Another Vista Windows update problem

prettykittykat · 08-30-2007, 03:02 AM

Hubby bought a brand new laptop at the weekend - Toshiba - this one
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/266893

Intel Pentium Processor T2080
1.73GHz, 533MHz, 1MB Cache
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
1GB Memory
120GB Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
15.4" Widescreen Display
Intel GMA 900 Graphics
Wireless Enabled

Anyway, everything going fantastically until last night. Tried to update windows and nothing. Goes to make a restore point, goes to install update 1 then hangs. Does nothing else. System then crashes and can only get it back by taking the battery out and putting it back again.

So go through this time and time again, trying to install each of the updates on their own, together, then half at once, but still nothing........ hangs, then crashes.

Got no error messages or anything - so went on the net, found one "solution": Disable the Windows Update Service (Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services). Just stop the service.
Navigate to: C:/Windows/ (or whereever you Windows system is)
Find the folder named: “SoftwareDistribution”. Rename that folder to something like “SoftwareDistribution.old”. Create a new folder called “SoftwareDistribution”. Go back to your Services panel and start the Windows Update service. Rerun Windows Update.

But still doesn't work..........

It's getting to the point of wanting to throw the bloomin thing out the window now. Anyone got any other solutions????

Thanks

**PanamaGal** · 08-30-2007, 05:51 AM

Can you go to safe mode and use system restore to go back to before this problem?

prettykittykat · 08-30-2007, 05:55 AM

Nope, it was brand new install and hadn't got any restore points. TechGuys were on the phone this morning - told me to install WinXP instead..... shows how much faith they have in Vista...... go figure

**PanamaGal** · 08-30-2007, 06:00 AM

Not the kind of advice I would want to hear from tech support. Sounds like it wasn't loaded properly to start with. We have had very few problems with our computers running Vista, and complaints from our customers using Vista seem to be mainly ones dealing with compatability of hardware and software.

prettykittykat · 08-30-2007, 11:49 AM

Also had a chat to my hubbys companies IT department about it - "yes, change to Win XP until they make Vista more reliable" was the general ghist of the conversation. I've just bought the full Win XP Home edition (rather than the Media Centre one I have on my desktop) and downloaded the Toshiba drivers for the laptop for XP so will give that a go tomorrow.

08-30-2007, 03:02 AM	#1 (permalink)
prettykittykat Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 21 OS: Vista Home Premium	Another Vista Windows update problem Hubby bought a brand new laptop at the weekend - Toshiba - this one http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/266893 Intel Pentium Processor T2080 1.73GHz, 533MHz, 1MB Cache Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 1GB Memory 120GB Hard Drive DVD ReWriter MultiDrive 15.4" Widescreen Display Intel GMA 900 Graphics Wireless Enabled Anyway, everything going fantastically until last night. Tried to update windows and nothing. Goes to make a restore point, goes to install update 1 then hangs. Does nothing else. System then crashes and can only get it back by taking the battery out and putting it back again. So go through this time and time again, trying to install each of the updates on their own, together, then half at once, but still nothing........ hangs, then crashes. Got no error messages or anything - so went on the net, found one "solution": Disable the Windows Update Service (Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services). Just stop the service. Navigate to: C:/Windows/ (or whereever you Windows system is) Find the folder named: “SoftwareDistribution”. Rename that folder to something like “SoftwareDistribution.old”. Create a new folder called “SoftwareDistribution”. Go back to your Services panel and start the Windows Update service. Rerun Windows Update. But still doesn't work.......... It's getting to the point of wanting to throw the bloomin thing out the window now. Anyone got any other solutions???? Thanks Last edited by prettykittykat; 08-30-2007 at 03:04 AM.

08-30-2007, 05:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
PanamaGal Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Panama Posts: 1,240 OS: WinXP Pro SP2; Windows Server 2003; Windows Vista Ultimate; Vista Business	Re: Another Vista Windows update problem Can you go to safe mode and use system restore to go back to before this problem? __________________ It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

08-30-2007, 05:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
prettykittykat Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 21 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: Another Vista Windows update problem Nope, it was brand new install and hadn't got any restore points. TechGuys were on the phone this morning - told me to install WinXP instead..... shows how much faith they have in Vista...... go figure

08-30-2007, 06:00 AM	#4 (permalink)
PanamaGal Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Panama Posts: 1,240 OS: WinXP Pro SP2; Windows Server 2003; Windows Vista Ultimate; Vista Business	Re: Another Vista Windows update problem Not the kind of advice I would want to hear from tech support. Sounds like it wasn't loaded properly to start with. We have had very few problems with our computers running Vista, and complaints from our customers using Vista seem to be mainly ones dealing with compatability of hardware and software. __________________ It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

08-30-2007, 11:49 AM	#5 (permalink)
prettykittykat Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 21 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: Another Vista Windows update problem Also had a chat to my hubbys companies IT department about it - "yes, change to Win XP until they make Vista more reliable" was the general ghist of the conversation. I've just bought the full Win XP Home edition (rather than the Media Centre one I have on my desktop) and downloaded the Toshiba drivers for the laptop for XP so will give that a go tomorrow.