Cant restore after windows update...

Hi, I recently had great help here removing some spy ware. After removing the nasties I of course took the advise about installing security software and I updated windows as suggested. After running windows update and installing the 9 updates it wanted I realized that I could no longer update windows - it terminated every time with error 0x8DDD0004. I waited another day, but the problem remained. After this I decided to undo the update with System restore, but this crashed immediately with an error message saying: "Error: Object doesn't support this property or method" I have tried everything I could imagine, I tried as administrator, I tried in safe mode I tried lovering the security settings etc. I realize that this might be a little of-topic, but I wonder if anybody has experienced this and maybe give me a hint? May the CPU be with you! - Guffegris.

hmm.. Well.. One thing you need to remember is that system restore should not be used as a utlitiy. What problems are you having that you need to restore?

Hi there,

For your specific error:

Make sure your firewall is not blocking the Update site
and check any pop up
stopper programs. Now check in IE
tools\manage add-ons (Win XP SP2 only)
making sure that
WuWebControlClass is enabled. You may also wish to check

c:\windows\Downloaded Program Files to see if anything is corrupted
there.

If the above appears to be in order, try re-registering
these files, by
clicking Start, Run and typing:-

REGSVR32
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuapi.dll
REGSVR32 C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll
REGSVR32
C:\WINDOWS\system32\atl.dll
REGSVR32 C:\WINDOWS\system32\wucltui.dll
REGSVR32
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wups.dll

You should receive a successful message after
each one.

If you need to remove the Windows Update ActiveX
controls and re-install
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=319585

If you have used system restore and it's gone wrong you can undo it, the following is a full tutorial on system restore, troubleshooting it and how to undo it:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_restore.htm

Let us know if that helps solve the issue

Big Smiles

HS

Hi guys!

Thanks for the hints, unfortunately it does not solve my problem! :-(

I have investigated a bit further, and the problem is obviously that activeX is completely screwed up somehow! - when I go to this test page: http://www.pcpitstop.com/testax.asp I get the message "ActiveX is not supported " which means that the browser doesn't recognize ActiveX at all.

I have tried to remove the activeX controls and reinstalled by downloading wusetup.cab, unpacking it and installing it manually (as Windows update doesn't work!) - but this doesn't solve the problem either.

what I would REALLY like, is to get the computer back to an earlier restore point, but system restore crashes with an error message saying: "Line 13 Error: Object doesn't support this property or method" I am then allowed to debug, and when I do that, I can see that it is crashing here in the script:


ObjSystemRestore.CanNavigatePage = true ;
if ( screen.height > 540 ) {
ObjSystemRestore.SetFormSize( 770, 540 ); <—- crashes here!
}
else {
ObjSystemRestore.SetFormSize( 620, 420 );
};


Without knowing exactly what SetFormSize is supposed to do, I sounds to me like a VERY simple operation, which by no way should crash! - so in my opinion something must be completely screwed up in the system! - probably activeX.

Now, it is clearly the restore utility that doesn't work, but my guess is that the restore files must be somewhere in the system, and they are probably in order! - so I wonder if there might be another way to restore the system than from the "system restore"? - maybe some dos-utility that is not depending on ActiveX or something like that?

Any suggestions will be appreciated! :-)


May the CPU be with YOU!

- Guffegris.

ActiveX are gates that allow software/manufacturers to share information.. has absolutly nothing to do with system restore. again.. what are you having problems with that you need to restore

Hi there,

I very much think your problems are related to the MS security patches you downloaded:

Some of the side effects reported from Tuesday's patches include

Instability of email client on AOL's service.
Failure of some web sites to load.
Scripting errors and access denied errors.
Perpetual rebooting, even in safe mode.

In addition, one of our associates reported the following on his "heavily adjusted XP box" …

Following reboot, XP did come alive. But with problems aplenty
- Welcome screen now echoes loading of user profile (auto logonadmin).
- App requiring admin credentials won't launch (not authorized error).
- Policy editor won't open in snap-in.
- Networking icons no longer appear (b/band access working).
- TCP/IP Simple no longer in Win components.
- Search function not working.
- Dependencies tab in Services snap-in won't display (W32 error).
- etc.

Others are yet to be realised.

Full story here:

http://castlecops.com/t135700-Invasion_of_the_Wrigglies.html

If the updates 'are' the cause of the problem I am very unsure of the solution as this is so new. One option is to perhaps completely reinstall Internet Explorer.

For the System Restore issue, if you really want to do that…there is another way you can go about it:

Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt
1. Restart your computer, and then press F8 during the initial startup to start your computer in Safe Mode with a command prompt.

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
315222 A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222
2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.
3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.



It may help the ActiveX problem to redonload and install the VBRuntime files:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q192461/

Failing that, a windows repar may be the way to go:

At some point you may need to repair the installation of Windows XP. This is preferable to a clean install in many cases since it attempts to only repair your copy of windows without having to delete all the files on your computer first. In many cases a repair installation is enough to fix the problem. A repair install deletes the files normally installed by windows XP and then reinstalls them off the disc. A repair install will not rebuild your computer's registry, delete applications and user settings, or fix problems being caused by a program.

1. First you have to boot the computer with the Windows XP cd in the cd tray. You will see a black screen and it will ask you to press any key to boot from the cd so press the spacebar and your computer will boot from the CD.

2. After a moment you will be taken to the Windows XP Setup screen. Though the second option says to repair do not press R. Instead press enter to select the setup for Windows XP.

3. Next, you have to accept the license agreement from windows. Once you've done that it will search for your existing installation of windows.

4. Once it has finished detecting the installation you need to select the XP installation you want to repair. You can repair the installation by pressing R. If you don't see the repair option you will need to do a clean installation. Your version of windows may have been damaged in a way that it cannot carry out a repair.

5. Setup will then copy the files it needs to the hard drive and reboot the computer. A message will come up asking you if you want to boot from the cd, don't press any keys and just let the timer run out. The set up will continue and look like is doing a clean install but all of your applications and settings will be intact when it finished.

Again, once you have been fixed up you will need all your Windows updates. Also note, if the problem was caused by malware, that will still be on the machine and a repair install will not have fixed them. It simply reloads Windows files.


I hope that's of help.

Big Smiles

HS

Hi Again!

Thanks for your tips! :-) - my problem is actually solved now! - I had to take the big step and do the repair installation - something that I didn't want to do, but I found no other way out - and it has actually solved the problem! :-)

I have a couple of comments:

ActiveX are gates that allow software/manufacturers to share information.. has absolutely nothing to do with system restore.

Well, I must admit that I also found it strange that ActiveX should be involved the the system restore script! - but at least now I know for sure! ;-)

again.. what are you having problems with that you need to restore

The main reason that I wanted to restore was to use it to undo the system update that obviously went wrong! - I have used system restore before with good results in cases like this! - for some reason some people don't seem to like this function, but I don't really understand why, I find that it is a nice function to have from time to time!

The other reason is that I certainly wants this function to actually work! ;-)

I very much think your problems are related to the MS security patches you downloaded:

I believe that you are perfectly right! - it was exactly nine updates i downloaded as mentioned in your link, and the symptoms fits my situation pretty good!

The funny thing is that after the repair installation I had to make all the updates again as you said, which I of course also did - and I actually took ALL critical updates from Microsoft - which must also include these new ones that coursed the problems in the first place - but now they actually works fine! - so my guess is that Microsoft must have fixed them since! :-)

Once again, - thanks for your tips guys! - you have been very helpful! :-)


May the CPU be with you!

- Guffegris.

Hi there,

Glad to hear you are all fixed!!

Well….regarding the updates I somehow suspect one will have more problems with them if the system is slightly unstable to begin with. The repair basically replaced all your system files with fresh ones, making it more stable and that may explain why you aren't having the same problems with the updates.

But, for future reference….have a look at ERUNT, a great free recovery utility I use and this program has saved many a computer. Unlike System restore, you can revert back and forward through save points as often as you like even if your registry is coorrupted…in fact that's how it works…each save point is a back up of the registry. Download:

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

[ERUNT Tutorial:

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt

Happy and safe surfing!

Big Smiles

HS

Hi Again! :-)

But, for future reference….have a look at ERUNT, a great free recovery utility I use and this program has saved many a computer. Unlike System restore, you can revert back and forward through save points as often as you like even if your registry is coorrupted…in fact that's how it works…each save point is a back up of the registry.

- great tip! - I will certainly try that out! - sounds very useful! :-) - thanks!

Oh! - and by the way, give me a shout next time you gets to Copenhagen! - I guess I own you a beer! ;-)


May the CPU be with you!

- Guffegris.

Hi there, Copenhagen….I had an ex partner lived near there Certainly, we'll have a beer or two if I'm ever over your way or vice versa. We'll have one with the authors of Ad-Aware too since they are local Big Smiles HS