Replies

Petesmst–that file size (64Mb) is very close to the size of the last 4 kb downloads in my last post. I’ll bet that 2nd installation was the Win 8.1 update 1 feature packs. JimC

I tried to re-install KB2919355 update as suggested. It errored out with the error code 80070003. So I tried the Mr. Fixit solution again. Rebooted. Tried to re-install KB2919355 again. This time I received an error code of 80070002. Got to love Mr. Fixit. I was just about ready to concede that my only solution was to re-install all the Windows software. As note in another post, I was trying to avoid this as the PC originally had Windows 7 Pro installed and I had subsquently purchased the Windows 8 Pro update followed by the Windows store update to Wndows 8.1 Pro.

I decided to try the manual installation process noted in Susan Bradley’s Window’s Secrets 4/24/14 article. I downloaded each of the seven patches separately:
 KB 2919442
 KB 2919355,
 KB 2932046
 KB 2959977
 KB 2937592
 KB 2938439
 KB2934018

When I tried to install the first 3 kb’s, each told me that it was already installed; however each of the last four, which appear to be the Window 8.1 update feature packs did install. All but one required a re-boot immediately after completion. After the last one processed (KB2934018), I re-booted as required. Then I manually forced Windows updates to process—the update service said my PC was fully patched and updated. Wow, what a process. Thanks for all the help and a thank you to Susan Bradley for her article. JimC

Joe–thanks. I am away from the PC today, but I will try later this evening to re-install kb2919355 again. Hopefully, this will resolve the problem. I just read that Win 8.1 update 2 or it may be called Win 8.2 will be issued sometime before the 2014 holiday season. Wow, hopefully, that one is much smoother. JimC

JoeP, Petesmst,
Thanks..I did read that information in Susan Bradley’s article…but I did not download the patch but installed it through the normal Windows updates. The other “curious” item is that the “re-offered” kb2919355 file size is the same as that which was originally offered to me that I did install at 707.3 MB, not the 429.7MB size in the screen shot in her article.

I guess I will do another acronis image and then let the kb2919355 update download again through the normal windows update process to determine if that resolves the problem. Thanks again, JimC

Petermst,
Thanks for the link—I regularly read the newsletter as I am a paid subscriber—highly recommended. Since I had a spare 500GB hard drive that matched the size of the original system hard drive, I swapped the drives. I then restored an acronis image that I made in mid-4th quarter 2013. I then processed all of the windows updates and respective re-boots after each update iteration. I finally arrived at the point, where only the Windows 8.1 update (kb2919355) remained outstanding. Prior to installing the update, I followed Susan Bradley’s advice and uninstalled Start8 Menu software and also halted the Windows defender services. The update installed and re-booted.

All seems good—except that the Windows 8.1 Update (kb2919355) still displays as outstanding when I check for Windows updates. I even powered down and powered back up the PC to ensure a “clean” cold boot. But the update still remains–I would not worry about this–except that if the Windows update service still “thinks” I need the update–I may not be offered future patches, etc. Any suggestions? Thank you. JimC

mrjimphelphs…
Thanks for the advice. My data files (i.e. Excel, Word, PDF’s, E-mails,etc.) are backed-up regularly. So I am not concerned about that. What I need to be careful is that a couple of pieces of software–including MS Office 2010 came as a “trial” software when I purchased the initial desktop PC. Given a favorable purchase discount, I purchased a full license–which was activated on the PC while it was still a Win 7 pc. So I am hoping that my acronis image from last summer is still good and that I can take it through the Windows 8.1 update process. That way I don’t have to mess with trying to get office activated again, etc.

I also have software like, Adobe Acrobat—that I will need to remember to “de-activate” on the current hard drive if I elect a clean install approach—or I will have to call customer service for another activation. It is the re-installation, or should I say, the re-activiation of purchased software, that makes the clean installation alternative painful.

Thanks again for the advice…take care. JimC

Bruce—again, thank you your patience to answer my question(s). I will somehow get my PC operating software back to Windows 8.1—hopefully, Microsoft support will come up with a way to get my PC updates operational again. If not, hopefully my Acronis image from last summer is still good—and I’ll start the Windows 8.1 upgrade and then the Windows 8.1 update process all over again rather than staying on Windows 8 only. Wow, nine years versus 21 months—you made my decision an easy one.

I will report back with the ultimate outcome so others reading this thread will know the final resolution. JimC

mrjimphelps—thanks. My “problem” is that I am already on version 8.1—just trying to install the 8.1 update. If I have to “resort” to a re-install or try to restore my Acronis image from last summer that I made immediately after I installed Windows 8 Pro from my purchased Win8 Pro upgrade dvd…I may follow your advice and just stay put with Windows 8. I am a keyboard / mouse user anyway and was already by-passing the ill-named Metro interface.

I don’t know if there is any Microsoft support life difference between verion 8 and version 8.1–my question is whether Microsoft will support version 8.1 longer than it is currently planned for version 8.0. Do you know? Thanks JimC

Bruce,
So much for my understanding of the updates delay–thank you for the clarification. Thanks also for the article link as I may just need to do a clean installation. Bummer.
JimC

Processing all of the pre-requisite updates plus my own “trials” using Mr Fix It and Microsoft’s other webpage manual instructions–and also following the Microsoft instructions from last evening restore points prior to all of this activities are gone–and I was told that this may also be a result of all the dism activity too.

I am researching now how to download and create a Windows 8.1 installation DVD or USB drive. The “only” Windows full installation disk that I have is the WIndows 7 Pro–since I purchased only the Windows 8 Pro upgrade DVD and subsequently installed the 8.1 upgrade. If I can secure/create a Win8.1 “installation” dvd then I may be able to do a windows restore. The Microsoft rep was to e-mail me instructions–which I have not received yet–so I am researching on my own for now.

My gut feeling is that too many attempts to fix the Win 8.1 update installation issue has left me with a Windows 8.1 operating system that I cannot update going forward. I also noticed that Windows defender will no longer update either. So I am being proactive. I do have another hard drive to insert in place of the current system hard drive to experiment with other alternatives and not destroy the current system hard drive should Microsoft come up with a solution.

I was able to connect to the Microsoft webpage last night. I followed the suggestions provided by a representative. The problem is NOT resolved. If fact, now when you go to Control Panel and click Windows Updates the PC freezes. The only way to halt the freeze is to Ctrl-Alt-Delete and stop the process. After the additional Microsoft tweaking, now when I try to run the update from the downloaded install file, I receive an 80070005 error code. So I am “hold” for now as the “problem” is being looked at by Microsoft.

I was able to locate an Acronis image of the hard drive that I created last summer after the Windows8 Pro Update. I was also told by Microsoft that the Windows recovery process would not solve my issue either or return the computer to a state to start the entire process over as there has been too much tweaking already done to operating software. I will post back as this process progresses.

I will try to do that again this evening when I get home….I have tried that link twice previously (once Saturday and once Sunday) and while other internet sites were working flawlessly—I was unable to be connected. On Saturday I received the dreaded 404 page error and Sunday’s message was that the page I was trying to link to was no longer available. Maybe someday I will look back and chuckle about the webpage link errors–but error code 80070002 has left me grumpy. I guess that is why I have taken to lounges and forums for help. Thanks again for your advice.

RockE—Thanks for the reply. Yes, that is the link I used. Sorry I failed to mention that I faithfully followed the manual instructions after Mr Fixit seemed to work but did not solve my problem. I have also manually downloaded the Win8.1, 64bit update (KB2919355) and tried to install it—but it is the same result; completes 23%-25% and then halts with the error code. JimC

When you cross-post on different forums, it is polite to provide cross-links so people know whether you might already have received an answer. QUOTE]

Sorry about that…I didn’t want to create any competition or ill-will between the forums…as I know that some moderators work both forums. Somehow, I thought it unethical to state in each forum that I posted in the other…again, sorry for my omisssion.

Oh, and thanks for the advice…greatly appreciated. JimC

Hans and wdwells..thank you both for a reply…I will study both examples as I really need to master these functions as I can now see how powerful they can be…I have especially struggle as the pay code column is always an exact match but the compensation match is to a “range” and determining how EXCEL handles this situation [i.e. not an exact match] has been extremely difficult for me. Again, thank you both.