Remove a Windows Update

I've been getting an obscure error message that says, "The instruction at 0x30303731 referenced memory at 0x30303731. The memory could not be 'read'." I searched Google for the message and came upon an article that tied it to Hotfix Q328310, which I gather is an update from Microsoft. Will removing the update fix the problem? If so, how do I do it?

Well, it's worth a shot. If you suspect that a Windows update is causing a problem, you can uninstall it by opening the Add or Remove Programs control panel and placing a checkmark next to the "Show updates" option at the top of the screen. Scroll down to the "Windows XP Software Updates" section, select the update from the list, and click the Remove button. (Of course, if this doesn't fix the problem, you can always go to the Windows Update site and reinstall the update).

But what happens if Add or Remove Programs says "This update cannot be removed," or if the update isn't in the list at all? First, it's possible your article got the number wrong confirm it, search Google or the Microsoft KB at Help and Support for the update number (e.g., Q328310). It's also possible that the hotfix was installed along with a service pack and thus might not show up in Add or Remove Programs.

If you're sure you have the right number for the installed update but it doesn't show up in Add or Remove Programs, there's another place you can look. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the Windows folder (usually C:\WINDOWS ). Make sure Explorer is configured to show hidden files, and locate the subfolder that begins with a "$" character and corresponds to the hotfix you want to remove. In the case of Q328310, you'd want the \WINDOWS\$NtUninstallQ328310$ folder; use Explorer's Search feature (Ctrl-F) if you can't find it.

When you've located the correct folder, open it, go to the spuninst subfolder, and double-click the spuninst.exe file inside to uninstall the update.