[benny244]

See this thread for the story so far!

Everything's been going swimmingly since the end of March, when I basically turned my back on Internet Explorer and started using Firefox instead. No problems at all with Firefox, but then all of a sudden, as of yesterday, I can't get Firefox to work at all!

When I try, I immediately get this...



...which then turns into this...



And I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it, but there's some sort of "Windows Update" thing that my machine keeps trying to install, but it only gets so far and then the installation fails, and I don't know what the heck that's all about. Here's a pic...



As usual, any help will be very much appreciated.

Cheers
Ben

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Hi Ben... ...back again huh...
try going here and download a older version of firefox...like Firefox 3.5.6....download it and put it on a usb flash drive or burn it to a cd and take it to the misbehaving computer...install it and then try it...once we get firefox working we will start with the updating issue

[happyrock]

Hi Ben... ...back again huh...
try going here and download a older version of firefox...like Firefox 3.5.6....download it and put it on a usb flash drive or burn it to a cd and take it to the misbehaving computer...install it and then try it...once we get firefox working we will start with the updating issue

[benny244]

Thanks happyrock. I've followed your instructions, installed Firefox 3.5.6, and Firefox is now working. So what's next...?

[happyrock]

ok one problem solved ... ...now try updating again...this time if it fails click on the update history in the error message and get the number of the failed update..

Edited by happyrock, 20 April 2010 - 03:54 PM.

[benny244]

Hi again. Sorry it's taken me a while to reply. I lost the last 48 hours to a rather painful dental problem. Starting to feel better now though.

Tried updating again, and got the failure message again. Here are a couple of screenshots...

[happyrock]

the Browser Choice update (KB976002)

Microsoft is providing the Browser Choice update to comply with a legal settlement with the European Commission. Microsoft is required to inform customers who currently use Internet Explorer as their default browser that there are other web browser choices available. You can use the Browser Choice update to select and install the web browser you want to use on your computer....
you can safely ignore that update

Edited by happyrock, 22 April 2010 - 04:56 PM.

[benny244]

Okay, but every time I try to do the Windows Update thing, it's going to try to install that update, isn't it? Is there some way of telling it to ignore that one, so it doesn't try to install it again...?

Furthermore, now that I'm using an older version of Firefox, I am being regularly prompted that there's a newer version available and that I should upgrade. When this happens I decline (because the newer version stopped working, which is why I'm using this older version instead). Is that the right thing to do?

[happyrock]

yep and yep...for updates..If you go to the Windows Update website: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com,
get the list, expand the '+' on the ones you don't want to see again & then
tick the box not to show update again. This should once & for all stop it from even trying to install that update...
for firefox..after you launch firefox...click on tools...then options...advanced tab...update tab...uncheck everything... click ok

[benny244]

Thanks, I tried doing all of this, and I'm sorry this one seems to be dragging on a bit (but I'll definitely PayPal you some beer money). I'm now being told that it's failed to install KB968389. Is that anything to be concerned about...?

[happyrock]

go here...download Windows6.0-KB968389-x86.msu...double click on it lets see if it installs using its own installer...

[benny244]

Well, I've tried it, but this is what happens...

[happyrock]

What does 'cyclic redundancy check error' mean?...go here...they recommend using a download manager...
my experience with download managers was dismal at best and that was about 7 years back...

support at microsoft recommends Check Your Hard Disk for Errors...chkdsk /r for that error...implying there is a bad spot on the hard drive...
so first thing is to backup any data that you can't live without then run chkdsk /r...run it repeatedly until it doesn't find or fix any errors...

[benny244]

Sorry it's taken me an age to reply this time. I've done everything you suggested, and I'm happy with the way things are running now, and I've PayPalled you some beer money, so let's consider this one closed. Thanks!!!

Cheers
Ben

[happyrock]

your welcome...and thanks for letting us know...