> On Sept. 08 is installed several updates and security patches, and
> restarted like I was told. After the restart, my Norton 360 will
> not run, my Yahoo Messenger will not conect, and I can’t even
> access Windows Update. those are just what I have noticed. Any one
> have ideas how i can get my programs back without system restore?
Assuming (yes – you left no choice) Windows XP 32-bit…
Control Panel –> Add or Remove Programs and ensure the "Show Updates"
checkbox is checked. Scroll down and find the Microsoft/Windows updates
installed on September 8, 2009. Uninstall them. Reboot.
Sounds like somethign else is wrong with your system – so after you
uninstall the updates – this is how I think you should get back to normal.
If you know all of your files, bookmarks, contacts, emails, pictures,
music files and such are safe and you can get to them even if that
machine was stolen and melted to slag at this very moment – then
you are ready to go. 😉
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/ma…e/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/d…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.
—
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
—
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
