(resending after 5 hours) Hi Inge (and others fighting with Windows Update errors in the future) I know, Inge, that your update was eventually installed successfully on your computer, but i figured i should help you and others be prepared for similar situations in the future. In other words help you understand what this was about and whether you should have been worried and how to deal with similar situations in the future. > This is the second day that I am desperately trying to get help from > PCHelpers. One of the Microsoft updates did not install. No matter > what I do it just will not install. I wrote about it today, but I am > not getting any help. I am a little in a panic about this, because it > does say that it is a critical update. 1) There is no reason to panic if a Microsoft update will not install. The scary wording ("could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to compromise your system and gain control over it") used in descriptions of most updates is only there to prevent lazy, sloppy, careless, carefree people from ignoring and not downloading them. Even if you're "paranoid" about security, you of course realise that the very fact you're asking about an update problem means that you are none of the above (lazy, sloppy, etc.) The scary wording usually includes the word "could" because the details almost always explain the following (in geekier and less direct terms): 2) Most computers would never be in real danger even if people waited several months before they downloaded any Microsoft updates if people used common sense, in other words didn't a) visit blatantly shady websites or b) installed programs without verifying that these come from a reliable source or c) opened email attachments without verifying that these are safe. In fact, most computers would never be in danger even if people never downloaded any Microsoft updates if people used common sense. More info here: http://www.local.nu/HelpDesk/index.php/Basics_of_safe_computing 3) If you want to make sure that an update that is not installing automatically is one of the very rare ones that prevent an attack that's possible even if users use common sense, in other words the extremely rare situation in which an attack is possible without the user first doing something that is not safe (and that anyone with a few months of computer experience should realise is as dangerous as going into a dingy side street and accepting an offer that is too good to be true), simply click on the link provided by Microsoft together with the update. This will provide vulnerability details (or a link to page with these details) that will almost always say something like this: "The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution on a client system if a user views a specially crafted Web page ... or if an attacker succeeds in persuading a user to run a specially crafted ... application." In plain English, this means the same as in 2) above: you're safe if you don't a) visit blatantly shady websites or b) install programs without verifying that these come from a reliable source or c) open email attachments without verifying that these are safe. 4) If you're annoyed that an update won't install, it's usually very easy to find a solution and/or help. There will usually be an error code and an explanation of it on the Miccrosoft webpage with the update's details. And at the top of all such MS pages is info about how to get free phone help from MS. You may have to click on a plus sign next to Introduction. 5) In your case, Inge, you had: > Error details: Code 643 > > More information: > http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=127769 > > Help and Support: > http://support.microsoft.com > > I do not know what all of this means. It's explained when you click on the first link or call MS using the info provided at the second link. Clicking on the first link takes you to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953297 By pressing Ctrl+f and searching for 643, you get to this: 923100 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923100/ ) When you try to install an update for the .NET Framework 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, or 3.5, you may receive Windows Update error code "0x643" or Windows Installer error code "1603" That explains what to do to fix the problem. Since we are dealing with Microsoft, it's good to remember that the problem may go away by waiting a few days instead of going through the laborious solution presented on that page. In fact, the best piece of info on Windows updates is this: 6) It's a good idea to change your Windows Update settings (in control panel) to "download updates, but let me choose whether to install them" and to wait a few days before installing them. Microsoft is such a huge and badly run company that it regularly uses its customers as guinea pigs for its products and bug fixes. Updates often don't work or even cause problems during the first few days until enough people have complained and the problems have been fixed. -- -------list-services-below----------- Regards, John Durham (list moderator) <http://modecideas.com/contact.html?sig> Freelists login at //www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/lsg2.cgi List archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/pchelpers PC-HELPERS list subscribe/unsub at http://modecideas.com/discuss.htm?sig Latest news live feeds at http://modecideas.com/indexhomenews.htm?sig Good advice is like good paint- it only works if applied.