Microsoft officials say they are investigating reports that files installed by stealthy updates deployed by the software giant in July and August prevent Windows XP users who utilize the repair function from installing as many as 80 of the latest security patches. "We are aware of reports about customers not being able to download some updates from Windows Update when using the latest version of the Windows Update client and after reinstalling Windows XP system files from CD. We take this issue very seriously and are investigating the root cause of this behavior and what options are available to address it," said a Microsoft spokesperson.
The issue was brought to light by Scott Dunn, a writer and associate editor with Windows Secrets Newsletter. In the newsletter, Dunn explained that after a user employs the repair option from an XP CD-ROM, which takes Windows back to its original state if a computer is unable to boot up, Windows Update downloads and installs the new 7.0.600.381 executable files. Some of the Windows Update executables are not registered with the operating system, which in turn prevents Windows Update from working as intended.