Fixing Windows Update Error Code 80246008

You get this error code when you have pending updates but Windows Update is unable to download them. When you click on "Install" you get a brief popup which tells you everything is fine but after a few seconds the update fails.

One of the likely reasons for this (assuming your internet connection is working, no firewall is interfearing, etc) is that the "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" service is not running correctly. To fix it just type in "Services" into the "Search Programmes and Files" box on the start menu and find the offending services;

Services (Local)

As you can see in the screen shot above it's saying "Started" and "Manual". It should say "Started" and "Automatic (Delayed Start)" but I've just fixed this problem on my own system and it won't start saying "Automatic" until after I've rebooted.

If the service won't start (mine wouldn't) then double-clicking it it will bring up the properties, then if you click on the "Dependencies" tab;

Background Intelligent Transfer Service Properties

The two services I've highlighted above both need to be running. When you got everything running you should be able to use Windows Update as normal.

Hope this helps!

Updating NLS_LANG For A Windows Client Installation

Usually you'd expect your Client and Server environments to be in sync but there are specific issues when it isn't the case and this can lead to unexpected conversions when inserting text. We suffer from this issue as our server environment is in "American" whereas our clients are usually in "British".

It doesn't cause massive issues but occasionally, especially with Oracle e-Business Suite, this can catch us out (typically it's due to it trying to look up a UK-English translation of something in an API call that doesn't exist).

Here's a quick guide to update your client-side environment.

First of all open "Registry Editor" (type "regedit" under Start Menu > Run) and search for NLS_LANG. you'll see something like;

I've highlighted the NLS_LANG entry, as you can see in the image it's currently set to;

AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8MSWIN1252

From here it's just a quick matter of double-clicking the entry and updating it.

NOTE: It's always worth doing a "Find Again" to get the next instance of NLS_LANG just in case you have multiple clients installed.

Identifying The IP Address Of Your Router

Go to the Windows start menu and into the search box type "cmd.exe" - this will bring up Windows command-line interface;

Windows 7 command-line interface (cmd.exe)

Your view will be slightly different depending on whether or not you're running Windows 7. It doesn't really matter through as the functionality is only slightly different.

Type in the following;

ipconfig

There will be a large amount of text flashing past on the screen;

Windows 7 ipconfig output

You need to go back through it and look for key items. Depending on whether or not you have a Wireless or a Wired (Ethernet) Connection you need to find the value for "Default Gateway". In the screen output above the IP address you would need is 192.168.0.1.

In the diagram 1 is the wired connection, 2 is the wireless connection - often they've the same (as in this case). If you have both and they're different then you should pick the Wired connection as your first try.

Type this IP address into a web browser (i.e. http://192.168.0.1) to get to your router.

NOTE: If you are connecting to your Router Wirelessly then some routers can be configured to only allow wired connections to access the admin website. If the above address does not work and you are trying to connect wirelessly then you need to switch to a wired connection and try again.

Problems Installing SharePoint 2010 on Windows 2008R2 Server (Configuration Failed- error)

This Knol is a bit of a departure for me in that I'm not suggesting a solution to a particular problem more I'm just sharing with the world my total exasperation when trying to get SharePoint 2010 setup and running on an internal test server (so I can test SQL Server Reporting Services Integrated Mode - I'm not even trying to test SharePoint!).

This Knol runs through the process of installing SharePoint 2010 until a "Configuration failed" error occurs in effect ending the process.

I find it staggering that this hasn't been properly tested by Microsoft prior to release of SharePoint 2010 - if I was trying to install software from a different manufacturer I'd expect these kind of problems but performing a practically automated installed by the people who wrote both peices of software and it not working is not really acceptable.

Hopefully someone at Microsoft will read this and duplicate the problem on their servers and provide a solution. Hopefully.


Build and configure your Windows 2008R2 server, to exactly duplicate the error message (and process below) after you've booted into Windows add the feature ".NET Framework 3.5.1" as well as the prerequisite Features and Services (IIS) that it requires.

Once you've done that you're ready to go through the process below.

Run the SharePoint 2010 Installer (as provided on the DVD):

Click on "Install software prerequisites" under the "Install" section:

Click "Next", accept the licensing agreement (after reading it of course!), then click "Next" to begin the installation:

This will take about 10 minutes, probably for the first time on an installation dialog (that I’ve noticed) you actually get the time the process started as well as how long it’s been running for. Something I think we should encourage!

Actually it doesn’t – it lets you know when the current step started and how long that’s been running for. Much less useful. Ah well, we’re getting there I suppose!

Once the installation has completed you’ll see the dialog:

Click on "Finish" to restart your system.

Once your system comes back up re-run the SharePoint 2010 installer and this time select "Install SharePoint Server". After a few seconds you'll be prompted to enter your Product Key, type that in, wait a few seconds for it to be validated, then click "Continue", accept the licensing agreement, and then click "Continue":

Select "Standalone" as we're building a single box instance (rather than adding a new component(s) to an existing farm):

The installation process will now continue, once it has completed it will display the following dialog:

Clicking on "Close" will trigger the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard to start up:

Click "Next" and a dialog will appear:

This dialog is simply warning you that if you're on a production server that users are actually using then they can expect the service to be unavailable (potentially) depeding on what you select in this wizard. We're on a new server and so don't really care. Click "Yes" to continue:

The configuration will now take place and then the following dialog is displayed:

Nice.

For the sake of completeness here is the text of that error message:

"Configuration Failed


One of more configuration settings failed. Completed configuration settings will not be rolled back. Resolve the problem and run this configuration wizard again. The following contains detailed information about the failure:


Failed to create the configuration database.


An exception of type System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException was thrown. Additional exception information: The data is invalid.


To diagnose the problem, review the application event log and the configuration log file location at:





Click Finish to close this wizard."

Why installing the latest version of SharePoint on the latest version of Windows Server doesn't work out of the box is beyond me.

Why is "Run as different user" not available for some programs in Windows 7?

This blog post covers one of the reasons why holding down shift and right-clicking a shortcut might not give you the "Run as different user" option - only the "Run as administrator" option.


Duplicating the Problem
This is probably one of the most annoying "features" you'll ever encounter. It's probably also one of the least clear. Luckily there's a practically guaranteed way to duplicate the problem so you can see what I mean: install iTunes.

After you have installed the software if you hold down shift and right-click the installed icon you'll notice that you don't get the "Run as different user" option. Actually if you right click it and select "Pin to taskbar" and then run iTunes you'll also notice that it creates a "new" taskbar icon whereas you'd expect it to re-use the one you'd pinned there:

Duplicate iTunes Icons

If you right-click the icon and select "Properties" you'll also notice that the Shortcut itself seems to be setup in a "strange" way:

The "Target location" and "Start in" items appear to be blank.

Fixing the problem
Find the installation directory for the software you're trying to use. For iTunes this is either "C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes" or "C:\Program Files\iTunes" depending on the OS you are running. If you look in this directory you will see a list of files:

The one we're intersted in I've highlighted - it's the main iTunes application (you can narrow it down for your application by looking for those files with a "Type" of Application and then doing each one in turn). Right-click this file and select "Create shortcut". You will then see the message that "Window's can't create a shortcut here" and "Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?". Click "Yes".

Hold down shift and right-click the new shortcut on your desktop and you'll see the "Run as different user" option is now available.