KB2251481 update issues (via: MS11-049: Description of the security update for Visual Studio 2005 SP1: June 14, 2011)

August 2011, Microsoft re-issued KB2251481. They should not have done that, because if you have the original KB2251481 installed (also known as KB2251481.T369_32ToU865_32) you need to go through the hoopla below to uninstall it.

In stead, they should have released a new version that automatically uninstalls a previously installed one, then installs itself.

It is not the first patch that Microsoft did wrong, but this one is the “Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 XML Editor Security Update”. Every now and then I come across it when doing work on some archived virtual machines that contain Visual Studio 2005 (which I used a lot in the past, and occasionally still use for doing some maintenance work for clients that long ago ditched stuff they thought they’d never need to use again).

The really stupid thing is the error message you get when it cannot get installed: John Doe user will never find out why it failed, let alone figure out how to get it install properly.

This is the message you will see:

[Automatic Updates]
Some updates could not be installed
The following updates were note installed:
Security Update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 XML Editor (KB2251481)
[Close]

The message doesn’t even include that it is trying to install the August 2011 version (hinting that there might be an earlier version you need to uninstall).

Microsoft has re-issued patches before, so similar hoopla applies to other re-issued patches.

I bumped into the issue before, and wanted a shorter/easier form of hoopla. And there is: The easy way of doing the hoopla is through an msiexec command-line:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe /promptrestart /uninstall {23036C23-ECDE-47F5-A908-BEC94EE0456F} /package {1B041548-33BC-4174-8B97-ADC9B7948488}

I found this through the excellend commandline uninstall tool by Tarma Software Research. The full help of that uninstall tool is a the bottom of this post.

The tool knows how to walk the installed programs list, can display the keys, descriptions and details. And it can automagically call the uninstall command (or just list it so you can manually run it at a convenient time).

This is how I got the key (I used the W flavour of uninstall, there is also an A flavour and an x64 flavour):

C:\temp\Uninstall>UninstallW.exe | find /I "KB2251481"
KB2251481.T369_32ToU865_32: Security Update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers - ENU (KB2251481) (version 1)

In this case, the key is KB2251481.T369_32ToU865_32 and you can uninstall it like this:

UninstallW.exe KB2251481.T369_32ToU865_32

That was the easy way.

The hard way of going through the hoopla is described by Microsoft in their MS11-049 article on “known issues with this (ed: KB2251481) security update”:

Known issues with this security update

• If you run Visual Studio Premier Partner Edition (PPE), this security update will be listed in the Programs and Features item in Control Panel as follows:
  Security Update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite – RUS (KB2251481)
• When you install this security update on a computer that does not have Visual Studio 2005 installed, you receive a message that states that the update is not applicable. When you close the message, you receive an error message.
• When you try to install this security update (which was re-released August 9, 2011) by using Microsoft Update, you may receive an error code “66a.” This error occurs when the following conditions are true:
  • You have Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Premier Partner Edition SP1 installed on the computer.
  • You have the original security update 2251481 offered by MS11-049 (released in June 2011) successfully installed on the computer.

Resolution

To resolve this problem for a single computer, uninstall the original security update 2251481 that was released in June 2011, and then install the security update 2251481 that was rereleased in August 2011.

To uninstall the original security update 2251481 that was released in June 2011, use the Add or Remove Programs item or the Programs and Features item in Control Panel. The security update is listed as follows:
Security Update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite – ESN (KB2251481)

So now I know what to do when I come across this update again.

And if KB2251481 still fails to install, you can always try to fix your MSI update registration (that sometimes gets corrupted).

–jeroen

via: MS11-049: Description of the security update for Visual Studio 2005 SP1: June 14, 2011.

PS: Uninstall help:

C:\temp\Uninstall>UninstallW.exe /?
Uninstall 19.0.3361 (2009.03.14.1459U)
c 1990-2009 Tarma Software Research Pty Ltd
Type Uninstall /? for help. http://www.tarma.com, mailto:support@tarma.com

Usage:
  Uninstall [/a][/f][/c[/q]]      - display uninstall list
  Uninstall [/q][/w] keyname...   - run 'keyname' uninstaller
  Uninstall  /l [/f] keyname...   - display 'keyname' information
  Uninstall  /c [/q] keyname...   - display 'keyname' uninstall command

Uninstall lists or runs registered uninstallers. If one or more keyname(s)
are specified, the corresponding uninstallers are started. Without keyname(s)
the registered uninstallers are listed.

Options:
  /?    Show this syntax summary and terminate
  /a    Show all registrations, including hidden ones
  /c    Check and display uninstall command, but don't run anything
  /f    Show full registration entries instead of a summary
  /l    List 'keyname' info instead of uninstalling
  /q    Display or run quiet uninstall (without user interaction)
  /w    Wait for uninstaller to terminate

C:\temp\Uninstall>UninstallW.exe /l /f KB2251481.T369_32ToU865_32
KB2251481.T369_32ToU865_32:
        NoRepair=0x00000001 (1)
        RegistryLocation=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers - ENU\KB2251481
        Helplink=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2251481
        DisplayIcon=C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe
        Publisher=Microsoft Corporation
        ParentDisplayName=Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers - ENU
        ReleaseType=Security Update
        EstimatedSize=0x00000000 (0)
        ParentKeyName=Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers - ENU
        DisplayVersion=1
        NoModify=0x00000001 (1)
        UninstallString=C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe /promptrestart /uninstall {23036C23-ECDE-47F5-A908-BEC94EE0456F} /package {1B041548-33BC-4174-8B97-ADC9B7948488}
        DisplayName=Security Update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers - ENU (KB2251481)