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A recent problem with a security update for the Flash Player illustrates how things can go wrong with
the Windows Automatic Updates Service.
The Windows Automatic Updates Service runs within the svchost.exe process in Windows XP, as can be seen by typing the
command "tasklist /svc" at the command prompt.
It runs with the name "wuauserv" (see fig. 1 below).
Figure 1 - The Automatic Update Service.
The purpose of this service (recently renamed "Microsoft Update") is to check for critical security
updates from Microsoft, and if any are available it reminds the user to install them (see fig. 2). It can also
be configured to install the updates automatically via the Control Panel -> Automatic Updates.
The pop-up message in the system tray is displayed by the wauclt.exe process, which is
launched by the wauaserv service when a high-priority update is available.
Figure 2 - New Updates are available.
The Automatic component of Microsoft Update runs on Windows 2000 or newer.
It connects periodically to the Microsoft update server via the network, and queries for any available updates.
The frequency of these connections/checks is unknown or poorly documented, but is initiated by the client
(i.e. the user's computer) and I believe it is at least once a day.
Lately, these updates have been released on the second Tuesday of each month, though sometimes they are
released on other days.
Only "high-priority" updates are available via the Automatic Update Service.
For lower priority updates, users should periodically visit the Microsoft Update web page by running
Internet Explorer and clicking on Tools -> Windows Update.
(see refs. # 1 to 4).
The problem
I was recently using a laptop (running XP Pro SP2) when the Automatic Update notification (fig. 2 above) popped up.
Clicking on it, followed by clicking on "Custom", brought up the dialog shown in Fig 3.
Figure 3 - Flash Security Update.
The Macromedia Flash Player (now owned by Adobe) is a small add-on for web browsers that displays
animations and movies from web sites. (see ref. # 5).
I found it interesting that Microsoft was releasing an update for a non-Microsoft product via the
Automatic Update Service, but as Security Bulletin MS06-069 (ref. # 6)
explains, the Flash Player is bundled with XP SP2 these days, which is why the patch is distributed
via Microsoft Update.
I went ahead and clicked on "Install", but after a few seconds the following window appeared:
Figure 4 - Flash Security Update Install Failed!
Going to the MS Update web site (via IE -> Tools -> Windows Update) and trying the install again did not help, and
resulted in the same failure.
To debug this problem, I looked at the file C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\ReportingEvents.log.
This is a text file which logs the Update Client activity, and sure enough, near the bottom of the log I
noticed the following entry:
{26DA5716-5999-4AB2-8806-800F7AF93C93} 105 80070643 AutomaticUpdates Failure
Content Install Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with
error 0x80070643: Security Update for Flash Player (KB923789).
Not very helpful.
A web search for 0x80070643 took me to the MS KB906602 web page (ref. # 7)
which advises enabling Windows Installer logging, then trying again.
Enabling msi logging apparently results in a file named msi<random-digits>.log being created in the Temp folder
that would hopefully contain a more detailed reason for the failure.
This seemed a bit more than I wanted to do as the first step, so I took an alternate approach which led to the
solution a bit faster.
The solution
I went to the MS06-069 bulletin page (ref. # 6) and used the "Download the Update"
link there and saved the update installer file (WindowsXP-KB923789-x86-ENU.exe) in a temp folder on my C: drive.
Next, I tried to install the update by double-clicking on the downloaded file,
This quickly showed the real reason for the failure:
Figure 5 - Why the update failed.
Apparently the version of the Flash player on the laptop was too old for the security update.
To view the currently installed version of the Flash player, I started Internet Explorer,
then Tools -> Internet Options -> Settings -> View Objects, which showed a window like the following:
Figure 6 - Which version is currently installed.
This shows that this laptop had version 7.0.19 of Adobe Shockwave Flash player installed.
Next I went to the Flash player download page at Adobe (Adobe web site http://www.adobe.com/, then
click on the "Get Adobe Flash Player" link etc.) which led to the download page and the information that
the new version was 9.0.45.
Clearly that was the reason for the problem, so I proceeded to click on the "Install Now" button,
and installed the new version of the Flash Player.
Checking the version as before in IE now showed the new version:
Figure 7 - Version is updated.
Next, I went to the Windows Update web site again, and had it search for updates, and this time it did not
report any pending updates.
The new version of the Flash player already included the patch, and did not need the KB923789 update any more.
Problem solved.
Discussion
Windows/Microsoft Update is a very useful service, and I highly recommend that everyone enable Automatic Updates
to keep up with high-priority security updates.
However, it is not perfect, and unexpected problems can sometimes arise.
These can range from the very serious ("system crashes after applying an update"), which thankfully is
not very common, to the nagging/nuisance type problem seen in today's example.
One of my earlier blog entries (see
bb20070323_02.asp) described an Office 2003 update which caused the
Print dialog to crash.
What could Microsoft have done to avoid today's problem?
Mainly, two things:
- Do not offer an update as "available" if it does not apply to the version of the software present on that
system.
- Show clear plain-language error messages, rather than cryptic hex codes.
What should you, the user, do when you encounter problems with Windows Updates?
- If the update installs, but causes serious problems, then you can uninstall the update while you
investigate.
Updates can be uninstalled via Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs.
If you don't see the updates listed there, make sure the box at the top labeled "Show Updates" is "checked".
There are normally many updates, but you can use the "Installed on" information with each to narrow it down to
the latest ones.
- If the update fails to install, check both the date and time on your system. If they are off by
more than a few minutes, updates will sometimes fail to install.
- Examine the file C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\ReportingEvents.log (with Notepad) to see
if there is an explanation of why the update failed.
- Make sure you are logged in with Administrator privileges. Most security updates require it.
- Try the method that worked here, i.e. download the update separately from the corresponding KB article
page at Microsoft, and try installing it manually.
- Open a command window and register the following DLL's (this is particularly effective if you recently upgraded your OS)
- regsvr32 wuapi.dll
- regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
- regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
- regsvr32 wucltui.dll
- regsvr32 wups2.dll
- regsvr32 wups.dll
- regsvr32 wuweb.dll
- Work through the troubleshooting tips at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906602.
- Also see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883821.
- There could be corrupted updates in the download folder. Try the following:
- Open a command prompt window and type "net stop wuauserv" (without quotes)
- Rename the downloads folder, e.g.
"rename c:\windows\softwaredistribution c:\windows\badupdates"
- Restart the update service, type "net start wuauserv"
- Start IE and try the updates again.
- Make sure you are using a recent version of Internet Explorer (v6.0 or later).
If you encounter a problem/solution with Microsoft Updates not covered above, do let me know how you solved it.
References
- Microsoft Update FAQ http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/about.aspx
- Microsoft Update http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Update
- Windows Update, Microsoft Update, and Automatic Updates
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/updatemanagement/bb259683.aspx
- Microsoft Update versus Windows Update... http://msmvps.com/blogs/spywaresucks/archive/2006/02/26/84863.aspx
- Adobe Flash Player http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/
- Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-069
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-069.mspx
- Troubleshoot Windows Update ... Issues http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906602
- You receive a "0x800A01AE" error message or a... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910359
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