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Open your registry and find or create the key (new REG_DWORD value) below.

User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
Value Name: NoViewOnDrive
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: 32-bit bitmask

The “NoViewOnDrive” value uses a 32-bit bitmask to define local and network drive access for each logical drive in the computer. The lower 26 bits of the 32-bit word correspond to drive letters A through Z. Drives are visible when set to 0 and hidden when set to 1.

If your not happy working in Hex, add these decimal numbers to hide the drive(s):

A: 1, B: 2, C: 4, D: 8, E: 16, F: 32, G: 64, H: 128, I: 256, J: 512, K: 1024, L: 2048, M: 4096, N: 8192, O: 16384, P: 32768, Q: 65536, R: 131072, S: 262144, T: 524288, U: 1048576, V: 2097152, W: 4194304, X: 8388608, Y: 16777216, Z: 33554432, ALL: 67108863

For example to hide drive A and drive D, you would add 1 (A) + 8 (D) which means the value should be set to “9″.

To disable all the drives set the value to “67108863″.

Restart Windows for the change to take effect.

In the event that you are not able to install updates usign WindowsUpdate you can follow any of the following procedures :

Use a utility like ccleaner clear up PC Junk. Also flush the Software Distribution Folder and then reboot. If you are using WindowsUpdate try using MicrosoftUpdates and vice versa.
If you still cannot Update Windows Vista (or WinXP/SP2) using windowsupdate, try this :
Open Internet Explorer > Tools >Internet Options > Security > Click ‘trusted sites’ icon >Click Sites > uncheck ‘require server verification’.
Then add following sites :
http://*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
http://*.windowsupdate.com
http://update.microsoft.com
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx
Click Close > Apply > OK. This is known to help the GenuineValidated Windows, in some cases, but not always.
Try to re-register the following dll’s individually. Open Notepad. Copy-Paste the following command lines into it and save the file using a .bat or .cmd extension.
regsvr32 /s wuapi.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 /s wups.dll
regsvr32 /s wups2.dll
regsvr32 /s wuwebv.dll
regsvr32 /s wucltux.dll
regsvr32 /s wudriver.dll
Double-click the icon of the .bat or .cmd file; command window will open. Run the commands, and then close. Reboot, and see if Windows Updates is working OK. Also Open IE > Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Security Settings > Ensure that the two boxes “Enable SSL 2″ or “Enable SSL 3″ are checked. Hopefully, this should help !
Else, note your error code and visit this excellent Microsoft Resource : Windows Update Support: Error Codes. Search for the solution against your error Code. If you receive Windows Update error 80246008 while downloading updates, you might need to change the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) or Windows Event Log service settings, and then restart each service. Click here for more on it. KB943144 is another helpful link.
If you are recovering from a malware attack, you may also want to have a look at your Hosts file. Some malware programs may modify the hosts file to control DNS name resolution. Remove ALL entries for Windows Update and Microsoft Update from your Hosts file situated at C\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. You can either remove any lines that contain entries for Windows Update or for Microsoft Update OR you can just place the number sign # before or in front of any line that contains “microsoft” and “update”. HostsMan is a good freeware utility to help you manage your hosts file.

If you find that a particular Windows Vista Update does not install, here are some suggestions:

First clear up your Temp File/Cache, Reboot and try again. Best and easier to use CCleaner. Disable your Firewall and try ! In many cases, the update may fail to install in the first instance, but for some inexplicable reason, succeeds in the 2nd or 3rd try. So try a couple of times. It it doesn’t help, search on Microsoft, for the patch / update KB number, and download its Stand-alone Installer. Now apply the patch manually. Search for just the number; don’t include KB !

If it still doesn’t help, try this : Rt Click Computer > Manage > Services > Stop the “Cryptographic Service” and rename the “Catroot2″ folder situated in C:\Windows\System32\Catroot to something like say Catroot2X. Reboot. Now run the update/hotfix installers again. This action will re-generate a new Catroot2 folder and the updates/hotfixes, should hopefully install OK. If still you have a problem then, go to C:\Windows\Windows Update.log and look for the most recent entry. Any failed updates will have error code/s written next to them. Note them down. If you find just too many entries too confusing delete this WindowsUpdate.log and try installing the updates again. Now open the newly re-created WindowsUpdate log file and have a look at its contents.

Now Rt-click Computer > Manage > Event Viewer > Applications and Service Logs > Microsoft > Windows > WindowsUpdateClient > Operational . Check out for any Critical Message or Warning. Now refer the Windows Update Error Codes . This will give you the direction in which you may have to look for the solution. Or check out Microsofts Windows Update Solution Center. There is some nice info here too at UpdateXP some of which may find relevance to Vista.

System resources, such as file data, registry data, and even in-memory data, can develop inconsistencies during the lifetime of the operating system. These inconsistencies may be caused by various hardware failures or by software issues. In some cases, these inconsistencies can affect the Windows Servicing Store, and they can cause a Windows Vista update to fail. When the update fails, it blocks the user from installing updates and service packs. Microsoft’s CheckSUR addresses this issue. These updates contain the Check for System Update Readiness (CheckSUR) tool. CheckSUR will try to fix certain Windows Update installation failures. The following are the installation errors, CheckSUR van potentially address. These errors are typically listed in the %systemroot%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log file or in the CBS.persist.log file. More at KB947821.

0×80070002 ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
0×8007000D ERROR_INVALID_DATA
0×800F081F CBS_E_SOURCE_MISSING
0×80073712 ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT
0×800736CC ERROR_SXS_FILE_HASH_MISMATCH
0×800705B9 ERROR_XML_PARSE_ERROR
0×80070246 ERROR_ILLEGAL_CHARACTER
0×8007370D ERROR_SXS_IDENTITY_PARSE_ERROR
0×8007370B ERROR_SXS_INVALID_IDENTITY_ATTRIBUTE_NAME
0×8007370A ERROR_SXS_INVALID_IDENTITY_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
0×80070057 ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER
0×800B0100 TRUST_E_NOSIGNATURE
0×80092003 CRYPT_E_FILE_ERROR
0×800B0101 CERT_E_EXPIRED
0×8007371B ERROR_SXS_TRANSACTION_CLOSURE_INCOMPLETE

If, when you open Windows Update website, you get a blank Windows Update page, you may have to re-register the following:
In Vista’s Start Menu search Bar, type Run and hit enter. Next type the following, one after the other and click OK after each. This will probably help you.

regsvr32 jscript
regsvr32 vbscript
regsvr32 /i mshtml

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