Situation:
When running updates under Windows Millennium Edition (Me) operating systems with Norton AntiVirus or Norton Utilities installed, you see various error messages, one of which could be "Download and Installation Failed." The system stops responding, and you notice that the C:\Windows\Inf folder contains many 0 KB Oem.inf files.

Solution:
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a known problem in Windows Me and Microsoft has created a patch to fix the problem. This patch is referenced in the Microsoft Knowledge Base document CreateFile Improperly Returns ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS if the Drive Is Locked and the File Did Not Exist -- Q301540.

NOTE: The location of this document is subject to change without notice. Symantec provides this link as a convenience only. The inclusion of this link does not imply that Symantec endorses, recommends, or accepts any responsibility for the content of such sites.

If the patch cannot be obtained, then do the following as a workaround to fix the problem:

1. Delete all Oem*.inf files of 0 (zero) size in the C:\Windows\Inf folder.
2. Remove all failed Windows Updates.
3. Disable Auto-Protect. If you are running Norton SystemWorks, disable SystemDoctor as well.
4. Redownload the Windows Update.
5. Reenable Auto-Protect and SystemDoctor (if installed).

To delete all 0-byte Oem*.inf files from within Windows:

1. Enable Windows to show all files:
   1. Right-click the Start button, and then click Explore.
   2. Click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options.
   3. Click the View tab.
   4. Verify that the "Show hidden files and folders" option is checked.
2. In the left Explorer pane, click the C drive.
3. In the right pane, double-click the Windows folder.
   
   NOTE: If Windows is installed to a different folder, then navigate to the folder in which Windows is installed.
   
4. In the right pane, double-click the \Inf folder.
5. Click Search.
6. In the "Search for files or folders named" box, type:
   
   oem*.inf
   
7. Verify that the "Look in" box shows the following
   
   C:\Windows\Inf
   
8. Click Search options, click Size, and then set the size to "at most 1 KB."
9. Click Search Now.
10. In the Search Results pane, sort the files by size by clicking on the header of the Size column. If you cannot see the Size column, then maximize the Search Results window.
11. Select all of the 0-byte files by doing the following:
    1. Click the first 0-byte OEM file to highlight it.
    2. Scroll down the list to the last 0-byte OEM file. Hold down the Shift key and click the file. This will select all of the 0-byte files.
12. Press Delete.
13. Click Yes when prompted to confirm the deletion.
14. Close the Windows Explorer.

To remove failed Windows Updates:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
3. Click the Install/Uninstall tab.
4. Select the Windows Update that failed, and then click Add/Remove.
5. Follow the instructions for removing the update. You may be prompted to reboot the computer after the uninstallation is complete.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 to uninstall all Windows Updates that were recently performed.
7. After all updates have been removed, restart the computer.

To disable Auto-Protect:

1. Right-click the Auto-Protect icon in the System Tray.
2. Click Disable Auto-Protect.

To disable SystemDoctor:

1. Right-click the SystemDoctor icon in the System Tray.
2. Click the x in the upper right corner of the SystemDoctor screen.
3. Click Yes.

Redownload the Windows Update
Follow the Microsoft instructions to download the Windows Update.

Enable Auto-Protect:

1. Right-click the Auto-Protect icon in the System Tray.
2. Click Enable Auto-Protect.