windows update just seems to hang while checking.

[wither 3]

Hi Imacri-

I didn't do a custom install. I just ran the ISO on a new hard drive and on my former secondary drive. Of course, on the latter, it created Windows Old. That didn't intentionally delete personal files. The problem that caused me to do the reinstalls had corrupted the partitions on that drive and that caused me to lose the personal files. However, those files were also on my primary hard drive, which can no longer boot unless I reinstall Vista, but I can read that drive from a working hard drive. I had also saved the personal files from the drives while they were still working to my Win 7 system.

In regards to Office, it turns out to be very interesting journey.

I tried to use my SP1 and SP2 discs for Vista to install those two updates. However, one needs to run the whole Windows installation which, at this point, undesireable, to say the least. I would need to uninstall SP1 and SP2 to do that.

I tried the SP1 KB from the Microsoft Update Catalog, but it gave me the same error as previously mentioned. I eventually found the same link you provided and it installed.

However, for SP2, I had already tried the link that you provided but all it does it tell you to use the Microsoft Updater which is Windows Update. That doesn't find the update. I eventually found a working update at CNET.-

2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download

Download 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) latest version for Windows free. 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) latest update: May 26, 2017

download.cnet.com

I was unaware of SP3. I was able to download it from the link you provided (after figuring out what to click on). Thanks.
It's running while I'm typing.

Tomorrow, I will probably try the other updates you mentioned.

In regards to the server 2008 patches, I'm a little gun shy about doing all those updates again. I had done them before the crash and I don't know if it was purely coincidental that the crash occurred soon after or if it was something else since the crash occurred when SFC was constantly finding and fixing files, as I mentioned previously. As said before, I was fat dumb and happy before installing those updates. Norton Security and Malwarebytes were doing their jobs.

 

[townsbg]

If Windows Update software 7.6.7600.256 is merely another name for Agent, as you seem to assume, then why are they listed separately in wither 3's screenshot in another recent thread?

@Vistaar It is the windows update agent. I don't have the Windows update software.

 

[lmacri]

...I tried the SP1 KB from the Microsoft Update Catalog, but it gave me the same error as previously mentioned. I eventually found the same link you provided and it installed.

Hi wither 3:

The MS Office 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB936982) posted <here> on the Microsoft Update Catalog is a .CAB (cabinet) file which is a special type of compressed archive. Most MS Office updates posted on the Microsoft Update Catalog are .CAB archives. See the WinHelpOnline article How to Install CAB and MSU Updates from Windows Update Catalog? that explains the difference between .CAB archives and .MSU standalone installers.

...However, for SP2, I had already tried the link that you provided but all it does it tell you to use the Microsoft Updater which is Windows Update. That doesn't find the update. I eventually found a working update...

When you download the MS Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (KB953195) installer from the Microsoft Download Center <here> by clicking the red Download button you should be able to download the self-extracting .EXE file (office2007sp2-kb953195-fullfile-en-us.exe) to your desktop and then double-click to run the installer. If you read the entire Install Instructions on that download page there are two options to install the update - using the online Microsoft Update tool (which just re-directs you back to the Windows Update tool built in to Vista SP2) or installing the .EXE installer manually.




When you are installing the MS Office 2007 / MS Office Compatibility Pack "speed up" patches listed in Volume Z's solution on page 1 of peggybeggs' thread why has vista stopped automatic updates? [KB4018353 (Excel 2007) and KB4018355 (Word 2007); MS Office Compatibility Pack updates KB4461607 (xlconv) and KB4018354 (wordconv)] please use the download links provided in that post. Those links will download the correct .MSU and .EXE self-extracting installers.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.2.22 * Malwarebytes Free v3.5.1-1.0.365 * MS Office Professional 2003
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

 

[lmacri]

...When you download the MS Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (KB953195) installer from the Microsoft Download Center <here> by clicking the red Download button you should be able to download the self-extracting .EXE file (office2007sp2-kb953195-fullfile-en-us.exe) to your desktop and then double-click to run the installer....

Hi wither 3:

...and further to my previous reply, please see the hint in Note 3 of my step-by-step instructions on page 1 of m#l's thread Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours in the MS Answers forum (where I post as user Great White North):

Note 3: Some users have reported problems downloading the .msu installers from the Microsoft.com site with Internet Explorer 9 (e.g., the user never sees a pop-up to Run/Save the file). If this happens use an alternate browser (I recommend Firefox ESR v52.9.0, released 26-Jun-2018) or download the .msu installers to a USB thumb drive from another (non-Vista) computer and copy the .msu installers to your Vista desktop.

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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.2.22 * Malwarebytes Free v3.5.1-1.0.365 * MS Office Professional 2003
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

 

[wither 3]

Although I have all the updates installed, I tried the download for SP2 from the Microsoft site again, making the other choices, and, this time, it worked. Thanks for prompting me to give it a try.

As far as I'm concerned, Vista is up to date. I might install the server 2008 updates again some time but, for the time being, I'm good. Now, I have to go update Vista on that other hard drive.

Does townsbg still need help?

 

[Vistaar]

@Vistaar It is the windows update agent. I don't have the Windows update software.

Thank you for replying again townsbg. Perhaps the mysterious update applies only to Vista x64? I will let the matter rest then, since wither 3 seems to be the last guru running Vista x64 at vistax64.com. Good luck with your official Windows Vista patches!

Happy Second Anniversary of Vista's EOL Everyone!

 

[lmacri]

...As far as I'm concerned, Vista is up to date. I might install the server 2008 updates again some time but, for the time being, I'm good...

Hi wither 3:

Thanks for the update. If your Windows Updates ever get stuck again on "Checking for updates..." be sure to check Volume Z's solution on page 1 of peggybeggs's thread why has vista stopped automatic updates? to see if any new MS Office 2007 and/or MS Office Compatibility Pack "speed up" patches have been released since your last visit. As I mentioned in post # 658, the MS Office Compatibility Pack was added to my old MS Office 2003 suite and every few months a new update (usually the Excel file converter) is released for this product that has to be manually installed to get Windows Update working again on my Vista SP2 machine.

Once you've had a chance to catch your breath you should also read the thread More Shadow Brokers Exploits Patched June 2017 for Win XP and Vista. Five critical out-of-band updates for Vista SP2 (KB4018271 / KB4018466 / KB4021903 / KB4024402 / KB4019204) were released for older operating system like Win XP and Vista to patch vulnerabilities for three NSA-leaked exploits (EnglishmanDentist, EsteemAudit and ExplodingCan) after extended support ended for Vista SP2 in April 2017. These critical updates were never delivered via Windows Update and must be installed manually. If you used Volume Z's list of "speed up" patches <here> you already have KB4018271 (to patch IE9) and KB41019204 (to patch the Windows kernel mode driver Win32K.sys) installed and only need three of those five updates.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.2.22 * Malwarebytes Free v3.5.1-1.0.365 * MS Office Professional 2003
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

 

[wither 3]

I took a quick look (don't you just love looking for KB numbers in update history) this morning and I only had one of those five. In addition, I only saw one of them in what was supposed to be a comprehensive list of server 2008 updates starting in May 2017 and going through January 2018. I didn't have the patience to go through Volume Z' list in the link you provided.

 

[wither 3]

Just to add to the confusion about the Windows Update Agent 7.6........... vs Windows Update Agent 7.6... Software, I started preps to install updates on my secondary hard drive this morning. There is no "Software" entry. Go figure.

 

[lmacri]

I took a quick look (don't you just love looking for KB numbers in update history) this morning and I only had one of those five.... I didn't have the patience to go through Volume Z' list in the link you provided.

Hi wither 3:

Are you referring to the security updates listed in my MS Answers thread More Shadow Brokers Exploits Patched June 2017 for Win XP and Vista? I provided instructions in that post on how to quickly search your installed updates at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features | View Installed Updates (which is more accurate than Windows Update | View Update History) by entering the full KB number in the search box (e.g., "KB4012598" and not a partial string like "4012598").

If you want to see if KB4018466 (Security Update for the Windows SMB Information Disclosure Vulnerability: May 9, 2017) is installed, for example, just search for the string "KB4018466" (without the quote mark) and see if it returns a result:



And in spite of what others have implied in this thread, I have no problem if Vista SP2 users want to install Windows Server 2008 updates released after April 2017 on their computer to harden their operating system. My only request is that if they are posting in this thread and asking for help to fix their "Checking for updates..." hangs and high CPU consumption that they use the recommended set of "speed up" patches and download links provided in the instructions (others can read the FAQ <here>) and ask for clarification if they have any questions. These instructions have been thoroughly tested by hundreds (if not thousands) of Vista SP2 users, and my only concern is that it can sometimes be difficult to troubleshoot problems when people try to substitute/omit the recommended Windows Update "speed up" patches that apply to their system and/or download installers from alternate links. Once users are satisfied they've fixed their "Checking for updates..." hangs and used Windows Update to patch their Vista SP2 OS to the end of extended support on 11-Apr-2017 it's entirely up to them if they want to manually install the Windows Server 2008 updates that are being discussed in Jody Thornton's May 2017 MSFN thread Server 2008 Updates on Windows Vista.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.2.22 * Malwarebytes Free v3.5.1-1.0.365 * MS Office Professional 2003
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

 

[wither 3]

I was referring to the 5 KB's you identified in the second paragraph of post #687. I knew I could search for them by doing the "Search" but I did a visual search. I just did the search as you identified with the same results.

By the way, I enabled the ability to run Windows Update on my secondary hard drive, as I did on my primary hard drive, by running the 4 patches, and rebooting. Windows Updater found 234 updates. It took less than 1 hour to find and download about 70% of the updates. It took almost 6 hours to download the remaining updates and then install them. Note that I had the Windows Updater set to download the updates but let me choose which ones to install. I let it install all of them.

My point about installing the server 2008 updates is that 4 of the 5 updates you mentioned aren't in the comprehensive list of updates contained in a link to the website which provided the server 2008 updates from May 2017 through January 2018, that was posted in another thread in the Win 7 forum. (Phew, bad English).

 

[Vistaar]

...My point about installing the server 2008 updates is that 4 of the 5 updates you mentioned aren't in the comprehensive list of updates contained in a link to the website which provided the server 2008 updates from May 2017 through January 2018, that was posted in another thread in the Win 7 forum. (Phew, bad English).

I don't understand why "bad English" was used instead of a link, but the author of your list probably assumed that the official Windows Vista versions of those patches would be installed. Those post-EOL patches were discussed on page 4 of Server 2008 Updates on Windows Vista. In point of fact, Microsoft did post separate "versions" of those patches for Vista and Server 2008 (e.g. KB4021903), although I have no doubt that they were actually identical (aside from the Itanium-based version). The only real question is how and why Microsoft blocked the Vista versions from Windows Update.
Edit: Package Details for the Server 2008 x86 version of KB4021903 show that it was replaced by newer updates, so your list maker might be correct.

 

[wither 3]

I don't know if the 5 updates are part of the official Windows Vista versions. Haven't looked into them and haven't installed them.

I didn't provide a link because I had installed all those server 2008 updates prior to the crash and, I think I had saved the link as a favorite in Opera. I assume it was lost as a result of the crash. If I knew where Opera saves favorites, I might be able to find the link on the hard drive I haven't reinstalled Vista on. I didn't search the Win 7 forum for the link. It was in a thread unrelated to Vista, of course, but the guy provided it as a result of the discusssion. I still have all the updates in a folder.

 

[townsbg]

Opera Profile folder location - Unconfirmed.

 

[townsbg]

I've been working on this on again and off again since it isn't a high priority and all I use Vista for are a few games. My latest attempt at installing updates where 20 something .net updates and they got stuck on stage 3 of 3 at 100%. Long story short I had to boot into the ISO and restore from a restore point which put me back in buisness. That was my last attempt. KB942840 and the platform supplemental update failed prior to that. With all these issues I probably should do a repair install again. The system is functional otherwise. I still haven't tried IE 9 or office.

 

[wither 3]

Thanks townsbg. I found a Local Storage folder in the Opera Stable folder. It seems to list everywhere one has been. The problem is that I had tried to install Vista on that former primary drive and there's not much in the Windows Old folders which were created.

I did some extensive searching and I think this is the website with all the updates-

MEGA
MEGA provides free cloud storage with convenient and powerful always-on privacy. Claim your free 50GB

 

[wither 3]

I am getting random blue screens once in a while. One of them was PFN_List_corrupted. I ran chkdsk and it found no problems. I then started running SFC and, each time, it appears that it has to fix something with the installed updates. I haven't taken the time to learn how to read the logs to truly understand what it's doing but every log says that the problem was fixed. I don't know how long this is going to go on. However, the operating system seems to be working correctly. Not sure if this is a result of letting Windows install all 200+ updates at once.

 

[lmacri]

I am getting random blue screens once in a while. One of them was PFN_List_corrupted. I ran chkdsk and it found no problems. I then started running SFC and, each time, it appears that it has to fix something with the installed updates....

Hi wither 3:

Are your Windows Updates running to completion without getting stuck on "Checking for updates..."? If your Windows Update problem has been fixed then it might be best if you start a new thread about your BSODs in the Crashes and Debugging board where someone can review the dump files so this thread doesn't go off-topic. A PFN_List_Corrupted error can sometimes be caused by an outdated or corrupted device driver but the dump files generated during your BSODs should be able to tell you that.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.2.22 * Malwarebytes Free v3.5.1-1.0.365 * MS Office Professional 2003
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

 

[wither 3]

Hi Imacri- I wasn't looking for any help on the blue screens. When I get the one I mentioned, it takes forever to finish "dumping physical memory to disk." Don't have the patience for it to finish so I can look at the log. Tis spring time and I have tons of things to do outside, not to mention other personal things unrelated to computers.

I had no problems with installing all the updates. I just find it strange that every time I run SFC, it finds and fixes corrupt files and the log indicates the fixes are related to installed updates.

 

[townsbg]

Thanks townsbg. I found a Local Storage folder in the Opera Stable folder. It seems to list everywhere one has been. The problem is that I had tried to install Vista on that former primary drive and there's not much in the Windows Old folders which were created.

I did some extensive searching and I think this is the website with all the updates-

MEGA
MEGA provides free cloud storage with convenient and powerful always-on privacy. Claim your free 50GB

What's your point with this site?