Windows server 2008 how to update.

[mr_video]

I have an installation of windows server 2008 (based on vista) on an old computer and i'm getting the 80072efe error. I know microsoft's servers are down for these updates and Internet explorer won't open the updates catalog so how can I update this machine?

 

[lmacri]

Hi mr_video:

Please see the 04-Mar-2024 comments I posted about the Legacy Update tool in Vistamalc's topic KB******. According to the home page for that tool it is compatible with "Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11 (including equivalent Windows Server releases)" so I assume that would include Windows Server 2008.

There is a YouTube demo video at Legacy Update at Get Windows Update Working on Old Windows Versions! - Legacy Update Demo. The demo for Vista starts at ~ 8 min into that 12 min video, but I can't recall if a demo for a Windows Server OS is included.

 

[Vistaar]

...Internet explorer won't open the updates catalog so how can I update this machine?

Welcome mr_video!

If IE is the only browser on the machine, then you will have to use another machine with a decent browser to download installers, then transfer installers to the Server 2008 machine using removable media (assuming USB or optical drive are usable).

Without delving into the realm of fringe browsers (developer projects which are the last hope for Windows 6.0 and older), Firefox ESR 52.9.0 x86 was the last decent browser for Vista and presumably worked on Server 2008 as well. Select the language you want at this Index Page (in my case I would choose en-US, but you didn’t select a national flag for your forum account), then download the offline installer. (Even if your Server 2008 is x64, do not search for an x64 build of Firefox ESR 52.9.0 because it required Windows 6.1 minimum.) I’m not absolutely certain that this browser would still work at the catalog, but it did at least support TLS 1.2. Perhaps @wither 3 could confirm if he still has Firefox installed on his Vista? Here’s a download link for Service Pack 2. (Note: There was no SP1 for Server 2008 because the initial build was 6.0.6001 like Vista SP1. There was an SP1 for R2, but that’s Windows 6.1.)

I don’t think anyone here has actually used Legacy Update, but let us know if you have any success with it. There was an MSFN thread in which Windows XP users reported success with it, which is probably where SIW2 first heard about it.

 

[wither 3]

I still have Firefox and it seems to work although I was notified by Mozilla in March that, at the end of March, my account wouldn't be recognized or something like that. I no longer have that e-mail. I've been using Supermium as my browser for the last month. It's a little slow in accessing sites. I don't remember if it was iMacri or erpster4 who said it worked fine on his system.

 

[Vistaar]

I still have Firefox and it seems to work...

Can Firefox ESR 52.9.0 still download installers from Microsoft Update Catalog? This is a Windows Update thread. Another fringe browser is being discussed at MSFN that is possibly better than Supermium. I will post about it in a browser thread before long.

 

[wither 3]

It appears it can still download installers. There's a 1000 updates listed for Vista. I picked one and Firefox wanted to know if I wanted to run it or save it. I didn't do either.

 

[Vistaar]

It might have been nice to actually save one, but your report is very encouraging. My recollection is that Firefox could be installed on unupdated Vista to solve the “IE is practically useless” issue, and it’s a browser that the OP has probably heard of before. I doubt that anyone has yet tried Supermium on unupdated Server 2008. I also don’t think he could download Supermium (or anything else) from GitHub even with Firefox ESR 52 - much less with his default IE. That website uses very up-to-date JavaScript. The lack of browser support is of course a major reason why virtually no one (including me) is running Windows 6.0 these days.

It appears it can still download installers. There's a 1000 updates listed for Vista. I picked one and Firefox wanted to know if I wanted to run it or save it. I didn't do either.

 

[Vistaar]

Let’s say mr_video does not successfully use Legacy Update or one of the other hacks that can be found on the internet. What then? After installing SP2, I would generally recommend installing the Platform Update. My recollection is that Platform Update components for Server 2008 were identical to those for Vista, so I will once again post a list:

KB960362
KB971512
KB971513
KB971514 (??)
KB2117917 (Supplement)

Searching the Catalog for KB971514 finds updates earmarked for Vista, but none earmarked for Server 2008 - not that I believe there would be any real difference, but it does cause me to doubt whether this component was applicable to Server 2008. (If not, it shouldn’t install successfully anyway.) This component was related to data transfers with portable devices. As an iPhone user, I can tell you that this has been hopeless for nearly a decade even with that update installed (unless your device has an extremely old version of iOS).