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Summary: Error 8000FFFF results on Windows Vista machines with 4gig of RAM. As of this writing there's no resolution to error 8000FFFF on a Windows Update.
So I'll come clean: this is me asking myself the question. I recently got a new laptop with Windows Vista pre-installed, and have started down the Vista path. Naturally I was disappointed to start out by getting that error. And my disappointment around that error continues. • Here's the error that I got:
As with most errors, it's fairly obscure with just an error code: 8000FFFF. And the programmer in me didn't hold out much hope for that error code telling much, since it looked like a "default" code; in many programs "FFFF" is often used as a generic "something broke" error. The programmer in me was right. Clicking on the "Get Help" link got me a lot of help ... on totally unrelated errors. It gets worse. I decide to ignore the problem for now, but the Windows Update icon in the notification area continually tells me that there's an important update I should install. If I click on it, it shows me:
Note that it does indicate that there was an error in the last update attempt. In fact, if I look at the update history it also tells me exactly the same thing; error 8000FFFF:
And that's how it remains today. "But for now, I wait."
The Problem As you can see from that error log entry it references "when a certain hardware configurations exist". The hardware configuration? Having 4gig of RAM. When I ordered my computer I decided to max out the RAM from the beginning, and on this machine that's 4gig. Unfortunately the very condition that this particular update relates to is apparently preventing it from installing properly. And, as of this writing, there's no update. Another symptom of this issue, by the way is this:
As you can see, Vista reports 3.3gig, and not the 4gig of RAM that's actually in the machine. It'll be interesting to see how quickly they resolve this issue. But for now, I wait. Related:
Article 11396 | Posted April 23, 2007 |
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I also just updated my Dell (dimension E521) to 4 gig and instantly started getting the error messages. I've just removed 2 gigs and am attempting the update... Update appears to have worked. This is insane. The best part of this 8000ffff error is that if you search the Microsoft Knowledge base it will autofill the search bar as you type out the error number but there's no information on the actual error code. F You Microsoft and your stupid buggy OS!
Posted by: mobot at August 22, 2008 12:58 PMhave a look at this:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=556997&SiteID=17
it solved my problem:
1: Open up "Control Panel" and navigate your way to "Programs and Features".
2: Click "View installed updates" on the left hand side.
3: Find the update KB929777 and uninstall it.
4: Attempt to install the update again in Windows Update
5: Once successful, restart your PC.
Posted by: Z at September 3, 2008 8:55 PMWhat worked for lots of others worked for me too. I'm on a Dell Latitude D830 with Vista Ultimate and 4GB of RAM. I downloaded the install file from Microsoft's website (Windows6.0-KB929777-v2-x86.msu) and tried to install it manually. The install failed. I went to Control Panel > Programs and Features > View Installed Updates and uninstalled the update. After the uninstall was complete, Vista prompted me to reboot so I did. When it came back up, I reinstalled the .msu file and this time it succeeded. Horray for the internet.
Posted by: Paul at September 7, 2008 7:33 PMThis worked for me...
Posted by: Fastfreddie1959 at September 9, 2008 9:34 PMreg delete HKLM\Components /v AdvancedInstallersNeedResolving
To execute this commend you need to click on Start. Then type cmd. When you see the Command application, right click on it and Run as Admin.
Type in the command that's posted above and that should fix the issue.
Posted from another blog.
http://blogs.technet.com/kailash/archive/2007/09/20/windows-vista-autoupdate-error-8000ffff.aspx
Microsoft has one solution to this problem at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946414/en-us. This link shows the symptoms, cause, resolution and procedures for editing the Windows registry. Follow the procedures as closely as possible when you get to the 'Components' step. In my Vista they looked a little different.
Posted by: Ben at October 7, 2008 9:15 AMive got a gateway 3gig with the same problems.i guess that im stuck with a error code 8000ffff .can only tell u that mac is looking better and better to me.why should i have to pay to fix something new and they know about it.
Posted by: chris at November 5, 2008 3:21 PMmy next comp will be mac.
from whatever i read this far, its seems all us who are facing this problem have one thing in common - we all have Dell laptops with pre-installed Vista.
Posted by: Raptor at November 8, 2008 11:49 AMso someone might wanna consider the possibility that the problem might be with Dell's hardware configurations itself and not with Vista.
For some reason when I try to uninstall KB929777 it won't allow me. I get a message saying that the program was not uninstalled. Is there some way around this, so that I can uninstall the update?
Posted by: Antirealist at November 20, 2008 10:48 AMUpdate Agent error codes :
http://pierrechauvin.free.fr/windows-update-error-code/wua.html
Posted by: petrus at November 21, 2008 3:46 PMThe command
reg delete HKLM\Components /v AdvancedInstallersNeedResolving
works for me too i have a vista laptop with 1gb ram. if dont have 4gb ram and your getting this error just by random and not because you changed hardware try this first. it fixed mine fast.
Posted by: Dan Rap at December 1, 2008 4:23 PM