Vista Home Premium - Error code 80070490 - Windows update

Question

Computer - Satellite 200
Operating system - Vista Home Premium (service pack 1)
Problem - When I try to update from Windows Update (both manual and automatic) I get error code 80070490
I have tried - System restore, downloading and paying for "RegCure" and following instructions on Microsoft forum all without success.
The computer was supplied with a recovery disk which does not have "repair" facility.
If you have a solution that does not involve a full re-load I would be very grateful
Please make instructions comprehensible to a non-techno!
Thank you

Answer 1

This error may occur if the older Windows Update engine files cannot be
replaced by Windows Update Agent 3.0 (7.0.6000.374).
To troubleshoot this issue, I suggest we first reset permission and
reinstall Windows Update Agent 3.0.
Step 1: Reset permission
================
1. Please download the subinacl.msi file from the following link and save
the installation patch onto the Desktop:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...inityDownloads
2. Please go to the Desktop and double click the downloaded file.
3. Please select the C:\Windows\System32 folder as the Destination Folder
during the installation. Later we will use this tool to reset the permission
settings on the current machine.
Note: If UAC (User Account Control) window is prompted for permission to
continue, please click Continue.
4. Click the Start Button, in the Start Search bar, type: "notepad" (without
quotes) and press Enter.
5. Copy the following commands and then paste them into the opened Notepad
window:
@echo off
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=system=f
@Echo =========================
@Echo Finished.
@Echo =========================
@pause
6. After pasting the above commands, please close the Notepad window. Choose
Save when you are prompted to save the file. Type "reset.bat" as the file
name and choose Desktop from the left panel as the save location.
7. Refer to the Desktop and right click the reset.bat file, then choose "Run
as administrator."
8. You will see a DOS-like window processing.
NOTE: It may take several minutes, please be patient. When it is finished,
you will be prompted with the message: "Finished, press any key to continue".
Step 2: Reinstall Windows Update Agent 3.0
===========================
1. Please download the file from the following link:
Windows Vista (32bit)
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x86.exe
Windows Vista (64bit)
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x64.exe
2. Save the file to D: drive.
Note: Please select a drive where Windows Vista was not loaded because the
file cannot be launched directly from the system root directory.
3. Click Start->Run, type: "D:\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe /wuforce"
(without quotations) and then press Enter to install the Windows Update
engine.
Note: There is a space between "D:\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe" and
"/wuforce"
Now, let's run Windows Update again.