Just a few updates missing

So typically when it comes to individual machines failing patches I get all grumpy and just tell the first touch guys to PXE image the pig.  My theory is that if there is something wrong enough that a machine won't patch there is usually 5 other things wrong that will get ugly later on down the road.

In this case most patches installed, but 4 were failing.  Odd, SCCM is obviously working, and the system had just been imaged a week ago.  Permissions were set right so I don't 'think' anyone got to tinkering with the box.  What the heck.

So first I tried out normal WMI and SCCM Repair proceedures.  No change.  Looked through the event logs, nothing stood out.  Went through the execmgr log and I see if failed with a 0x80073712 code. 

Never seen that before.  To my best friend Google: "What is 0x80073712"?  Which is also how you probably got here.

To fix, use the System Update Readiness Tool and perhaps SFC.exe /scannow
SURT: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-is-the-System-Update-Readiness-Tool
           http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsoft-notes-windows-update-inconsistencies-provides-fix/3044
           NOTE: The above also mentions error codes 800706BE and 8024200D
SFC:   http://support.microsoft.com/kb/185836

For some more background, 0x80073712 [ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT] means that there are some inconsistencies or corruption in the winsxs folder.  For information on winsxs see here: http://www.winvistaclub.com/f16.html

Along the way I can up with the following tips but didn't use them:
  net stop wuauserv
  cd %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution
  ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
  net start wuauserv
  Download update manually, and attempt to install form download.

and
How to reset Window Update: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

Example of my WindowsUpdate.log
2013-02-25 09:45:03:332 7276 6a4 Handler CBS package identity: Package_for_KB2753842~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.2.0
2013-02-25 09:45:03:351 7276 6a4 Handler Installing self-contained with source=C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\908a0e5d76fa13f541dce8ccd1e16264\windows6.1-kb2753842-v2-x64.cab, workingdir=C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\908a0e5d76fa13f541dce8ccd1e16264\inst
2013-02-25 09:45:07:190 7276 40c Handler FATAL: CBS called Error with 0x80073712,
2013-02-25 09:45:07:880 7276 6a4 Handler FATAL: Completed install of CBS update with type=0, requiresReboot=0, installerError=1, hr=0x80073712

Example of CBS.log
Well, when it finally worked it overwrote my CBS.log, so I don't have an example...   But this is where I connected the 0x80073712 with the verbiage ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT.

PowerPoint printing with transparency

So as the new guy, I get a lot of odd tickets.  We don't typically touch individual machines, but it happens.  In this case we're about to (finally ) roll out Office 2010 to our user base.  The guy who is briefing our CIO has 2010 and made the PowerPoint presentation for the brief.  In the brief, one image with transparency is overlapping another image.  When in PowerPoint it looks fine, but when printing the image with transparency has a large pink box around it where the transparency should be.

Talk about irony.  Trying to convince the board to upgrade to a version of Office that doesn't print the CIO's slide correctly...

The general consensus on the Internet is to manually flatten files as in:
- Select all overlapping images
- Group
- Cut
- Paste Special
- Use PNG format for best appearance

The problem is that is a lot of work for multi-page PPT's, and a lot of kludging at the user level. For a more permanent fix there appear to be two registry keys that can help. Both are under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\PowerPoint\Options

First is "PrintHighQualityDefault", this is controlled in the PowerPoint GUI by
File --> Options --> Advanced --> Print section --> Check/Uncheck "High Quality"

High Quality in 2007 would, among other things, flatten images prior to sending them to the printer. It doesn't appear to be doing that in 2010. Checking the box in PowerPoint sets it to DWORD "1", unchecking sets it to "0". However, the key doesn't exist until you change it in the program. And by it not being there at all it seems to have some impact (why, I don't know).

The second key is "PrintShapesAsVector", this is an undocumented setting I found on another blog.

My understanding is that this was intended to fix SmartArt/WordArt that uses transparency. It seems to help with other images as well, but without having the High Quality key existing AND set to 0 it doesn't do much. Sometimes it makes things worse.

So here's the reg file that I'm using now.  The problem is deploying to HKCU is a pain, so that's the next step.
-----------------CUT Below-------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\PowerPoint\Options]

"PrintHighQualityDefault"=dword:00000000
"PrintShapesAsVector"=dword:00000001
---------------END CUT Above---------------------