Using V5 Windows update, the listing of installable updates has a dark blue background that makes the black print almost unreadable. I need to drag my mouse across the text to reverse the print color in order to read it. Is anyone else experiencing this annoyance or, better yet, know how to fix it?
![]() |
Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
SIGN IN | Not a member? | REGISTER | PLUS MEMBERSHIP |
-
V5 Windows update unreadable
Home » Forums » AskWoody support » Windows » Windows – other » V5 Windows update unreadable
- This topic has 20 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 9 months ago.
AuthorTopicWSrossburnett
AskWoody LoungerAugust 15, 2004 at 5:16 pm #408661Viewing 5 reply threadsAuthorReplies-
WSJohnGray
AskWoody Lounger -
WSJohnGray
AskWoody Lounger -
WSbigaldoc
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 12:32 pm #864954The only place I get version 5 is on a brand new XP Pro installation which has SP2 installed. Elsewhere, I still see V4. Anyway, I just tried to see if I get what you saw, and the result was the unfortunate screen in the attachment (somewhat cropped). I’ll try again later to see if it’s temporary. By the way, as the Windows Update screen was rendering, I saw a popup asking me if I want to install Microsoft Publisher. It had a MS Certificate link that looked genuine, but I declined anyway. Anyone else seeing that?
-
joep517
AskWoody MVPAugust 16, 2004 at 12:49 pm #864966 -
WSbigaldoc
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 1:48 pm #864988No, I don’t have Publisher installed – that’s why the appearance of the popup was confusing, I don’t know why MS might be trying to “offer” it to me. My only point about the V4-V5 was that evidently a part of the SP2 installation must have involved the switch from 4 to 5, cause all my other setups, when I go to Windows update, don’t say anything (yet) about it. I’ll have to try what you suggest to see if anyone here gets the same result as rossburnett did. During my installation and update of that configuration, I never noticed when V5 appeared on the scene.
-
WSTonyE
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 3:25 pm #865034I changed over to v5 before SP2 was released and it downloaded & installed the latest version of Windows Update software which included an MS certificate. I have never been asked to install anything concerning MS Publisher.
As for the original question I have no problems with the legibility of the text. It is a combination of blue and black text on either a white background (main area) or very pale blue background (left hand pane). As John mentioned, the colours can be altered based on your display settings or the theme you have chosen. Right click on the desktop and select properties. The options to look at are on two tabs, Themes and Appearance.
-
WSTonyE
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 3:25 pm #865035I changed over to v5 before SP2 was released and it downloaded & installed the latest version of Windows Update software which included an MS certificate. I have never been asked to install anything concerning MS Publisher.
As for the original question I have no problems with the legibility of the text. It is a combination of blue and black text on either a white background (main area) or very pale blue background (left hand pane). As John mentioned, the colours can be altered based on your display settings or the theme you have chosen. Right click on the desktop and select properties. The options to look at are on two tabs, Themes and Appearance.
-
WSLeif
AskWoody Lounger -
WSbigaldoc
AskWoody LoungerAugust 21, 2004 at 7:56 pm #867387Well, I went back to see if it would do it again and sure enuf, it did. The screen I got is in this attachment. I think it’s probably the same as what you showed, but I’m not sure. This time I let it install, it proceeded and I’m still not sure what it did. After it finished, I got a screen like the crop in the next post. As I said, I am already running SP2 and V5 of their installer, so I don’t know what all this hoorah is about.
-
WSbigaldoc
AskWoody LoungerAugust 21, 2004 at 7:56 pm #867388Well, I went back to see if it would do it again and sure enuf, it did. The screen I got is in this attachment. I think it’s probably the same as what you showed, but I’m not sure. This time I let it install, it proceeded and I’m still not sure what it did. After it finished, I got a screen like the crop in the next post. As I said, I am already running SP2 and V5 of their installer, so I don’t know what all this hoorah is about.
-
WSbigaldoc
AskWoody Lounger -
WSjscher2000
AskWoody LoungerAugust 21, 2004 at 9:45 pm #867415Have you installed SP2? The ActiveX warning is so much nicer. Anyway, after installing the version 5 control, you have to download an additional thing that deals with background data transfers, and then when you return to Windows Update a third time, you will see the actual updates you were looking for on the first visit. (At least, this was what I saw yesterday when doing some patches for a Windows XP Pro user.)
-
WSjscher2000
AskWoody LoungerAugust 21, 2004 at 9:45 pm #867416Have you installed SP2? The ActiveX warning is so much nicer. Anyway, after installing the version 5 control, you have to download an additional thing that deals with background data transfers, and then when you return to Windows Update a third time, you will see the actual updates you were looking for on the first visit. (At least, this was what I saw yesterday when doing some patches for a Windows XP Pro user.)
-
WSbigaldoc
AskWoody Lounger
-
-
-
WSLeif
AskWoody Lounger
-
-
-
WSbigaldoc
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 1:48 pm #864989No, I don’t have Publisher installed – that’s why the appearance of the popup was confusing, I don’t know why MS might be trying to “offer” it to me. My only point about the V4-V5 was that evidently a part of the SP2 installation must have involved the switch from 4 to 5, cause all my other setups, when I go to Windows update, don’t say anything (yet) about it. I’ll have to try what you suggest to see if anyone here gets the same result as rossburnett did. During my installation and update of that configuration, I never noticed when V5 appeared on the scene.
joep517
AskWoody MVPAugust 16, 2004 at 12:49 pm #864967WSbigaldoc
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 12:32 pm #864955The only place I get version 5 is on a brand new XP Pro installation which has SP2 installed. Elsewhere, I still see V4. Anyway, I just tried to see if I get what you saw, and the result was the unfortunate screen in the attachment (somewhat cropped). I’ll try again later to see if it’s temporary. By the way, as the Windows Update screen was rendering, I saw a popup asking me if I want to install Microsoft Publisher. It had a MS Certificate link that looked genuine, but I declined anyway. Anyone else seeing that?
WSviking33
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 5:15 pm #865072I also have a normal display with Version 5.
How about checking the MS WIndows Update support site for any possibilities. You probably can send in a no charge question to MS tech support for this problem if no one else has had this problem yet.
Go to: Update Support Click on Help & Support
WSviking33
AskWoody LoungerAugust 16, 2004 at 5:15 pm #865073I also have a normal display with Version 5.
How about checking the MS WIndows Update support site for any possibilities. You probably can send in a no charge question to MS tech support for this problem if no one else has had this problem yet.
Go to: Update Support Click on Help & Support
Viewing 5 reply threads -

Plus Membership
Donations from Plus members keep this site going. You can identify the people who support AskWoody by the Plus badge on their avatars.
AskWoody Plus members not only get access to all of the contents of this site -- including Susan Bradley's frequently updated Patch Watch listing -- they also receive weekly AskWoody Plus Newsletters (formerly Windows Secrets Newsletter) and AskWoody Plus Alerts, emails when there are important breaking developments.
Get Plus!
Welcome to our unique respite from the madness.
It's easy to post questions about Windows 11, Windows 10, Win8.1, Win7, Surface, Office, or browse through our Forums. Post anonymously or register for greater privileges. Keep it civil, please: Decorous Lounge rules strictly enforced. Questions? Contact Customer Support.
Search Newsletters
Search Forums
View the Forum
Search for Topics
Recent Topics
-
Device Eligibility for Apple 2026 Operating Systems due this Fall
by
PKCano
47 minutes ago -
Recommended watching : Mountainhead movie
by
Alex5723
5 hours, 13 minutes ago -
End of support for Windows 10
by
Old enough to know better
2 hours, 31 minutes ago -
What goes on inside an LLM
by
Michael Covington
1 hour ago -
The risk of remote access
by
Susan Bradley
59 minutes ago -
The cruelest month for many Office users
by
Peter Deegan
1 hour, 51 minutes ago -
Tracking protection and trade-offs in Edge
by
Mary Branscombe
7 hours, 26 minutes ago -
Supreme Court grants DOGE access to confidential Social Security records
by
Alex5723
14 hours, 3 minutes ago -
EaseUS Partition Master free 19.6
by
Alex5723
1 hour, 14 minutes ago -
Microsoft : Edge is better than Chrome
by
Alex5723
1 day, 3 hours ago -
The EU launched DNS4EU
by
Alex5723
1 day, 16 hours ago -
Cell Phone vs. Traditional Touchtone Phone over POTS
by
280park
1 day, 6 hours ago -
Lost access to all my networked drives (shares) listed in My Computer
by
lwerman
1 day, 21 hours ago -
Set default size for pasted photo to word
by
Cyn
2 days, 3 hours ago -
Dedoimedo tries 24H2…
by
Cybertooth
1 day, 15 hours ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview build 27871 released to Canary
by
joep517
3 days, 2 hours ago -
Windows 11 ad from Campaign Manager in Windows 10
by
Jim McKenna
19 hours, 15 minutes ago -
Small desktops
by
Susan Bradley
18 hours, 21 minutes ago -
Totally disable Bitlocker
by
CWBillow
1 day, 20 hours ago -
Phishers extract Millions from HMRC accounts..
by
Microfix
3 days ago -
Windows 10 22H2 Update today (5 June) says up-to-date but last was 2025-04
by
Alan_uk
4 days, 6 hours ago -
Thoughts on Malwarebytes Scam Guard for Mobile?
by
opti1
2 days, 1 hour ago -
Mystical Desktop
by
CWBillow
4 days, 9 hours ago -
Meta and Yandex secretly tracked billions of Android users
by
Alex5723
3 days, 15 hours ago -
MS-DEFCON 2: Do you need that update?
by
Susan Bradley
1 day, 2 hours ago -
CD/DVD drive is no longer recognized
by
WSCape Sand
5 days ago -
Windows 11 24H2 Default Apps stuck on Edge and Adobe Photoshop
by
MikeBravo
5 days, 3 hours ago -
North Face and Cartier customer data stolen in cyber attacks
by
Alex5723
5 days, 1 hour ago -
What is wrong with simple approach?
by
WSSpoke36
2 days, 23 hours ago -
Microsoft-Backed Builder.ai Set for Bankruptcy After Cash Seized
by
Alex5723
5 days, 13 hours ago
Recent blog posts
Key Links
Want to Advertise in the free newsletter? How about a gift subscription in honor of a birthday? Send an email to sb@askwoody.com to ask how.
Mastodon profile for DefConPatch
Mastodon profile for AskWoody
Home • About • FAQ • Posts & Privacy • Forums • My Account
Register • Free Newsletter • Plus Membership • Gift Certificates • MS-DEFCON Alerts
Copyright ©2004-2025 by AskWoody Tech LLC. All Rights Reserved.