# Computer cannot install updates?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cannot-install-updates/643393
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 8, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cannot-install-updates/643393 "2012-12-08T04:15:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cannot-install-updates/643393/1 "2012-12-08T04:15:53Z")
It’s been trying for days, and I am getting this message:
> [@](#):
>
> Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 SP1 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 x86 (KB2698023)
And I keep getting messages to send error reports to Microsoft.
Can someone please help? There doesn’t appear to be anything to click for an explanation.
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cannot-install-updates/643393/2 "2012-12-08T04:22:40Z")
Googlefu.
[You are not alone](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-windows_update/problems-installing-update-kb2698023-error-message/d7a14e6f-1c77-46bc-aeff-ede782e319c4).
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cannot-install-updates/643393/3 "2012-12-08T04:28:53Z")
One of our computers at work has the same problem. It’s been hung up on the same version of .net 1.1 for years and the little Upgrade Notification won’t go away. About a year ago I found a program (which I don’t know the name of off hand) from MS that can sort of push though the issue that let me upgrade it once, but it hung up again the next time. Since it’s not my computer, it’s sort of an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ thing for me and I haven’t really spent much time trying to figure it out.
I know if I look at the update history, there’s about a hundred failures where it tried to update the .Net framework and couldn’t.
As Duckster said, it’s a pretty common problem.
ETA, it’s called the .Net Framework Cleanup tool. MS offers it somewhere on one of their sites. Like I said, I got it to work once, but it just got hung up the next time. I think what I need to do next time I have an hour or so is totally uninstall .net and manually download the most recent version and see if that does the trick.
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cannot-install-updates/643393/4 "2012-12-09T19:05:17Z")
In cases like this, you can search for the [KB article](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2698023) and usually get the standalone update. Sometimes it’ll work, sometimes it’ll give you more feedback on the problem, and sometimes it won’t help. 😉