Solved Consecutive error codes.

Really wish i'd get in the habit of documenting this stuff as it happens, lazy i guess.
Don't fire up the Vista O/S very often, had automatic updates disabled for some reason.
Opened up on or before 18/5/16 and had updates to install. Had some failed, went about rectifying that(something similar to SP1 fix). In amongst all that had a problem updating Defender(error 0x8007139f). Checking for updates fine, installing not so much, Got around it. All O.K. i thought.
Open up again on 26/5/16, updates waiting, install fail again. Same with Defender, checking is O.K., instal not happening, error this time 0x8007042c.
Both errors indicate possible infection/malware but nothing shows up on MSE/Safety Scanner/Emergency response Tool.
Have recently had similar problem with W10 on second HDD. No error codes, just odd behavior, that gave cause for concern. Investigation lead to "N" number of scans to ensure nothing nasty present. Nothing showed up, no more odd goings on, assurance from MS online support that i was fine(?).
Don't remember if there was a secondary note with the first error code, 0x8007042c stated something like "either your computer is infected or your firewall is turned off" Firewall is/was ON.
Yet all scans show nothing. Any ideas?
Both occasions had connectivity issues apparently(window/message told me so), and yet the i/net was accessible. Even here i am using vista OS on i/net. Did have to turn off firewall to get updates to download/install, but it was turned on again straight away.


Update: looks as though all sorted now, ran update again and got 7042c error once again. Retried and went through straight away(???). Absolutely no idea what or if i actually did anything to fix this.

Update2: Windows Update working fine, MSE gets error 0x8007042c. "App can't check updates. Check i\net/network connection." Only posts that i can find so far related to this, redirect me to a post that no longer works or is not related to what i need.
So far everything points to virus/malware but nothing is being picked up in scans.

Update3: Looks as though MSE updates are coming through Windows Update now that it's all set to auto again. Update history shows a fail or two followed by multiple successful installs. That applies to several "updates". This is starting to look more and more like a major crash is coming, same thing happened about same time last year.

timmeh said:

...had a problem updating Defender...MSE...Any ideas?

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Welcome timmeh. First of all, I would very much like to know what MSE antimalware client version you currently have installed? You can find that out by opening MSE, clicking the down arrow next to Help and selecting About. The current version is 4.9.218.0, but if you are months behind on Windows updates then you might still be running 4.8.204.0. Please let me know right away.

Installing MSE turns off the old Windows Defender antispyware, but obviously you have turned it back on since you report a problem updating it. There is nothing Defender can do that MSE can't do better, and I strongly recommend that you turn off Defender and keep it off! If you don't know how: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/93118-windows-defender-off.html. (It might be interesting to know what Windows Security Center shows under Malware protection for Spyware and other malware protection with both programs running.)

With MSE installed and functional, there is also no point in downloading Safety Scanner, which is essentially the same thing without any real-time protection - however I don't think it would cause any problems. If I thought that a virus had slipped past MSE (and so far none ever has in my case), I would first run Kaspersky Rescue Disk. I've been meaning to try Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, but haven't got around to that. A Windows update error wouldn't cause me to think "virus," but you could always start a malware removal thread at BleepingComputer if you have real grounds for concern.

MSE should be as near "up to date" as it can be. Can't check right now as i'm in W10(i'll check when I switch OS). Have had it operating since the beginning, can't remember when that was(2010?).
i.e. Lo and Behold MSE, bigger, better than defender, here have it for free. Load MSE, turn off defender and become invincible online, Yippee.
Automatic updates all round, no problems until May/June last year. Over the course of about 4/6 weeks, operational speed started going downhill, so I start looking into problem/solution.
Same as now, all evidence points to malware/similar, with nothing picked up in scans. Ended with a major meltdown and some virus/malware that was found to have infiltrated registry files all over the place. I learned enough to be able to find it, just not tech savvy enough to fix it.
Managed to do a format/clean install and get it going again, all up to date again only to have similar happen again within about a month(Yay, do it all again).
IIRC, after the second round, I read some where that due to reduced Vista support, it was a good idea to turn off full auto update. Have had it set that way since and installed updates manually. No problems 'til now.
Last prior crash I had was 2009, had to call a techie to come and get it going again, they put something called ACRONIS in a partition and I believe set it to monitor in the background. Not really sure how it worked or whether it even did anything that made a positive contribution. I never actually used it as such, but I know I inadvertently deleted the desktop shortcut just prior to the start of all my woes last year.

@ 29/5/16, MSE A.C.V. is : 4.9.218.0

Security Centre is all green lights, if that ever changes, i get right on it(has happened often enough).

Generally speaking when all is good i can keep myself out of trouble, but it doesn't take an awful lot to get well above and beyond my limited capabilities. If MSE ever says "WARNING, WARNING. I hit reverse ASAP, and run a full scan and maintenance set, then have a bit of a look around to see how it performs, then check updates are current and do it all over again just to make sure. Might be a bit over the top, but has served me reasonably well so far. I've never Paid for protection.

Will MSE pick up nasties after the fact? If something does get through, and an update for said something comes later, will MSE find and fix it?

Have seen some threads now that seem to indicate issues with this A.C.V., perhaps thats whats occuring?

timmeh said:

...MSE A.C.V. is : 4.9.218.0...Will MSE pick up nasties after the fact? If something does get through, and an update for said something comes later, will MSE find and fix it? Have seen some threads now that seem to indicate issues with this A.C.V., perhaps thats whats occuring?

Click to expand...

Many MSE users running Vista reported "black screen after login" after installing http://www.vistax64.com/windows-upd...-security-essentials-4-9-218-0-kb3140527.html. After hiding the update for a month, I finally installed it and found that the issue did not affect my system. Obviously it did not affect your system either, so I don't know of any compelling reason why we should revert to an earlier MSE version or switch to another antivirus. However you might want to check Problem Reports and Solutions to see if the new MSE client has been acting up. I've had a number of MpTelemetry problem reports of the ScanFile variety, but I don't consider them to be a serious issue - and it's not like MSE 4.8 was problem-free either. You may have ruled out one hunch I had about the "black screen" issue: That those affected all had the old Windows Defender turned on. (Did you also have its real-time protection turned on?)

MSE's real-time protection has stopped a few "nasties" for me, but scans have never detected anything further. (Prior to 2015 I used AVG, and my experience was much the same: Real-time protection stopped some viruses, but scanning only produced the occasional false positive.) I've also never paid for protection: the Kaspersky tools I mentioned before are free downloads. Scans with Kaspersky Rescue Disk have also detected no threats - hopefully meaning my PC is clean.

Is your Vista fully updated now? If there's an update that still won't install, please post details about it.

timmeh said:

...Load MSE, turn off defender and become invincible online, Yippee.

Click to expand...

Never, EVER, assume that.

townsbg said:

Never, EVER, assume that.

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I don't, poor attempt at humour. I think i got a good run out of it though.
'09 to '16 with only defender then switch to MSE when it was offered(2010?).
Once MSE was up and running defender is turned off(automatic), from memory system would not allow both to run together.

As far as i can see it's all up to date, i'm probably just in low level panic mode ATM. Not really well versed in this sort of malarkey, just picking up bits and pieces here and there, stumbling my way through.
MSE has been better than any trial antivirus i've tried(not that there has been many) and saved me more times than i can remember, so why pay when the free/included one is just as good.

P.S. 14.00 LT just tried update again through MSE. Error code 0x8007042c "Unable to install. Check internet connection" (online as it is doing the update).
Then tried Windows Update and get; MSE update KB 2310138 def: 1.223.113.0 Success
MSE update KB 2310138 def: 1.223.110.0 Fail
So they are still coming in and installing, just not directly through MSE.
Thinking perhaps i was incorrect earlier, must be just error code 0x8007139f that said "infected or firewall turned off". Did get that message though.

timmeh said:

...just tried update again through MSE. Error code 0x8007042c...Then tried Windows Update and get; MSE update KB 2310138 def: 1.223.113.0 Success...So they are still coming in and installing, just not directly through MSE.

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Sorry for the delay. I don't have the issue myself, and googling "microsoft security essentials error code 0x8007042c" returns a large number of results. For example, Vista user Dutch-n-KC solved the issue in 2013 simply by rebooting: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...8007042c/504420d0-85f7-4651-9af8-2a3696191788. In the same year, Vista user tester2000 appears to have solved the issue by uinstalling and reinstalling MSE: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...icrosoft/235a62fe-0568-4492-b18d-8360f4d9bd79. If the issue is a recent development, System Restore might be an option. I would also suggest running sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt. Helpers at Microsoft Answers do seem to presume that malware is involved, but I'm not so sure. BTW are you familiar with Malwarebytes Free? It's a very good program, just be sure to deselect the free trial of Premium when you install or update the program. When you last installed Vista, did you restore from a factory image? If yes, was there a free trial of McAfree, Norton, etc? If yes, did you use their removal tool? Security products with real-time protection are generally difficult to completely uninstall. Are you using Windows Firewall, and is it green in Security Center?

Security Centre is all green.
Every resurrection has been clean install via CD.
Haven't used any protection other than Defender or MSE since 2009.
Recall using sfc scannow last year, it found what had caused problems then. Whatever that was, it was all through registry files. Way out of my league, so did another clean install.
It's still running OK. Just the issue with updating MSE, which is a recent problem(couple of weeks tops). Previous time I fired up, about a month prior to that, everything seemed OK. I've now put updates back to auto(think I came across an article somewhere that suggested doing them manually) and keeping an eye on it for now.
As for System Restore, every time I need it, there are no valid restore points, I need an auto setting.

I know enough to keep out of trouble... most of the time.
But when things go bad, generally I make it worse when I go nosing around the 'puters gizzards.

Have you solved this yet? My best hunch is that the most recent MSE upgrade didn't install quite right. If you reinstall MSE, be sure to run the installer as administrator.

I recently had a failed definition update, however my problem signature was 0x80070670. I had three occurrences of that during the ten months I was using MSE 4.8, but this was the first since upgrading to 4.9 in March. I won't worry about it unless it becomes frequent. BTW running sfc /scannow did not find any integrity violations.

Not sure if it's solved. Have been busy with other things. Next time I use vista, i'll no doubt find out.

Quick update: Fired up Vista on 8/6/16 (DD/MM/YY), left to do it's maintenance/scans business overnight.
9/6/16 morning, check updates, have two opional. Check box, install,... failed, error 0x8007042c.

Update history shows 9/6/16 KB 2310138 def 1.223.1093.0 failed
8/6/16 KB 2310138 def 1.223.1015.0 failed

Quick read through help again, retry, success.

Update history shows 9/6/16 KB 2310138 def 1.223.1093.0 successful
9/6/16 KB 2310138 def 1.223.1093.0 successful
9/6/16 KB 2310138 def 1.223.1093.0 failed
8/6/16 KB 2310138 def 1.223.1015.0 failed


If it stays true to current form it will try to and probably succeed installing that last one 4 more times.

timmeh said:

9/6/16 morning, check updates, have two optional. Check box, install,... failed, error 0x8007042c.

Click to expand...

I was curious what your second optional update might have been, so I checked for updates myself, and was surprised to be offered two definition updates for MSE. That isn't supposed to happen: Windows Update is only supposed to offer the most recent definition update. I've used MSE for more than a year and haven't seen that issue before. Did you attempt to simultaneously install two definition updates? Not me: I selected the most recent update (i.e. the one with the highest definition number) and successfully installed it. I have no doubt that an error would have occurred if I had then turned around and tried to install the older update, so I checked for updates again instead, after which the older update quite properly was no longer offered. Double update offerings would seem to indicate a problem at Microsoft's end.



If you leave the Vista PC turned on without attempting to manually update MSE multiple times, does MSE automatically update once per day like it's supposed to? I still think you might need to reinstall MSE, and I would not rely on Windows Update to do it. I would download the installer from the Microsoft website before uninstalling. After uninstalling, I would restart the PC, then right-click the installer and run it as administrator.

That it fails while trying to install two updates, one of which probably overrides/supercedes the other makes sense.
What gets me is, it then goes on to install the latest update multiple times, have had occasions where it has occurred 6 times or more over the course of 2 or more shutdowns/restarts...
When set to manual, it keeps offering, you can hide it, delete it, whatever you can think of, it just keeps coming. Somewhat akin to the SP issue, where it gets stuck, it just gets over it a bit sooner.
Could just be mild paranoia on my part, but all the MAJOR negative events I've experienced, have been preceded by strange behaviour like this. In saying that, it still seems to be functioning well, whereas previously it would by now be quickly going downhill and headed for catastrophic incident.

Perhap's the fact that I try to manually install updates before I run scans/maintenance is the problem now that I've set it all to auto again, but would and did have problems when having to do it all manually before.

More research required.

As for leaving it on, I can't tell you as I haven't noticed, don't leave it on overnight very often.
And the second optional update, FxxxKNOWS. That was part of the confusion.

timmeh said:

What gets me is, it then goes on to install the latest update multiple times, have had occasions where it has occurred 6 times or more over the course of 2 or more shutdowns/restarts...And the second optional update, FxxxKNOWS. That was part of the confusion.

Click to expand...

Are you still writing about definition updates for MSE? Windows Update does not install Optional updates automatically, and MSE updates itself automatically only once per day. If an update failed, then it would not be surprising if it was offered again - but a definition update would no longer be "the latest" after several hours.

In rare cases, Windows Update might offer an update that was already successfully installed. That happened to me exactly once: http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/304266-security-update-windows-vista-kb2570947-deja-vu.html. If that happens, my advice is to check for updates again. This is one reason why I will never set Windows Update to the fully automatic setting. (My preferred setting is "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them.") When Patch Tuesday comes around (as it will June 14), I check that every update was published "today" and not some time ago. So your second optional update was not another MSE definition update? (Googling "FxxxKNOWS" returns nothing.) Are you running Vista with SP2?

i'm REALLY not certain of what is happening here.

"Are you running Vista with SP2?" Yes

"still writing about definition updates for MSE?" Yes, second attempt installed one update twice. This happens quite often for me and even though it has been successfully installed it keeps coming up, can't ignore it, can't get rid of it, nothing else comes through until that particular update is recognised.(whether in manual or auto setting for updates)

"Update does not install Optional updates automatically" Yes, i'm aware of that. I had set to 'check for updates, let me choose', having read somewhere that was the best remedy for the issues that I had been having with automatic updates. Have now switched back to auto because I've been having a lot of the same troubles with installation when it comes time to do so.

"If an update failed, then it would not be surprising if it was offered again" Even if they(some, not all) are successful, they continue to offer again, have had some do it at least 6 times after successful install.

"second optional update was not another MSE definition update?" Yes it was. Two different ones in the failed attempt that was done directly through MSE update tab(KB 2310138 def. 1.223.1015.0 and KB 2310138 def. 1.223.1093.0)
I then go to Windows Update and try again, and get the same update(KB 2310138 def. 1.223.1093.0) installed successfully TWICE.

"Windows Update might offer an update that was already successfully installed." Happens to me quite a lot.

"update was published "today" and not some time ago" Silly me, I'd forgotten to only install the latest update. That's why it had to be set to manual.


My posts seem a bit obscure, even to me upon rereading, probably due to frustration, tired, boozy or combination thereof.

If it was me, I would uninstall/reinstall MSE. You could also switch to a third-party antivirus, but that would also require uninstalling MSE. I'm not an authority on uninstalling MSE because I"ve never yet had to do it. If it was me, I would use Google. If I wanted other opinions, I would post at Microsoft Answers. If you reinstall MSE, do not try to turn on Vista's old Windows Defender antispyware.

I see that there are a few others currently having issues with updates, is it "that time of the month" for Vista?

My woes came good for a while, have now returned. Was able to get MSE updates installed manually through Windows Update... eventually. Recent list of updates reads thus...


19/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2055.0 Failed Error 8007042c

23/6/2016 KB 3162593 Silverlight Successful

23/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2407.0 Failed Error 8007042c
23/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2407.0 Failed Error 8007042c
23/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2407.0 Failed Error 8007042c
23/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2407.0 Failed Error 8007042c
23/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2407.0 Failed Error 8007042c
23/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2407.0 Failed Error 8007042c
23/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2407.0 Failed Error 8007042c

25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c
25/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2619.0 Failed Error 8007042c

27/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2730.0 Failed Error 8007042c
27/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2730.0 Failed Error 8007042c
27/6/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.223.2730.0 Failed Error 8007042c

1/7/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.225.94.0 Failed Not Needed (All green, no error)
1/7/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.225.94.0 Failed Error 8007042c
1/7/2016 KB 2310138 def. 1.225.94.0 Failed Error 8007042c

All done manually through windows update, due to MSE not coping with upates, manual or otherwise.

Would I be correct in guessing that you have not reinstalled MSE? Again, that is what I would try if I had your problem (which I do not, even though I am also using MSE 4.9 on 32-bit Vista).

Haven't reinstalled MSE yet. All seemed to settle down for a while, working OK, now having problems again. Only put up another post because I had seen a lot of posts/threads recently about MSE/update issues. Looking through, I found nothing specific that applies to my situation. Post in the hope that someone might that little piece of info that's just right.

I'm loathe to start uninstall/reinstalling just yet.

My Vista OS is currently using 42GB of 65GB. I only have a handful of basic games and some extra programs like ADOBE and GOOGLE, less than 25% of what I had in downloaded programs before it crashed about this time last year.(back then it had a 130GB partition, not 65, I know it wasn't full, was definitely virus/malware/adware that caused it)
Really just trying to learn, figure out what happened, how to fix, how to avoid problems without having to throw away a months download reinstalling from scratch.

I've tried to keep it to a minimum, and considering that minimum requirements are 5GB HDD space, it seems fairly hefty. Can't remember how big it got before the crash but iv'e deliberately kept downloads to a minimum this time around. Going now to switch to vista OS now, and try updates again and have a look at ratio of downloads to OS. Let's see how heavy the OS actually is, maybe trim some fat.