Microsoft Update won't install due to missing ActiveX

I'm stymied.

When this HP Pavilion, running Windows XP Home SP2, tries to install
Microsoft Update, it gets a message that says "Install the ActiveX control
required to view the website". In addtion, to annoy the user, the message
offers a link which says "take these steps to solve the problem" -- but when
the link is clicked, there ARE NO STEPS, just a search routine which leads
NOWHERE.

When the useless link is clicked (to go to the useless search), near the
bottom are two suggestions on what to do in the event of receiving error
0x8DDD0011. It's not relevant to the problem, but I mention it because it is
there.

Here is what I have already tried (please don't ask me to repeat steps
needlessly):

1) Spybot Search & Destroy found a few malwares, which were removed.

2) Ad-ware (free version) found and deleted a few more.

3) OLE_fix.reg applied. Reboot.

4) Ewido found and deleted a bunch that the first two missed.

5) System Restore was turned off (to remove old, infected, restore points).

6) System Restore was turned back on.

7) KB909889.reg applied. Reboot.

8) AVG Free scans for virus, finds nothing.

9) Panda Software's Activescan finds nothing.

10) Windows XP SP2 was reinstalled from a CD.

11) Reboot.

12) After no luck with Windows Update (which had also been locked out due to
ActiveX), rebooted into Safe Mode.

13) Ewido (in Safe Mode) finds a few minor items.

14) Reboot into Windows XP install CD (with SP2), and a repair install done.

15) At this point, it was possible to reuse Windows Update, but Microsoft
Update was still blocked due to ActiveX.

Since Windows Update is usable, and all updates have been applied, I'd be
tempted to hand this computer back to the customer, except that in
C:\WINDOWS\Download Program Files, the only item listed in th GUI is
WUWebControlClass (while in DOS there are 15 items listed in
C:\WINDOWS\Download Program Files, including muweb.inf).

Logically, reformatting the hard drive and reloading Windows XP would cure
it, but that is like curing a timing problem in a 4-yr-old Chevy by putting
in a new engine. (Translation: I won't accept that answer.)

So, anyone up to this task?

I neglected to mention that the Information Bar does not appear when the
ActiveX message comes up while trying to install Microsoft Update, and that
various registry tweaks to make it reappear have been unsuccessful.

Now I am very suspicious. Perhaps there is still something lurking in this
machine.

I copied (via a USB flash drive) MUWEB.DLL to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 and
muweb.inf to C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLOADED PROGRAM FILES. I attempted to manually
register MUWEB.DLL by means of REGSVR32.EXE, but I got this message:
"DLLRegisterServer in muweb.dll failed. Return code was: 0x80070005".

Having tried various steps (see above) I went back to attempt to manually
register MUWEB.DLL -- only to be told that it was missing! After copying it
again, I got the same error code when trying REGSVR32.EXE -- 0x80070005.

I know from other messages in this newsgroup that this error code means
"lack of permission", but I do not know how to fix the problem.

I found an answer, in a reply from Robin Walker [MVP] to another question re:
error 0x80070005.

What I used to fix the problem was Dial-a-fix, available at this location:
http://wiki.djlizard.net/Dial-a-fix

I used SFC /PURGECACHE to clear the DLLCACHE prior to running SFC /SCANNOW,
as recommended. Then I went to the Tools section for the Reset Permissions
option.

When it told me (in the Tools section) that I did not have
C:\Windows\System32\secedit.exe, and when it suggested it, I downloaded
Dial-a-fix-medium (http://djlizard.net/software/Dial-a-fix-medium.exe), and
ran it. If I had XP Professional, I would have used Dial-a-fix-light, which
is stored at snapfiles
http://www.snapfiles.com/php/downloa...g=269312&loc=2

Microsoft Updates are now working. (Thanks, Robin.)