perkypops

@submix8c On the MSN installation I mentioned slipstreamed SP3, which implies the user has an SP2 XP disc, so please read carefully. I have used a slipstreamed disc I have had since SP3 was released for installing XP successfully many times over, the last being March 2013. The issue with updates hanging is first mentioned in October/November 2013 and no amount of patronage will overcome the difficulties lots of users have had with this problem i.e. use a slipstreamed SP3 disc and you'll get a freeze. I have even tried it with an MS SP3 disc with the same outcome - Windows update is frozen. Installing the files mentioned achieved nothing (one of the fixits can do it for you and you get zilch). Microsoft have admitted to this problem (and SP3 new installs). Isn't that enough for you? I am confused, battered and bewildered by the disrespect shown by people on this site. So please do not expect to find me here again.

To all those commenting on my offered solution here are my views on same: Slipstreaming SP3* is the issue causing Windows Update to hang/freeze as I found to my concern, and to the concern of countless others in numerous articles I have read on this issue, not just on this thread. Also the three files, I mention which have now been subjected to irrelevant analysis, are those recommended by Microsoft in getting SP3 to work as it is supposed to. Slipstreaming SP3 is not the same as installing SP2 and then running Windows update from there, since there are several updates between SP2 and SP3 which are differently implemented in SP3 slipstream. If you install SP2 and then install the pre-downloaded SP3 file then Wndows Update will still end up stalling, and it makes no difference what the staus of the Windows Update flag is - turned on or off it is still the same - the update mechanism will attempt to roll and then stall. And the problem in sorting this out has been made more difficult by Microsoft's amending of, and in some cases removal of, articles relevant to Windows Update in XP as April 2014 gets ever closer. The crucial problem seems to me to be overcoming the inability of IE6 to provide access to Windows updates without using the three files mentioned, and this is what happens if you simply install slipstreamed SP3. You are left with IE8 and a damaged update module During my travails on the Microsoft website I did find a mention of the whole subject of damaged update modules in the knowledgebase but the original solutions had been, as someone else has noted, scrubbed and replaced with the later Fix-its which are not fit for purpose. My method of overcoming is straightforward, reliable and reasonably quick, and has now worked on six different machines which were all having this update freeze issue from slipstreamed SP3. My method may not be the only route to success but most of the comments after my posting just repeat issues which do not overcome the actual problem people are encountering i.e. a frozen Windows update module which is not going to get repaired. We all want what works, not what some nerd says should work. Surely that is the whole point of this thread isn't it? Happy New Year to you all. * Please note that, in the past, I have used slipstreamed SP3 several times with complete success. The issue is changes Mircosoft have made to Windows Update in preparation for closing down support to XP. There is no specific advice from Microsoft relevant to the freezing which occurs only that it is under investigation.

I have now tested the above on two computers and it worked on both but I have been able to load IE8 to allow Windows Update to run post sp3 install. To summarise this solution: 1. Obtain copies of the three files listed in my original post and save them to an external drive or usb memory stick. Windows XP-KB932823-V3-x86-ENU.exe, WindowsInstaller-KB893803-V2-x86.exe, and WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe 2. Install XP with original MS XP up to SP2 disk. 3. Load drivers for motherboard, sound, graphics etc and ensure Windows is stable. Turn automatic updates off. 4. Install the three files in 1) above. 5. Run Windows update manually in Express mode until (and including) SP3 (Note: the updates between SP2 and SP3 are critical) . 6. Obtain upgrade copy of IE8 from MS website (it may resist at first but persist and you'll get to the correct upgrade dialogue). 7. Turn on automatic updates and obtain remaining updates to date. 8. Set daily updates at xxxx time to check the auto updating works. 9. Your XP install will now work fine.

For nearly thirty six hours I have been attempting to reinstall my Windows XP Pro following advice I have gleaned from wherever and always hitting the buffers on Windows Update. You will not have seen me on here before (This is my first entry) and so I'll say Hi to you all. The good news is I have discovered how to do a proper XP Pro install and get Windows Update working as it should. And it will not take longer than about three hours from bare hard drive to fully functional and up to date XP. Firstly I used a slipstreamed XP + SP3 nlite CD which I have used before. Consequence - no update. I tried this on two different machines with the same outcome. I then tried XP+SP2 (my original MS CD) with even dire consequence since I couldn't get on the Windows Update site come what may. I spent some time studying the MS website and going backwards and forwards between people who seem to have made it work. And then I staggered upon three little standalone programs from Microsoft called WindowsXP-KB932823-V3-x86-ENU.exe, WindowsInstaller-KB893803-V2-x86.exe, and WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe all on the MS site but perhaps not where you think they should be when Windows Update hangs (and believe me I have left it for hours with no result). Certainly MS do not point you to the right place with all those FIxit things doing bits but not the whole job. You need to download the three named files and save them on a USB drive or stick (they are small) before you start your install. Forget your slipstreamed SP3 and get your bog standard SP2 MS disk and install. Choose not to update Windows Automatically when asked. Once installed then get the drivers for mobo, usb, graphics, sound etc loaded and working. Make sure Windows is stable but shutting down and restarting a couple of times. Now install the three files from the USB drive or stick, they should confirm they are installed. Go to Windows Update and it'll work straight away by giving you all the updates (at speed) until SP3. Install SP3. At this stage you will need help from the WSUS Offline Update since the installation will still cause SP3 to hang. WSUS works very effectively when you choose to install IE8 and XP legacy (which is on the last tab) and will bring your machine up to early November 2013, but, better still you will, if you turn Windows to automatic updates, see that it works as well and at superspeed. Turn Windows Update off again until WSUS finishes installing. When WSUS has done turn Windows Update on and schedule the hour just after present time and watch as automatic updates fire away. Now of course you could slipstream a disk with the three files on it at SP2 stage and then move to SP3 but you'll still need the help of WSUS to get Windows moving on updates again. WSUS is a little quaint to use but it downloads, verifies and installs fast in two separate stages. It also reboots automatically if you tell it to so you can leave it to do its business. I hope this is an option some people will try, since you folk tried hard to help me and this is the best way I can repay. My XP has never sung sweeter so MS can go.......