Missing/Invisible Windows VISTA Update Items Update

(Updated Feb. 21st, 2010)

After the list disappeared around the 15th, it reappeared – by itself – in the last day or two. Really wierd…

In this posting, I talked about how the updates list had disappeared from Windows Update (Windows Vista). I found a solution on the MS Support forums and I will share with you the steps you need to take to [hopefully] resolve this. Remember that I am not responsible for any damages that may occur because you did not do something correctly.

This solution was actually the answer to another problem. People could see their updates in Windows Updates. The problem was the updates they installed were still on the list after they had updated.

1. Download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility and install this program.
2. Download MSXML 4.0 Service Pack 3. DO NOT INSTALL THIS YET!
3. Run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility program. Open the Start menu and click on All Programs it will be in that list. Search the list for any program listed as “MSXML”. There was 3 MSXML 4.0 Service Pack 2 entries in the list for me.
4. Remove all instances of this and reboot your computer.
5. Once you are back into Windows, install MSXML 4.0 Service Pack 3. No need to reboot after this has been installed.
6. Open Windows Update 🙂