[blueandthebeen]

I just got a new computer (used) and I'm already online with it. I'm sure I need to run windows updates on it but I'm getting a weird error when I go to the windows updates page. It seems to think I have a mac but I don't. This is the erorr message I get on screen:



Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site.

This website is designed to work with Microsoft Windows operating systems only.
To find updates for Microsoft products that are designed for Macintosh operating systems, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/mac/.



This computer has Windows Millenium on it and since it is a fresh install, I'm sure there are holes to patch up. What do I do? I'm stumped.

Thanks!

[Advertisements]

i assume you're using internet explorer to get to windows update correct?

[dsenette]

i assume you're using internet explorer to get to windows update correct?

[blueandthebeen]

Yes, and I just now tried using my firefox to get the updates and got this error:

Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site.

To use this site, you must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later.

To upgrade to the latest version of the browser, go to the Internet Explorer Downloads website.

If you prefer to use a different web browser, you can obtain updates from the Microsoft Download Center or you can stay up to date with the latest critical and security updates by using Automatic Updates. To turn on Automatic Updates:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Depending on which Control Panel view you use, Classic or Category, do one of the following:
* Click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.
* Click Performance and Maintenance, click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.
3. Click the option that you want. Make sure Automatic Updates is not turned off.


So I don't think that's gonna work either...

[dsenette]

click on "help" then "about internet explorer" and tell me what version of IE you're running (i'm seeing some different suggestions on how to fix this...but none sound good hehe...trying to see what we can do here)

[blueandthebeen]

Ok, it says version 5.50...

Even when I click the Windows Update in the start up menu, it goes straight to a page with that error on it. So I know I'm going to the right link...

[dsenette]

http://www.microsoft...;DisplayLang=en go there and see if you can download IE6...if you can...install it and try windows update again

[EmperorWoodrow]

humm..i'm not sure if the problem is on microsofts end...i got the same error yesterday..today i can get the update site..

[blueandthebeen]

Ok, IE6 is downloaded and functional but I still get the same error when going to the windows updates...

Could this have something to do with the version of Windows I am using?

[dsenette]

it's a good possiblity...my research is suggesting that it happens with ME or 98...still not satisfied with any of the "suggestions" for fixes that i've seen through research...but...i'll post the one link that has actual suggestions..

This one references 98...the suggestions should work with ME though...don't know that they will fix the issue

another "try"

This is the User Agent String Utility...which is used to trick websites into thinking you don't have internet explorer7....i don't know if it will work since you've got IE6...but give it a whirl

can you put java script:alert(navigator.userAgent) into your browser address bar as well and tell me what it says?
the javascript is supposed to be one word and there shouldn't be any spaces anywhere in that line

[blueandthebeen]

Ok, putting that in the address bar, I get a window that pops up and says

Mozilla/4.0 [compatible; MSIE; Windows98; Win9x 4.90]

Now I'll go back and try that top fix you posted for win98 and see if that does it. brb

[EmperorWoodrow]

refer to windows updating post from april the 8th by deb308...theres a link to erpmans window98 and ME update page...hope this helps..WOODY

[dsenette]

epmeror....it would be nice if you would post a link to that...as there's no post on this forum matching those criteria


i assume this is the "erpman's" page y ou mentioned though...there's a possibility that after doing those updates manually that you might be able to do windows updates again

[blueandthebeen]

Thank you so much for all your help and sticking with me yesterday. I was able to get to the updates page for Windows ME using the first link you posted in that message about Win98. So I am going to post the fix again here, changing 98 to ME as it worked perfectly following Nimrod's exact instructions to the letter. I found 25 criticial updates, and 44 optional ones. However Microsoft's updates page did note that ME and 98 would no longer be getting any additional updates, but at least the first 25 critical ones are still available. However to get to them, it's quite a challenge. Here is the fix:

1: First, I believe you must have IE6.

2: Delete all temporary internet files by right-clicking your hard drive, selecting 'Properties', and clicking the 'Disk Cleanup' button.

3: Perform a repair on Internet Explorer by going to your Control Panel, selecting Add/Remove programs, and selecting Microsoft Internet Explorer. There will be an extra option to repair your IE6 install.

4: Once you have done this, reboot, and immediately go to Windows Update.

After doing all this, I finally got the update site to properly recognize my OS as Windows ME. As an additional note, once I had done some other browsing and downloads, the update site once again thought I had a Mac, so I had to go through it all over again to get the last few updates I needed.

That's it. Thank you so much. I feel much more protected now. :-)

Heather