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Then there is an error code 0×80070424. It could also show up as error 80070424.

This could be a symptom of one or more of the following problems:

• The Automatic Updates feature is turned off in Security Center and you cannot turn this feature on.
• The Automatic Updates service is missing from the Services snap-in.
• The registry is missing one or both of the following registry subkeys:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_WUAUSERV

What this simply means is that Windows thinks the update service does not exist on your computer either because it was accidentally de-registered or was not installed properly. So you get error 0×80070424.

The fastest way to fix Windows Update Error 0×80070424 is to re-register the Windows Update and Automatic Update services by running the following commands either using command prompt or the “Run” option.

Option 1:

• Go to Start>Run
• Type regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
• Click on OK wait a few seconds, then click on OK in the RegSvr32 dialog box.
• Click on Start>Run key in regedit then click on OK
  Navigate to:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv
  Look for a DeleteFlag value and, if it exists, right-click on it and select
  Delete.

Option 2:

Open the command prompt, or the “Run” box and type, or cut and paste the following:

%systemroot%\system32\regsvr32.exe %systemroot%\system32\wuaneng.dll

This will register the Windows Update service and a dialog box should display to say the commands were executed successfully. You can then retry the Windows Update service again.

It may also help to make sure that required Windows Update services like the Background Intelligent Transfer Service, Windows Update and Workstation services are running. If they are not, start those services.

To check and start required Windows Update services:

• Click on Start, select “Run” and type in “Services.msc“. You may be prompted for an administrator password or confirmation.
• In the Services dialog box, click Background Intelligent Transfer Service
• Note the status of the selection. If it shows Stopped, right-click the service and click “Start”.

Do the same for Windows Update and the Workstation services.

In some weird instances, when you look in the “Services” section under Administrative tools, the Windows Update service may not appear at all. If that is the case, see this article about installing the Windows Update agent.

Additionally, Microsoft has also made version 7.4.7600.226 of the Windows Update Agent available and you can get the files here.

You must know which kind of processor platform (x86-based, x64-based, or Itanium-based) that you have. Most users have x86-based processors [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949104]

To learn which version of Windows that you are running, or to learn whether it is a 32-bit version or 64-bit version, open System Information (Msinfo32.exe). Then, review the value that is listed for System Type. To do this, follow these steps:

Step 1:
Click Start, and then click Run, or click Start Search.
Type msinfo32.exe, and then press ENTER.
In System Information, review the value for System Type.
For 32-bit editions of Windows, the System Type value is x86-based PC.
For 64-bit editions of Windows, the System Type value is x64-based PC.

Step 2:
Download Windows Update Agent for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

To automatically obtain the latest Windows Update Agent,  we recommend that you visit the Windows Update Web site. When you visit this Web site, the latest version of the Windows Update Agent will automatically be installed. For Windows 7 and Vista, Windows Update is integrated with the Operating System and can be accessed through the Control Panel.

The simplest fix is to rename the folder at this location “%windir%/Softwaredistribution – normally, that should be Computer | C Drive | Windows |Softwaredistribution.

To be able to rename the folder, you should first stop the Window Update service like this:

• Make sure you are logged on as an Administrator
• Stop the Windows Update service

For the long-winded folks do this: Press the Start button | Control Panel | System and Security | Administrative Tools

Double click “Services”

For the shortcut-minded, go to Start | Run  or press the Windows logo + R on your keyboard and type services.msc in the “Open” box to access the services console:

• Scroll to and select the Windows Update service, then click the “Stop” button on top (see image). This will stop the Windows Update services and allow you to rename the folder.

After renaming the folder, restart the Windows Update service and try updating your system again. The update service should recreate the SoftwareDistribution folder and repopulate it with update data including missing updates and you should be able to install updates. It worked for me but as usual, your experience may be different.

After installing the failed updates, check for updates again, and you will most like get a “No important updates available” message like the one above.

You could also try the System Update Readiness Tool from Microsoft – this is normally installed by Windows update, but can be downloaded and installed manually.

The System Update Readiness Tool tries to resolve inconsistencies  in system resources like file data, registry data, in-memory data etc. which can develop “during the lifetime of the operating system”. These inconsistencies might be caused by various hardware failures or might be caused by software issues.

According to Microsoft, “In some cases, these inconsistencies can affect the Windows servicing store, and they can cause software updates not to work.” Bottom-line, such inconsistencies can mess up the Windows Update services and prevent your computer from installing updates.

The System Update Readiness Tool verifies the integrity of the following resources:

• Files that are located under the following directories:
  %SYSTEMROOT%\Servicing\Packages
  %SYSTEMROOT%\WinSxS\Manifests

• Registry data that is located under the following registry subkeys:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Components
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Schema
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing

When the System Update Readiness Tool detects incorrect manifests, files, or registry data, it might replace the incorrect data with a corrected version.

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Most home users or even business users without dedicated IT support usually find themselves calling technical support or local providers of support services for computer problems they can easily fix themselves if they take a minute to get online and search for answers.

In the past couple of weeks, I have had to rebuild a few Linux servers and I kept running into all kinds of errors that would have driven a tech support person insane if I had been calling every few hours.  Take the following errors for example on the Linux server:

• “User’s $HOME/.dmrc” file is being ignored
• error while loading shared libraries : libresolv.so.2 : cannot open shared object file
• “GConf error: Failed to contact configuration server

Then on the Windows side, I had  to deal with a couple of these:

• “Aw, Snap” error when opening a web page
• Windows protection errors when shutting down a computer
• Fatal exception errors
• Computer not coming out of hibernate or sleep mode
• Blank monitor even though computer is on

Then there are the usual suspects – a virus or spyware infection, computer running slow, web browser not loading, wireless connection not working etc.etc. The solution to any of these can easily be researched by the user online. Just hop on a search engine like Bing, Yahoo!, Google, Answers.com or even Wikipedia. If you have access to your operating system, great. Type in the error you are getting or even your frustration in your own words – like “my desktop has disappeared in Windows 7″ and try out a few of the fixes.

Some solutions may be as simple as making sure your firewall is not blocking the web site. Others may require you to reboot your computer. For example, if you run across the disappearing desktop problem on Windows 7, the solution could be as simple as right-clicking on the “blank” desktop, selecting “View” and choosing “Show desktop icons”. That would have just saved you at least $75 of support charges.

If you have a virus infection and cannot access your computer, there are Linux LiveCDs from major antivirus vendors like Kaspersky, Bifdefender, Avast that you can use to scan your system and they are free. There are also regular Linux CDs like Puppy Linux with a built-in virus scanner that will scan and remove any infection without altering the operating system.

There are options you can try before spending the $150 to fix a computer problem. Obviously, if it turns out that you cannot fix it yourself, then the money spent will have more value.

Happy computing.

Mikko Hyppönen of F-Secure has warned of a new variant of what he calls “Ransomware” or ransom trojans. These are attacks by malware that takes a computer hostage and then tries to extort a payment in return for returning control of the computer or its files to the owner. Sometimes, the malware will encrypt files (using AES – Advanced Encryption Standard, for example) until  some “ransom” is paid by buying a key to unlock the hostage computer.

The attack tries to extort money from users by pretending to be Microsoft and convincing the victims to dial international telephone numbers to” reactivate” Windows. The initial stage of the attack displays a message claiming that Windows is “locked” and must be reactivated. At this stage, the victims are unable to boot their computers into normal or even safe mode.

“To regain control of the PC, users are told to reactivate Windows online or via a phone call. The former, however, is not available; a follow-up message instructs users to dial one of six telephone numbers, then enter a six-digit code to reactivate the operating system.” The telephone numbers actually lead to an automated call center where users are kept on hold for several minutes, racking up long-distance charges.

While these numbers may look like generic service numbers, they aren’t.
•  002392216368
•  002392216469
•  004525970180
•  00261221000181
•  00261221000183
•  00881935211841

The numbers go to various countries (“00″ is the prefix for international dialing). The countries are: São Tomé and Principe (239), Denmark (45), Madagascar (261) and Globalstar Mobile Satellite Service (8819).

The trojan claims that the call is “free of charge” but it isn’t, and the trojan author will earn money from the call via a technique known as short stopping. This method involves rogue phone operators who route the expensive calls to cheaper countries.

After three minutes or so, the caller is given this unlock code: 1351236 and the unlock code appears to be the same every time the number is called. Mikko believes that this number will unlock any affected computer. As he put it, “I hate the idea of paying money to these clowns, just enter that code.”

He explains that it is a pretty clever bit of social engineering and that some victims may never even realize that they’ve been scammed. The scammers make money through “short stopping,” or the practice of billing a call at a rate higher than the actual destination.

F-Secure detect this trojan as Trojan.Generic.KDV.153863 (with a hash of md5: 9a6f87b4be79d0090944c198a68012b6).

You can watch Mikko’s video of the malware here.

One computer sat there for a whole day at 91 percent. I opened the SoftwareDistribution\Download folder and noticed multiple sub-folders with anywhere from 384MB to 548MB of content and judging by the time stamp, it looked like multiple iterations of Windows aborting and restarting the SP1 download. I booted into safe mode and cleaned out the download folder and restarted the update with the same result. I then downloaded the 2GB combo file from Microsoft Download Center and tried that with no luck. The thing just sits there at “Installing Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB976932). One laptop has fallen victim because it got too hot and I had to turn it off. Long story short, I am re-installing Windows on that laptop.

Windows server 2008 R2 did not fare better as it kept throwing up error 80070057. Turning off WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service did not resolve the 80070057 error. It was the same pattern as the Windows 7 issue – download will go up to 90-91 percent and crap out.

We’ve been waiting for SP1 for almost a year now and it’s a little surprising that there is not much to be happy about with this SP release. Obviously, if you are on a large network, this Service Pack demands thorough testing and cautious release to production. Even small business and home users should hold off on trying to update to this service pack until the kinks are worked out.

And for good measure, keep in mind that the failed or aborted update will completely hose the system restore files. For example, on one of the computers that had the stalled download, going to system restore has this scary message “No restore points have been created on your computer’s system drive”.

One good things I must say is that Microsoft did not make this an automatic installation. Users have to manually select it in Windows update, at least for now. Also, there are lot of stories of successful updates so it could be an issue of slow downloads, time-out etc.

Update:

It looks like some antivirus software could be affecting the successful installation of Windows 7 SP1. In my test with three AV software – Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG 2011 Free and Comodo Internet Security, I had to completely remove AVG before I could do anything. The computer was so slow, I almost dashed it against the wall. After uninstalling AVG, it became Hussein Bolt. The one with MSE installed without a hitch – go figure. The computer with Comodo took a while, but it went well also.

On another computer, I kept getting “error 80080100″ and had to run repair aka “upgrade” on Windows 7 before I could install service pack 1.