Re: Cannot Install Updates
- From: "Robert Aldwinckle" <robald@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 09:06:07 -0400
"Roughneck" <Roughneck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5D34AE8C-0E45-449F-B193-F52B62ACA37E@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> COMPARE THE LOGS
> -------------------------------
> As suggested, I compared the KB885222 log files from the laptop and desktop.
> While it's easy to see where they begin to differ, there's nothing that
> gives me a clue as to why they take a different path where they do. i.e.
> They both start off the same and list the same instructions, processes, and
> return codes for the first five lines -- then they differ.
>
> Lines 6 and 7 of the desktop's log read:
> * DoInstallation: CustomizeCall Failed: 0xb7
> * Cannot create a file when that file already exists.
Shouldn't FileMon show you an access here which does not happen
in the clean install? Unless you already know which file this message
is referring to but you're not telling us?
>
> Lines 6 and 7 of the laptop's log read:
> * In Function TestVolatileFlag, line 11660, RegOpenKeyEx failed with error
> 0x2
> * In Function TestVolatileFlag, line 11692, RegOpenKeyEx failed with error
> 0x2
That's interesting. This perhaps gives some hope that the /verbose
option would differentiate what key is being accessed (attempted to be
accessed) in each case. Alternatively, you could try running RegMon
again with both a clean and problem install, trying to identify this difference.
Of course if it turns out to be the same key but at different locations in the
script you will be no further ahead on this tack. It would be nice to know
what file "line 11660" is referring to. Then you could browse the damn
thing and see exactly what each line would be doing. FileMon might
help with that goal too, depending on your filter of course. For example,
if you are running with the filter that I suggested which includes ;Update;
and the program doing the install was called update.exe I expect that
that you could be seeing all Reads that the program is doing such as
whatever Reads are necessary to interpret the script. Etc.
>
> The desktop's log ends soon afterward (see the example in my initial post).
> The laptop's log is much longer -- probably more than anyone would care to
> read through, so I won't post it unless someone wants to see it. Bottom line
> is, I can see where the two logs diverge, but don't know what to make of it.
> :-(
If you can't find the /verbose log post both regular install logs here inline
or E-mail them to my reply address as attachments.
>
>
> RUNNING the UPDATE with the /VERBOSE parm
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Again, as suggested, I gave this a whirl and it ran fine (even showed up in
> the KB885222 log file), but I haven't been able to determine what output, if
> any, was generated. After running the update with this parm, I did browse
> the root folder of my C: drive, as well as several windows folders with the
> files arranged by date created, date modified, etc. -- but didn't see
> anything I could identify as meaningful/useful.
Did you miss the idea of "searching"? In XP I use Search Companion.
However, in NT4 I would have used the equivalent File Find tool.
Both allow you to specify you want to find all files which changed
on a particular day and then sort the results by the Date Modified column.
Doing that gives you a list in timestamp order (e.g. down to a minute)
of files which were written that day. Hence any files which were written
by the update should be grouped together within the small range of minutes
that it took to run the update. I have never used your OS but hopefully
it has an equivalent tool? Alternatively, you could use dir/a/od/s/tw *
at your directory root and, depending on how your dates show, you could
pipe that through a find filter to list just files which changed on that day
and a sort filter to just limit your attention to the filenames which changed
in that short period. E.g. if I was doing this today and since my date format
is YYYY-MM-DD in a cmd window I would enter:
<example>
cd /d %SystemDrive%\
dir/a/od/s/tw * | find "2005-08-11" | sort >chgfiles.txt
notepad chgfiles.txt
</example>
In fact, since I probably would know at least the hour and perhaps
even the tens digit of the minutes value as common factors
for what I was really interested in I would probably make that find
argument even more precise than just a specification of a particular
day. Etc.
Note that an advantage of the Search Companion/File Find
technique is that you can sort by details without losing track
of which directory the file comes from. With the dir/s approach
the directory information would be lost by the find and the sort
filters so you would have to do subsequent finds of some kind
based on filename to find out where it was actually located.
>
>
> RUNNING FILEMON during the UPDATE
> -----------------------------------------------
> Finally, as suggested, I found/installed Filemon and had that running during
> the update attempt on the desktop. I found several error messages that I
> thought might be relevant at first, so I uninstalled the update from the
> laptop, installed Filemon there, and re-ran the update on the laptop while
> Filemon was running. But on the laptop, I saw the same errors reported by
> Filemon that I saw for the desktop -- so again, I wasn't able to identify
> anything specific/unique to the failed attempt on the desktop.
>
>
> OTHER THINGS I DID
> ------------------------------
> * Disabled the firewire controller, rebooted, ran the update.
> RESULT -- NO CHANGE.
> * Removed the PCI card with the firwire ports (eliminating the firewire
> controller completely). Rebooted, ran the update.
> RESULT -- NO CHANGE.
> * Reinstalled the PCI card with the firewire ports (reinstalling the
> firewire controller). Booted from a hard drive that I had cloned months ago
> with Norton Ghost. Ran the update.
> RESULT -- SUCCESS.
>
> So.... that tells me it's not a hardware related problem. I am wondering
> about one thing though. When I ran Windows Update a week or so ago, the
> update process told me I had to download a new/updated version of the Windows
> Update software. After doing that, it checked my system to verify I had a
> legit copy of Windows. It acknowleded I did, but said it detected changes to
> my system configuration -- I don't remember the exact message, but I
> understood it to mean hardware changes. It indicated this would not prevent
> me from applying the updates available at the time, but that it "might" cause
> problems in the future. There was no further explanation given.
See WGA FAQ which Carey (e.g.) has been posting recently?
<quote>
Q: What is activation?
A: Activation reduces piracy by associating your Windows Product Key
?the 25-character security code located on your Certificate of Authenticity
(usually affixed to your software package, PC, or laptop)
?to a PC hardware key. Microsoft stores this information in a database
so that no one else can use your Product Key on another PC.
</quote>
Hmm... That's less informative than it might be I think.
Let's look at the Activation FAQ instead:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_faq.mspx
(MSN search for
activation site:microsoft.com
)
<quote>
Can hardware components be changed and upgraded?
Product Activation is able to tolerate a certain degree of change
in a hardware configuration by allowing a current hash value
to have a degree of difference from the hash value that was
originally activated. As a result, users can change their hardware
without the product believing it is on a different PC than the one
it was activated on. If the user completely overhauls the hardware
making substantial hardware changes (even over long periods of time),
reactivation may be required. In that case, users may need to contact
a Microsoft customer service representative by telephone to reactivate.
</quote>
> I'm still
> able to run Windows Update and install the critical updates listed -- in
> fact, I just did that again today. This KB885222 is the only download I'm
> having (have ever had) trouble with. I don't know what to make of it. The
> error messages given during the update attempt are worthless in the sense
> they don't identify what file(s) the process is having trouble with. Ditto
> for the update's log file, as far as I can tell. Very frustrating.
Hang in there. I think you're getting closer to a clear diagnosis. <eg>
HTH
Robert
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