There are many older computers running Windows 98 out there that need repairs. A lot of the old Windows98 errors that occurred were best fixed with a total reinstall of Windows. However, most disks of Win98 are shipped with Internet Explorer 5 which doesn’t work on the Windows update site. This leaves you needing to update your IE, but you can’t because the Windows update page doesn’t work. This article is about how to fix this.

So you have just installed Windows 98, go to the Microsoft update site and get this error:

Windows Update Error

“0×80072F89″ isn’t very descriptive but if you just installed Windows98 you are probably running Internet Explorer 5 which won’t work on the Windows Update site so you get the above error. In order to fix this Windows Update Error you need to get IE6.

Getting Internet Explorer 6:

With an internet connection:
1. First off, you will need to visit the Microsoft site and get the IE6 with Service Pack 1 installer using this link: ie6setup.exe (479kb) (right click and choose “Save File As” or “Save Link As”)

2. Once this is downloaded, Run it.

Without an internet connection, but have access to another computer with one:
1. On a computer with an internet connection, visit the Microsoft site and get the IE6 with Service Pack 1 installer using this link: ie6setup.exe (479kb)

Reimage: PC Repair. In Minutes
2. Place the downloaded setup file into a directory that you can easily access such as c:\Downloads (create this folder if necessary)

3. Goto Start > Run and type in the line below INCLUDING the quotation marks:

“C:\Downloads\ie6setup.exe” /c:”ie6wzd.exe /d /s:”"#E”

4. Accept the agreement and click Next

5. When the setup starts you will be given two options:
- Choose an operating system that you want to use Internet Explorer with.
- Choose a location to download the files to.

Choose the operating system that is currently running on the system that you want to put IE6 on and choose somewhere to download it.

6. Click the next button and it will begin the download.

When the download completes, goto the folder you saved it to (in this case c:\Downloads) and burn it to a CD or any other sort of removable media that the other PC will accept.

7. Run the ie6setup on the system that needs IE6.

Without any access to the internet:
Look for a recent CD from a PC magazine, AOL CD or any other Internet Service Providers install CD, these often have the IE6 already on them. Search the CD for the file “ie6setup.exe” and run it on the system that needs Internet Explorer 6.

When the install completes you will need to restart the computer. Restart the computer and visit the Windows Update Site at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Windows Update: Pick Updates to Install

If everything worked correctly you should see the above picture. Click the “Review and Install Updates” link.

Windows Update: List of Updates needed to be installed

This page shows you the updates that needs to be installed in the system, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED you install all Critical Updates. To do so, click the Install Now button and it will begin the downloads.

If you are unable to install IE6 for any reason:
Alternatively, you update what is called the “root certificates” which causes IE5 to fail during Windows update. This will allow you to run Internet Explorer 5 and use the Windows Update site. Right click on rootsupd.exe and choose either “Save Link As..” or “Save file as” and run it: rootsupd.exe

Hopefully this article will be of use to those of you still dabbling with Windows 98.