Some updates could not be installed

I just finished resolving that exact problem after I did a repair reinstall of XP (that included SP2). No updates could be installed on my computer after they were downloaded. I actually requested help from microsoft support (I'd heard that was difficult to obtain) and the guy responded today with the following 4 suggestions (suggestion 2 worked for me---yaaaa---hope one of them works for you):


After checking the Windows Update log which was uploaded automatically when submitting the case, I noticed that the error code 0x80004002 was encountered.

This error is most likely caused by one of the following conditions:

1. The Windows Update Temporary folder is corrupted.
2. The Windows Update Agent 3.0 is not installed properly.
3. The Windows Installer 3.1 is corrupted.

We can perform the following steps to get the issue resolved. After trying each suggestion, please go to the Windows Update site to check the issue. Thanks for your cooperation.

NOTE: Some third party programs can also affect the Windows Update service. If you are running any third party applications such as Spyblocker, Internet or web accelerators (programs designed to boost the speed of the Internet connection), security or anti-virus programs (Norton, McAfee, etc.), I recommend we temporarily disable or shut them down and then try accessing the Windows Update site later. Please be sure to enable them again when completing the update process.

Suggestion 1: Clean up Windows Update temporary folder

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1. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.

Net stop WuAuServ

2. Click Start, Run, type: %windir% and press Enter.
3. In the opened folder, rename the folder SoftwareDistribution to Sdold.
4. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.

Net start WuAuServ

If the issue still persists, please move on to suggestion 2.



Suggestion 2: Reinstall Windows Update Agent 3.0

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1. Please download the file from the following link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe

2. Save the file to C: drive.

3. Click Start->Run, type: "C:\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe /wuforce" (without quotations) and then press Enter to install the Windows Update engine.

There is a space between "C:\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe" and "/wuforce"

Note: If you are using Windows Vista, please save the downloaded file to the D: drive, because the file cannot be launched directly from the C: root directory.

If it still does not work, please proceed to suggestion 3 to reinstall Windows Installer 3.1.



Suggestion 3: Reinstall Windows Installer 3.1

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1. Press Start and choose Run.

2. Type in "cmd" (without quotation marks) and press OK.

3. In the command line, type in the following command and press Enter:

MSIexec /unregister
4. Then, type in the following command and press Enter:

MSIexec /regserver
After finishing the above steps, please check the result again. If the issue persists, please click Start, click Control Panel, and click Add/Remove Programs to check if Windows Installer 3.1 has been installed. If it has, please highlight and remove it. After that, please reinstall Windows Installer 3.1 from the following link.

Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en