Saturday, May 7, 2011

SURT needed before IE 9 and Win7 SP1 installation

Revised May 13, 2012

IE 9 install

As usual with any major change, I first installed IE9 to a HDD partition which is a working test clone of my SSD.  The install was without any problem, and IE9 looks good enough to deserve a place on the SSD.

Multiple attempts to install to my SSD failed.  I tried the various fixes recommended in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2409098  How to solve Internet Explorer 9 installation problems
It was not until  "Method 5: Temporarily disable antispyware and antivirus software"
that I was successful.  I had not thought that AVG would need to be disabled, since the install to the HDD partition went fine with AVG running.


What I now understand:
- The HDD partition was not up to date with Windows updates, I simply chose the IE9 update.
- With AVG disabled on the SDD, IE9 install first ran (the following is a copied line(!) from View update history):
System Update Readiness Tool for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB947821) [February 2011]
Installation date: ‎5/‎6/‎2011 5:19 PM,    Installation status: Successful,    Update type: Important
This tool is being offered because an inconsistency was found in the Windows servicing store which may prevent the successful installation of future updates, service packs, and software. This tool checks your computer for such inconsistencies and tries to resolve issues if found.
More information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821


After the above update completed, I was then able to choose and successfully run the IE9 update.


It is unclear how, only when AVG was disabled, the IE9 install "knew" to download and run the System Update Readiness Tool.  I can only guess as to why this was not needed on the test install. (Difference in installed updates?, difference in SSD installation?)


For further info about the System Update Readiness Tool see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821


Win 7 SP1 install

 I delayed immediately installing SP1 due to various blogs at the time it first came out.  Since then, I have several times attempted to install it, but the installations failed with an obscure error code (800F080D).  I tried clean boot and UAC change, which did not help.  Looking further, I ran the System Update Readiness Tool as provided by Hotfix KB947821.  SP1 then installed successfully from my normal boot configuration.

Takeaway:  if I have update problems, try the SURT

This post now becomes primarily about the SURT

As a note of interest, Windows Update View update history has changed the format of View Details since my IE 9 installation notes above.