Hi there,I'm kind of at my wits end here. I've been doing a lot of research on this issue and I'm just not finding the answer. I must not be looking in the right place, so hopefully somebody here can help!I believe my computer is updating itself. It periodically downloads updates and restarts itself overnight and I get notifications that things have been updated. I, however, like to have some control and check things out for myself. I attempted to go to the Microsoft Windows Update Website. This is what I got: [Error number: 0x8DDD0002] To install updates from this website, you must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group on your computer. If you use Windows XP, you can see if you are an administrator by going to User Accounts in Control Panel. Note: If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you using this website. Contact your system administrator for help with updates. I am the only user on this computer. It's a Dell Inspiron 1501 running Vista, about 3 years old. I have Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 2.I have tried the "fixes" from the following website:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winservergen/thread/c6b6f4b2-b6c0-4940-980c-24aaddc937a5Any help is greatly appreciated.Angel

Hi,Looklike you need to do the Method 6http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316524 Method 6 Rename the SoftwareDistribution folder. To do this, follow these steps. Restart the computer in Safe mode. Locate and then rename the <var>Drive</var>:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder to SoftwareDistribution.old.Note <var>Drive</var> is a placeholder for the system drive. Restart the computer in Normal mode. Hope you find the info useful

Thanks for the suggestion!I just tried it, but to no avail. Still the same problem. So...should I just give up and forget it?Thanks!

Hi, This you may want or not to try. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK. UAC Promt Click Continue. 1.Click Edit > Click Find > Type NoWindowsUpdate Click Find.if a NoWindowsUpdate DWORD value exists, right-click NoWindowsUpdate, and then click Delete. Press F3 to find again & delete it. 2.Click Edit > Click Find > Type DisableWindowsUpdateAccess Click Find.if a DisableWindowsUpdateAccess DWORD value exists, right-click DisableWindowsUpdateAccess, and then click Delete. Press F3 to find again & delete it. Hope it work. Hope you find the info useful

I have had the same problem I solved it by opening the control panel and choosing user accounts and then change user account control settings, set this to never notify (the lowest setting), then restart and run microsoft update. Once you have installed all updates including optional ones, return to the control panel and return the user account control settings to your desired security level. Hope this works for you too...

Hi angelaina26: Just like you, I started seeing this 0x8DDD0002 error on the Microsoft Update website a short while ago, and I also run Windows Vista Home Premium SP2. I haven't found a solution yet but I'm making progress. Here's a few suggestions you might find helpful. 1. Check Your Windows Update Settings A word of caution before you proceed too far with your troubleshooting. Up until a few weeks ago, my Windows Update was able to deliver updates for both Windows and other optional products like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Silverlight, etc. When I started Windows Update from the Start menu, the "Give me updates for Microsoft products and check for new optional Microsoft software when I update Windows" check box was enabled, and I could see updates for these optional Microsoft products in my Windows Update history. Something I did while I was troubleshooting the 0x8DDD0002 error on the Microsoft Update website corrupted my Windows Update installation and now my Windows Update interface says "You receive updates for Windows only" and I can no longer get updates for my optional Microsoft products from either Windows Update (the "normal" route for Vista and Win 7 users) or from the Microsoft Update website. I don't know how you have your Windows Update configured, but if Windows Update is delivering updates for your optional Microsoft products normally and you can't see errors in your log (view C:\Windows\WindowsUpdate.log in a text editor like NotePad) then the 0x8DDD0002 error on the Microsoft Update web site might simply be caused by a security setting in your Internet connection (in IE 8 go to Tools | Internet Options | Security tab) or some configuration setting in your firewall or Internet security software. 2. Check for Error Messages in the Event Viewer Browse to the Microsoft Update site at www.update.microsoft.com and proceed until you see the 0x8DDD0002 error message. Immediately open the Windows Event Viewer and see if you have any errors logged in the Administrative Events view (Start | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer | Custom Views | Administrative Events). Every time I visit the Microsoft Update site, Windows throws a DistributedCOM error (EventID 10016) stating that the application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID {E60687F7-01A1-40AA-86AC-DB1CBF673334}. I figured out this CLSID is related to the Windows Update Agent (wuausrv) service. If you're getting a similar DistributedCOM error, post back with details since I may be able to suggest a fix. 3. Permissions of Windows Update Registry Keys To fix the 0x8DDD0002 error on the Microsoft Update site, did you step through each method in the article recommended by Justohelp at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316524? I made it to Method 3 and when I checked my Windows Registry I discovered that the Administrators group did not have Full permissions in some of the the registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\. I don't know if this is a legitimate problem for Vista users, though (see my next post). 4. Microsoft FixIt Tool for Resetting Windows Update If you're having problems delivering updates from Windows Update (i.e., not just from the Microsoft Update website), you can use the Micrsoft FixIt Tool at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058 to automatically reset the Windows Update configuration. NOTE: This is the link for Vista users only. If you're running another OS you'll have to do an advanced search search for the appropriate link on the main MS FixIT site at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/mats. Start by running the FixIT tool Default mode, and then move on to Agressive mode if that doesn't fix the 0x8DDD0002 error message. One of the steps in Agressive mode will rebuild your SoftwareDistribution folder as Justohelp suggested. There is also a link in that article for downloading the latest version of the Windows Update Agent. 5. Request Help via Microsoft Support Online Assistance (SOA) Go to the SOA support site at http://support.microsoft.com/selectindex/default.aspx?target=assistance and click on Windows Update to submit a support request to get help. MS offers this service free if you're having trouble with Windows Update. Turn-around time for e-mails is slow but at least I'm getting help from an actual tech support person. The first step MS Support suggested was that I try resetting my IE 8 browser back to its factory settings (Tools | Internet Options | Advanced | Reset Internet Explorer settings | Reset) but this might be a bit drastic as a first step if you're just starting your troubleshooting (search for "reset Internet Explorer settings" in Windows Help and Support for more info). The reset sets your IE Security and Privact settings back to their defaults, disables (but doesn't remove) your third-party extensions, and will wipe out cookies, stored passwords and other personal information if you choose the "Delete personal settings" option. Good luck! I hope something here points you in the right direction. -- Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * IE 8.0 * Firefox v. 3.6.13 * NIS 2011 v. 18.5.0.125 HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

Now on to my own problem regarding the 0x8DDD0002 error on the Microsoft Update web site. Does anyone know if the SYSTEM and Administrators groups are supposed to have Full permissions for the following three registry keys in Windows Vista Home Premium SP2? HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Reporting HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Services HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Setup I get a warning that the Permissions are incorrectly ordered when I try to view the registry key properties, and if I click Cancel I can see that every group only has Special permissions. Please note that the permissions for the following registry keys do not generate a warning when I try to view the properties and the permissions look "normal" to me. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update -- Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * IE 8 * Firefox v. 3.6.13 * NIS 2011 v. 18.5.0.125 HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

Hi Angelaina26: I just wanted you to know that I have my Microsoft Update working again after a ComboFix scan was able to purge my IE 8 browser history while my Norton Internet Security (NIS) 2011 protection was disabled . I have my IE 8 browser configured to delete my browsing history on exit and I had already tried to reset my IE 8 browser manually but it appears that my Internet cache won't clear properly when NIS 2011 is running in the background. I have installed Firefox 3.6 and will use it as my default browser now that I have Windows Update and Microsoft Update working again. My NIS firewall is creating a rule for a protected network on adapter "Software Loopback Interface 1" at IP address 127.0.0.1 (i.e., the localhost or "this computer"), which apparently isn't normal for NIS 2011, and I'm beginning to wonder if my firewall is blocking connections to some secure servers or interfering with system files when I use a dial-up Internet connection. I posted a HijackThis log in the WhatTheTech Forum at http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showforum=27 just to ensure that I didn't have any malware on my system, and the person assigned to my case was very helpful in guiding me through the proper use of ComboFix (which can apparently cause problems on your system if you don't use it correctly). I'm no longer getting the 0x8DDD0002 error on the Microsoft Update website and Windows Update is delivering optional updates for Microsoft products again. -- Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * IE 8 * Firefox v. 3.6.13 * NIS 2011 v. 18.5.0.125 HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS