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Error: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded

Posted on Nov 26, 2007 under Windows Tips, Windows XP Tips | 258 Comments

You get an error message when trying to install Windows Updates on your Windows XP or Windows 2000 computer.

Problem: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded or installed.

Here’s how to solve the problem:

1. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 wuapi.dll

2. When you receive the message that the DLL has been registered, click OK and perform the same steps for each of the following commands under Start > Run:

regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 wucltui.dll
regsvr32 wups2.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll
regsvr32 wuweb.dll

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258 Comments so far »

  1. by hanmeng, on December 6 2007 @ 12:35 pm

     

    Finally! Thanks!

  2. by Graham Davis, on December 10 2007 @ 1:06 pm

     

    Thanks for that, it worked. I had to perform a repair installation and ended up with 83 updates that would not install. This did the trick, much appreciated.

  3. by T Conaghan, on December 11 2007 @ 4:06 pm

     

    After a re-activation of Win XP Home – 87 updates would download but not install – this worked immediately. Deep joy! Many thanks.

  4. by Kevin K, on December 15 2007 @ 1:55 pm

     

    For the longest time with a clean install of XP, for some reason updates would not install. With this, they are now installing fine! Thanks!

  5. by Niclas B, on December 15 2007 @ 2:23 pm

     

    Great tip! Have had this problem for ages and been installing updates manually. Now it works as a charm!

    Many thanks!

  6. by jim, on December 21 2007 @ 9:48 am

     

    Why can’t Microsoft post something like this!
    This was easy, quick and it worked. …. Thanks

  7. by Matt, on December 22 2007 @ 3:26 pm

     

    This was driving me nuts, thanks a bunch! I have been through microsoft forums and the microsoft people say you have to call tech support…idiots.

  8. by Tim, on December 23 2007 @ 10:31 pm

     

    Brilliant! Thank you.

  9. by Russell Potter, on December 25 2007 @ 1:26 pm

     

    Thank you thank you thank you This has been bugging me for over 11 days. Yet your fix solved the problem immediately.

    Thanks
    Russell

  10. by Sunil, on December 31 2007 @ 10:29 am

     

    I cannot thank you enough.. This has been nagging problem.. 89 updates and growing.. (thanks to MS)… Yet the most important things we have a fix from you. God bless you and your family.
    Happy New Year 2008
    Thanks

  11. by Brian Chasse, on January 4 2008 @ 7:41 pm

     

    Awesome.. fixed it right up…. finally, someone with useful guidance that works..

  12. by Easwar, on January 5 2008 @ 6:36 pm

     

    Thanks, thanks, thanks for the excellent help…I was struggling with Windows update issue for last 2 months doing lot of search, trials, spending time in reading MSFT articles… your tip worked…

    I am surprised, there is no such help available from Microsoft and their tool does not detect these issues at all.

  13. by Pat, on January 6 2008 @ 8:19 am

     

    Same as number 2, performed a repair installation and then couldn’t get updates to install. Great fix, wish I’d come here first.

  14. by Mike DeMopar, on January 12 2008 @ 6:56 pm

     

    Wow, I can’t believe this worked. You rock, man.

    -Mike

  15. by Arspi, on January 13 2008 @ 8:27 am

     

    Thanks, it works perfect.

  16. by Dirtyike, on January 14 2008 @ 7:22 am

     

    You Rule.. after trolling MS forums and their stupid nonsense I came upon this solution and it worked perfectly. Kudos.

  17. by Nedyalnov, on January 14 2008 @ 11:54 pm

     

    Thank You! But I am supriset too … why Microsoft do not resolve the problem?

  18. by Bob G, on January 17 2008 @ 3:13 am

     

    Awesome!
    This was becoming a major pain.
    This tells me a lot about technipages and how great the advice is.

  19. by Joe, on January 17 2008 @ 5:54 pm

     

    finally…it worked brilliantly…thank you soooo much. i thought i was going to have to reformat…

  20. by John Hughes, on January 21 2008 @ 5:15 am

     

    You’ve converted the cynic in me. Worked immediately and I must have looked at a dozen other ‘help’ sites. Why oh why doesn’t MS help like this???????

  21. by Mike Gunn, on January 22 2008 @ 12:39 pm

     

    This works great. Thanks for the advice.

  22. by Laurentiu, on January 24 2008 @ 9:18 am

     

    Great it worked well from first try

  23. by Tom Byron, on January 25 2008 @ 10:25 am

     

    Dude this tip worked immediately! Thx.

  24. by Mike, on January 27 2008 @ 3:22 am

     

    Man – thank you SO much – I was tearing what little hair I have, out.
    If Microsoft are so clever that they can write the error message, why do they not write some sort of “fix” to go with it. Instead, when I cut and paste in their error message – their helpscreens just look blankly at me.

    Thanks again.

  25. by Mark, on January 29 2008 @ 7:08 am

     

    I have tried this fix before to no avail. However I noticed before when I tried from another site wuaueng1.dll and wups2.dll were not listed. One of those seemed to be my problem.

  26. by Arash, on February 2 2008 @ 2:25 pm

     

    thanks a lot. that worked!

  27. by Brandon, on February 3 2008 @ 12:24 am

     

    Thank you so much, this worked great!!

  28. by Tim, on February 5 2008 @ 3:41 pm

     

    absolutely brilliant, appreciate the help, I have been trying for weeks to fix this after reinstalling xp and having to download and install about 88 updates

  29. by Sonia, on February 15 2008 @ 11:21 am

     

    You Little Darling.
    Ta.

  30. by Terence, on February 15 2008 @ 8:49 pm

     

    Could i just say? Microsoft are bloody idiots, they dont give a tip like this

    you have saved my life, for that i thank you deeply!

    I was not able to get this kind of information anywhere else

  31. by wickchads, on February 22 2008 @ 12:20 pm

     

    Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! This has been annoying me for weeks but all sorted now :o )

  32. by AC, on February 24 2008 @ 10:37 pm

     

    Thank you!!!!! Great its working!! Thank you so much!!!!
    AC

  33. by DR, on February 26 2008 @ 7:53 pm

     

    THis seems to be working after hours of searching on MS websits and others. Thanks a bunch!

  34. by kd, on February 28 2008 @ 10:51 am

     

    Have to agree- worked like a charm! Updates were working fine then all of a sudden they would download but not install. Couldn’t figure out why… don’t care why at this point!

  35. by J.E., on March 1 2008 @ 9:22 am

     

    I thank you.

  36. by Damien Keitel, on March 4 2008 @ 6:06 am

     

    OMG. Man I just can’t believe this. It worked. I have tried every thing. Recieved 4 emails from the Australian Micro$oft guys and they were asking me if I had fixed the problem 3 timed LOL. You guys really know your s#*t. Excuse the language. Have been trying for a couple of weeks trying everything to fix it.
    Be adding a banner ad to my home page for you guys cheers again

    Keitzy
    http://www.keitzy.com.au

  37. by David Morison, on March 6 2008 @ 2:36 pm

     

    As all above, how refreshing to find someone who can give accurate concise and correct informTION. Well done!

  38. by Bob, on March 9 2008 @ 8:32 pm

     

    Well done you have cured another one :)

  39. by Erik, on March 9 2008 @ 10:34 pm

     

    Worked right away, <33333

  40. by Mike, on March 10 2008 @ 5:48 am

     

    OMG.. i have been searching for this ‘cure’ for so long.. and Bingo!! this did it!.. what a saviour..
    saving this note for sure.

  41. by Matt, on March 12 2008 @ 8:02 am

     

    Wicked. Thanks :)

  42. by Ian Harris, on March 13 2008 @ 4:48 am

     

    Amazing.

    Thank you ever so much for this.

  43. by Beth, on March 17 2008 @ 6:25 pm

     

    I cannot thank you enough for having this information available. I have been looking for this resolution for months. This actually worked. All I can say is that you a God.

  44. by Marc, on March 19 2008 @ 8:22 pm

     

    Thank you so much! It was easy and worked!

  45. by Imo Ekpo, on March 20 2008 @ 9:53 am

     

    Thanks for the help! It resolved the issue right away.

  46. by Daniel, on March 25 2008 @ 4:15 am

     

    Great Tip, works straight away. Couldn’t find anything on the microsoft site.

  47. by Boyan, on March 25 2008 @ 4:49 am

     

    F*** Microsoft! And again! Why couldn’t I find this on their site???

  48. by Afeef, on March 30 2008 @ 10:21 pm

     

    That was Magic.

  49. by suresh, on March 31 2008 @ 1:24 am

     

    thanks Boss
    Its working fine mow

  50. by Lim, on April 1 2008 @ 9:11 am

     

    Thanks heaps. After searching for hours and numerous Microsoft so called solutions, yours did the trick in minutes. Your website is a legend. You’d be my first “port of call” for all future problem solving!

  51. by Karteek, on April 2 2008 @ 11:07 am

     

    Thanks a million. It worked like a charm. Howe did you happen to get that information?

  52. by Anna Hail, on April 6 2008 @ 6:08 pm

     

    You guys are absolutely amazing!!!

    We tried this other site that had other .dlls, but those didn’t work. However, yours did… awesome! :]

  53. by progmars, on April 10 2008 @ 6:47 am

     

    Thanks a lot from me, too!

  54. by Robin, on April 11 2008 @ 11:21 pm

     

    Thanks -immediately sorted problem. Microsoft site no help but this simple and works.

  55. by Cycles, on April 14 2008 @ 3:04 pm

     

    Finally!! After much research and solutions that didn’t work. Wish Microsuck did a better job on their software and support.

    Thanks a bunch

  56. by Lee H in TX, on April 15 2008 @ 1:43 pm

     

    I had the same problem (96 updates that would not install) I tried other “fixes”, but this is the only one that worked!!!

    THANKS!!!!

  57. by Kwezza, on April 17 2008 @ 2:46 am

     

    Just re-installed xp and got that error. Thanks for the tip – works great now!

  58. by mustafa mamdouh, on April 19 2008 @ 9:26 pm

     

    Very Simple,Very Helpful

  59. by Robey, on April 22 2008 @ 6:16 am

     

    I was feeling like a lion tamer.. withOUT a whip. Then I read this article. Thanks.

  60. by Adam W in TX, on April 24 2008 @ 3:01 pm

     

    Thank you so much! Worked for me, too! Had 93 updates downloaded that wouldn’t install. As others have said, no help on the MS website.

  61. by TheDarium, on April 25 2008 @ 1:26 pm

     

    Hey, thanks, like the others, this worked right away.

    Had found a simular solution on the windows website, but it didn’t include the wups2.dll or wuaueng1.dll files, and had a few other ones. plus they had me stop the windows update service, rename the files from *.dll to *.old, regester them, then restart the windows update service. Overall a much better soulution here then on microsoft’s site.

  62. by Dan F., on April 27 2008 @ 2:34 pm

     

    It’s working, thanks!! I spent my whole Sunday trying over and over again, a dozen fixes suggested by Microsoft, then reinstalling XP, then uninstalling programs I thought might be causing problems – nothing worked. As other posters noted, this error message from Microsoft does not appear in any Microsoft “help”.

  63. by Pete, on April 28 2008 @ 11:45 pm

     

    yes Yes YES! :-)
    Everything other people have said and more.
    Great fix, thanks.

  64. by richbike, on April 29 2008 @ 12:12 pm

     

    Nice one! You really would have thought after years of patch controversy the clowns at Redmond would have this sorted…or at least have a bl00dy technet article to cover it.

  65. by DH, on April 29 2008 @ 5:45 pm

     

    Sen-freakin’-sational !!!!!

  66. by Jin, on May 3 2008 @ 10:11 am

     

    Thanks a million!

  67. by CHANTAL, on May 5 2008 @ 12:05 pm

     

    Thanks, I was going crazy 4 dayz until i came accross this site!

  68. by Tony, on May 6 2008 @ 7:57 pm

     

    Great….fixed the problem immediately. Thank you!

  69. by ChrisMcC, on May 7 2008 @ 1:22 pm

     

    Thank you!
    Have been banging head against a wall for hours now!!
    All fixed

  70. by JDinger, on May 7 2008 @ 7:12 pm

     

    You’re the man!

  71. by Yair, on May 9 2008 @ 3:20 pm

     

    FANTASTIC!!!!
    Thanks a lot!

  72. by Windows Update Not Updating? » Solo Technology, on May 11 2008 @ 6:01 am

     

    [...] support stuff didn’t turn up anything helpful, but a web search on the error message found a helpful blog article at [...]

  73. by Circuit, on May 13 2008 @ 11:52 am

     

    Just copy the commands into a script or batch file (use the /s switch) and make it easy to do

  74. by BrokenBokken, on May 14 2008 @ 4:53 pm

     

    You, sir, are a life saver. Thank you very much.

  75. by Jay, on May 14 2008 @ 8:01 pm

     

    Nice, finally a top result on Google that instantly does the trick! Thank you, author!

  76. by David, on May 14 2008 @ 10:06 pm

     

    Worked like a charm. Thank you so much!

  77. by watice, on May 15 2008 @ 2:59 am

     

    Thank you for posting this. Fresh install of windows XP would download but not install updates, this fixed it.

  78. by Mark Linn, on May 15 2008 @ 9:15 am

     

    Thanks technipages! 2 New Dell’s installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 fine then would not install any other Windows Updates. I thought it was an SP3 issue. Checked Google before uninstalling SP3 and I’m glad I did. Thanks again!

  79. by Meeeee!, on May 17 2008 @ 4:06 am

     

    Solution bookmarked!! Excellent worked a treat for me, was also thinking of uninstalling SP3 – but glad I stumbled here!!!

  80. by a, on May 18 2008 @ 5:52 am

     

    i found this fix instantly on the microsoft update troubleshooter, tere was a link as soon as the error came up.

  81. by meadsf, on May 18 2008 @ 7:24 am

     

    Thanks a lot! I even formatted my computer but had the same problem! Thanks!

  82. by Mike W, on May 20 2008 @ 3:08 pm

     

    Great tip!

  83. by Andre, on May 23 2008 @ 7:14 pm

     

    Microsoft, get some REAL TechSupport on your website! Been running around in circles on MS’ KB and other ‘troubleshooting’ pages.
    This worked a treat…first time.

  84. by surfsk8snow, on May 24 2008 @ 8:28 am

     

    Dude thanks a ton, why does this problem spring up in the first place? I’ve updated dozens of computers and never seen this before. Seems like something that should be coded into one of MS DL Helpers or whatever.

  85. by Jelly, on May 24 2008 @ 10:07 am

     

    Thankyou! thankyou! omg thankyou! microsoft help was useless…i gave it the error message and it looked at me like a cow looks at an oncoming train! then one google search later I found your solution and it worked instantly.. did I mention thankyou!

  86. by Lee, on May 27 2008 @ 11:40 pm

     

    Great tip. Thanks a ton for posting it. As usual, Microsoft is not the place to go for help, Google is! I have installed Windows perhaps hundreds of times, and this is the first time I’ve run into this issue. If not the last, then Google will lead me back here!

    Thanks again, this worked for me.

  87. by Rai, on May 29 2008 @ 11:40 am

     

    This is awesome, I finally fix it, this really works. Thank you very very much!!! Microsoft sucks I’d been trying to find some help with them but nothing worked. Thanks again.

  88. by Seb, on May 30 2008 @ 11:49 am

     

    AWESOME info! This had me baffled, and even re-occured after two complete reinstalls of XP PRO!… THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

  89. by Eyal, on May 30 2008 @ 11:38 pm

     

    It worked just great! U saved me

  90. by jeff, on May 31 2008 @ 10:03 pm

     

    AWESOME!!!!!

  91. by bob, on June 1 2008 @ 1:34 am

     

    I kept trying to figure out what the problem was, wasted a few hours. Somehow Google found this page, thanks a lot for posting the information!

  92. by Borys, on June 1 2008 @ 9:33 am

     

    Don’t know why this but your a god for helping me fix it

  93. by David Breder, on June 2 2008 @ 12:08 pm

     

    Thanks!!! awesome!!!

  94. by Mr G., on June 2 2008 @ 4:13 pm

     

    Sweet!

  95. by You are a life saver, on June 3 2008 @ 7:35 am

     

    Thank you so much!

  96. by Chris, on June 4 2008 @ 6:43 am

     

    After installing SP3 I started having this problem, but the fix worked.

  97. by AntarcticPL, on June 4 2008 @ 8:51 am

     

    Thanks a million! After trying, trying …
    Luckily found your solution!

  98. by Rich, on June 6 2008 @ 9:39 am

     

    Thanks a lot, this worked.

  99. by Stu, on June 6 2008 @ 12:00 pm

     

    Oh mate, you are such a lifesaver!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  100. by Anyone, on June 7 2008 @ 11:55 am

     

    Thank you very much.
    It worked great for me.
    Microsoft released SP3 without including this issue which is disappointing, also they don’t say anything about this in there support website.

  101. by John, on June 8 2008 @ 5:08 pm

     

    Same here. Just rebuilt my thinkpad from factory install, and then applied SP3. Right after that it refused the next set of updates. As soon as I reregistered those modules, it was alive and well.

  102. by Kelvin, on June 9 2008 @ 1:54 pm

     

    Thank you so much for the tips. I couldn’t figure out why but after I installed SP3 the update just stopped working. Now everything works well. Suggestion: it would be great if you can share what is causing the problem.

  103. by Justin, on June 9 2008 @ 11:11 pm

     

    Add me to the long list of very pleased people. TY!

  104. by Joe, on June 10 2008 @ 10:39 am

     

    great tip. cleared the problem right up. thanks

  105. by almightywiz, on June 10 2008 @ 9:44 pm

     

    Dude… what can I say… genius!! Thank you so much for this helpful tip… this is going into my set of “problems Microsoft has caused but doesn’t seem to know how to fix”. Thanks!

  106. by Marc, on June 11 2008 @ 5:07 am

     

    Same here. Problems occured after installing SP3. XP is running in a VMWare virtual machine. Now everything is fine. Thanks, mate.

  107. by Jp, on June 11 2008 @ 11:51 pm

     

    Damn, I get this error when i try to register ‘regsvr32 wuaueng.dll’

    RegSvr32
    DllRegisterServer in wuaueng.dll failed.
    Return code was: 0×80070005

    Any ideas anyone?

  108. by Matt, on June 12 2008 @ 11:33 am

     

    omg thanx it was so wast cheers =D

  109. by steve, on June 14 2008 @ 12:49 pm

     

    Thanks!

  110. by Harry, on June 15 2008 @ 6:33 pm

     

    Lenovo told me to live with it. You solved my problem in less than three minutes. Thanks

  111. by Jeff Morris, on June 16 2008 @ 9:43 am

     

    You rock dude!! Of course, Microsoft is mum on the issue. D-less wonders. Again thanks for the quick fix!!

  112. by Brian Haley, on June 16 2008 @ 4:30 pm

     

    Brilliant – Why can you not find helpful information like this on the Microsoft Web site. They just don’t appear to want to help! Thanks for the help.

  113. by Justin, on June 18 2008 @ 7:26 am

     

    Thank god for Google that brought me here, and thank god for you for posting this.

    Brilliant!

    J

  114. by Steve Saraniero, on June 18 2008 @ 12:11 pm

     

    You are amazing…..Thanks Lots!!!!!!

  115. by prostheticHead.Blog » Blog Archive » Problem with Windows Update, on June 18 2008 @ 6:16 pm

     

    [...] search uncovered this easy [...]

  116. by Cynthia, on June 18 2008 @ 7:47 pm

     

    Thank you!!!! As you’ve heard on all of the posts before me….thank you thank you thank you!!! Worked like a charm and now I can move on with my life. MICROSOFT SUCKS!!!!

  117. by Rob, on June 19 2008 @ 8:37 am

     

    Absolute Genius, it worked perfectly. I can’t thank you enough. Cheers.

  118. by Frank, on June 19 2008 @ 8:41 am

     

    Why can’t Microsoft have this brilliant information to help, rather than you having to find the problem out on your own. Great help to me. Thanks alot.

  119. by Stefano, on June 19 2008 @ 1:19 pm

     

    Sei troppo avantissimo! Finalmente funziona, GRAZIE!

  120. by Farseer, on June 19 2008 @ 7:42 pm

     

    Dude, you rock. Thanks. :)

  121. by asix, on June 21 2008 @ 8:07 am

     

    thank you man you realy know your way with computers.I had my doubts but this thing really works.thank you.I have installed the CTGWIN software and deleted these dll’s but now it wrghitagain.I

  122. by Tad, on June 21 2008 @ 8:12 am

     

    Don’t know who you are but YOU ARE THE MAN!!!
    THANKS

  123. by Duane, on June 22 2008 @ 7:11 am

     

    Thanks. This was an annoying problem.

  124. by Nathan, on June 23 2008 @ 7:49 am

     

    Um, ditto to all of the above. Does the SP3 installer fail to register it’s windows update dlls?

  125. by Mike Davidson, on June 24 2008 @ 6:45 am

     

    The thing that fixes the OS is broken, but MS can’t fix the thing that fixes the OS, so the OS remains broken. The MS Update page returned an error and showed a link to their help page. They couldn’t even offer a link directly to a relevant page. Furthermore, the search returned nothing useful. How much money do they have to make before they take care of this mess? Google took me directly to this page, which fixed the problem.

  126. by Carlos Peralta, on June 24 2008 @ 9:46 pm

     

    Thank-you so very much, I just got a new UMPC, and had issues right out of the box, Samsung and Microsoft had no clue how to fix it, and I tried all I knew, nothing worked. You are amazing!! Thanks once again.

  127. by John Liptrap, on June 25 2008 @ 8:59 am

     

    This fix worked great, but when I rebooted the machine I had to register the .dlls again to get Microsoft update to work.

  128. by Mario Silkyn, on June 26 2008 @ 4:52 am

     

    Sorry, did not work overhere…

  129. by Mario Silkyn, on June 26 2008 @ 5:17 am

     

    Tried it again, but stopped the automatic updates service first. Worked fine then :) !

  130. by JFK, on June 26 2008 @ 9:29 am

     

    This is brilliant! Reinstalled XP Pro and all updates failed. Microsoft had me uninstalling and reinstalling each update manually, with no method for getting to the root cause. This fixed it in one fell swoop! Thanks!!!

  131. by aj, on June 26 2008 @ 5:08 pm

     

    you da man
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  132. by Hank Kramer, on June 26 2008 @ 7:40 pm

     

    Thanks for the tip. C’mon Microsoft, publish some relevant help for a change!

  133. by PJ, on June 27 2008 @ 11:41 am

     

    Thanks for the tip. Worked like a charm!!!

  134. by bob e, on June 27 2008 @ 12:23 pm

     

    thanks mate – that did the charm on my HP Mini-Note, couldn’t find the last file though

  135. by Mo, on June 27 2008 @ 1:15 pm

     

    Thanks a lot. I was one of the lucky ones that only spent 4 hours trying to figure this out before coming across your post that solved the problem.

  136. by ajcah, on June 29 2008 @ 6:09 am

     

    Thankyou very much! worked a treat after countless hours trying to fix

  137. by Leathude, on June 29 2008 @ 7:24 am

     

    Thanks a bunch, this worked quite smoothly.

    I formatted so I wanted to re-update my windows.
    First I updated some and then it stopped wanting to update.. so I figure website is down. So I install all my apps and games worth 8 hours of my time.. then I couldn’t install live messenger NOR update my windows still.. so I figure something went wrong with my installation. No help from the microsoft site, so I formatted again.. only to run into the problem again. Then I found this site through google.. again, many thanks. =]

  138. by Greg, on June 29 2008 @ 7:41 am

     

    You my friend, are a legend!

  139. by MicrosoftIdiot, on June 29 2008 @ 2:39 pm

     

    Thank you. U r a Microsoft Guru.

  140. by Alex, on June 29 2008 @ 10:03 pm

     

    All I can do is join the rest with gratitude… Thanks for the fix – it was driving me nuts and I was about to format HD and reinstall windows…

  141. by Vibhav, on July 2 2008 @ 7:29 am

     

    U r a smart guy
    thanks for the help.

  142. by Michelle, on July 5 2008 @ 9:01 am

     

    WOW!! WOO HOO!! THANKS So much! As others have said, Microsoft = NO HELP!!!! Google search immediate!!!!

  143. by George, on July 7 2008 @ 8:01 am

     

    Thank you! had 3 computers with the problem and you solved it for me. Glad you exist

  144. by XP, on July 7 2008 @ 2:56 pm

     

    Awesome! Thanks for this, worked a treat!!!

  145. by Davedub, on July 9 2008 @ 11:12 pm

     

    Thank you so much – after a clean install, I was completely stuck and vulnerable!

  146. by Mark de Barr, on July 9 2008 @ 11:53 pm

     

    Thank you for your help. Its a pity Microsoft don’t support their products as well as you do.

  147. by Vince, on July 10 2008 @ 9:14 am

     

    OMG, thank you for this!!! I was THIS close to rolling back service packs.

  148. by Nixxx, on July 10 2008 @ 11:28 am

     

    Nice make my job easier :D

  149. by Dan, on July 10 2008 @ 12:10 pm

     

    Wow holy crap thank you!! i was getting so frustrated because the updates weren’t working

  150. by schat, on July 11 2008 @ 1:51 pm

     

    Incredible! Your fix worked like a charm. Like many others on this page I have no idea why this information was not available from Microsoft. Very, very grateful.

  151. by mohammed, on July 12 2008 @ 6:06 pm

     

    you are the man thanks

  152. by jd2020, on July 13 2008 @ 7:06 am

     

    Had this problem on brand new Dell Vostro 200 after SP3 update. You are a life saver. Amazing that MSFT has nothing on its site for this error.

  153. by James Ding, on July 13 2008 @ 3:37 pm

     

    U are the man, those failed updates were crazy, MS could not pinpoint the problem, but you did, and it worked. thanks

  154. by djb, on July 14 2008 @ 10:16 am

     

    Oh, well done! Did reinstall of XP (twice!) and had this problem both times. Works great now. Thanks for the tip.

  155. by mrs toby, on July 15 2008 @ 1:38 pm

     

    worked like a charm, many thanks

  156. by Ray VanRiette, on July 16 2008 @ 7:03 am

     

    YOU ARE A GENIUS!! I’ve struggled all over Microsoft’s site for HOURS looking for this answer! They had me register one file, but that didn’t get it done. One of my machines hadn’t been able to update in 6 months- thanks very much for having such a straight-forward, comprehensive fix!

  157. by Piyush, on July 16 2008 @ 2:08 pm

     

    Excellent…Works

  158. by Jose Miranda, on July 16 2008 @ 2:20 pm

     

    Thank you from Portugal- Lisbon

  159. by E. Boyd, on July 16 2008 @ 9:09 pm

     

    Worked like a charm Thanx much Anybody know that caused the problems anyways? just curious

  160. by Gary, on July 18 2008 @ 3:40 am

     

    Just did a major upgrade of hardware and reinstall of XP for the first time in 2 years, had never had this problem before. But your fix cured the problem. Thank You

  161. by carl, on July 18 2008 @ 6:17 pm

     

    You da’ man. Thanks for helping those with less knowledge.

  162. by Greg, on July 19 2008 @ 8:30 am

     

    Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!!
    Very Helpful!!! Works now! :)

  163. by Kevin, on July 19 2008 @ 9:22 am

     

    Thank you so much! This worked flawlessly. I tired about 20 different things, including; reformatting, downloading updates individually, downloading (and trying to install them) in different groups or sets, nothing worked. I now know why and that is because this is THE SOLUTION!

    Thank you so much!
    Kevin

  164. by Jimmy Nuggets, on July 19 2008 @ 10:19 am

     

    Thanks! After hours and hours of research and trial and error, I finally came across your article and it was the only thing that worked. Thanks again.

  165. by Nick Dudley-Jones, on July 20 2008 @ 8:08 am

     

    I love the Internet!! There is always somewhere that answers all your questions!! ;-) Thankyou for all your help

  166. by Nick M, on July 22 2008 @ 2:25 pm

     

    That worked for me, thanks!

  167. by Chris, on July 24 2008 @ 8:01 am

     

    Well i gotta fall in place with everyone else. I just set up a new comp and did service pack 3 fine. After that it was the same problem as everyone else. So thanks a lot this site is awesome!!!

  168. by robianno, on July 25 2008 @ 11:54 am

     

    u are the king, thanks dude sorted now after many hours,

  169. by Mayank, on July 25 2008 @ 6:08 pm

     

    Thanks Buddy, i was looking for the solution to the problem… m in MS support. I really appreciate tat. I have been working with a customer from last 2 hours on the same problem.. was tired searching ms database. looked on google… GREAT!

  170. by Bummbed XP Install, on July 27 2008 @ 6:57 am

     

    Oh thank GOD, you think Micrsoft would read these pages every now and then…

    Thanks again!

  171. by John, on July 28 2008 @ 5:42 pm

     

    Worked great! Anyone know what causes this problem?

  172. by Doug, on July 29 2008 @ 11:37 am

     

    Fan Freak’n tastic! Works like a champ!

  173. by david, on July 30 2008 @ 6:03 am

     

    You are woman hear you roar. Thank you!! Thank you!!

  174. by John, on July 30 2008 @ 12:18 pm

     

    I did a search on Microsoft and didn’t receive a hit in their Knowledgebase. Thanks for the solution, it worked like a charm.

  175. by webtaylor, on August 2 2008 @ 9:35 pm

     

    My only question is, “How the hell did you figure this out?”
    Awesome.

  176. by Henry, on August 4 2008 @ 12:17 pm

     

    Brilliant tip, thanks a lot it saved me a bunch of time!
    I don’t understand why I only got this problem every time I reformat after the second time…

  177. by Rodrigo, on August 6 2008 @ 8:43 am

     

    Thanks your tips is very good.

  178. by Biff, on August 7 2008 @ 5:08 pm

     

    Dude, you just saved my life. I was about to jump!

  179. by Chuck Wagon, on August 8 2008 @ 9:22 am

     

    That did the trick.

  180. by Matt, on August 10 2008 @ 5:57 am

     

    THANK YOU! finally :)

    why couldn’t microsoft post this??

  181. by Leyon, on August 10 2008 @ 11:37 am

     

    Thats great… Works like a charm, Thanks!!

  182. by Rik, on August 12 2008 @ 4:54 am

     

    I Turned everything inside out, this finally did it.

  183. by Steve, on August 12 2008 @ 12:43 pm

     

    Excellent stuff!! I tried a number of things . .read your article and though mmmm … not expecting this to work .. and guess what, IT DID!! Thanks guys!

  184. by sAs, on August 12 2008 @ 9:07 pm

     

    Dude you are a genius. Thanks a lot for this. I have no clue why windows crapped out but your guide helped a lot.

    Thanks again.

  185. by Rob, on August 12 2008 @ 9:29 pm

     

    Amazing! Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  186. by Jon, on August 13 2008 @ 5:14 am

     

    That did the trick! Since Microsoft’s “knowledge”base is as helpful as asking my Grandmom for computer help I normally google error messages. That landed me here!

  187. by arlan, on August 13 2008 @ 3:02 pm

     

    So simple – WOW. Thank you a 1000 times.

  188. by Rob, on August 13 2008 @ 6:19 pm

     

    You’re a lifesaver. Saved hours of frustration.

  189. by Andreas, on August 15 2008 @ 8:08 am

     

    Thanks a million! (would be nice with an explanation of what the magic was about).

  190. by Jose, on August 15 2008 @ 4:40 pm

     

    It Works. Thank You, You’re most intelligent that microsoft “knowledge” base.

  191. by Pete, on August 15 2008 @ 6:11 pm

     

    Normally I would have spent hours trying to do the fix myself assuming that I could conquer another Microsoft issue. This time I decided to check and see if there was a quick fix after a repair install and manually installing SP3, tried yours, and now everything is perfect again. You saved me HOURS! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

  192. by Aditya, on August 15 2008 @ 10:25 pm

     

    Thanks so much for this fix. Was tearing my hair out in frustratiion coz I couldn’t understand why XP wouldn’t let me do the updates..!

  193. by Erik, on August 16 2008 @ 12:01 am

     

    ÄNTLIGEN! As we say in Sweden! Thanks for this easy and user friendly solution.

  194. by Steve East, on August 16 2008 @ 6:00 am

     

    I don’t like typing commands when I’m not sure what they do, but I tried this in desperation and it worked. Why on earth can’t Microsoft put this in their support pages ? Thanks very much.

  195. by robbie, on August 17 2008 @ 12:00 am

     

    Thanks. This was very simple.. i cant believe ms didnt offer these instructions. Sure im glad i didnt pay for their products.

  196. by Flip Folds, on August 17 2008 @ 1:49 am

     

    Yeah thank you very much. I’ve been having this problem for quite some time but this did the trick. =)

  197. by First Last, on August 17 2008 @ 5:08 am

     

    Wow, it worked like a charm!! WOnder why Microsoft wouldn’t post this in their so called “Knowledge Base”!!

    Thanks anyway

  198. by Ominush Rex, on August 17 2008 @ 1:25 pm

     

    Actually the windows update troubleshooter seemed to suggest a KB article with the same instructions, but the problem description was weird and the GUI made it seem like a random suggestion – but now I got here, googling the error message, and the updates are installing away! :-) THANKS!!

  199. by padams24, on August 17 2008 @ 2:10 pm

     

    Wow! that really worked!!!! THANKS for posting this, MicroSoft had me changing the trusted sites settings, what exactly happened to cause this error

    Thanxs much!!!

    padam

  200. by trey, on August 17 2008 @ 5:44 pm

     

    Thanks very much. As others have said, this was the only place I found the fix.

  201. by james, on August 17 2008 @ 9:15 pm

     

    Thank you. The MS help on this was truly pathetic. I was going crazy with the updater. Thanks very much.

  202. by royce, on August 19 2008 @ 2:34 am

     

    i was told about these scripts to run by a friend spent 3 hours on the microsoft site and calling up microsoft australia who were no help i googled you guys and it worked i owe you a drink :)

  203. by Niall, on August 19 2008 @ 2:40 pm

     

    Brilliant, cheers mate

  204. by Chris Birkett, on August 19 2008 @ 3:32 pm

     

    This has been annoying me for ages – if only I’d found this sooner! Cheers dude!!

  205. by Gary Fraser, on August 20 2008 @ 1:24 am

     

    Great Work, Worked a charm. Keep up the good work on technical problems.

  206. by VR, on August 20 2008 @ 9:55 am

     

    crap. guess i’m the only one this didn’t work for.

    J/K. Count me as another happy customer. THanks much for posting this.

  207. by Patrick, on August 23 2008 @ 9:21 am

     

    Well done – Grendel’s problem solved the Linux way.
    Even MS support couldn’t figure that one out.

  208. by MFS, on August 23 2008 @ 2:24 pm

     

    Wow, it worked! Had been trying to fix this for about 6 months, with no success – many thanks!

  209. by Uros, on August 24 2008 @ 5:43 am

     

    Thank you very much! Just solved my update problem on my new dell 500. I’m sure I did nothing to corrupt these updates, and now, seeing all these comments, I suppose it’s another MS mistake…

  210. by Jennifer, on August 24 2008 @ 9:13 am

     

    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!!!!!!! You guys rock!!!!

  211. by brendan, on August 24 2008 @ 3:59 pm

     

    Worked for me! Thanks!!

  212. by JR, on August 24 2008 @ 4:55 pm

     

    Thought it was my wireless, but it turns out that SP3 unregistered the dll’s after being installed.

  213. by Leigh, on August 25 2008 @ 3:16 am

     

    Worked for me as well – massive thanks

  214. by Ron, on August 25 2008 @ 11:44 am

     

    Yoeoeoeoeehooo..

    Great…

    where can I deposit some money ;-)

  215. by Deltaleader, on August 25 2008 @ 6:30 pm

     

    Oh my gosh…I can’t believe this worked. It’s taken forever to figure this out…Thank you!

  216. by Caleb!, on August 27 2008 @ 6:36 am

     

    PROPS!

  217. by Jackelope, on August 28 2008 @ 7:53 pm

     

    You’re a genious!

  218. by Chris, on August 29 2008 @ 2:03 am

     

    Microsoft the devil farts in my face once again !
    BIG THANKS. Smoke me a kipper (can u do that?) ill be back for breakfast.

  219. by george j, on August 29 2008 @ 2:39 am

     

    Many thanks is not enough! Its a rare problem. I wasted hours before reading your tips. I wish that I’d looked earlier.

  220. by Pancake, on August 29 2008 @ 4:41 pm

     

    Why not add some in here. Problem: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded or installed. Solution: this guy.

  221. by tomtebloss, on August 31 2008 @ 12:43 am

     

    Thanks.
    Was driving me nuts.
    After a repair install of XP + SP3, and an install of IE8 RC2 the updates just refused to install with the message:
    “A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded or installed”
    Insane.

    Your tip fixed that elegantly. Thanks.

    Microsofts “knowledge” base had nothing on this.

  222. by tomtebloss, on August 31 2008 @ 12:46 am

     

    (IE8 beta 2, not RC2)

  223. by Munrok, on August 31 2008 @ 1:04 pm

     

    You are beond awsome man!!!! I was about to beat the hell out of my machine untill i tried this. It worked like a charm.
    We need more people like you, MS=BS!!

  224. by Maggie, on August 31 2008 @ 1:38 pm

     

    Triple thanks! Luckily I found your fix fast and didn’t waste a lot of time. AWESOME!

  225. by Costa, on September 1 2008 @ 8:58 am

     

    Great! Take 3 days from MS support and nothing. Find this page, take 3 seconds!

  226. by william, on September 2 2008 @ 8:13 am

     

    Ok, what I don’t understand is why Microsoft doesn’t have this information in their own database? SP3 has been released for sometime now. There is no excuse for users to still be having this issue and for Microsoft to not have an adequate solution, unacceptable.

  227. by Auzbe, on September 5 2008 @ 9:42 pm

     

    Wow, this fix worked. I was scratching my head on why AU is failing after installing SP3. Applying the above fix, it worked like a charm the first time.

    Thanks a bunch

  228. by mladz, on September 6 2008 @ 5:11 pm

     

    thanks heaps. finally a site better than Microsoft Support that actually help with actual problems (real world). keep up the good work.

  229. by laundry, on September 7 2008 @ 4:41 pm

     

    This happens after applying SP3 but your suggestion saves the day. I cannot believe Microsoft doesn’t have this info on their support site. Shame on MS.

  230. by Susan Milo, on September 9 2008 @ 10:00 am

     

    Thank you so much. I have 2 laptops to configure where this happened and Microsoft had no help whatsoever. Thanks, thanks, thanks.

  231. by Tommy Godbold, on September 9 2008 @ 10:17 am

     

    Thank you very much. Worked great. SP3 screwed things up.

  232. by Henry, on September 10 2008 @ 7:05 am

     

    You guys rock! I had the same issue with regards to updates not being installed. Followed your directions and everything is working fine.

  233. by Dave, on September 10 2008 @ 2:35 pm

     

    Thank you! I can’t believe I was having this problem with a fresh XP install. I’d love to see an explanation of how this fix works, but thanks in the meantime for solving my problem.

  234. by kenny, on September 12 2008 @ 5:36 pm

     

    Thanks a lot mate. Saved me couple of hours debugging this thing )) Cheers

  235. by no name, on September 14 2008 @ 2:02 pm

     

    Thanks alot my update is working again!

  236. by Tom, on September 14 2008 @ 5:43 pm

     

    Thanks a bunch! This worked like a charm.

  237. by Tony, on September 15 2008 @ 2:55 pm

     

    OMG this actually worked. I’ve not been able to update this machine for 2 months – Microsoft as usual were clueless and a complete reformat was out of the question.

  238. by Carl, on September 17 2008 @ 7:29 am

     

    Brilliant. I’ve been trawling the web all morning for a solution to this, with several failed attempts. This is the only solution that actually worked and is so simple! Pull your pants up Microsoft….

  239. by Max, on September 20 2008 @ 1:04 am

     

    Excellent ! You genious !

  240. by art, on September 21 2008 @ 3:06 am

     

    This worked for me. perfect. Thank you

  241. by Stuart Herring, on September 21 2008 @ 4:20 am

     

    Thx so much… after working through the day to get a new laptop up and running, and then found updates and messenger would not install with this error this saved my day!!!

  242. by Dani, on September 29 2008 @ 1:55 pm

     

    I must be a freak – didn’t work for me :-(

  243. by Pindi, on October 11 2008 @ 1:00 pm

     

    Good thing I looked at this first. I was just about to reinstall. It worked. Are there any other dlls’ that need registering? :)

  244. by Brian Turner Ottosen, on October 14 2008 @ 12:50 pm

     

    Wow – wow – wow. I didn’t know what I did when I did it, but it certainly worked. Great. Kind of cool the way you simply describe a sympton and then the cure without any bla bla. However – I would like to know just a tiny bit in a headline or two.

  245. by Tommyboy, on October 15 2008 @ 5:06 am

     

    Thanks a lot for the simple fix. I was reloading an OS on a friend’s laptop when Updates hiccuped on the download and I couldn’t get them to work until I googled the error and ended up here.

  246. by Roger Mikesell, on October 16 2008 @ 10:26 pm

     

    HUGE Help! Thank you very much!! (can I marry you??) ;-)

  247. by FrAnd, on October 20 2008 @ 12:03 pm

     

    Thank you! 2 days I try update my new installed notebook. Now its done!!!

  248. by William, on October 23 2008 @ 10:34 am

     

    God Bless Google and Technipages.

  249. by Carlos, on October 24 2008 @ 11:57 am

     

    Finally!, THANKS A LOT!

  250. by Mike, on October 25 2008 @ 12:53 pm

     

    Thank you so very much, it worked perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  251. by bob barker, on October 28 2008 @ 6:16 am

     

    Thanks so much for the help, microsoft seems to screw everything up. Even their fixes. I had no hope that your suggestion would actually work but i had nothing to loose. And it actually worked, so sad users have to fix microsofts problems!
    Thanks again

  252. by Glenn, on October 30 2008 @ 4:55 am

     

    Microsoft has lost the plot. This fix worked perfectly, unlike the POS that Microsoft has become.

  253. by Mike Mbugua, on October 30 2008 @ 10:13 am

     

    Thank you.
    It worked well

  254. by bob barker again, on October 31 2008 @ 6:19 pm

     

    Just wanted to let you know that your blog has helped me twice. On 4 new dell laptops at work. And now my personal one also. Just wanted to take a second to say thanks again. We need more ppl like you.

    Thanks again,
    Bob

  255. by Hakan, on November 15 2008 @ 3:36 pm

     

    Good work !!!
    Worked like a dream.

    Why dont you work at Microsoft and help them fill in the blanks in their “help” files ???

  256. by Dan, on December 27 2008 @ 4:14 pm

     

    Looks like I’m the only one it didn’t work for. :(

  257. by A problem on your computer is preventing updates from beingdownloaded or installed. | keyongtech, on January 18 2009 @ 8:36 am

     

    [...] installed. I am having this Problem each time I WU How do I fix it? I found there is a cure at http://www.technipages.com/error-a-p…ownloaded.html But as the post number 194, I do not like typing commands when I am not sure what they do what do [...]

  258. by Fred, on May 18 2009 @ 10:54 am

     

    Worked for me. Thanks you very much!

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