KB943899 causes Vista to hang on Configuring Updates

An update on my last post, it does appear the KB943899 windows update sent out on 8th January 2008 is the cause of certain systems locking.

The update is listed as Recommended not Important or Critical. Microsoft has stated this update is an update that improves the performance, responsiveness, and reliability of Windows Vista.

The technical data of the patch is available from the Microsoft Knowledge Base, direct link is here

If you have a system affected, and have decided for stabilities sake to re-install the operating system, this is the method I have used to avoid the problem re-occurring.

First, disable all automatic updates during setup when given the option. This will at least stop Windows Update automatically pulling the update down when you first enter the desktop.

Secondly, hide the update so if you do re-enable auto updates, it should not be installed on your system.

Find the update in the list of available patches, right click and select Hide:




Install everything else, and your system should behave as normal.

I'll keep an eye on the KB article and TechNet forum thread for a Microsoft fix.

I'll probably be going back to having a Ghost image of my system, after abandoning the idea as a bit of a waste of time and effort!