Automatic Windows Update

Sorry if the question is simple to the experts but I am absolutely hopeless
with this stuff.

The automatic windows update alert has turned itself off and I can't turn it
back on.
I have tried turning it back on via the Windows security center and also
through the automatic updates tab in 'control panel'. I also cannot look for
updates on the windows update page (express).

Many thanks for the help.
--
Ding

There's a very strong possibility that a hijackware infection is causing the
problems.

1. See if you can download/run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx

2. Run this online scan (in safe mode w/networking, if need be):
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/howsafe.htm

3. Run additional checks for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis
log to an appropriate forum.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_R...:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in
conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on
its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any
hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachi...php?board=10.0,
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, or another appropriate forum for review
by an expert in such matters, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.
=====================
Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

Support for Windows Update:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport

For home users, no-charge support is available by calling 1-866-PCSAFETY in
the United States and in Canada or by contacting your local Microsoft
subsidiary. There is no-charge for support calls that are associated with
security updates.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

Ding wrote:
> Sorry if the question is simple to the experts but I am absolutely
> hopeless
> with this stuff.
>
> The automatic windows update alert has turned itself off and I can't turn
> it
> back on.
> I have tried turning it back on via the Windows security center and also
> through the automatic updates tab in 'control panel'. I also cannot look
> for updates on the windows update page (express).
>
> Many thanks for the help.

"Ding" wrote:

> Sorry if the question is simple to the experts but I am absolutely hopeless
> with this stuff.
>
> The automatic windows update alert has turned itself off and I can't turn it
> back on.
> I have tried turning it back on via the Windows security center and also
> through the automatic updates tab in 'control panel'. I also cannot look for
> updates on the windows update page (express).
>
> Many thanks for the help.
> --
> Ding

PA Bear:
I believe I have the hijackware infection. When I try to download any
updates from Microsoft, the internet window appears with a redirect message.
Automatic downloads were occuring routinely up until a few weeks ago, and now
I cannot manually update anything...not even the MSRT or bless this mess -
contact Microsoft for support. Is there any "other" way besides downloading
that I can receive this file? I was just this evening able to download the
Live OneSecurity, but I am still not able to download the updates. I am
really at a loss as to what to do now. Any ideas?

"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:

> There's a very strong possibility that a hijackware infection is causing the
> problems.
>
> 1. See if you can download/run the MSRT manually:
> http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx
>
> 2. Run this online scan (in safe mode w/networking, if need be):
> http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/howsafe.htm
>
> 3. Run additional checks for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis
> log to an appropriate forum.
>
> Checking for/Help with Hijackware
> http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
> http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
> http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
> http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_R...:_Introduction
> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
> http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
> http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
> http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
> http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware
>
> When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
> (http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in
> conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on
> its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any
> hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
> http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachi...php?board=10.0,
> http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
> http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, or another appropriate forum for review
> by an expert in such matters, not here.**
>
> If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
> isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
> independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.
> =====================
> Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
> https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527
>
> Support for Windows Update:
> http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport
>
> For home users, no-charge support is available by calling 1-866-PCSAFETY in
> the United States and in Canada or by contacting your local Microsoft
> subsidiary. There is no-charge for support calls that are associated with
> security updates.
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
> AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
> DTS-L http://dts-l.net/
>
> Ding wrote:
> > Sorry if the question is simple to the experts but I am absolutely
> > hopeless
> > with this stuff.
> >
> > The automatic windows update alert has turned itself off and I can't turn
> > it
> > back on.
> > I have tried turning it back on via the Windows security center and also
> > through the automatic updates tab in 'control panel'. I also cannot look
> > for updates on the windows update page (express).
> >
> > Many thanks for the help.
>
>

Skip to Step #3.

Repost:
>> If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting
>> this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
>> independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.

Jean26170 wrote:
> PA Bear:
> I believe I have the hijackware infection. When I try to download
> any
> updates from Microsoft, the internet window appears with a redirect
> message.
> Automatic downloads were occuring routinely up until a few weeks ago, and
> now I cannot manually update anything...not even the MSRT or bless this
> mess - contact Microsoft for support. Is there any "other" way besides
> downloading that I can receive this file? I was just this evening able to
> download the Live OneSecurity, but I am still not able to download the
> updates. I am really at a loss as to what to do now. Any ideas?
>
> "PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:
>
>> There's a very strong possibility that a hijackware infection is causing
>> the problems.
>>
>> 1. See if you can download/run the MSRT manually:
>> http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx
>>
>> 2. Run this online scan (in safe mode w/networking, if need be):
>> http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/howsafe.htm
>>
>> 3. Run additional checks for hijackware, including posting your
>> hijackthis
>> log to an appropriate forum.
>>
>> Checking for/Help with Hijackware
>> http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
>> http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
>> http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
>> http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_R...:_Introduction
>> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
>> http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
>> http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
>> http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
>> http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
>> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware
>>
>> When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
>> (http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use
>> (in conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix
>> anything on its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any
>> hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
>> http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachi...php?board=10.0,
>> http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
>> http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, or another appropriate forum for
>> review by an expert in such matters, not here.**
>>
>> If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting
>> this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
>> independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.
>> =====================
>> Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
>> https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527
>>
>> Support for Windows Update:
>> http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport
>>
>> For home users, no-charge support is available by calling 1-866-PCSAFETY
>> in
>> the United States and in Canada or by contacting your local Microsoft
>> subsidiary. There is no-charge for support calls that are associated
>> with
>> security updates.
>> --
>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
>> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
>> AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
>> DTS-L http://dts-l.net/
>>
>> Ding wrote:
>>> Sorry if the question is simple to the experts but I am absolutely
>>> hopeless
>>> with this stuff.
>>>
>>> The automatic windows update alert has turned itself off and I can't
>>> turn
>>> it
>>> back on.
>>> I have tried turning it back on via the Windows security center and also
>>> through the automatic updates tab in 'control panel'. I also cannot
>>> look
>>> for updates on the windows update page (express).
>>>
>>> Many thanks for the help.

Searching for information on how to remove the series of "Vundo",
"Virtumonde" and "Smithfraud-c" trojan viruses from my computer. I tried
Microsoft Onecare.live site and downloaded the software. It located some of
the viruses but did NOT remove them... much to my disappointment! One of the
viruses prevented Automatic Windows Update from operating and it would not
allow the Automatic Updates to be set from the Microsoft Windows XP Security
Center. I searched the Microsoft.com Communities Newsgroups and found that
there have been several hundred people who experienced the same problems
cause by this "Vundo" virus family. I tried many of the solutions proposed by
various contributors... some by Microsoft employees, but none of them worked.
I tried Spybot, Norton 360 and AdWare SE... they did not work either. The
saving grace was that I found buried a post provided by a person named
"ronrieger" on 12/30/2008. He described how he downloaded free software from
www.SUPERAntispye.com, ran it and found the trojans that other programs
failed to find AND better yet, it removed them! Then he went back to WUAUSERV
and was able to set the Automatic Updates entry to "Start" and the problem
was resolved! I give all the credit to "ronrieger". I repeated his suggestion
and it worked! I would suggest that Microsoft inform ALL it's Windows users
that this is a quick and easy solution to the Automatic Windows Update
problem and that it is an excellent software which Microsoft should recommend
to the hundreds or thousands of users experiencing the same problem. It would
save thousands of manhours of work and frustration to your users. Thanks
again to ronrieger and the creators of SuperAntispyware.com. I will indeed
make a voluntary donation to these people. Obviously they have a superior
product!
--
DrJoeJr


"Ding" wrote:

> Sorry if the question is simple to the experts but I am absolutely hopeless
> with this stuff.
>
> The automatic windows update alert has turned itself off and I can't turn it
> back on.
> I have tried turning it back on via the Windows security center and also
> through the automatic updates tab in 'control panel'. I also cannot look for
> updates on the windows update page (express).
>
> Many thanks for the help.
> --
> Ding