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3785
Vista Update Fails...
Another function of my girlfriend's Vista machine (Dell 1501 Vista Home Premium) has died. This time, Windows Update has crashed and burned suddenly with an "unknown error" message. Now, no updates to Vista or Office can be done. I have debugged to the point where my patience is fried. So, I need some suggestions, starting with...
1. Spend the time and effort to upgrade her to XP Pro as I did with my own Dell 1501. This was nasty work and I don't really want to go through that again if I don't have to. Plus, my (retail) copy is in use on my own machine so it would be against the rules anyway. But maybe...???
2. Find a third party application to replace the faulty Windows Update. I did this when her Uninstall function crashed and burned months ago but I have searched all over the place and have found nothing that does this. Any suggestions if people have used/heard of one?
3. Forget about the updates. We are both almost certain we'll be moving over to Apple (yucky UI but otherwise vastly superior to Vista) but that won't be financially possible ($$$$) until late summer. I especially worry about that bad bug in IE that can't be updated now. I use Firefox but she still uses IE. I guess I could force her but what a scene... How likely is it that she will be hit by something nasty?
4. Something I haven't thought about?
FWIW, I did disable the virus checker, firewall, Defender in the startup. I ran two spy checkers (Search and Destroy, AdAware) that found nothing wrong. All the Dell drivers are up to date including that nasty ATI display driver. Update still fails with "unknown error."
Thanks for any help you all can come up with.
jgitz
55 Posts
1
January 7th, 2009 12:00
OK, problem solved... in a way.
I calmed down, stuck pins into a couple of Gates and Balmer dolls to relieve the stress, then had a long talk with my girlfriend. The result was simple, thanks to Dell:
I ordered a business laptop that has XP Pro pre-installed. Both legal (no sharing my copy) and much more stable than Vista could ever hope to be. The laptop comes with a Vista Business disk that I can use as a coaster (assuming it can manage even that). We will stay with XP for as long as we possibly can. That puts off a major decision about the OS for at least a few more years.
Her cursed Vista Inspiron is being donated to a Linux guy.
I am so disappointed that Windows 7 is based on Vista. Don't they ever learn?
Thereal-dbk4297
3.4K Posts
1
January 3rd, 2009 11:00
Hello,
:emotion-55: Google knows everything; if you just know how to ask. :emotion-55:
Try looking here. And here.
PudgyOne
9 Legend
9 Legend
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30.3K Posts
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January 3rd, 2009 12:00
jgitz,
If the items that Darrel suggested doesn't work, then try this one.
Windows Updates fail to install
Rick
jgitz
55 Posts
0
January 5th, 2009 07:00
I tried this a few minutes agao and found that all but the first one gave me an error message about the file not existing. I vaguely remember something similiar (or the same?) when I was on the phone with that Microsoft Help guy.
Thanks for the info anyway!
jgitz
55 Posts
0
January 5th, 2009 07:00
Unfortunately, Google doesn't know everything! Nothing listed in your links relates to the problem she is having. I already did call up Microsoft, spent forever trying to talk to someone. Then, they wanted to be paid. Following a bit of animated discussion, they provided the help for free. After having me look at and list seemingly a thousand things, their solution was the one I always hear: reinstall Vista. If I have to go through the trouble and time to reinstall an OS it certainly will not be Vista!
I have come to the long-in-waiting conclusion that an OS that tries to be everything to all equipment just isn't possible anymore. Part of that is the inertia of success on Microsoft's part, the other is the simple fact that there is just too much out there, too many shortcuts being taken with hardware to save money. After years of my ridiculing Apple for their totally proprietary solution, it appears more and more that they have the right idea: control both the hardware and the software. Expensive, but rational. As an aside, Apple should certainly do better than it does considering their control.
Oh well. Time to seriously think about the next step.
ApproachingZero
117 Posts
0
January 5th, 2009 08:00
jgitz,
Like you I too flirted with the idea of switching to Apple. However, after the many years of Windows use and large amounts of time and money spent on Windows apps, I decided my money would go further on the PC side. I did end up buying an iLamp...off Craigs list (to feed my desire with Apple) that had Tiger and it works great as an iTunes center. But please don't buy into the notion that just because Apple controls the hardware that they don't have issues on the apple side. I had an issue about a month or so ago where my iMac wouldn't play DVDs (been fine for 5 months of ownership). I jumped online and you wouldn't believe the number of folks that had the same issue. The fix was to run a utility within Tiger to repair permissions. Sounds like a bogus fix, but wouldn't you know it , it worked. Bottom line, I think both OSs are complex and just because one controls the hardware and the other doesn't, really doesn't point to less problems. Both have issues.
jgitz
55 Posts
0
January 5th, 2009 09:00
Oh, don't worry! I'm not one of those mindless Mac fanatics who believe that everything Apple is perfect. I love their "The problem does not exist" approach... until they fix it! That is currently happening with the dying NVIDIA boards in the new MacBooks. On the other hand, their service is superb. Walk into an Apple store (there is one about 25 miles from here) and someone will figure out what's going on. My girlfriends cousin was given a loaner MacBook, with his files and critical apps moved over to it (!!!!) while his Mac was being fixed. Who else does that? Fact is, you just don't get that from any PC consumer computer maker (even Dell). It also means that the cost is very high to buy in.
Should Apple do better? You bet! Is OSX a more stable OS than Vista? Without a doubt. Vista has so many problems, so many failures that result in the dreaded "reinstall" advice. My girlfriend and I use the computer to get work done, not to spend huge amounts of time debugging Microsft's beta-level production releases.
I have decided to let her Vista machine continue to deteriorate. Hopefully, by the time it blows up completely, I can afford to move her over to an iMac. My XP-based 1501 is running OK, so I can wait longer. It is painful to have to do this but, with Windows 7 based on the Vista code base, it just doesn't look as if Microsoft is going to get their act together any time soon.