Re: Software Distribution Service 3.0 (KB943460)
There isn't "a" solution because there isn't "a" problem. All you've told us so
far is that you've lost internet access after installing a set of updates; this
could be caused by any number of different things. If you'll start a new thread
and describe your problem in detail - including which operating system you are
running and what service pack level you are at, as well as the history of the
problem - we may be able to help.
Note that Software Distribution Service isn't actually a separate product or
component on your computer. It's just the name that Windows Update puts on the
restore points it creates. No, I don't know why it doesn't put Windows Update;
it's just one of those things.
I'm not sure what you mean by "uninstalling SDS"; could you expand on this,
please? There shouldn't have been anything in Add/Remove Programs called
Software Distribution Service, unless it's an unrelated third-party product.
It would be unwise to stop installing Microsoft updates. However malicious you
may feel Microsoft is being, I assure you there are far worse people on the
internet who will take advantage of machines with missing security patches.
It is likely that your problem is not really quite the same as the original
posters, no matter how similar the symptoms may appear.
From your earlier post:
You'll be thinking of the fuss about the last update to the Automatic Updates
service itself. This class of update installs automatically, ignoring the
"notify but don't download" or "download but don't install" options - but it
cannot install if you turn Automatic Updates off altogether.
Re: Software Distribution Service 3.0 (KB943460)
Thank you for your helpful and informative reply. When I have a bit
more time, I will indeed try to start a new thread describing my exact
circumstances. In the meantime, here are a few final comments on this
one
I should have said that I uninstalled not "SDS 3.0" but "Service Pack
3", which does of course appear on the "Uninstall" list.
I had created quite a number of restore points, including one at a
point in time before IE 8 - which also caused me a handful of problems
that I won't go into here - installed itself. The last straw was
discovering, on the morning of August 1st, that all my restore points
had somehow been deleted during the night, even though I had by now
switched off automatic updating. (Others have complained of the same
thing happening to them in a similar context.)
Well, if I were a camel, my back would now be thoroughly broken. At
that point, I switched to Firefox, and everything now works fine, just
as it used to. Among other problems, in the last few days the "Delete"
and "Backspace" buttons on my keyboard had stopped working. I had
attributed this to a keyboard malfunction, but no - once I had chucked
Internet Explorer out of the Window (so to speak), the problem
disappeared.
Of course, I'll keep an eye from time to time on Microsoft updates just
in case they come up with something that does NOT behave like a
destructive virus, but no more Automatic Installation!
Re: Software Distribution Service 3.0 (KB943460)
OK. Be aware that SP2 is nearing end-of-life, so you'll need to reinstall SP3
before too much longer.
I'm not familiar enough with restore point technology to comment on this one.
Firefox is my own preference too. :-)
Since IE8 installed automatically, your security software would have been
active, so that would be my best guess as to why things went wrong. Still, at
this point, you might as well leave IE8 out of the picture for now.
I generally recommend automatically downloading but manual installation, as this
allows you to sift out things like IE8 that you may not want.
Re: Software Distribution Service 3.0 (KB943460)
1) When I followed PA Bear's link I got a page that asked whether my use of the
product was personal or commercial, then one that asked me to accept a licensing
agreement for the web site; once I'd done that, the next page made it very clear
that the support was free of charge - see screenshot here, if you like:
<https://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=6527>
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527
What did you see?
2) Pretending to not have the benefit of the direct link, I started at
Microsoft's home page. This led me to the Help and Support home page.
Selecting "Get Help Now" took me to the "Online Assisted Support Options" page,
which has an icon for "No-Charge Virus and Security-Related Support" which took
me to a very similar page - including the phrase "No charge" perfectly clearly
on each of the main support options offered.
Alternatively, instead of selecting "No-Charge Virus and Security-Related
Support" you could select your version of Windows. I selected Windows Vista
Home Basic as a trial case and was asked to choose a support topic. One of the
options was Windows Update. Again, this took me to a page prominently featuring
the expression "No charge" on each of the options offered.
... on the other hand this stuff looks new to me. I'm fairly sure that the
last time I looked it wasn't this easy.
3) To the best of my knowledge, this *isn't* a known problem. It's a set of
otherwise unrelated problems which have similar symptoms. There is no magic
bullet that will fix all possible problems that could cause internet access to
be lost after installing updates. (For a start, note that it's usually a
different set of updates each time.)
Note that none of these will protect you from malicious web content taking
advantage of vulnerabilities that can be exploited via your browser. (On the
other hand, if you use a third-party browser, very few MS updates will be
applicable. Then again, I'm not sure how easy it is to distinguish the exceptions.)
Not quite nothing - your time, plus you could lose data if something goes
seriously wrong. I have no particular reason to think that it might, mind you,
so if it suits your needs then best of luck to you.
Remember, however, that Mandriva will still need to be updated regularly. Using
Linux isn't a magic bullet, either.
Software Distribution Service 3.0 (KB943460)
Software Distribution Service 3.0 is just another name for the Windows Update
Agent, the underlying technology behind Windows Update, Microsoft Update and
Automatic Updates. It isn't an update, it's the software that's installing the
update. (So, not a useful search term. The best place to start would probably
be to identify which particular update caused the problem, if possible, or at
least narrow down the options.)
What did you select last time? Sounds like what he means is that your case is
in the wrong queue ... I suppose this is a Windows XP issue rather than a
Windows Update issue ... although I'd have hoped Imran could have
transferred your case rather than getting you to open a new one.
To be fair, I don't think anybody said the free support service was very good,
just that it existed. :-(
Once again, it *isn't* a known issue, because the symptoms in question don't
have a single cause, or even a most common cause. Would you consider "my
computer doesn't work any more" to be a known issue? The symptoms being
described are very nearly as vague!
"Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence."
... heck, it isn't even as if Microsoft is particularly unusual in this
regard. From what I've heard, most US phone support is poor nowadays; this is
usually attributed to outsourcing.
Re: Software Distribution Service 3.0 (KB943460)
For what little it's worth, I don't think I've ever had MS updates cause a
problem, and I suspect this is due to judicious choices of hardware and
third-party software. Of course that's anecdotal evidence at best.
Re: Software Distribution Service 3.0 (KB943460)
My own recommendation for hardware is to go with larger companies who sell
predesigned systems, such as Dell (my personal favorite). By the time they
start selling a model they've done lots of testing that the various components
work properly together, and there are going to be lots of other people who have
bought the same model.
Smaller vendors typically buy motherboards, CPUs, cases, etc., and put them all
together for you. They don't have the resources to do the same sort of testing;
also, they can't always continue buying the exact same parts for extended
periods so the design changes more rapidly, and they sell fewer units per day,
so the net effect is that there are far fewer people out there with the same
combination of hardware as you. (Often, but not always, the components are also
significantly newer, i.e., less well tested in the field.)
I don't pretend to be an expert in this area, but anecdotally I've worked with
lots of computers and we've always have far more issues with the ones from
smaller vendors. (On the other hand, it's a real pain when a particular model
*does* have a serious issue and you've got two hundred of them!)