startup windows in safe mode and select start->run and type in %windir% and press enter.
Rename the "SoftwareDistribution" folder to something else like "SoftwareDistribution.old".
restart the computer and run the windows updates.
(the software distribution folder is where downloaded windows updates go. if it gets corrupted windows updates fail. If the folder is missing, windows recreates it and downloads updates from the beginning)
another thing to try is to fix cryptographic services. create a file in notepad and copy and paste the following into it. afterwards, rename it fix.bat (make sure it doesn't have a .txt extension) and run it.
here is the file contents, Hope this helps:


cls
@echo off
echo *****Simple cryptographic services repair tool by Oracle of Delphi*****
echo.
echo **restarting remote procedure call service
net start rpcss
echo.
echo **setting autostart properties on RPC service
sc config rpcss start= auto
echo **restarting cryptographic service
net stop cryptsvc
net start cryptsvc
echo.
echo **setting autostart properties on cryptographic service
sc config cryptsvc start= auto
echo **Registering dll's, This will take a long time.....
echo Registering acelpdec.ax
regsvr32 acelpdec.ax /s
echo Registering actskin43.ocx
regsvr32 actskin43.ocx /s
echo Registering actxprxy.dll
regsvr32 actxprxy.dll /s
echo Registering asctrls.ocx
regsvr32 asctrls.ocx /s
echo Registering ATL.DLL
regsvr32 ATL.DLL /s
echo Registering browseui.dll
regsvr32 browseui.dll /I /s
echo Registering cdfview.dll
regsvr32 cdfview.dll /s
echo Registering comcat.dll
regsvr32 comcat.dll /s
echo Registering corpol.dll
regsvr32 corpol.dll /s
echo Registering CRSWPP.DLL
regsvr32 CRSWPP.DLL /s
echo Registering cryptdlg.dll
regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll /s
echo Registering cryptext.dll
regsvr32 cryptext.dll /s
echo Registering danim.dll
regsvr32 danim.dll /s
echo Registering datime.dll
regsvr32 datime.dll /s
echo Registering Daxctle.ocx
regsvr32 Daxctle.ocx /s
echo Registering dispex.dll
regsvr32 dispex.dll /s
echo Registering dssenh.dll
regsvr32 dssenh.dll /s
echo Registering dxmasf.dll
regsvr32 dxmasf.dll /s
echo Registering dxtmsft.dll
regsvr32 dxtmsft.dll /s
echo Registering dxtrans.dll
regsvr32 dxtrans.dll /s
echo Registering FPWPP.DLL
regsvr32 FPWPP.DLL /s
echo Registering FTPWPP.DLL
regsvr32 FTPWPP.DLL /s
echo Registering gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll /s
echo Registering hhctrl.ocx
regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx /s
echo Registering hlink.dll
regsvr32 hlink.dll /s
echo Registering icmfilter.dll
regsvr32 icmfilter.dll /s
echo Registering iepeers.dll
regsvr32 iepeers.dll /s
echo Registering iesetup.dll
regsvr32 iesetup.dll /i /s
echo Registering ils.dll
regsvr32 ils.dll /s
echo Registering imgutil.dll
regsvr32 imgutil.dll /s
echo Registering inetcfg.dll
regsvr32 inetcfg.dll /s
echo Registering inetcomm.dll
regsvr32 inetcomm.dll /s
echo Registering initpki.dll (This one takes a while)
regsvr32 initpki.dll /s
echo Registering inseng.dll
regsvr32 inseng.dll /s
echo Registering jscript.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll /s
echo Registering l3codecx.ax
regsvr32 l3codecx.ax /s
echo Registering licmgr10.dll
regsvr32 licmgr10.dll /s
echo Registering lmrt.dll
regsvr32 lmrt.dll /s
echo Registering mlang.dll
regsvr32 mlang.dll /s
echo Registering mmefxe.ocx
regsvr32 mmefxe.ocx /s
echo Registering mobsync.dll
regsvr32 mobsync.dll /s
echo Registering mpg4ds32.ax
regsvr32 mpg4ds32.ax /s
echo Registering msapsspc.dll
regsvr32 msapsspc.dll /SspcCreateSspiReg /s
echo Registering msdxm.ocx
regsvr32 msdxm.ocx /s
echo Registering mshtmled.dll
regsvr32 mshtmled.dll /s
echo Registering msident.dll
regsvr32 msident.dll /s
echo Registering msieftp.dll
regsvr32 msieftp.dll /s
echo Registering msnsspc.dll
regsvr32 msnsspc.dll /SspcCreateSspiReg /s
echo Registering msoeacct.dll
regsvr32 ms

remove the regsvr32 ms from the last line. here is the rest of the file.


regsvr32 msoeacct.dll /s
echo Registering MSR2C.DLL
regsvr32 MSR2C.DLL /s
echo Registering msrating.dll
regsvr32 msrating.dll /s
echo Registering msxml.dll
regsvr32 msxml.dll /s
echo Registering msxml2.dll
regsvr32 msxml2.dll /s
echo Registering msxml3.dll
regsvr32 msxml3.dll /s
echo Registering occache.dll
regsvr32 occache.dll /i /s
echo Registering oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 oleaut32.dll /s
echo Registering plugin.ocx
regsvr32 plugin.ocx /s
echo Registering pngfilt.dll
regsvr32 pngfilt.dll /s
echo Registering POSTWPP.DLL
regsvr32 POSTWPP.DLL /s
echo Registering rsabase.dll
regsvr32 rsabase.dll /s
echo Registering rsaenh.dll
regsvr32 rsaenh.dll /s
echo Registering scrobj.dll
regsvr32 scrobj.dll /s
echo Registering scrrun.dll
regsvr32 scrrun.dll mstinit.exe /setup /s
echo Registering sendmail.dll
regsvr32 sendmail.dll /s
echo Registering shdoc401.dll
regsvr32 shdoc401.dll /i /s
echo Registering shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 shdocvw.dll /I /s
echo Registering slbcsp.dll
regsvr32 slbcsp.dll /s
echo Registering softpub.dll
regsvr32 softpub.dll /s
echo Registering tdc.ocx
regsvr32 tdc.ocx /s
echo Registering thumbvw.dll
regsvr32 thumbvw.dll /s
echo Registering urlmon.dll
regsvr32 urlmon.dll /i /s
echo Registering vbscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll /s
echo Registering voxmsdec.ax
regsvr32 voxmsdec.ax /s
echo Registering webcheck.dll
regsvr32 webcheck.dll /s
echo Registering WEBPOST.DLL
regsvr32 WEBPOST.DLL /s
echo Registering wintrust.dll
regsvr32 wintrust.dll /s
echo Registering WPWIZDLL.DLL
regsvr32 WPWIZDLL.DLL /s
echo Registering wshext.dll
regsvr32 wshext.dll /s
echo Registering wshom.ocx
regsvr32 wshom.ocx /s
echo Registering WUAPI.DLL
regsvr32 WUAPI.DLL /s
echo Registering WUAUENG.DLL
regsvr32 WUAUENG.DLL /s
echo Registering WUCLTUI.DLL
regsvr32 WUCLTUI.DLL /s
echo Registering WUPS.DLL
regsvr32 WUPS.DLL /s
echo Registering WUWEB.DLL
regsvr32 WUWEB.DLL /s
echo Registering xmsconf.ocx
regsvr32 xmsconf.ocx /s

@echo off
echo operations complete!
pause
exit

thanks a lot

you wouldn't believe how long it took me to fix this the first time I saw it!

There are several failures that usually account for windows XP updates failing. If you are able to access the website, are not blocking scripts, and having no firewall or virus issues then the most common causes are
Incorrect clock settings (which can be more indicticive of a bad bios battery)
cryptographic services failure (which also affects access to HTTPS sites)
and corrupt downloads (which is usually the case when the pc is restarted in the middle of a download or installation. The fixes for the last two scenarios are discussed.

Click here to see the Answer Discussion that preceded this tutorial.

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