoot/
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Security, Shell/User)

[G Lykos]

Robert, this was identified as a critical update for my Win 98 SE and
installed automatically by Windows Update, not a manual download. I had
since seen the FAQ, intended for this Admin thing occurring on XP, and did
not see how to apply it to Win 98 SE. Now what?

Thanks,
George

"PA Bear" <PABe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:eVAK2j7z...@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

[PA Bear]

First off, are you posting here from the problem machine? If so, is 896688
(may be 'Internet Explorer-Q896688', 'Windows Hotfix-896688' or similar)
listed in Add/Remove Programs and can you uninstall it from there?
--
~PA Bear

G Lykos wrote:
> Robert, this was identified as a critical update for my Win 98 SE and
> installed automatically by Windows Update, not a manual download. I had
> since seen the FAQ, intended for this Admin thing occurring on XP, and did
> not see how to apply it to Win 98 SE. Now what?
>

[G Lykos]

Yes, I'm posting from the problem machine.

Yes, I didn't see it yesterday, but in Add/Remove Programs there was
Internet Explorer Q896688 which removed this update and resolved the issue.
I installed it a second time to see if it would behave differently (meaning
I ran Windows Update, and it identified this as an appropriate critical
update for Windows 98 SE, and I let it install it), and it didn't - same
"Administrators Only" message.

This is really going to screw up anyone with Windows 98 and automatic
updating turned on.

Regards,
George

"PA Bear" <PABe...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:uAJtcsE0...@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

[PA Bear]

Uninstall it again.

Before returning to Windows Update, disable your anti-virus application and
firewall (if any) then try the download/install again. Be very careful! No
other applications or windows should be open other than the one IE window
you're using to go to Windows Update. (You *are* using IE to do this,
right?)

[G Lykos]

Actually, I already had uninstalled Q896688 after the second try. Virus
checkers and firewalls have jack to with this bad software.

I subsequently checked Windows Update on a different Windows 98 SE computer,
and it also called for this critical update (which I did not install).

If this is supposed to be for XP only (Administrators Only), why is Windows
98 picking it up? And how in the world is a man-in-the-street Windows 98
user going to recover once an automatic update knocks out automatic
updating??

"PA Bear" <PABe...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:%23%23iuRaJ0...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

[PA Bear]

> Virus checkers and firewalls have jack to with this bad software.

1. While we've seen at least one (1) post similar to yours in this
newsgroup, the vast majority of Win98 users are having no problem installing
896688. I've not seen one post in Win98 General Discussion newsgroup about
the behavior you're seeing.

2. Have you *tried* disabling AV and/or firewall before installing 896688?
If not, don't say they have "jack" to do with it.

[daves...@yahoo.com]

PA Bear wrote:

> 1. While we've seen at least one (1) post similar to yours in this
> newsgroup, the vast majority of Win98 users are having no problem installing
> 896688. I've not seen one post in Win98 General Discussion newsgroup about
> the behavior you're seeing.

You can add my name to the list of folks having problems, although mine
seem a bit more serious.

After installing the update (using IE, as requested the first time I
brought it up this morning), I noticed several things gone wrong:

1. Web pages with .pdf extensions won't display, even though Adobe
will run standalone.
2. Opening the "My Computer" icon displays three "x"ed-off areas,
i.e, it shows me nothing.
3. Trying to get back to the windows update site, I get the
"administrators" only msg.
4. Trying to bring up the Control Panel, either via the "Settings"
button under "Start", or via any of the help pages (e.g., that try to
access "add/remove programs") fails, showing me a control panel with 2
"x"ed-off areas. As a result, I don't know how to uninstall the problem
patch.

I found a note in the windows/update discussion pages that suggested
modifying the registry (adding/setting the "NoWindowsUpdate" key), but
that didn't help.

Note that all of this is 98SE, and I generally patch things as soon as
the
notifications pop up.

Thanks for any help on this...

[PA Bear]

[Cross-posted to Win98 General]

This "Administrators Only" problem is not unknown in Win98; see
http://snipurl.com/in61. A cursory review of the archived threads in that
link suggest two main causes of the behavior:

1. Anti-virus application (AV app) running in background when going to
Windows Update or when installing updates.

2. Interference by other third-party applications (e.g., firewall, "web
accelerators", using a browser other than Internet Explorer to go to Windows
Update, hijackware).

To test for #1 above, try disabling your AV app before going to Windows
Update and scanning. Be careful! No other applications or windows should
be open/running other than the IE window used to go to Windows Update (IE
Tools > Windows Update).

There have been cases in the past where overinstalling IE6 SP1 was needed to
correct corruption caused by the AV app:

- First, close *everything* via CTRL+ALT+DEL except Windows Explorer
(includes your AV program, Scheduled Tasks, Screensaver, and going offline).
Start>Run>IE6Setup.exe. Select Minimal - Custom; Select all the parts you
use, including OE (but none you didn't originally download) and overinstall.
Should take about 2 minutes. Reboot the computer.

- Now, with AV app and all other running processes still closed, check
in at Windows Update for additional updates and patches you may need.

To test for #2 above, try disabling your firewall and/or any "web
accelerators" before going to Windows Update and scanning (Be careful!) and
only use Internet Explorer (i.e., not AOL browser, Firefox, etc.) to go to
Windows Update.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/archive/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

When all else fails, HijackThis v1.99.1
(http://aumha.net/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post
your log to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html or http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30
for expert analysis, not here.**

Please reply only to the newsgroup or forum. I do not offer free email
support.

--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Security, Shell/User)

[Crabtree@discussions.microsoft.com Shane Crabtree]

Add my name to this as well, I'm getting the same exact behavior after the
update installed last week...