Vista: The update does not apply to your system

Hello GWN,

Thanks for all your help with this problem. Next time I get a BSOD, I'll start a new topic on bleepingcomputer. Strangely, I haven't had one for some time, but I've been using the PC almost every day recently and, as I say, they generally seem to happen when the PC has been dormant for some time.

Ultimately, I need a new computer, but just want to keep this one going a few months longer. It's not that I'm particularly attached to Vista (it's probably the worst version of Windows I've used, and I go back to 3.0!) it's more that I need a new car more than I need a new computer at the moment (it's on its last legs) so want to stick with the PC a bit longer. It might also give the chance for these phenomenally expensive 4k computers to come down in price a bit.

I've tried running the WSUS Offline Update tool, just to see what happened. It claimed to have installed a few things (kb3191203, for example), but I can't see any evidence for it. The files the patch is supposed to update haven't been updated. It then started checking for updates, but I killed it off after about 4 hours. I guess that's just a manifestation of the general Vista / Win 7 slow update problem. At some time over the next few weeks, I'll try running WSUS overnight to see if that gets me anywhere.

Once again, thanks for your help.

Hello Locutus,

Everything looks pristine inside. No bulging caps, nothing. The way I get the BSODs (on start up, when the PC hasn't been used for a while) perhaps suggests a hardware fault, but I can't see anything obviously wrong. I think, as GWN suggests, the way forward now is to work on the next BSOD, if and when it happens. And then get a new PC, obviously.

Thanks.

if it's having trouble powering up without BSOD after an extended period of being off

another place to look, is the PSU

PSU also have caps and have been known to go poof (especially from that vintage when bad caps were common)

depending on the model PSU you may or may not be able to see inside without actually opening it

if it's not providing the necessary startup voltage because the caps in the PSU aren't performing correctly

this can cause BSOD

Vista is really grumpy about power requirements

slight deviations can cause all sorts of problems

Thanks for all your help with this problem. Next time I get a BSOD, I'll start a new topic on bleepingcomputer...

I've tried running the WSUS Offline Update tool, just to see what happened. It claimed to have installed a few things (kb3191203, for example), but I can't see any evidence for it.

Hi JL3008:

Just an FYI that you don't have to wait for a new BSOD before you post in bleepingcomputer.  They can analyze the dump files for your past BSODs and see if there is one particular driver or file that is causing the BSODs.

I haven't tried Torsten Wittrock's **WSUS Offline Update** tool, but it's a two-step process (i.e., download first with UpdateGenerator.exe, then run UpdateInstaller.exe from the Client folder to finish the installation) that seems to confuse most first-time users.  If any updates are installed I assume they'd be listed at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features | View Installed Updates after a re-boot.  I'm not certain, but I recall reading somewhere that you have to run the tool more than once on a Vista SP2 machine before you're fully up-to-date.

Read through vista134's thread How I got clean install of Vista Ultimate SP2 to install updates... and post there if you aren't sure if you're using this tool correctly.  You should also be able to find help in the Installation / Updating board of the WSUS Offline Update forum - Dalai works closely with Torsten and is a regular contributor in that forum.

32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox v51.0.1 * NIS v22.9.0.68 * MBAM v2.2.1

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