Microsoft, get your shit right for once

I’ve used Windows since the 3.x days and back then my trustworthy 386 SX with 8Mb of RAM never complained when I simply pulled the ON/OFF switch.

Then again, the Internet screamed at 9600 bps on a dial-up modem, all while browsing the “world wide web” meant I’d have to wait several minutes for CNN.com to come up.

Those were the days.

Fifteen years later it seems that Microsoft still hasn’t gotten their shit together.

Updating Windows Vista with the latest releases is usually a cinch; just let the operating system take control of itself.

Today, a typical update screamed and complained. I hit Retry and it screamed and complained some more about my printer driver installation – all in pure hex.

WTF is “WindowsUpdate_800F0246” error, Bill Gates? I respect your life’s plan of bringing relief to the malnourished and the sick but why do I have to suffer with the glitches of the OS I paid for?

So I Googled “WindowsUpdate_800F0246” and up came this page – one of only two results in Google – soon to be three, after this post makes it past the Google bots’ carnivorous teeth.

The thread-starting fella was complaining about how Windows update in Windows 7 would not update his printer driver and it’d fail with a “WindowsUpdate_800F0246” error. Unlike some dickheads that complain about everything and shut up when their problem is solved, this “Brill” guy actually mentioned what happened once he downloaded the printer driver manually:

As for my printer problem, the manual install didn’t directly fix the issue.  However, it did help me fix the problem.  After I downloaded the driver and tried to manually install it, Windows actually gave me a useful error…it said my print spooler wasn’t running.  I go to services, start the print spooler, go back to Windows update and the driver installs without a problem.

God bless you, Brill, my man. I turned my printer spooler service to ON and the update installed without any further bitching.

So Microsoft – fifteen years into the making, your everlasting Windows OS has not gotten any better for us humans. We are not machines to read your damn hex code and understand what is going on. Give us meaningful messages; maybe, by hiring more American engineers.

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Comments

  1. And next to Windows error “WindowsUpdate_800F0246” is a hidden note written by a developer:

    // Break time. Will come back to this.

  2. No kidding. But I bet you it was not in English.

  3. Aaron Bennett says

    I agree with your expectations. However, to be fair, drivers are the responsibility of the device manufacturer. Most of the time, the fault lies with them. I do agree that when Windows comes up against any issue, the feedback should be helpful as opposed to this crap. For my own experience, Win7 is a massive improvement and has been a dream (I’ve been an active Beta tester for years, and my experience with Win7 has been the smoothest EVER).

    Speaking of code comments: Today, I refactored a function inherited from a contractor. I enjoy finding these, even though they make the professional in me cringe a bit. He left somewhat of an explanation describing the state of the code he left me:

    // I threw up in my mouth a little bit while writing this… keep some Pepto handy.

    Nice.

  4. Aaron, we are not talking about drivers installed via a third party web site, but rather, via Windows Update. The update itself gave no description of the problem, other than a cryptic code – which was not even on a list of errors to further solve.

  5. THANK GOD i found this and get rid of “WindowsUpdate_800F0246” error. Tha same problem with spooler

  6. God bless you, Brill, my man too!

    Same issue here, MS gave me that hex code. Costs about 10 hours for senseless workarounds and to find this great tip.

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