Windows update thinks my PC is a Mac? !!

[kevsta]

the wierdest thing is happening and I am lost.. msn messnger stopped working a few days ago (error code 80048820) and stubbornly refuses to sign me in.

so tonight i got round to thinking about downloading the new version to see if itself sorts it out, and then thought maybe should do the whole windows update thing anyway..

so headed over to the site and am presented with this message on trying to enter !!??

Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site.

This website is designed to work with Microsoft Windows operating systems only. To find updates for Microsoft products that are designed for Macintosh operating systems, please visit http: // www. microsoft (no linkies for you muppets) /mac /. !!!!

someone sent me some images the other day in a zip file that looked like it had come from a mac have i been infected by macintosh? do i have to start ranting on about how great they are like all the other afflicted?

yuk.

[Uncle Dog]

Is your PC white and round with no visible openings (or obvious point)?

[kevsta]

oh yea, very funny. its a compaq / intel running XP. i dislike macs intensely and hate the evangelising that goes with them even more.

and it's still doing it. any (serious) suggestions welcome please

[wige]

First, what browser are you using?

Second, do you have any firewall software installed on your computer, other than the Windows XP firewall?

Finally, did this happen using the Windows update utility in your start menu, or did you open your browser and browse/search for the site?

Also, if you could post your user agent string (obtainable by visiting Whats My User Agent?) that could help in narrowing this down.

[kevsta]

hi.

ok I opened from menu bar which automatically opens IE7 although I always use Firefox otherwise.

so the user agent string is on IE7 is.
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; User-agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; bsalsa EmbeddedWB Home) ; User-agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; bsalsa EmbeddedWB Home) (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en; rv:1.8.1.11) Gecko/20071127 Firefox/2.0.0.11); .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; Media Center PC 4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)


firewall wise I have Zonelarm free but this has always worked fine and just suddenly stopped a couple of weeks ago. I updated both ZL & Windows Live Messenger to latest versions last night just before posting this.

[bj]

kevsta, usually when I hear about this type of gremlin, the first thing that pops into my mind is virus/trojan/spyware.

Run online scans here (most require IE with activeX):

a-squared Web Malware Scanner - Scan and clean your computer from Trojans, Worms, Dialers, Keyloggers and Spyware/Adware for free!

Free Virus Scan - Kaspersky Lab

The reason you do this online even if you have an AV installed is because one of the first things some of the nasty trojans do is shut off your AV, but then make it behave as if it's still running. The online scan will let you know if that's happened.

I run these online scans a couple times a month as a backup check.

[GizGaz]

Resetting your useragent string to its compiled-in default

From MozillaZine Knowledge Base

To reset the user-agent string to its compiled-in default for your Mozilla application:

1. Type about:config in the Location Bar, then hit Enter. (For Thunderbird, click "Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> Config Editor" instead.)
2. Enter general.useragent in the Filter box.
3. If any of the preferences still displayed are shown as user set, right-click (context click) the preference and select "Reset".

You can also reset your user-agent string by editing the prefs.js file in the profile folder with your Mozilla application closed. (This may be necessary if the browser crashes at startup loading the Java plugin because of a spoofed user agent - see bug 83376.) Save a backup copy of prefs.js as a precaution, then open the prefs.js file in a text editor such as Notepad, delete any lines beginning with user_pref("general.useragent. and then save the changes.
Warning: If you have a user.js file, make sure that any general.useragent. lines are removed from that file as well, since any preferences set by the user.js file will be set again the next time you restart the application.




Cheers!



GizGaz -=*L*=-

[wige]

I find the bsalsa EmbeddedWB Home interesting, as it is not something I have seen before. I would check your installation of IE to make sure there are no unexpected addins running. You might want to download Windows Defender from the Microsoft web site (use firefox to do it). The program is not as good as when it was in Beta, but it does have a nice tool for checking the registry associated with IE to find Browser Helper Objects, which are added libraries that you might not be expecting to run, which could affect your ability to browse the web.

However, your browser does appear to identify itself correctly according to the spec you listed. Another possiblility is that something is preventing a script or a applet from running when you visit the update site. Just to be sure, you could try temporarily suspending your AV and firewall while connecting to the site to see if it works (as long as you are behind a hardware firewall such as a router, and make sure the Windows firewall activates) that way.

[jawn_tech]

Originally Posted by kevsta

oh yea, very funny. its a compaq / intel running XP. i dislike macs intensely and hate the evangelising that goes with them even more.

and it's still doing it. any (serious) suggestions welcome please

As much as I agree with you, I hope this problem isn't widespread or we'll be seeing new commercials soon.

Mac: "Hi, I'm a Mac"
PC: (wearing a Mac mask) "And I'm a Mac too"

[kevsta]

Originally Posted by jawn_tech

As much as I agree with you, I hope this problem isn't widespread or we'll be seeing new commercials soon.

Mac: "Hi, I'm a Mac"
PC: (wearing a Mac mask) "And I'm a Mac too"

lol!! & I would HATE to think I helped their cause.

ok guys thanks for the suggestions will have a play and see what I can find.

[deepsand]

bsalsa is a legitimate freeware embedded web browser; see
bsalsa EmbeddedWB Home - Google Search


MSMgr. error code 80048820 owes to any number of possible cause, and is widely documented; see
error code 80048820 - Google Search

Given that you've FF installed, you can, as a workaround for downloading and installing Windows Updates, use the alternate source at
WindizUpdate