How to install Microsoft Update in Server 2008

[Enigma]

I am looking at the Windows Update window right now and there is a link that states “Get updates for other Microsoft products” and a clickable link labeled “Find out more”.so i click it, then IE redirects me to a page (http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx?ln=en-us) that says the following:

Microsoft Update could not be installed on your computer

Make sure that you log on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group, and then try again.

More troubleshooting options

If your computer is connected to a network and the problem persists, contact your system administrator to see if your Microsoft Update settings are managed using group policy.
If your computer is not connected to a network, or if your system administrator has not disabled Microsoft Update, check if the Windows Update service is disabled or stopped. To see how to start a service, search Help and Support on your computer.

Note: If you experience problems with installing Microsoft Update, you can continue to get updates for your computer by going to Windows Update in Control Panel.

But i am logged in as admin, im connected to the Net, and i havent messed with group policy or disabled anything. it appears that the browser is saying that it can only be installed in Vista or 7, as when i clicked that same link in those OSes it installed fine.

so my question is, is there a way to force-install MU in 2008, or at least trick that webpage into thinking im running vista or 7. i would like to enable this, because i need updates for other Microsoft products like visual basic, office 2010, sql server (various versions), etc, and i hate to have to hunt them down manually.

Thanks for the help, anyone!!!

[Arris]

Does any of the following links help you any further? I grabbed them while sniffing using Wireshark while visiting and installing Microsoft Update in a fresh Windows 7 x64 virtual machine.
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=70156
http://beta.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us
http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/vistaoptin.aspx?ln=en-us

Furthermore, the following cab is being downloaded, but the content is just an xml file pointint to an other cab file, which goes on and on.
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v9/windowsupdate/redir/muv4wuredir.cab

If those links don’t work, maybe resetting your Internet Explorer browser configuration works: right ALT -> Tools -> Internet Options -> ‘Advanced’ tab -> Reset.

Hope anything of this works…

[Enigma]

Cant remember how i solved this issue, but i think it had something to do with rebooting, reinstaling the newest version of the Windows Update agent, and trying again. found the solution on the Microsoft TechNet forums or somewhere similar. it worked the 2nd time around.

[Arris]

Good to hear you fixed it and thanks for reporting back! 🙂

[Author]

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