Microsoft may have republished its botched August update, but some
Windows 7 users are reportedly still having problems with Windows
Update. Fortunately, they've also found a simple solution.
On Wednesday, Microsoft reinstated its August update,
which had caused font issues and system crashes on some machines. The
problem, however, was that even though the new 2993651 update cleared up
the issue, Microsoft still recommended that users manually purge
security update 2982791, through a process that involved wading through the registry.
And that caused its own set of issues.
A number of threads have cropped up on Microsoft's support site
complaining that the update has apparently disabled and/or corrupted
Windows Update. Windows IT Pro listed about five, including this thread, which directly addresses the problem.
So far, Microsoft support staff haven't stepped in with an official response, and the original security bulletin
shows its most recent update took place on Wednesday. If you're still
having problems updating your Windows 7 systems, there are two possible
solutions:
First, try downloading the System Update Readiness Tool found
near the bottom of the linked page. Microsoft notes the update process
could take 10 minutes or so, and your hard disk may be accessed quite a
bit during the process.
The easier solution, and the one that seems to work, is simply to
change your DNS settings to use Google's DNS servers, with the IP
addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. (If you're not sure how to do this, Google offers a step-by-step guide on its Google DNS page.)
This simply tells your computer or router to contact Google rather than
your Internet service provider to get the IP address of a web page. If
you can't change the DNS settings for your router, you may just have to
set them for each Windows computer on your home network.
No one seems to be quite sure why this works, only that it does. As Windows IT Pro points out, it might have something to do with the problems that Time Warner Cable customers had accessing Microsoft's Web sites.
Keep in mind that by routing your Internet traffic through Google's
servers, you're explicitly telling Google what websites you're visiting
and what content you're accessing, instead of your ISP. That may or may
not be a concern, depending on your attitudes toward Internet privacy
and who you trust with that information.
One alternative to Google's DNS services is OpenDNS,
which provides similar services, although mistyped queries are sent to a
landing page that will serve you ads. We can't say for certain whether
using OpenDNS settings will solve the Windows 7 problem, however.
Nevertheless, if you're still struggling with the recent updates, give it a try.
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