Updates encountered an error????

Hey guys,

What is up with windows updates???????

Never had a problem before...........now I get an error message saying it encountered an error and page cannot be displayed. I tried all of their stupid suggestions and none of them apply to me nor did the ones I tried work.

(ERROR 0x800A138F)

Anyone else have this problem and how the heck do ya solve it?

This computer with Win98SE had a horrible MSI Nvidia chipset board in it that is getting RMA'd and sent back. Now has the old Gigabyte board in it with the AMD 900mhz chip in it and it runs like a charm.........newer isn't always better I guess, at least I can print without blue screens of death and lock ups. BTW, MSI absolutely SUCKS when it comes to trying to get tech support over the phone.....no humanoid, no put on hold, told to leave a message and they will call YOU back at THEIR convenience. Took them two days to do so and no answers to repeated emails.

Thanks for your help as always,
Sharon

Microsoft switched some of their updates to the hosting company Akamai in order to save bandwidth.They took this step mainly because the recent "Blaster" virus caused the MS update site to crash due to so many users trying to download the MSBlast fix file.

One of the causes of your error message could be that the Akamai servers are being blocked in your hosts file.

Close IE and open the hosts file with notepad. (Should be located in C:\Windows\System\Drivers\Etc\ ), and look for an entry similar to a248.e.akamai.net.. Remove the whole line, including the ip address,and then save the changes.
I don't think you have to reboot for the changes to take effect,but you may as well do it,just to make sure.

Note: IE must be closed/disconnected before editing the hosts file,otherwise any edits you make will be immediately re-written back to the file.

Another possible solution is to check that your system clock is displaying the correct date,as an incorrect date sometimes causes that error.

I got that error as well, retried updating a couple of hours later and had no problems;)

I'm sorry Rev, but for as much as I know there is much I don't know.........

Open host file where what ha?

Could you be a little more specific to a space cadet when it comes to editing these things.........any brain I had left has been sucked dry by the little cutie in my avatar!

Her name is Jaqueline, she's 3 months old and really wants to get going before her time........she's gonna be a real spark plug I can tell!

Thanks,
Sharon

By the way, I've returned several days in a row and the error remains.

OK,sorry,i'll try and simplify it.

Before following the directions below,try this url for windows update.It might be slightly different to the one you are having problems with,but it may work.

http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

Ok if that url doesn't fix it,try the following procedure:

Open windows explorer and navigate to this directory C:\Windows\System\Drivers\Etc\. In that directory you should find a file named HOSTS.

Right click that file and select "open".Then put a check next to "select the program from a list" and hit the OK button.

Scroll down the program list and highlight Notepad and hit the OK button.

When the file has opened in Notepad look for a line with an entry for a248.e.akamai.net and then highlight and delete that whole line of text,including the IP numbers. (4 numbers seperated by dots).

Now close the opened file and click "yes" to save the changes.

Now reboot.And then go to Windows Update to see if it works.

Note: if you can't find the HOSTS file,open Windows Explorer and go to Tools > Folder Options. Click the "View" tab and scroll down the list until you see "show hidden files and folders". Highlight that entry and click apply. Then close all the boxes. You should now see the HOSTS file in the above directory.

Hi Rev,

Sorry, no such file or folder found in the Drivers directory.

Only a folder called Ttp, and there is nothing in there that resembles HOST.

Any other ideas?

Thanks for your help

Sharon

mmm...might be in a different directory.
Try locating the file using the search feature on the start menu. ;)