I finally got a copy of XP, to run under VirtualPC 6 and once the basic setup was to my liking I went to Windows Update (figuring I’d let it have its way with XP and chew at it for a few hours while I did something else.
But out of 6 tries from two different 'net-connections all I am getting is “page not found” errors.
I go to Google “Windows Update” and “Microsoft Update” and copy the various links and paste them into IE’s URLbar and that hasn’t worked so far either.
Did I conceivably wait too long and manage to get nailed already by some kind of nasty that doesn’t want me going to the Windows Update site?
ETA: I’m on a G4 PowerBook
Try opening your control panel, and click on the Windows Update link on the left side of the page.
OK, when I do that, it tries to load this page:
http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=Win2000&ar=WinUpdate
…which soon yields:
…which is the same “page not found” error I was referring to in the OP.
Odd that it should go there. It should point to http://www.windowsupdate.com (which gets redirected to Microsoft Update)
OK I went to the Windows Download Center using the Mac browser and I’m downloading Service Pack 2, a couple of security additions that apparently build on SP2, and the Microsoft Malicious SW Removal Tool. The latter is capable of running already (the others require SP2 except SP2 itself which is huge and still downloading), so I’m running the MalSWTool at the moment. Just finished, in fact, it says I don’t have buggies. Odd that XP can’t find its own sw updates. I guess once I’ve brought it a little closer to up-to-date it will have a more modern idea of where to find the rest of them…
Service Pack 2 refused to finish the install.
Hmm…OK, feel free to point and laugh your head off, but is there perhaps a Service Pack 1 that I have to download and install before my system is eligible for Service Pack 2?
Yet further info: I acquired this copy of Windows XP Professional by purchasing secondhand a copy of VirtualPC 5.0, the model that shipped with a diskimage of XP preinstalled on it.
I’m actually running it under VPC 6 (I had VPC 6 but not the XP diskimage). I don’t have actual installation media. I do have the serial numbers / instally-codes, although I haven’t been asked for them. (They’re in a text file on the installation CD for VPC). I’m assuming the XP that shipped with VPC 5.0 was pretty virginal and predated any meaningful service packs etc.
I foolishly did not make a screen shot of the actual “nothing doing” dialog where SP 2 aborted install; if need be I can try it again and this time record the msg for posterity.