Trouble accessing net after recent windows update

[ALpha2]

Okay so like a few days ago I noticed that the computer was requesting an install of the latest auto-downloaded windows update for the usual security holes and whatnot, which required a restart to complete but once the rebooting was finished I was unable to access parts of the internet.

I was able to use a restore point to return my computer to it's previously working state, and turned off the windows auto update function of SP2 to avoid downlaoding whatever caused this to begin with but later I was getting tired of closing the "YOU'RE UNPROTECTED!!1!" windows from that security shield that DEMANDS I turn on the auto updater (Obviously because it thinks I'm too much of a retard to check every once and a while on my own) every time I booted up so I decided to go to the site and manually choose certain updates and hope that it wouldn't annoy me so much later. First I made sure to set a restore point before I updated so that I could undo any problems.

Unfortunatly when the problem cropped up again the restore point refused to work (as well as every other point!). The computer claimed it was unable to restore my computer to it's previous state and now I'm stuck with the update.

First some background on my computer and connection:
- Toshiba Satellite WinXP(home) laptop with SP2, 1.7ghz, 512mb, 40gb HD
- internet sharing a 56k connection via ethernet hub from a Win98 desktop

Specific issues I experienced after this problem began.
- I could not access my.yahoo.com thus cutting me off from my email
- I could access Google but could not access any links it produced
- I could access the windows update site but could not access many of it's pages without difficulty nor could I use the auto updater with out getting an error stating an inabilty to complete the process (I believe the error was 80072EE2).

So far I've tried:
- The sollutions mentioned in this thread http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36026
- the fixes for the 0x80072EE2 error from the Microsoft site (one of the few pages I could actually access...)
- cmd: ipconfig /flushdns and cmd: netsh winsock reset

...and still I've seen no improvment, I'm this || close to just uninstalling SP2 but I have a feeling this may leave an even bigger hole in my operating system that I cant recover at all from and I REALLY CANNOT aford a reformat as being on 56k it would take a decade to reinstall programs and download all the fixes and patches for the programs I have installed.

Can anyone help?

[Quantax]

In your case I'd recommend a repair install(see www.michaelstevenstech.com). The updates you have get deleted, so you'll have to reinstall as needed.

[ALpha2]

I presume this will have the same effect as uninstalling SP2 and any windows updates I've installed since I first got the computer correct?

I ask only because I figure if I DO try something as drastic as this I might as well try uninstalling SP2 first.

[Quantax]

Go ahead and try uninstalling the SP2. If I recall in my experience at least one time wasn't exactly "user friendly." :mad:

But if it fails do the repair/install then.

[ALpha2]

Well I went to the MS site to make sure I was uninstallying SP2 correctly and when it told me to click the "show updates" button first it showed what seemed to be the most recent 7 or 8 updates so I tried deleting each one first and checking the net after each restart with no luck so then I finally decided to rip SP2 out and thank god it worked without a hassle.

I was told that aside from the pop up blocker the fact that the internet server is a win98 machine that I should be relatively safe from most worms and such since most target the new OS and not the ancient 98 which has enough of it's own protection built up, but that I should get something like zone alarm to wastch for anything fishy. I'm currently still posting from teh desk top but atleast my laptop is currently working as it used to as far as I can tell from the last half hour of use.

Thanks for your suggestions Quantax!

[ErnieK]

As you will se from the link below oyu are no the only one with this problem, it seems to be a common problem. Fault seems to lie with kb893086.

http://www.windowsforumz.com/Security-Admin-Unable-start-installation-Hotfix-kb893086-ftopict359039.html

How do you have auto updates set?

Try setting to Notify but do not automatically download or install This will still notify you about the downloads with a yellow shield.When you click on the shield it shows exactly what the downloads are (I then go to MS get them and store in folder with the apprpriate month as the folder name for future use) This also allows you to download one at a time or all together. If you go this route you still get nagged about updates but it is not as intrusive. After a few days when you click on the yellowshield it might show that you have to download but select advanced and then cancel to stop the downloads.

[gary_hendricks]

Do you happen to have some kind of firewall in you computer? Sometimes those interfere with Internet access.

[ALpha2]

I have no firewall on the win98 machine, and SP2 was the only firewall on the XP machine.

That stupid little yellow shield was the cause of this whole mess. It's constant annoying pop up always suggesting I download the newest update. Everything was working fine up until a few days ago with a recent auto update. I downloaded it, it stopped my network from working so I restored the computer to it's previous settings.

That's when I turned off the auto updates and started getting harrased by the yellow shield, so I tried to just install a couple of the updates and try to avoid anything that looked like it might cause the problem again but it did and I couldnt restore the update out of the computer.

I did take the opportunity to try deleting individual updates which had no effect untill I uninstallt SP2 all together UNFORTUNATELY after doing so and getting my computer to work again I decided to go back and make sure all my pre-SP2 updates were in order. it didn't seem to even mention anything about SP2 on the windows update list so I started downloading 8.35mb and 35 minutes later I was screwed AGAIN.


I went back into add remove programs to try and find offending updates and noticed about 5 updates which were specifically labled as SP2 hot fixes so I deleted them except for KB810243 which dosent have a delete option and is undeleteable. I figured this was part of the reseason I couldnt get back on line since deleting SP2 fixed my computer the first time so I decided to restore back to a point before I installed the updates but the only restore point was one where I still had SP2.

I went back to that point and deleted the updates but when I tried to remove SP2 again it and it removed it from the Add/Remove list but now I'll still stuck because it's still on my computer! I've tried the run>sfc /scannow option listed here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875350 along with the previously mentioned removal method but neither worked. the /scannow requires me to have a SP2 disk which I dont have.

I don't have the SP2 disk because I downloaded it from MS, I ordered the disk like 2 or 3 days ago when I first concidered removing SP2 and figured I should have it incase I need to reinstall it but the email confirmation they sent me feels like they intend on taking their sweet time getting it to me.

Is there any way to uninstall SP2 without the SP2 and without the uninstall file? $NtServicePackUninstall$\Spuninst
spuninst.exe does not exist anymore... assuming it ever did. As previously mentioned I do not trust using the recovery disks that came with my computer because I dont know what the exact results will be. Spending a year trying to fix random faults and holes in windows is a pain and I just know that's what will happen if I use this method. As it stands I pretty much never want to see that effing Windows update site ever again.

[ALpha2]

Hey again, I'm reaching the end of my rope and I was just about to preform the repair install Quantax mentioned at www.michaelstevenstech.com but I'm not sure if it's safe to try.

Specifically in the first paragraph it seems to suggest this can't be done unless I have a WinXP CDwhich I suppose would be definatively labed as one. This is not what I have, what I have are 3 disks labled "Toshiba recovery and applications/drivers CD" Is this what they refer too as the OEM disks, If so I'm completly out of options for a MONTH!

[Quantax]

Yep, gotta have the full edition of XP to do the repair/install. Otherwise your other option is formatting which the restore disks can do but naturally wipe everything out.

But the repair/install only wipes out the Windows updates.

[ALpha2]

So now the only option left is to wait for M$' slow asses to send me a sp2 disk so I can fix the ruined sp2 in my computer and then uninstall it. I swear there's no reason this OS should be so ****ed up.

I'm litterally going to be a month behind on my work because they broke their own OS on my computer somehow, ridiculous.

[classicsoftware]

Did you disable the Windows firewall in XP2?

[ALpha2]

Yes, fire wall is off, auto update is off and I've been ofline so long my virus defintions are out of date so thats effectivly off too. I've pretty much turned off everything related to SP2 in the in the security menu. I'm looking at the lights on my ethernet port and when I plug it in the green light comes on and the yellow flickers for like 3 seconds in and stops then does this untill I get the "page cannot be viewed error".

[jcnoernberg]

this may be way off target, but... when you go to google, yahoo, ect, and you get the main page, those might just be chached in your temp files. being that you cant get to any links, try going into your network connections, properties, TCP/IP and make sure all your ips are set to automatic... worth a shot.

[ALpha2]

Yeah they were set to automatic. I could access some sites if I used their direct IP address, obtained through samspade.org. but it was impossible to go from yahoo's front page to anything that wasnt directly under that IP, Yahoo goes from www.yahoo.com to a login server to the mail server and I get locked out along the way. With google I can enter a search parameter, get links from anything I search for and even get thumbnails in the image search but none of the links from those searches will work.

The SP2 disk came in from M$ faster than I expected, unfortunatly it's got several huge scratches so I don't even know if it will work for the removal process.

Great, so now I cant seem to even use the sfc /scannow approach to repair sp2 because I can't use my internal CD drive. It seems to be saying either I dont have the right disk to repair SP2 which cant be possible since I'm pretty sure there's only once KIND of sp2, or it expects to see it in my CD drive which hasn't worked in like 5 months due to an IDE erro1 that I havent had the opportunity to have fixed.

I could probably install SP2 from teh external disk drive but the support pages said something about not installing sp2 twice because it would just make a second folder and each up drive, and with my luck still wouldnt fix the problem.

[ALpha2]

So after finding out that the SP2 cd I have is useless (since it's not the MOST recent version of SP2 and I cant use it to repair the faulty version I currently have stuck in my machine) I finally found the free M$ service number for dealling with with SP2 and called... after about 5 minutes taking to a very nice Indian guy with a mild british accent I was passed to another Indian service rep with a slightly thicker accent and spent the next 6 hours on the phone with him partly listening to the same 4 songs on hold while he when for several bouts of research and the other part trying to fix my machine. My cellphone bill will be spectacular this month.

After a good 2 and a half hours of using the same methods you all suggested (checking IPs, refreshing DNS, chcking and rechecking settings and fliping the fire wall switch on and off a few times) and a couple more of restore points and deleting registry entries, basically the best he could do was try to help me uninstall each individual Windows XP update and slowly revert my computer back to a non SP2 machine. This worked for about 5 or 6 uninstall/restarts untill suddenly I couldnt get the windows explorer to open, after another quick run of Gwen Stefani and Green Day Greatest hits he decided it was too dangerous to follow that path any further and we restored my computer again and went to work on trying to fix the Internet problem with no luck.

Apparently windows XP is perfect and can't possibly be the problem, I can see the 98 machine and the 98 machine can see the XP machine so connectivity hasnt been broken but yet I still get jack squat when I attempt to surf the net meanwhile a bunch of programs (except for windows) can effectivly update themselves in brief internet spurts. He does go on to say I shouldn't download huge files through 56k (like a have a fricken choice? I DON'T by the way.) because supposedly even if I loose connection things like SP2 will concider themselves complete after you finish downloading them even if you missed something (personally I call BS on this because I've never had a download continue if I loose connection unless I'm using Bit torrent or Flashget which I was not using so it stands to reason that I was able to D/L SP2 without fuxxoring it up not to mention USE it for the last 3 months without diffuculty.)

Anyway his expert opinion is that there is some compatability thing within win98 Internet Connection Sharing that suddenly became a issue out of the freaking blue through sheer happen stance after downloading the most recent update and despite the fact that the Win 98 machine hasn't been touched, added on to or altered at all in the last YEAR or more. He then told me he'd hand off the problem to another tech (since he's addmittedly not a trained Win89 professional) and they'd attempt to figure out what the problem is and call me back in 24-48 hours with a possible solution, but in the mean time I should go and shell out more than a hundred bucks on a damned copy of WinXP to perform a repair install.

Which is EXACTLY what I want to do after being unemployed for almost 2 and a half years. Like my bank account isn't already coughing up blood. There is no reason at al I should be forced to pay out for their mistake! Anyone know if Toshiba will ship you a XP disk since it should have been included in the first place?

[sofokles]

just out of interest, what internet browser do you use, and have you tried an alternative one ?

[Quantax]

Don't know if this was referenced earlier in this thread but there's an article I just fetched from my collection which deals specifically with SP2 and associated connectivity issues that can arise.

See http://www.pchell.com/support/limitedconnectivity.shtml

[ALpha2]

Sofokles - I use a combination IE for site I know are safe and Fire foxe for anything else including google (from which I'd suffered 90% of the viral attacks I've ever had.) I continued this even after the SP2 firewall was installed. When the problem began, neither browser could aquire data fully.

Quantax - Great article. I never got that error message, though which makes me slow to try if in my computers current state (which seems just short of hopeless after 4 days of working with MS tech support), but there's certainly useful info there.


For ayone interested my situation as it stands currently is:
- internet connection sharing lost 99% functionality after recent windows update instalation but the local network still functions without problems. Some connection possible, Direct IP address connection possible but any internet use requireing more than 2 seconds of data transfer seems to fail.

- IPconfiged several times, reinstalled TCP/IP, double checked TCP/IP stack, reset local area network connection though network connection wizard several times.

- MS tech believes SP2 being corrupted by a bad patch download that apparently went undetected as the initial cause of internet loss. (Advised against downloading SP2 or any other large windows patch over 56k, hardly my choice. Also where was this warning to begin with if it's so advised against?) Current broken state of SP2 (unremovable) believed to be serious data corruption due to the uninstall/restore point useage.

- Uninstalled SP2 results in fixed problem, SP2 reinstalled by way of Restore point continues to block general internet functionality 2nd attempt to uninstall breaks it making it impossible to remove from computer completly/normally.

- The SP2 disk MS sends you for free is useless for repairing SP2 as it is a very outdated version. "sfc /scannow" function requires a winXP with Integrated SP2 disk.

- XP service tech could not help remove broken SP2 from my computer.

- My only recourse now is a factory restore install of winXP.

- since I do not have a WinXP disk (about a 100 bucks out of pocket for one) I can noot simply perform a repair install, this will resort in having to reinstall applications (In my case a LOT of them). Conceivably both a Repair isntall and a Restore install will cause the same effect making me screwed either way.

- I can't actually DO the reinstall yet because my internal CD drive has been giving me an IDE#1 error for about 6-8 months, which requires service by a licenced Toshiba repair technician. Toshiba Advises that booting up restore disks from the internal CD drive at start-up is the best way to perform the reinstallation of factory set WinXP so my External CD drive is useless for this operation.

- And finally. Once all these repairs are completed, I have no guarantee this won't happen again if I install SP2 again since there was no clear reason why it happened the first time.


Turning off 3rd party applications at start-up didnt restore internet so it wasnt a fire wall issue(heck it was the first thing I turned off when the problem started), ICS through a win98 machine shouldn't effect my connection either, Windows update patches shouldn't be allowed to continue downloading if I loose and regain connection without some form of byte confirmation, if this is really what broke SP2 as the MS tech seems to suggest.

Fore warned is Fore armed.

[Quantax]

I disagree with your assessment of the seemingly dire consequence of doing the "repair/install" which was why I had recommended it before(saying this just based on my own experience on many occasions). But as explained you DO need the full edition XP but heck, it might be good to have that around anyway for future repair/installs if that should arise. :(

[ALpha2]

Sadly my last stop at Comp USA revealed XP home (with integrated SP2) to be 200 bucks at LEAST. not a price I can exactly afford right now being an unemployed for 2 years. I might be able to get my hands on a cheaper copy soon but I needed my computer fixed sooner rather than later.

Still waiting for the Toshiba service people to call back on my computer, once I get my CD drive repaired I can try the Restore disks unless I can get a cheaper XP disk before then. The main reason I was hesitant about the Repair install was that I've had too many experiences with programs claiming one thing and doing another without my knowledge. So chances are if I wasn't being cautious I might have destroyed my hard drive long ago.


Further, My brother just announced to me that his Win2k laptop has just come down with the similar internet difficulty I was having after a recent update. I advised him to remove the last updates and not download any others atleast not for a while.