Microsoft Corp. confirmed Friday that the secret WU update allegedly pushed onto Windows XP machines breaks the patch process after a restore. Users who perform a repair from a Windows XP CD are unable to update the operating system due to stealth files sent to users this summer.
The issue caused by the stealth WU update was first reported by Scott Dunn in the Windows Secrets newsletter last Friday. Microsoft later confirmed the issue on their Technet blog but insisted they were working on the problem.
"When an XP repair CD is used, it replaces all system files (including Windows Update) on your machine with older versions of those files and restores the registry" Program Manager Nate Clinton wrote in the company blog. "However, the latest version of Windows Update includes wups2.dll that was not originally present in Windows XP", he explained. Therefore, after the repair install of the OS, wups2.dll remains on the system but its registry entries are missing. This mismatch causes updates to fail installation."
According to Computerworld, their testing confirmed the problem, which prevents 80 patches from installing after a restore from a copy of Windows XP on a retail CD. Computerworld reminded readers that wups2.dll is only one of seven files discovered by Windows Secrets that was secretly pushed onto user PCs without their knowledge or consent as it was forced onto systems even when Windows Update was disabled.
Microsoft said the problem would be resolved and Clinton offered a solution in KB94314.
{mos_fb_discuss:41}