OK so whats happening is when i turn on the computer it loads to a screen that says Configuring updates stage 3 of 3. Then after a few seconeds it resets and repeats the same thing over and over. It still happens when I load it in safe mode. Every once and awhile it goes to my password screen but then resets after i type the password in.

If after the update reboot you get the message: “Configuring Updates Stage 3 of 3 0% complete Do not turn off Computer” and some seconds after, the system reboots and it starts all over again, here’s a solution I have found:

* Boot from the Vista install media, choose your language, time, currency and keyboard settings
* Select “Repair your computer” and your Vista installation
* Pick a restore point previous the upgrade, after the restore reboot, do not install any update
* Navigate to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en
* Download and install the patch, reboot
* Install the updates, reboot

For those who do not have a restore point or install media:
Vista has repair tools built in.

To access them, boot the computer, but when you see the “Microsoft ©” with the moving lines, hold the power button until it shuts down.

Now windows thinks it didn’t boot properly, and when you turn it back on, you should get the option to run Windows Startup Repair.

Choose this. When it loads, cancel the scan it starts (it won’t find anything anyway), and choose the text on the bottom that says something like “Show advanced repair options.” which should get you to a command prompt option. (Some folks are saying that it asked for the user, and they changed from the Administrator to their user account in order to get access to a few more tools, including a command prompt where you can run fixes).

You can also get to a command prompt via holding down, or repeatedly clicking, F8 as the computer begins its reboot. - select safe with command line.

note that this may take a few runs through the reboot F8 routine as my initial runs still ended up with the forever loop. Which is why the OS disk route - if your machine came with or you later bought such a disk - is preferred. If you are lucky ebough to have a restore point established, that option appears to work on a little less than half the machines I've run into.

Once you have the command prompt the need is to remove a file “pending.xml” that is causing the forever loop

Instead of deleting the “pending.xml” files from the c:\windows\winsxs folder I renamed it, so that it can be put back later if needed.

This seemed to do the trick for me. But if it still hangs on "Stage 3 at 0%" with reboot and hang again forever cycle continuing, just do a repeat of the F8, and select safe mode w/networking. Stage 3 may well continue and finish normally (it doesn't always work) ansd after the second "safe" reboot a boot to normal windows was possible.

SRX660

Well i did the hold f8 and run then cancel the repair thing, got to a list where I tried the system restore, and it came up with a message saying it was already running, but it wasnt or at least i couldnt do anything with it.

ok i renamed pending.xml to pending1.xml and still get the same problem.

This post has been edited by RamzaRuglia: Sep 10 2008, 07:55 PM

The pending XML file will still be read by windows. You need to rename the file extension from xml to old, so that windows cannot read the file.

SRX660

OK i tried that and noticed after I renamed the file, reset and went back to look at it it was still pending.xml. but before I reset I made sure I renamed it.

Please look at these 2 websites for information.

http://www.vistaheads.com/forums/microsoft...me-premium.html

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/KB931712

Delete the file pending.xml under C:\windows\winsxs
and/or
Reinstall the Windows Update Agent

Windows, x86-based systems
http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsU...Agent30-x86.exe

Windows, x64-based systems
http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsU...Agent30-x64.exe


If you were not able to delete pending.xml
Try the following :

Since Windows security will not allow you to do this, here is the
procedure to take ownership of the file:

run a command prompt with "Run as Administrator".
Type in the following commands:

takeown /f C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml

cacls C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml /G <YourUsername>:F

then delete the file
Reboot the machine, then reinstall the WUA 3.0.

Windows, x86-based systems
http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsU...Agent30-x86.exe

Windows, x64-based systems
http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsU...Agent30-x64.exe

Another website with a fix.
http://www.thefakegeek.com/2008/07/fix-inf...plete%E2%80%9D/

SRX660

I just got a call this morning on this same issue: Is there a way to stop these updates from causing endless reboots? Seems as if there are updates that cause more hassle because they auto install and mess up the systems. I do not believe that my friend's Acer laptop comes with a Vista DVD, so I guess I will give this a shot and see what happens. Hopefully I can come up in safe mode and fix this


Thanks for providing this information: I knew it was here somewhere

Brian