Microsoft Update Problems - how to fix it?

There are many users who are finding that Microsoft Security Updates / Patches won't install on both XP and Vista. Many have scanned for malware to see if that is the cause of the problem only to find that their machine is clean.

I experienced this problem too, so set about finding a workaround. It is advisable to do this through Internet Explorer and your first step should be to open IE, click on Tools and select Windows Update.

There are a couple of solutions to this problem of failed downloads, turn OFF your firewall and antivirus, which is never recommended, but for the short time it takes it will solve the problem, especially with SP3 for XP, then reboot when download is complete and you protection should automatically come back on.

The other alternative is that when the downloads have finished installing you get a list of failed updates, copy the KB number (keep the KB with it) then go to Microsoft Downloads and enter the KB number and then search for it and download each one individually into a new folder on your desktop and when you have them all, install them one at a time.

The biggest problem is the installation of patches that are 0kb in size and 0mins to download, so you really need to go to Windows Update and check each one, if it is 0Kb in size then there is nothing to download and install, although with Automatic Updates turned on it continues to inform you that new updates are ready to be installed.

Once you have installed SP3 and related patches you can then safely leave Automatic Updates on as the problem should have been solved.