Vista: The update does not apply to your system

Hello GWN,

The date and time on the system are accurate (I had to replace the battery on the motherboard a few years ago).

I do get occasional BSODs, but only ever on boot up, and usually when the PC hasn't been used for a few days. In these cases I just do a hard reboot and it invariably boots up second time. The error it reports isn't always the same (and sometimes it doesn't report any error at all). I don't recall ever having a BSOD once it's up and running. Since it seems to happen in fairly specific circumstances (starting up after a few days of inactivity), I've - perhaps naively - put it down to a hardware fault which, given the age of the PC, shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Maybe one area for me to pursue is to see if I can trace the cause of the BSOD next time it happens.

Norton has never reported any malware, and I don't have any ESET software installed.

So, I'm not sure what to do next. I appreciate I really need to replace this PC, but, as I say, I need to get a new car (mine's even older than my PC!), so that's the priority for this year, and why I'd just like to keep hold of the PC for another year. How much of a risk is involved in running an unpatched OS? Does having Norton installed significantly lessen that risk?

Thanks

3. I've run sfc from an elevated command prompt with the /verifyonly parameter and with Windows in safe mode and still get the "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation" error.

Hi JL3008:

Before we go any further, please confirm that your system clock (Control Panel | Clock, Language and Region | Date and Time) is keeping accurate time (even the incorrect time zone can cause problems with some software updates) and ensure that all your media files and personal data are backed up to removable media just in case there's a serious problem with your Vista SP2 OS.

Have you experienced any other problems with your computer besides Windows Update since March 2016 (e.g., a BSOD or a malware detection by your antivirus)?  I think it's time for someone to take a closer look at your Windows system files and recent system errors, and I can recommend a few good free forums where you can post Windows dump files or diagnostic reports collected with more advanced tools like the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST) and get further assistance from someone with expertise in these areas.

I'd give PA Bear's suggestion to replace your Vista SP2 computer some serious thought, because tracking down the root cause of this problem could take considerable time on your part.  It might make more sense to simply re-install Vista SP2 (or find a legal copy of Win 7 and upgrade your OS) if you want to use your current machine until Vista SP2 reaches the end of extended support on 11-Apr-2017.

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Without seeing further diagnostics, my best guess at this point is that you could have a corrupted Windows user profile or Windows Update component or could have somehow corrupted the read/write/edit/delete permissions in some of your Windows registry or folders. You've wiped McAfee and BullGuard off your system, but it's also possible that you still have some third-party software on your system that is interfering with Vista SP2.  It looks like your computer was originally built as a gaming system, and I don't know if your ASUSTeK M2N8-VMX motherboard came it's own suite of utilities, but ASUS/Gigabyte applications like EasyTuneEngine that come with certain ASUS chipsets are notorious for causing BSODs and other stability issues - see the ESET support article *Blue Screen Error (BSOD) on Systems with ASUS/Gigabyte Motherboards with Chipsets H87/Z87 and H97/Z97* for one warning about ASUS drivers.

I'd advise that you avoid running MS CheckSUR (SURT) or try to run a file like the MS TechNet Reset Windows Update Tool script to try and repair your Windows Update components until you have further evidence that your problem is associated with a corrupted Windows Update component.  I can speak from personal experience that trying to fix a Windows Update error can go from bad to worse very quickly if you try to reset your Windows Update components on a machine with corrupted registry permissions.

32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox v51.0.1 * NIS v22.8.1.14 * MBAM Premium v2.2.1

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

A new computer would indeed float my boat. As would a new car and, unfortunately, the car is the priority this year, so I'd like to keep the computer running a bit longer...

Oh, I hear you! Good luck with both.

PS: An inexpensive "netbook" might suffice until you can afford a new Desktop or Notebook PC. The Vista computer should NOT be connected to the internet after late April/very early May - even if you manage to get it fully-patched somehow.

Note that IE9 will not be getting any further updates either.

Hello PA Bear,

A new computer would indeed float my boat. As would a new car and, unfortunately, the car is the priority this year, so I'd like to keep the computer running a bit longer. Hence trying to patch it up before the support for Vista ends.

Thanks

Hello GWN,

So...

1. My Windows user account has admin rights.
2. I ran chkdsk from an elevated command prompt, but I had only run it with the /f parameter. I've since run it with the /r parameter, and it reported no errors at all. Which is reassuring.
3. I've run sfc from an elevated command prompt with the /verifyonly parameter and with Windows in safe mode and still get the "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation" error. This pops up within a few seconds, seemingly before it's done anything. This is a bit less reassuring.

Thanks