Windows Update URL no longer functions
msorens
Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/) seems to find the server, but
then simply shows a blank screen and "Done" on the status bar.
Searching for other avenues I found that this URL
(http://www.update.microsoft.com/) does correctly bring up the Windows Update
website.
Why does the original, published URL no longer work?
MowGreen
which Version of Internet Explorer is the system running ?
*Right* click the Windows Update link on the Start Menu and select
Properties.
The Target should show: %SystemRoot%\system32\wupdmgr.exe
Start in: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%
Is that what you're seeing ?
If no, then copy and paste the above to replace the incorrect data, then
click Apply, and OK.
MowGreen
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============
![PA Bear [MS MVP]'s profile photo](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/ALV-UjXsf05hH-R8XChS3fXPPzfoO8FYYxAKhT86KfPnIELr3QJ9tQ=s40-c)
PA Bear [MS MVP]
posting to this newsgroup. In this case, also state you IE version.
Is Automatic Updates enabled?
What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)?
Has a(another) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this
machine (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought
it)?
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002
www.banthecheck.com
msorens
-- IE Version 7
-- Automatic updates are enabled
-- The Windows Upodate shortcut does have the correct settings:
Target = %SystemRoot%\system32\wupdmgr.exe
Start in = %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%
--Security tools:
AVG free 8.5
AdAware AE
Spybot 1.6.2
Malwarebytes AntiMalware 1.31
WinPatrol
--I had remnants of Trend Micro PC-Cillin that I was able to clean out using
OPSWAT AppRemover. I did this back in May; this problem of the Windows Update
web site not working though dates from before that.
--Finally, I want to make sure I am clear: Automatic Updates essentially
work fine on this computer. I get a notification icon in my system tray when
updates are avaialble; I then download and install them just fine. The
relatively minor issue I am reporting here is only that the Window Update
shortcut leads to the blank webpage I indicated.
MowGreen
behavior. If you open IE, click Tools > Windows Update, does IE access
Windows Update successfully ?
MowGreen
===============
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Never Forgotten
===============
PA Bear [MS MVP]
previous message(s) in your replies to the newsgroup. Thank you.]
When you can get to the page, is it Windows Update or Microsoft Update?
<QP>
What are the differences between Windows Updates, Automatic Updates, and
Microsoft Updates?
While Windows Update provides you with updates specifically for Windows,
Microsoft Update expands the service to download and install updates for
other Microsoft software, such as Microsoft Office and Windows Live.
Automatic updating is a feature that allows you to set your PC to
automatically download and install updates using either service, making it
easy and convenient for you to keep your Windows PC current.
</QP>
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/windowsupdate/FAQ.mspx
Does the behavior persist if you start IE7 in No Add-ons mode? To start IE
in No Add-ons mode:
=> Right-click on the blue IE desktop icon and select Start without
Add-ons; or
=> Start | (All) Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Internet
Explorer (No add-ons).
<paste>
PA Bear [MS MVP] wrote:
> Please state your full Windows version (e.g., WinXP SP3; Vista x64 SP2)
> when
> posting to this newsgroup. In this case, also state you IE version.
>
> Is Automatic Updates enabled?
>
> What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
> subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than
> Defender)?
> What third-party firewall (if any)?
>
> Has a(another) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this
> machine (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought
> it)?
>
msorens
the status bar.
(2) From "IE7 in No Add-ons mode" > Tools > Windows Update, I also get the
same blank page with "Done in the status bar.
(3) When I open this URL (http://www.update.microsoft.com/) manually, I get
Windows Update. (I had attempted to upgrade to Microsoft Update some months
back, but I had some issue with it. I don't recall the error message but a
web search had indicated I needed to reregister some components if I remember
right. I did not take that any further at that time. If it would be useful
here, I could try the upgrade again and report back what happens. Let me know.
"MowGreen" wrote:
> Understood. It may just be a redirect issue in IE that's causing this
> behavior. If you open IE, click Tools > Windows Update, does IE access
> Windows Update successfully ?
"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:
PA Bear [MS MVP]
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737
Repost: When you can get to the page, is it Windows Update or Microsoft
Update?
msorens
(1) Attempting to open Windows Update from the shortcut still gives a blank
page.
(2) Using the URL (http://www.update.microsoft.com/) manually, I still go to
Windows Update (again with a notice to upgrade to Microsoft Update).
MowGreen
> the status bar.
See if the browser is actually 'on' Windows Update by clicking View >
Source. Is the page's code showing now ?
This is a really odd issue since inputting the URL manually hits the
site succesfully. The only thing I could possible attribute to is
> --I had remnants of Trend Micro PC-Cillin that I was able to clean out using
> OPSWAT AppRemover. I did this back in May; this problem of the Windows Update
> web site not working though dates from before that.
Which release of the Windows Update Agent is installed ? Check these
files in WINDOWS\system32
wuapi.dll
wups.dll
wuauclt.exe
wupdmgr.exe
wuweb.dll
Right click each of them, choose Properties, and then click the Version
tab. The latest Version of the WUA is 7.2.6001.788. wupdmgr.exe should
be at Version 5.4.2600.0
> (I had attempted to upgrade to Microsoft Update some months
> back, but I had some issue with it. I don't recall the error message but a
> web search had indicated I needed to reregister some components if I remember
> right. I did not take that any further at that time.
That's where the issue may be stemming from. Suggest you attempt to opt
into Microsoft Update again. If the reregister updating components
message appears again, suggest you temporarily disable WinPatrol first
to see if that's what causing the software controls to not register
properly. If the Immunize or SDHelper options of Spybot are being used,
temp disable them, too.
MowGreen
===============
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Never Forgotten
===============
msorens
assistance!
"MowGreen" wrote:
> > (1) From IE > Tools > Windows Update, I get the same blank page with "Done in
> > the status bar.
>
> See if the browser is actually 'on' Windows Update by clicking View >
> Source. Is the page's code showing now ?
[MS] It may be a javascript issue of some sort. I have pasted the source of
the "blank" page below. I suspect the redirect.js is not doing what it is
supposed to. Two things to say about that:
--On this particular machine I see JavaScript errors more often than on my
other machine (i.e. loading a page on this machine produces a JS error while
loading it on my other machine does not).
--Other JS errors manifest by saying "Done with errors". For the Windows
Update page, however, it just says "Done" which is why I never thought about
possible JS problems before.
=================================================
NB: To avoid any rendering issues I have replace angle brackets with square
brackets.
[HTML]
[HEAD]
[META HTTP-EQUIV="PICS-Label" CONTENT='(PICS-1.1
"http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l comment "RSACi North America Server"
by "in...@microsoft.com" r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 0))']
[META name="description" content="The Microsoft Windows Update Consumer site
provides critical updates, security fixes, software downloads, and Microsoft
Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL) device drivers for your Windows operating
system and Internet Explorer browser."]
[META name="keywords" content="windows update consumer site, update,
updates, hotfix, QFE, patch, patches, fix, fixes, features, Microsoft,
TechNet, download, downloads, service, services, software, service pack,
service packs, windows 2000, win2k, windows 98, 95, ME, Millennium, Internet,
Internet Explorer, support, network, administrator, technology, tech,
Security, Security Bulletin, security vulnerability, critical, critical
updates, security update, outlook, Outlook Express, Windows NT 4.0,
windowsnt, windows nt , interoperability, vulnerability, technical, y2k,
year2000, year 2000, resource guide, maintenance, planning, exchange,
maintain, networking, migration, resource kit, support, help, dialup,
migration, windows media player"]
[TITLE]Microsoft Windows Update[/TITLE]
[script Language="javascript"]
var curSite = 3;
[/script]
[script Language="javascript" Src="redirect.js"][/script]
[/HEAD]
[NOFRAMES]You have tried to visit Windows Update with a browser that does
not support Frames or ActiveX® technology. To learn more about browsers that
do support these technologies, please visit the [A
HREF="http://microsoft.com/windows/ie"][B]Microsoft[/b][/a] Web
site.[/NOFRAMES]
[NOSCRIPT]
[FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" SIZE="3"]
[p]
[FONT color=#000080 face="" size=5]Windows Update[/FONT] is the online
extension of Windows that helps you get the most out of your computer.
[/p]
[p]
Windows Update uses ActiveX Controls and active scripting to display content
correctly and to determine which updates apply to your computer.
[br]
[A
href="http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/dialog_learnabout.asp?topic=0&noscripting=true"]Tell me about active scripting and ActiveX controls[/a]
[/p]
[p][b]To view and download updates for your computer, Windows Update should
be listed as a Trusted Site in Internet Explorer.[/b][/p]
[p][b]To add Windows Update to the trusted sites zone:[/b]
[ol]
[li]On the [b]Tools[/b] menu in Internet Explorer, click [b]Internet
Options[/b].
[li]Click the [b]Security[/b] tab.
[li]Click the Trusted Sites icon, and then click [b]Sites..[/b].
[li]Uncheck the "require server verification" checkbox.
[li]Make sure the following URLs are listed in the Web Sites list box:
[ul]
[li]http://*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
[li]http://*.windowsupdate.com
[/ul]
[/li]
[/ol]
[b]Note:[/b] If you need to add a URL to the Web Sites list and the
[b]Add[/b] button is disabled, contact your system administrator.
[/p]
[CENTER]
[A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm" target=_top][FONT
color= #00319C]© 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of
Use[/FONT][/A].[BR]
[/CENTER]
[/FONT]
[/NOSCRIPT]
[/HTML]
=================================================
> This is a really odd issue since inputting the URL manually hits the
> site succesfully. The only thing I could possible attribute to is
>
> > --I had remnants of Trend Micro PC-Cillin that I was able to clean out using
> > OPSWAT AppRemover. I did this back in May; this problem of the Windows Update
> > web site not working though dates from before that.
>
> Which release of the Windows Update Agent is installed ? Check these
> files in WINDOWS\system32
>
> wuapi.dll
> wups.dll
> wuauclt.exe
> wupdmgr.exe
> wuweb.dll
>
> Right click each of them, choose Properties, and then click the Version
> tab. The latest Version of the WUA is 7.2.6001.788. wupdmgr.exe should
> be at Version 5.4.2600.0
[MS] The listed files all report the version numbers you have indicated.
> > (I had attempted to upgrade to Microsoft Update some months
> > back, but I had some issue with it. I don't recall the error message but a
> > web search had indicated I needed to reregister some components if I remember
> > right. I did not take that any further at that time.
>
> That's where the issue may be stemming from. Suggest you attempt to opt
> into Microsoft Update again. If the reregister updating components
> message appears again, suggest you temporarily disable WinPatrol first
> to see if that's what causing the software controls to not register
> properly. If the Immunize or SDHelper options of Spybot are being used,
> temp disable them, too.
[MS] Have not been able to try this yet; should be able to get to it by the
end of this week.
MowGreen
dll from a Command Prompt and then see if the WU page is still blank.
Open a Command Prompt with IE closed, type in the below and press Enter
after each command
regsvr32 jscript.dll
exit
Did that fix the blank page issue ?
MowGreen
===============
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Never Forgotten
===============
msorens
I then attempted to upgrade from Windows Update to Microsoft Update, as
discussed earlier. The first attempt said needed an ActiveX control
re-enabled (since I had done the IE7 reset earlier). It did not say which one
but scanning the list pointed me towards MUWebControlClass. That seemed to do
it. I restarted the browser and again attempted the upgrade. It complained
"Files required to use Microsoft Update are no longer registered or installed
on your computer". I chose the recommended action of letting the system
install or reregister them. It indicated some progress then... a blank page
again. I closed the browser and re-opened with the Windows Update shortcut
again, with the familiar result: a blank page. Manually re-entering the
correct URL still takes me to Windows Update with a prompt to upgrade to
Microsoft update.
Also you had mentioned WinPatrol and Spybot: I did disable WinPatrol before
this attempt. I do not use the Spybot SDHelper. I have used the Immunize
option in the past but it is not a memory-resident utility so not sure what
you mean by disabling it. My impression is that it makes a lot of
neutralizing entries in the hosts file; not sure what else it might do...
MowGreen
components of MU. That interference may be why the system will only
access a blank page when invoking the Windows Update shortcut
[wupdmgr.exe] from the Start menu.
All I can suggest you try at this point, besides uninstalling
WinPatrol/Spybot and then rebuilding the winsock stack, is to Clean boot
the system and then reset Windows Update's components via a Microsoft Fixit:
How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353
How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058
There's a Guided Help section if KB310353 that you can follow to boot
the system to a Clean boot state. Do the Clean boot *first*
For the WU reset page, suggest you download MicrosoftFixit50202.msi and
*save* it by clicking the Fixit button. Choose "Save" rather then 'Run'.
Close all open programs and browsers. While connected to the internet,
run MicrosoftFixit50202.msi and choose the Aggressive option.
This will rename *all* of the entire folder hierarchy of the update
directory, WINDOWS\Software Distribution, and install the most current
release of the Windows Update Agent.
Restart the system while *still* in the Clean boot state and see if the
shortcut to WU on the Start Menu functions properly now.
If it does, try opting into MU once more.
MowGreen
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============
banthecheck.com
"Security updates should *not* have *non-security content* prechecked"
msorens
schedul e has prevented me from trying the clean boot and WU reset but I
intend to do this within the next few days.
PA Bear [MS MVP]
MowGreen
issue is a blank page when invoking the Start Menu shortcut, then the
issue is related to a script, redirect, or ActiveX error.
I would not format/reinstall in this instance, rather, I'd create a
Favorite using http://www.update.microsoft.com to access WU.
The issue involving the proper installation of updating components on MU
is most likely where the problem stems from.
MowGreen
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============
banthecheck.com
"Security updates should *not* have *non-security content* prechecked"
msorens
familiar with msconfig I decided to try the Guided Help as you suggested.
After the guide had just about finished there was a pop-up saying I was not
logged in as an administrator (but I was) so it could not save the changes.
Nevertheless, it commenced a reboot. Something this Guided Help did caused a
major problem. Upon reboot, I got a standard login screen; entered my
credentials, and got my standard background--but no desktop icons or task
bar. I rebooted another 2 or 3 times until finally it booted correctly. I ran
the system fine for a couple days; everything was normal. I then rebooted
again and observed the same issue. The system basically comes up except that
Windows Explorer took 15 minutes to finish what it was doing. During that
interval (with no icons and no task bar) the only thing I could do was bring
up Task Manager (ctrl-shift-esc). I saw that explorer was in the list of
running tasks. The disk was not spinning, the CPU was essentially idle. I did
a create task and could bring up msconfig immediately; it showed settings
were set for normal boot. I tried to bring up System Restore from the button
in msconfig but System Restore did not start until about 10 minutes later
when Windows Explorer finally finished its work. I have yet to try a System
Restore but I will do that next unless you have some ideas what might have
happened here.
msorens
familiar with msconfig I decided to try the Guided Help as you suggested.
After the guide had just about finished there was a pop-up saying I was not
logged in as an administrator (but I was) so it could not save the changes.
Nevertheless, it commenced a reboot. Something this Guided Help did caused a
major problem. Upon reboot, I got a standard login screen; entered my
credentials, and got my standard background--but no desktop icons or task
bar. I rebooted another 2 or 3 times until finally it booted correctly. I ran
the system fine for a couple days; everything was normal. I then rebooted
again and observed the same issue. The system basically comes up except that
Windows Explorer took 15 minutes to finish what it was doing. During that
interval (with no icons and no task bar) the only thing I could do was bring
up Task Manager (ctrl-shift-esc). I saw that explorer was in the list of
running tasks. The disk was not spinning, the CPU was essentially idle. I did
a create task and could bring up msconfig immediately; it showed settings
were set for normal boot. I tried to bring up System Restore from the button
in msconfig but System Restore did not start until about 10 minutes later
when Windows Explorer finally finished its work. I have yet to try a System
Restore but I will do that next unless you have some ideas what might have
happened here.
MowGreen
At the very bottom of the page there's a ' Provide feedback on this
information' area. Please fill out the form and let MS know what
happened to your system so that they are aware of the damage done by
Guided Help.
If you can or can not do that, please contact Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/gethelp/default.aspx?content=gp;en-us;contactcss
If you are in the US , use the above link to start out. Then put a mark
next to " I use it for my own personal use ", click the Next button.
IF you are not in the US, toward the top right corner of the browser
window is a " Change " link. Click that and set the location.
They *should* provide you no-charge support for the issue caused by
using Guided Help.
If they try not to, please let me know. I'll do some major shin kicking,
promise.
In the meantime, can you boot the system to Safe Mode and use a restore
point to roll the system back to just before Guided Help was run ?
SM may load faster than normal Windows mode.
And ... I will no longer recommend that Users run any Guided Help on
MSKBs unless they resolve the issue on your system that was caused by
Guided Help.
MowGreen
At the very bottom of the page there's a ' Provide feedback on this
information' area. Please fill out the form and let MS know what
happened to your system so that they are aware of the damage done by
Guided Help.
If you can or can not do that, please contact Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/gethelp/default.aspx?content=gp;en-us;contactcss
If you are in the US , use the above link to start out. Then put a mark
next to " I use it for my own personal use ", click the Next button.
IF you are not in the US, toward the top right corner of the browser
window is a " Change " link. Click that and set the location.
They *should* provide you no-charge support for the issue caused by
using Guided Help.
If they try not to, please let me know. I'll do some major shin kicking,
promise.
In the meantime, can you boot the system to Safe Mode and use a restore
point to roll the system back to just before Guided Help was run ?
SM may load faster than normal Windows mode.
And ... I will no longer recommend that Users run any Guided Help on
MSKBs unless they resolve the issue on your system that was caused by
Guided Help.
MowGreen
msorens
single relevant restore point from the day before the problem!), and that
fixed the booting issue.
Aside: I have asked Microsoft before, but perhaps you know: System Restore
seems to be very fragile; it loses restore points very frequently, at least
for me. Is this a known problem, and why can't they make it more robust?
Since it is so fragile, I have a backup in my pocket (erunt) that I would
have used had I not had a restore point.
One other question: why does System Restore replace some of my plain old
user files? I get a report at the end saying it replaced some of my folders
and renamed the later ones with a "(2)" suffix. I fail to see why those
should have been involved in a system restore. (Note that these files are not
under My Documents but rather I have a tree rooted at "/usr".)
Anyway, I posted feedback on the KB article as you suggested. I don't see
that it makes sense now to post an issue with Online Support since the
problem is fixed though.
Back to the original problem, I think I am content with just having my own
custom shortcut for when I need to get to the WU website. Sigh...
Thanks again!
~~Michael Sorens
MowGreen
You're mowst welcome. FWIW, my systems have had only system restoration
fail since restore was introduced in Windows ME. Other then that, it's
never caused an issue and saved my bacon a couple of times.
Check these articles out:
Keeping System Restore Healthy
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html
Understanding System Restore
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/app_system_restore_hss_overview.mspx?mfr=true
Usually, issues with SR are caused by 3rd party software. Prior to
Avast, Trend Micro PC-Cillin was installed. That may have started the
issues with SR for all I know.
There are also certain malware infestations that can really do a job on
SR which, technically speaking, is "3rd party software" of a sorts.
And then there are hardware issues that may not be that serious but do
interfere with the creation, retention, and use of SR.
Back to the "Guided Help" issue ... that, coupled with the weird Windows
Update Start Menu link issue, is a sure sign that all is not right with
XP. If it were my system the first thing I'd try is to create a new User
Profile and see if that resolves the weirdness:
How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile in
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151
At the very least, doing the would let you know if the issue is related
to a corrupted User profile or if the issue lies within the OS.
Robert Aldwinckle
"msorens" <m_j_s...@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message news:1A4D9D1B-4892-4062...@microsoft.com...
>I attempted to do the clean-boot/WU reset as you had outlined. Though I am
> familiar with msconfig I decided to try the Guided Help as you suggested.
> After the guide had just about finished there was a pop-up saying I was not
> logged in as an administrator (but I was) so it could not save the changes.
> Nevertheless, it commenced a reboot. Something this Guided Help did caused a
> major problem. Upon reboot, I got a standard login screen; entered my
> credentials, and got my standard background--but no desktop icons or task
> bar. I rebooted another 2 or 3 times until finally it booted correctly. I ran
> the system fine for a couple days; everything was normal. I then rebooted
> again and observed the same issue.
> The system basically comes up except that
> Windows Explorer took 15 minutes to finish what it was doing.
> During that
> interval (with no icons and no task bar) the only thing I could do was bring
> up Task Manager (ctrl-shift-esc). I saw that explorer was in the list of
> running tasks. The disk was not spinning, the CPU was essentially idle. I did
> a create task and could bring up msconfig immediately; it showed settings
> were set for normal boot. I tried to bring up System Restore from the button
> in msconfig but System Restore did not start until about 10 minutes later
> when Windows Explorer finally finished its work. I have yet to try a System
> Restore but I will do that next unless you have some ideas what might have
> happened here.
I would have tried starting a cmd window to check networking;
e.g. done an ipconfig /all and checked your DNS.
(DNS is one of the possibilities to cause your symptom
that Mow mentioned earlier but which was not explored.)
BTW is there anything in your startup that requires an early
network connection--something periodic like an application
update tool?
Also, to get better details on what is happening during the boot
you could try running ProcMon for its Boot Logging option.
Since you seem to have two cases, normal and not, you could
capture traces of each and compare them for timing differences.
HTH
Robert Aldwinckle
---