(continued)

2. Click Start, Run, type %windir%\SoftwareDistribution  and press Enter to open the temporary folder of the Windows Update engine. Then, rename the following two subfolders:

  • DataStore
  • Download

For example, rename DataStore to DataStore-old, and Download to Download-old.

3. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Run the following command in the opened window:

  • net start wuauserv

After you rename the above folders, please restart the computer in normal mode and visit the Windows Update site again.

If you are still having problems, contact me with the specifics, and I'll see if I can help. Also, Microsoft offers "No Fee" support for problems with Windows Update.

On the other hand, I recently tried a repair/reinstall with a slipstreamed SP3 installation CD to see how well it works, and it did NOT break Windows Update. (There were only 7 critical updates to install--slipstreaming SP3 is definitely a quicker way to do a repair/reinstall).

If Update is still broken

after completing these steps, Microsoft offers "no fee" support for Windows Update problems.