Microsoft stealth updating stonewalls XP restore
Microsoft stealth updating stonewalls XP
restore
Microsoft has confirmed that Windows XP users who repair the operating system
cannot update their PCs with the latest patches because of a file included with
the stealth update pushed out to machines this
summer.
“When an XP repair CD is used, it replaces all system files (including Windows Update) on your machine with older versions of those files and restores the registry,” said Nate Clinton, program manager for Windows Update (WU), in a post to the Microsoft company blog dedicated to the update service. “However, the latest version of Windows Update includes ‘wups2.dll’ that was not originally present in Windows XP. Therefore, after the repair install of the OS, wups2.dll remains on the system, but its registry entries are missing. This mismatch causes updates to fail installation.”
The Windows Secrets newsletter reported the patch installation failures after tests on Windows XP machines that had been restored by an in-place reinstall. The root of the problem, said the publication, is that seven DLLs from the latest revision to WU — not just one — failed to register themselves with XP. Microsoft could not provide an explanation for the discrepancy between the claims.
John Dvorak noted this in yesterday’s Tech5 podcast. Thought I’d provide a source with additional detail.
I have to wonder about a company with programming and R&D staff the size of Microsoft - and no one tested for something like this? Should be part of software design 101. Or was it deliberate?
“When an XP repair CD is used, it replaces all system files (including Windows Update) on your machine with older versions of those files and restores the registry,” said Nate Clinton, program manager for Windows Update (WU), in a post to the Microsoft company blog dedicated to the update service. “However, the latest version of Windows Update includes ‘wups2.dll’ that was not originally present in Windows XP. Therefore, after the repair install of the OS, wups2.dll remains on the system, but its registry entries are missing. This mismatch causes updates to fail installation.”
The Windows Secrets newsletter reported the patch installation failures after tests on Windows XP machines that had been restored by an in-place reinstall. The root of the problem, said the publication, is that seven DLLs from the latest revision to WU — not just one — failed to register themselves with XP. Microsoft could not provide an explanation for the discrepancy between the claims.
John Dvorak noted this in yesterday’s Tech5 podcast. Thought I’d provide a source with additional detail.
I have to wonder about a company with programming and R&D staff the size of Microsoft - and no one tested for something like this? Should be part of software design 101. Or was it deliberate?
Posted: Sat - September 29, 2007 at 05:41 AM