REVISED May 2009: I have not had these particular update problems since Late 2008

Microsoft seems to have fixed the update to a certain extent.

I still have to install the automatic updater for the manual updates to work and at the same time, the Manual Updates must be run for the Automatic Updater to work. Otherwise they both stop or miss updates, both security and optional ones. (XP and 2000)

REVISED OCTOBER 14, 2008 - JG

 If you install all or most of the available updates before SP3 as a choice, there will usually not be a problem.

If you find you cannot install all the available updates as a full batch (I have seen from 70 to 102 depending on what state a new install of SP2 is in) then uncheck all, go to the bottom of the list, recheck the first 10, I do 10 or 12 at a time, that usually works. Within those updates, is a fix for the updater that otherwise fails, either with all those updates, or the SP3 update. (I forgot to record the specific number but did notice it while checking the checkboxes  - they should make it one of the prerequisites for SP3)

 REVISED AUGUST 21, 2008: recent example:

HP tower with ASUS chipset, P4 - 3Ghz - Media Player Edition - this week. - This is the THIRD one I had to fix since SP3 came out - out of about 50 computers with SP3 (Came in with some errors, spyware - due to updates failing to install, part of the problem)

 Fix SP3: updater fails after SP3 install in XP

 This page started June 15, 2008 - Copied From:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r20453460-XP-Pro-Updates-Fail-after-Fresh-Install-and-XP-SP3-Loaded

There are lots of complicated fixes before this one, on that page, this is the easy one that works:
(with the correct download site, which was not in this particular message, but in an earlier one)
(begin quote)

reply to bcastner
Thanks a million for your post. I had done a fresh install of XP Professional with no service packs slipstreamed in. Then, applied SP2, followed by SP3. Had nothing else installed - including AV. Turned on automatic updates and was alerted to install KB898461. This update would not install. Downloaded the update manually from Microsoft and was able to install that way. Then, tried update.microsoft.com to see what other updates were available. Found 4 critical, including IE7. Attempting to install. All 4 failed. That's when I found your post.
Followed your instructions -- here's a summary of what I did to get everything working. A few steps in your CMD window step were not needed.

1. Get the windows updater here and save to desktop:

http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsUpdate/redist/standalone/7.0.6000.381/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe

2. Start, Run, CMD

Type these two commands in (one at a time) into the black window to install the update agent. The service will be started again after installation automatically:

net stop wuauserv

"%userprofile%\Desktop\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe" /wuforce

3. Finished. Try installing updates from the yellow shield OR update.microsoft.com. Should be good to go now.

(end quote)

Jack's Note: I tried just this and it worked for me on the one I tried SP3 on before all the other updates. If you install all available other updates first, this does not seem to be an issue. On most of the computers I tried, SP3 will not install on the first try, which turns out to be a good thing. - Aug. 2008 - still the case.

(Also Vista SP1 also will sometimes fail if needed updates are not present before installing)

Note that on the install line after the x86.exe there is a space then /wuforce

YOU MUST USE THE QUOTES exactly as written!

----- 

Back to home page: Jackslist.com