windows update just seems to hang while checking.

[Volume Z]

it looks like you're missing your January 2017 updates as well.

He has KB3216775 installed.

Catching up from January 2017 with IE9, but not MS Office installed = KB4015195 and KB4014661 essential.

 

[lmacri]

He has KB3216775 installed.

I stand corrected. I check my old post # 487 in this thread and confirmed that KB3216775 was the only Vista SP2 security update released for the January 2017 Patch Tuesday updates.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.1.2 * NS Premium v22.9.3.13 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[beginner64]

Thanks for the replies lmacri and Volume Z.

Okay, just to be sure before proceeding.

I went back through this thread and it appears that there wasn't a release from MS for February 2017 Windows Updates,
so would the focus be only on March 2017 and April 2017 Windows Updates?

And my comp does have IE9 installed,
so do I download and install these?:
KB4012583, KB4015195, KB4015380, and KB4014661

Or do I download and install these?:
KB4015195, and KB4014661

 

[Volume Z]

KB4015195 and KB4014661 are indispensible for your scenario. KB4012583 only becomes critical in the absence of KB3191203. KB4015380 only becomes critical in the absence of KB3203859 and KB3164033 and KB3140735 and KB3087039.

Begin with KB4015195 and KB4014661. Make sure to have KB3191203 installed (released October 2016), which is very likely, and to have any of KB3203859, KB3164033, KB3140735 and KB3078039 installed - which is practically sure.

Regards, VZ

 

[beginner64]

Okay, I download KB4015195 which was 1.5 MB (not yet installed).
However the file size for KB4014661 is 30 MB. Is that correct?
(Microsoft Update Catalog)

KB3191203(installed) in Windows Update History.

KB3203859(installed) and KB3164033(installed) and KB3140735(installed) and KB3087039(installed) all in Windows Update History.

 

[Volume Z]

It's correct.

 

[beginner64]

Downloaded and installed both KB4015195 and KB4014661.
Checked Windows Updates manually and after about 12 minutes was notified that there were 17 Important Updates.
Downloaded and installed all 17 Important updates successfully.

After the restart something caused Windows theme to change back to classic and had to restart Windows Theme services.
Windows Vista Home Premium taskbar changed to classic colour scheme - Microsoft Community

Other than that all seems to have went well.

Thanks again Volume Z.

 

[lmacri]

Just an FYI that Microsoft has released more important "out-of-band" security updates in June 2017 to protect Vista SP2 and other operating systems from possible attacks by so-called Shadow Broker vectors created from the NSA-leaked exploits EnglishmanDentist, EsteemAudit, and ExplodingCan. See Woody Leonhard's Computerworld article There's a reason Microsoft is patching Windows XP again this month for further details.

I read the Microsoft Security Advisory 4025685: Guidance for Older Platforms: June 13, 2017 referenced in Woody's article, and after checking my installed updates at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features | View Installed Updates I confirmed that I was missing all five patches in Tables 2 and 3 that apply to Vista SP2. Note that I was fully patched as of April 2017 and already had all the patches for Vista SP2 listed in in Table 1. Here's what I was missing:

KB4018271 (Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9: May 9, 2017)
KB4018466 (Security Update for the Windows SMB Information Disclosure Vulnerability: May 9, 2017)
KB4021903 (LNK Remote Code Execution Vulnerability: June 13, 2017)
KB4024402 (Windows Search Vulnerabilities: June 13, 2017)
KB4019204 (Security Update for the Windows win32k Information Disclosure Vulnerability: May 9, 2017)

Has anyone who was fully patched as of April 2017 received any of these Vista SP2 security updates via Windows Update? I've run three Windows Updates since the June 2017 Patch Tuesday updates were released on 13-Jun-2017 (see the aside below) and didn't receive any of these patches. I manually installed all five standalone .msu installers today using the Vista SP2 download links in the Microsoft Security Advisory 4025685: Guidance for Older Platforms: June 13, 2017 since I have no idea if or when Windows Update is ever going to deliver these security updates.
___________________________

Aside: If you were fully patched as of April 2017 and have MS Office 2007, MS Office 2010 or the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 installed please remember that you will have to install the latest speed up patches for these products listed in Volume Z's post on page 1 of peggybeggs' thread why has vista stopped automatic updates? to prevent Windows Update from hanging at "Checking for updates...".
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.0 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[albertz]

FYI, I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate x64 and haven't had any luck so far installing a Windows Update "optional download" security update and other standalone security updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

This has happen in the past when Vista was still supported by MS. Windows Update hangs stating it's downloading and the standalone installers hangs searching for updates.

IIRC it was a while Vista's Windows Update had problems and then began to work again. I can't remember if I've ever been able to install a stand alone update from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Haven't had any luck so far installing these downloaded updates

windowsserver2003-kb4012598-x64-custom-enu_f24d8723f246145524b9030e4752c96430981211
Windows6.0-KB2347290-x64
Windows6.0-KB975517-x64

windows6.0-kb4018466-x64-custom_f745d7719f346e656afb0cb2fae119d303a689a0
windows6.0-kb4021903-x64_d945e443391871f55a9d01d3fdd4c6c48370ecec
windows6.0-kb4024402-x64-custom_a53e6cda8028f207a3664e12ee23e401914e55a9
windows6.0-kb4019204-x64-custom_d9d9d6baa3ea706ff7148ca2c0a06f861c1d77c4

and

Windows Update, Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB3217877)

 

[Volume Z]

You will after doing the following:

Others have turned off Windows Update by selecting "Never check for updates" from Windows Update settings. Changing the setting to "never" should stop and disable Windows Update. A reboot may be neccsary after changing this setting.

 

[lmacri]

...Windows Update hangs stating it's downloading and the standalone installers hangs searching for updates...Haven't had any luck so far installing these downloaded updates

windowsserver2003-kb4012598-x64-custom-enu_f24d8723f246145524b9030e4752c96430981211
Windows6.0-KB2347290-x64
Windows6.0-KB975517-x64

windows6.0-kb4018466-x64-custom_f745d7719f346e656afb0cb2fae119d303a689a0
windows6.0-kb4021903-x64_d945e443391871f55a9d01d3fdd4c6c48370ecec
windows6.0-kb4024402-x64-custom_a53e6cda8028f207a3664e12ee23e401914e55a9
windows6.0-kb4019204-x64-custom_d9d9d6baa3ea706ff7148ca2c0a06f861c1d77c4
and
Windows Update, Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB3217877)

Hi albertz:

Post back if your .msu installers continue to get stuck on "Checking for updates...". There are additional hints in Note 5 of the instructions in m#l's thread Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours but as Volume Z noted, most users find that terminating any Windows Update session running in the background [Windows Update | Change settings | Important updates | Never check for updates (not recommended) and re-boot - the re-boot is critical] will stop these "Checking for updates..." hangs.

If your Vista SP2 was fully patched as of 11-Apr-2017 the security updates listed in Table 1 of the Microsoft Security Advisory 4025685: Guidance for Older Platforms: June 13, 2017 [(KB975517 (rel. Oct 2009) ; KB2347290 (rel. Sep 2010) and KB4012598 (rel. Mar 2017)] should already be installed, and the .msu installer will throw a "The update is not applicable to your computer" error if an update is already installed. To see if these updates are currently installed go to Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features | View Installed Updates and search for the full KB number in the search box (e.g., "KB4012598" and not a partial string like "4012598").



[Hint: If KB4012598 is not installed yet, make sure you download the installer named Security Update for Windows Vista for x64-based systems for your 64-bit OS (try the download link at http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4012598 Vista). It looks like you downloaded the incorrect installer for Windows Server 2003.]

I'm not sure why the optional KB3217877 from March 2017 is mentioned in your post since it is not listed in Security Advisory 4025685. I also don't see the recommended KB4018271 from Table 2 of the advisory as one of the updates you tried to install. The download links I provided in post # 588 should take you to the correct .msu installers in the Microsoft Update Catalog - just be sure to choose the Vista x64 installers for your 64-bit OS.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.0 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[Autobahn]

I am now getting 'Windows can't check for updates'.
Since there are no more updates for Vista I now won't be able to check and to see if I'm missing any?
I've not checked for updates for a month or two, but I'm pretty sure that my laptop was upto date before the stop to Vista updates occurred.
So I can now turn 'check for updates' off as it is not needed anymore?

 

[lmacri]

I am now getting 'Windows can't check for updates'...So I can now turn 'check for updates' off as it is not needed anymore?

Hi Autobahn:

Windows Update will continue to deliver updates for other supported Microsoft products like MS Office and Windows Defender (assuming Defender hasn't been automatically disabled by your antivirus) after 11-Apr-2017 when Vista SP2 reached its end of extended support, so there may still be some advantage to running Windows Update past this date if you have other Microsoft products installed. If you have MS Office 2007, MS Office 2010 or the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 installed remember that these Office products will continue to trigger "Checking for updates...." hangs on Patch Tuesdays (the second Tuesday of the month), and new speed up patches for these products will have to be installed each month to keep Windows Update from hanging. Volume Z maintains a list of these Office speed up patches on page 1 of peggybeggs' thread why has vista stopped automatic updates? .

Users experiencing the slow Windows Updates being discussed in this thread don't normally see an error message. The initial "Checking for updates..." phase simply hangs for several hours (or even days) and consumes high amounts of CPU until you've installed all required speed up patches. I've run a few Windows Updates in May and June 2017 and it runs to completion in a few minutes and reports "No update available" if I'm fully patches as long as I've installed the monthly speed up patch for my MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 .

Is it possible your internet connection disconnected while you were running Windows Update, or that you've stopped/disabled your Windows Update service wuauserv and forgot to start it before running Windows Update?


------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.0 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[VFN]

I confirmed that I was missing all five patches in Tables 2 and 3 that apply to Vista SP2

Can you install those at one time or must you restart after each?

 

[lmacri]

Can you install those at one time or must you restart after each?

Hi VFN:

I normally perform a restart after each .msu installer finishes but I don't think it would do any harm if you delay the system restart until after all the installers have run to completion. Batch scripts that install multiple updates typically add the /quiet /norestart switches in the command line to prevent the Windows Update Standalone Installer (wusa.exe) from restarting the computer until all the updates have finished installing.

When I post instructions for installing a small number of standalone .msu installers interactively (i.e., by running the .msu file manually instead of using a batch file) I usually err on the side of caution and suggest that users restart when prompted at the end of each installation to ensure the update is applied correctly. It takes a bit more time this way but it's less confusing for users who have little or no experience running .msu installers - and much easier for me if I have to help them troubleshoot a failed update.

ASIDE:

There has been another major ransomware attack today in the Ukraine and several European countries - see the BBC article Global Ransomware Attack Causes Chaos. Early reports indicates this Petya/Petrwrap ransomware uses the same SMBv1 EternalBlue exploit used in last month's WannaCry ransomware attack. If that proves to be true Vista SP2 users should be protected as long as they installed KB4012598 (MS17-010: Security Update for Microsoft Windows SMB Server: March 14, 2017) during their March 2017 Patch Tuesday updates, but I'd still suggest users manually install the five out-of-band security updates released in June 2017 that protect against three other Shadow Brokers exploits (EnglishmanDentist, EsteemAudit, and ExplodingCan) - see post # 588 for download links.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.0 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[lmacri]

I am now getting 'Windows can't check for updates'...So I can now turn 'check for updates' off as it is not needed anymore?

...and further to my comments in post # 593 about occasionally running Windows Update on Vista SP2 machines after the end of extended support on 11-Apr-2017, note that Microsoft released a critical patch for the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine (32-bit versions only) on 23-Jun-2017 - see CVE-2017-8558 | Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.

I don't see 32-bit Vista SP2 listed in that security advisory but I turned on Windows Defender today (it's automatically disabled at Windows startup by my Norton Security antivirus) and ran Windows Update, and the one available update for Windows Defender patched my scan engine from v1.1.13804 to the required v1.1.13903.


------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.0 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[VFN]

Thanks as always, Imacri.

 

[Autobahn]

...and further to my comments in post # 593 about occasionally running Windows Update on Vista SP2 machines after the end of extended support on 11-Apr-2017, note that Microsoft released a critical patch for the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine (32-bit versions only) on 23-Jun-2017 - see CVE-2017-8558 | Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.

I don't see 32-bit Vista SP2 listed in that security advisory but I turned on Windows Defender today (it's automatically disabled at Windows startup by my Norton Security antivirus) and ran Windows Update, and the one available update for Windows Defender patched my scan engine from v1.1.13804 to the required v1.1.13903.

View attachment 29519
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.0 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

Even though I don't use Windows Defender, is the update still needed, for security reasons?

 

[lmacri]

Even though I don't use Windows Defender, is the update still needed, for security reasons?

Hi Autobahn:

No, that post was intended mainly for users following this thread who do not have an antivirus installed and use Vista SP2's anti-spyware version of Windows Defender as their main security software (see bzbox's post # 446 for one example) or still have Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) installed on their Vista SP2 computer. The security advisory CVE-2017-8558 | Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability states "To exploit this vulnerability, a specially crafted file must be scanned by an affected version of the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine" so you wouldn't be vulnerable unless you actually ran a scan with a scan engine older than v1.1.13903.

I was just trying to make the point that never checking for updates on a Vista SP2 computer after 11-Apr-2017 is not a safe choice for some users. I have no idea if you use Microsoft Office 2010 or any other Microsoft products on your Vista SP2 machine that are still supported so I can't give you an absolute answer to your question in post # 592 about whether it's safe for you to stop checking for updates.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.0 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[lmacri]

One other option you should consider is Torsten Wittrock's WSUS Offline Update tool - see Note 6 of the instructions in m#l's thread. This might be a good solution for you since this tool should still be able to install your missing Vista SP2, IE9 and MS Office 2007 updates even if you have a corrupted Windows Update component.

Just a warning to users following this thread that the WSUS Offline Update tool v10.9.2 was the last version to support Vista SP2. The change log for the current v11.0.0 (released 28-Jun-2017) at http://download.wsusoffline.net/ states "Support removed for Windows Vista since Microsoft discontinued support for it on April 11, 2017".
-----------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.2.1 * NS Premium v22.9.4.8 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3