On decommissioning of update servers for 2000, XP, (and Vista?) as of July 2019

[Dave-H]

OK, I did all that, in fact I cleared everything on Internet Explorer except my browsing history, which surely can't be relevant to the problem.
No difference, same error message.
Log is attached.

WindowsUpdate.log

[AstroSkipper]

@Dave-H I have compared your log to mine.

In your log you can see:

2022-01-29    12:28:25:312    1860    cc4    Misc    ===========  Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: -0000)  ===========
2022-01-29    12:28:25:312    1860    cc4    Misc      = Process: D:\WIN-NT\System32\svchost.exe
2022-01-29    12:28:25:312    1860    cc4    Misc      = Module: D:\WIN-NT\system32\wuaueng.dll
2022-01-29    12:28:25:312    1860    cc4    Service    *************
2022-01-29    12:28:25:312    1860    cc4    Service    ** START **  Service: Service startup
2022-01-29    12:28:25:312    1860    cc4    Service    *********
2022-01-29    12:28:25:343    1860    cc4    Agent      * WU client version 7.6.7600.256
2022-01-29    12:28:25:343    1860    cc4    Agent      * Base directory: D:\WIN-NT\SoftwareDistribution
2022-01-29    12:28:25:343    1860    cc4    Agent      * Access type: Named proxy
2022-01-29    12:28:25:343    1860    cc4    Agent      * Default proxy: https=127.0.0.1:8079
2022-01-29    12:28:25:343    1860    cc4    Agent      * Default proxy bypass: <local>
2022-01-29    12:28:25:343    1860    cc4    Agent      * Network state: Connected

In my log you see a difference:

2022-01-29    14:26:34:093    1128    b38    Misc    ===========  Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: +0100)  ===========
2022-01-29    14:26:34:109    1128    b38    Misc      = Process: C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
2022-01-29    14:26:34:109    1128    b38    Misc      = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll
2022-01-29    14:26:34:093    1128    b38    Service    *************
2022-01-29    14:26:34:109    1128    b38    Service    ** START **  Service: Service startup
2022-01-29    14:26:34:109    1128    b38    Service    *********
2022-01-29    14:26:35:140    1128    b38    Agent      * WU client version 7.6.7600.256
2022-01-29    14:26:35:140    1128    b38    Agent      * Base directory: C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution
2022-01-29    14:26:35:234    1128    b38    Agent      * Access type: No proxy
2022-01-29    14:26:35:578    1128    b38    Agent      * Network state: Connected

Here are my IE LAN-Settings:
HTTPSProxy switched off:
https://imgur.com/TRquakL
HTTPSProxy switched on:
https://imgur.com/w19OXo2
https://imgur.com/iuu80if

 

 

So switch to HTTPSProxy and do the same settings. You can do it by clicking Inet_CurUser_ProxySettings.reg Switching on and off by SysTray icon. Important first screenshot. Automatic Configuration both options are unchecked. And check your hosts file if it is clean related to MU. And in background ProxHTTPSProxy may not be loaded. Post your Windows Update Log once again.

Edited January 31, 2022 by AstroSkipper
deletion

[Dave-H]

I don't see why something would work in HTTPSProxy that wouldn't work in ProxHTTPSProxyMII, as far as I can see they are pretty much the same program!
AFAIK my configuration settings are correct for ProxHTTPSProxyMII, it seems to work fine everywhere else.
I am a bit puzzled that although we both have our proxy servers configured for https connections only, not for all connections, they are still apparently active when we are using http connections for Microsoft Update.

[maile3241]

2 hours ago, Dave-H said:

I don't see why something would work in HTTPSProxy that wouldn't work in ProxHTTPSProxyMII, as far as I can see they are pretty much the same program!
AFAIK my configuration settings are correct for ProxHTTPSProxyMII, it seems to work fine everywhere else.
I am a bit puzzled that although we both have our proxy servers configured for https connections only, not for all connections, they are still apparently active when we are using http connections for Microsoft Update.

As far as I know only https works via ProxhttpsProxy.

[maile3241]

@Dave-H Which antivirus do you use?

[AstroSkipper]

3 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

So switch to HTTPSProxy and do the same settings. You can do it by clicking Inet_CurUser_ProxySettings.reg Switching on and off by SysTray icon. Important first screenshot. Automatic Configuration both options are unchecked. And check your hosts file if it is clean related to MU. And in background ProxHTTPSProxy may not be loaded. Post your Windows Update Log once again.

I want to compare your system to mine. Without HTTPSProxy I can't do that. AFAIK your connection error is related to synchronizaton and you've got other setting than me. We have to do trial and error. For comparing systems they have to have same structure. And our logs speak a clear language. We have different proxy settings. Beyond that MU is connecting to a https version of fe2.update.microsoft.com although you've loaded http version. You can see this in the log. If you want to solve your problem perform the steps above. 

And you know you can have installed both HTTPSProxy and ProxHTTPSProxy. They have different certificates and both are portable. None of them will harm your system. I use both and they are working properly. The only  thing you have to take notice of is not runnig both in RAM at once. Due to the fact that I have installed ProxHTTPSProxy Rev 3d we can't compare these versions and my test partition has still to be installed.

Edited January 29, 2022 by AstroSkipper
addition

[Dave-H]

@maile3241

I use Malwarebytes Premium, the last XP version.

@AstroSkipper
OK, I'll fire up HTTPSProxy, switch off ProxHTTPSProxyMII, and replicate your settings.
You're absolutely right that we need to be comparing two systems that are as similar as possible!

[AstroSkipper]

@Dave-H Although our ProxHTTPSProxy versions are different here are the equivalent lines of my Windows Update Log if ProxHTTPSProxy is doing its job:

2022-01-29    19:24:30:015    1128    b1c    Misc    ===========  Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: +0100)  ===========
2022-01-29    19:24:30:140    1128    b1c    Misc      = Process: C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
2022-01-29    19:24:30:140    1128    b1c    Misc      = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll
2022-01-29    19:24:30:015    1128    b1c    Service    *************
2022-01-29    19:24:30:140    1128    b1c    Service    ** START **  Service: Service startup
2022-01-29    19:24:30:140    1128    b1c    Service    *********
2022-01-29    19:24:30:875    1128    b1c    Agent      * WU client version 7.6.7600.256
2022-01-29    19:24:30:875    1128    b1c    Agent      * Base directory: C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution
2022-01-29    19:24:30:890    1128    b1c    Agent      * Access type: No proxy
2022-01-29    19:24:31:078    1128    b1c    Agent      * Network state: Connected

And you can see MU recognized No proxy.

[abbodi1406]

Adding g_sconsumersite manually to fe2.update url (to open MU site) prevent the redirection loop with www.update url

http://fe2.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en&g_sconsumersite=1

 

the site opens in Win 7 / 8.1 too (not that it would work)

Edited January 29, 2022 by abbodi1406

[maile3241]

7 minutes ago, abbodi1406 said:

Adding g_sconsumersite manually to fe2.update url (to open MU site) prevent the redirection loop with www.update url

http://fe2.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en&g_sconsumersite=1

 

the site opens in Win 7 / 8.1 too (not that it would work)

We have already deactivated the redirection. But thanks for the tip!

[AstroSkipper]

8 minutes ago, abbodi1406 said:

Adding g_sconsumersite manually to fe2.update url (to open MU site) prevent the redirection loop with www.update url

http://fe2.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en&g_sconsumersite=1

Thanks! Good find. Works flawlessly.

[xpandvistafan]

2 hours ago, abbodi1406 said:

Adding g_sconsumersite manually to fe2.update url (to open MU site) prevent the redirection loop with www.update url

http://fe2.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en&g_sconsumersite=1

 

the site opens in Win 7 / 8.1 too (not that it would work)

Great find! Now we have a backup if ever Microsoft decided to break the current method.

[xpandvistafan]

It also makes the Windows Update website load in 2000 as well, since the Trusted Sites method does not work for 2000. Although I wonder if ProxHTTPSProxy will work on 2000 with Extended Kernel.

Edited January 29, 2022 by xpandvistafan

[maile3241]

On 1/29/2022 at 10:05 PM, xpandvistafan said:

It also makes the Windows Update website load in 2000 as well, since the Trusted Sites method does not work for 2000. Although I wonder if ProxHTTPSProxy will work on 2000 with Extended Kernel.

Works for me too. Only the search fails because there is no patch for W2k yet.

Edited February 18, 2022 by maile3241

[xpandvistafan]

1 minute ago, maile3241 said:

Works for me too. only the search fails because there is no patch for W2k yet.

Hmm, mine seems to need a file called msvcr90.dll to install the certificate. Do you have that on your system?

Edited January 29, 2022 by xpandvistafan