I am running Windows ME. In Dec. I had acrash and since then I have
reinstalled Windows ME and of course there were alot of updates to
download. I downloaded all of them, a bout 43 in all but they didnot
install. They just seem to disappear. My system said there were none
installed and when I went back to check, with Windows update they
didn't show that there were any. I found them again by searching their
download site. I emptied out my temp download file and down loaded
only 8 or 10 but they still didnot install. Any answers?????  ANMBROWM

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Request for Question Clarification by aditya2k-ga on 28 Feb 2004 13:48 PST

Were you logged in as an administrator when you attempted to install the components?

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Clarification of Question by anmbrown-ga on 28 Feb 2004 23:27 PST

No I was not logged in as an administrator. It is my computer and I am
the only one using it. So I did not know that I would have to log in.
Is there a reason to log in? Question on first comment? Line 13; and
install each manually!!!!!!!!! That is the question, How do you
install after downloading ???

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 04 Mar 2004 09:34 PST

anmbrown...

You wrote:
"That is the question, How do you install after downloading ???"

You can access the Windows Update Catalog here:
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog/en/initial.asp

If you used the Windows Update Catalog to manually download the
files, you have to select a download location. Let's say
you selected a dummy directory which is alphabetically easy
to locate in the Windows Explorer directory tree, such as 
C:\a\

The files are downloaded into folders with informative names,
so the location of, say, the Q330994 patch for Outlook Express
would be in a subfolder of the a folder, with this address:
C:\a\WU\Software\en\com_microsoft.windows2000\x86win2k\com_microsoft.Q330994_OEPatch31_IE55SP2

Look in there, and you would find 'q330994.exe'.
As with any 'exe' file, just click on it to install it.
Other files may have different extensions, such as '.msi'.
If you're not sure if you can install it by left-clicking
on it, just right-click on it and see if 'install' is 
among the options offered.

If this resolves your problem, let me know and I'll post
it as a formal answer. Otherwise, let me know where it
takes you.

sublime1-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 04 Mar 2004 09:42 PST

P.S. If you already downloaded the files, you can simply locate
the 'WU' folder they all went to by searching for 'WU' in 
Windows Explorer.

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 18 Mar 2004 16:12 PST

anmbrown...

Did I resolve the mystery here? Shall I post it in the
answer space, or do you need further assistance?

sublime1-ga

(1) First go to: http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
(2) Click "Personalize Windows Update" on the left
(3) Check the box that says "Display the link to the Windows Update
Catalog under See Also"
(4) Click "Save Settings"
(5) Click "Windows update Catalog" on the left menu
(6) Click "Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems"
(7) Select your operating system
(8) Select "Critical updates and service packs"
(9) Click the "Add" button by each update you want to download
(10) Click "Go to download basket"
(11) Click "Browse" and select a path to download the updates
(12) Click "Download now"
(13) Now browse to the directory where you downloaded the files, and
install each manually.

You may also be interested in a free Windows Security Update CD from
Microsoft that contains all the critical updates released up through
October 2003 for their currently supported operating systems,
including ME and XP.  This should put a dent in the number of updates
you need to download the next time you reinstall.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

I don't know much about windoze Me, but in 2k, there is a folder
called "Downloaded Program Files" - or something like that - that has
the update files in it.  I'd bet it's somewhere in the registry, too. 
So, I'd do a search for the various file names before I deleted them
(or moved them) from that folder to see if it'd work.  ... but I'm no
computer expert - just a kid (and you know us kids...always breakin'
stuff).

Have you tried a different browser from Internet Explorer, like
Mozilla ( www.mozilla.org - it's a free download), Opera or Netscape
Navigator? When I go to the Windows update page using Mozilla, it
allows me to download the updates by file, without instantly
activating them. Perhaps you can use this step so you can get the
download files and install later.

Unlike Windows XP, with Windows ME you do not need to login as an
administrator.  In fact, many times a Windows ME machine won't have an
administrator account.  So login should not be necessary.