Alternative subject: Why do my friends drag me into this stuff? :-)

Everything bad happens to some people. I have a friend whose computer is a
magnet for problems. So, I called her last week to remind her to manually
run Windows Update (on XP Pro) because of some security issues I read about.
She says she's got it set up to run automatically, but still, I tell her to
run it. She did, and got an error message involving a validation number. She
knew something about the situation. A year ago, she hired some local
"expert" to fix something in her machine, and while he was at it, he
upgraded her from WIN98SE to XP. Apparently, he used an OEM copy, so
something's mismatched and the update process is aware of it.

I've convinced her to shell out the cash for a legal copy, and we're going
to reformat and reinstall. But, that's a month away, for various reasons.
Meanwhile, I have three questions:

1) She says she's got WU enabled to run automatically. Assuming this is
true, shouldn't she have seen a similar error message in the past? In other
words, is it possible she's actually up to date, and that WU only sends up
certain error messages when it's run manually?

2) Other than running WU manually and seeing the update list, does that
process place any sort of legible record on a computer, showing successful
installations?

3) Is there a way, perhaps in the registry, to convince Windows that all its
registration/validation stuff is correct? I'll be in front of her computer
this weekend, and I'd really like to see WU run, and present us with a list
of installed updates.

Microsoft just started requiring users to "validate" their copies of Windows
to make sure that the software is legal/genuine before updating. This was
started not too long ago (maybe a month or so). That may be why you haven't
seen any errors before when autoupdating. However, as far as I know, the
validation process is not required before downloading and applying Security
Updates.
Not sure whether that really helps, but it might.

"Doug Kanter" wrote:

> Alternative subject: Why do my friends drag me into this stuff? :-)
>
> Everything bad happens to some people. I have a friend whose computer is a
> magnet for problems. So, I called her last week to remind her to manually
> run Windows Update (on XP Pro) because of some security issues I read about.
> She says she's got it set up to run automatically, but still, I tell her to
> run it. She did, and got an error message involving a validation number. She
> knew something about the situation. A year ago, she hired some local
> "expert" to fix something in her machine, and while he was at it, he
> upgraded her from WIN98SE to XP. Apparently, he used an OEM copy, so
> something's mismatched and the update process is aware of it.
>
> I've convinced her to shell out the cash for a legal copy, and we're going
> to reformat and reinstall. But, that's a month away, for various reasons.
> Meanwhile, I have three questions:
>
> 1) She says she's got WU enabled to run automatically. Assuming this is
> true, shouldn't she have seen a similar error message in the past? In other
> words, is it possible she's actually up to date, and that WU only sends up
> certain error messages when it's run manually?
>
> 2) Other than running WU manually and seeing the update list, does that
> process place any sort of legible record on a computer, showing successful
> installations?
>
> 3) Is there a way, perhaps in the registry, to convince Windows that all its
> registration/validation stuff is correct? I'll be in front of her computer
> this weekend, and I'd really like to see WU run, and present us with a list
> of installed updates.
>
>
>

Doug Kanter wrote:
> Alternative subject: Why do my friends drag me into this stuff? :-)
>
> Everything bad happens to some people. I have a friend whose computer
> is a magnet for problems. So, I called her last week to remind her to
> manually run Windows Update (on XP Pro) because of some security
> issues I read about. She says she's got it set up to run
> automatically, but still, I tell her to run it. She did, and got an
> error message involving a validation number. She knew something about
> the situation. A year ago, she hired some local "expert" to fix
> something in her machine, and while he was at it, he upgraded her
> from WIN98SE to XP. Apparently, he used an OEM copy, so something's
> mismatched and the update process is aware of it.
> I've convinced her to shell out the cash for a legal copy, and we're
> going to reformat and reinstall. But, that's a month away, for
> various reasons. Meanwhile, I have three questions:
>
> 1) She says she's got WU enabled to run automatically. Assuming this
> is true, shouldn't she have seen a similar error message in the past?
> In other words, is it possible she's actually up to date, and that WU
> only sends up certain error messages when it's run manually?
>
> 2) Other than running WU manually and seeing the update list, does
> that process place any sort of legible record on a computer, showing
> successful installations?
>
> 3) Is there a way, perhaps in the registry, to convince Windows that
> all its registration/validation stuff is correct? I'll be in front of
> her computer this weekend, and I'd really like to see WU run, and
> present us with a list of installed updates.

Why are you trying to fix what ain't broken. Just download the updates
directly from MS with no validation necessary.

Learn how, the Common Sense Computing way:
http://microscum.com/comsense

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

"kurttrail" <dontemailme@anywhereintheknowuniverse.org> wrote in message
news:eqmij1P1FHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Doug Kanter wrote:
>> Alternative subject: Why do my friends drag me into this stuff? :-)
>>
>> Everything bad happens to some people. I have a friend whose computer
>> is a magnet for problems. So, I called her last week to remind her to
>> manually run Windows Update (on XP Pro) because of some security
>> issues I read about. She says she's got it set up to run
>> automatically, but still, I tell her to run it. She did, and got an
>> error message involving a validation number. She knew something about
>> the situation. A year ago, she hired some local "expert" to fix
>> something in her machine, and while he was at it, he upgraded her
>> from WIN98SE to XP. Apparently, he used an OEM copy, so something's
>> mismatched and the update process is aware of it.
>> I've convinced her to shell out the cash for a legal copy, and we're
>> going to reformat and reinstall. But, that's a month away, for
>> various reasons. Meanwhile, I have three questions:
>>
>> 1) She says she's got WU enabled to run automatically. Assuming this
>> is true, shouldn't she have seen a similar error message in the past?
>> In other words, is it possible she's actually up to date, and that WU
>> only sends up certain error messages when it's run manually?
>>
>> 2) Other than running WU manually and seeing the update list, does
>> that process place any sort of legible record on a computer, showing
>> successful installations?
>>
>> 3) Is there a way, perhaps in the registry, to convince Windows that
>> all its registration/validation stuff is correct? I'll be in front of
>> her computer this weekend, and I'd really like to see WU run, and
>> present us with a list of installed updates.
>
> Why are you trying to fix what ain't broken. Just download the updates
> directly from MS with no validation necessary.
>
> Learn how, the Common Sense Computing way:
> http://microscum.com/comsense
>
> --
> Peace!
> Kurt
> Self-anointed Moderator
> microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
> http://microscum.com/mscommunity
> "Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
> "Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"
>

I like that idea, but how do you know which updates to grab?

Doug Kanter wrote:
> "kurttrail" <dontemailme@anywhereintheknowuniverse.org> wrote in
> message news:eqmij1P1FHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>> Doug Kanter wrote:
>>> Alternative subject: Why do my friends drag me into this stuff? :-)
>>>
>>> Everything bad happens to some people. I have a friend whose
>>> computer is a magnet for problems. So, I called her last week to
>>> remind her to manually run Windows Update (on XP Pro) because of
>>> some security issues I read about. She says she's got it set up to
>>> run automatically, but still, I tell her to run it. She did, and
>>> got an error message involving a validation number. She knew
>>> something about the situation. A year ago, she hired some local
>>> "expert" to fix something in her machine, and while he was at it,
>>> he upgraded her from WIN98SE to XP. Apparently, he used an OEM
>>> copy, so something's mismatched and the update process is aware of
>>> it. I've convinced her to shell out the cash for a legal copy, and
>>> we're
>>> going to reformat and reinstall. But, that's a month away, for
>>> various reasons. Meanwhile, I have three questions:
>>>
>>> 1) She says she's got WU enabled to run automatically. Assuming this
>>> is true, shouldn't she have seen a similar error message in the
>>> past? In other words, is it possible she's actually up to date, and
>>> that WU only sends up certain error messages when it's run manually?
>>>
>>> 2) Other than running WU manually and seeing the update list, does
>>> that process place any sort of legible record on a computer, showing
>>> successful installations?
>>>
>>> 3) Is there a way, perhaps in the registry, to convince Windows that
>>> all its registration/validation stuff is correct? I'll be in front
>>> of her computer this weekend, and I'd really like to see WU run, and
>>> present us with a list of installed updates.
>>
>> Why are you trying to fix what ain't broken. Just download the
>> updates directly from MS with no validation necessary.
>>
>> Learn how, the Common Sense Computing way:
>> http://microscum.com/comsense
>>
>> --
>> Peace!
>> Kurt
>> Self-anointed Moderator
>> microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
>> http://microscum.com/mscommunity
>> "Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
>> "Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"
>>
>
> I like that idea, but how do you know which updates to grab?

Does she have SP2 installed? On my Common Sense Computing page there is
a link to a page that list the download location of every security patch
since SP2.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

"kurttrail" <dontemailme@anywhereintheknowuniverse.org> wrote in message
news:uT1XE5P1FHA.2884@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Doug Kanter wrote:
>> "kurttrail" <dontemailme@anywhereintheknowuniverse.org> wrote in
>> message news:eqmij1P1FHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>>> Doug Kanter wrote:
>>>> Alternative subject: Why do my friends drag me into this stuff? :-)
>>>>
>>>> Everything bad happens to some people. I have a friend whose
>>>> computer is a magnet for problems. So, I called her last week to
>>>> remind her to manually run Windows Update (on XP Pro) because of
>>>> some security issues I read about. She says she's got it set up to
>>>> run automatically, but still, I tell her to run it. She did, and
>>>> got an error message involving a validation number. She knew
>>>> something about the situation. A year ago, she hired some local
>>>> "expert" to fix something in her machine, and while he was at it,
>>>> he upgraded her from WIN98SE to XP. Apparently, he used an OEM
>>>> copy, so something's mismatched and the update process is aware of
>>>> it. I've convinced her to shell out the cash for a legal copy, and
>>>> we're
>>>> going to reformat and reinstall. But, that's a month away, for
>>>> various reasons. Meanwhile, I have three questions:
>>>>
>>>> 1) She says she's got WU enabled to run automatically. Assuming this
>>>> is true, shouldn't she have seen a similar error message in the
>>>> past? In other words, is it possible she's actually up to date, and
>>>> that WU only sends up certain error messages when it's run manually?
>>>>
>>>> 2) Other than running WU manually and seeing the update list, does
>>>> that process place any sort of legible record on a computer, showing
>>>> successful installations?
>>>>
>>>> 3) Is there a way, perhaps in the registry, to convince Windows that
>>>> all its registration/validation stuff is correct? I'll be in front
>>>> of her computer this weekend, and I'd really like to see WU run, and
>>>> present us with a list of installed updates.
>>>
>>> Why are you trying to fix what ain't broken. Just download the
>>> updates directly from MS with no validation necessary.
>>>
>>> Learn how, the Common Sense Computing way:
>>> http://microscum.com/comsense
>>>
>>> --
>>> Peace!
>>> Kurt
>>> Self-anointed Moderator
>>> microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
>>> http://microscum.com/mscommunity
>>> "Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
>>> "Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"
>>>
>>
>> I like that idea, but how do you know which updates to grab?
>
> Does she have SP2 installed? On my Common Sense Computing page there is a
> link to a page that list the download location of every security patch
> since SP2.

I think I asked the wrong question. Another attempt: When you run WU
manually, you can see a list of previously installed updates. If you
successfully receive and install more during that session, they'll be added
to the list.

Let's say that for whatever reason, you cannot run WU manually. How do you
know which updates are already installed on that machine? I see some listed
in Add/Remove programs, but certainly not all.

Doug Kanter wrote:
> "kurttrail" <dontemailme@anywhereintheknowuniverse.org> wrote in
> message news:uT1XE5P1FHA.2884@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> Doug Kanter wrote:
>>> "kurttrail" <dontemailme@anywhereintheknowuniverse.org> wrote in
>>> message news:eqmij1P1FHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>>>> Doug Kanter wrote:
>>>>> Alternative subject: Why do my friends drag me into this stuff?
>>>>> :-) Everything bad happens to some people. I have a friend whose
>>>>> computer is a magnet for problems. So, I called her last week to
>>>>> remind her to manually run Windows Update (on XP Pro) because of
>>>>> some security issues I read about. She says she's got it set up to
>>>>> run automatically, but still, I tell her to run it. She did, and
>>>>> got an error message involving a validation number. She knew
>>>>> something about the situation. A year ago, she hired some local
>>>>> "expert" to fix something in her machine, and while he was at it,
>>>>> he upgraded her from WIN98SE to XP. Apparently, he used an OEM
>>>>> copy, so something's mismatched and the update process is aware of
>>>>> it. I've convinced her to shell out the cash for a legal copy, and
>>>>> we're
>>>>> going to reformat and reinstall. But, that's a month away, for
>>>>> various reasons. Meanwhile, I have three questions:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1) She says she's got WU enabled to run automatically. Assuming
>>>>> this is true, shouldn't she have seen a similar error message in
>>>>> the past? In other words, is it possible she's actually up to
>>>>> date, and that WU only sends up certain error messages when it's
>>>>> run manually? 2) Other than running WU manually and seeing the
>>>>> update list, does
>>>>> that process place any sort of legible record on a computer,
>>>>> showing successful installations?
>>>>>
>>>>> 3) Is there a way, perhaps in the registry, to convince Windows
>>>>> that all its registration/validation stuff is correct? I'll be in
>>>>> front of her computer this weekend, and I'd really like to see WU
>>>>> run, and present us with a list of installed updates.
>>>>
>>>> Why are you trying to fix what ain't broken. Just download the
>>>> updates directly from MS with no validation necessary.
>>>>
>>>> Learn how, the Common Sense Computing way:
>>>> http://microscum.com/comsense
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Peace!
>>>> Kurt
>>>> Self-anointed Moderator
>>>> microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
>>>> http://microscum.com/mscommunity
>>>> "Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
>>>> "Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"
>>>>
>>>
>>> I like that idea, but how do you know which updates to grab?
>>
>> Does she have SP2 installed? On my Common Sense Computing page
>> there is a link to a page that list the download location of every
>> security patch since SP2.
>
> I think I asked the wrong question. Another attempt: When you run WU
> manually, you can see a list of previously installed updates. If you
> successfully receive and install more during that session, they'll be
> added to the list.
>
> Let's say that for whatever reason, you cannot run WU manually. How
> do you know which updates are already installed on that machine? I
> see some listed in Add/Remove programs, but certainly not all.

My list in Add/Remove seems to list all or very nearly all.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"