I am having a problem with installing software updates on my laptop. Whenever I try to update a program, I get an error message that says that the installation could not be completed because another installation is in progress, and that I have to complete the prior installation before the update can be installed. However, I have no installations 'in progress' that I am aware of - I am assuming that some other, old installation program never finished and is somehow still resident in memory or something. How can I figure out what the in progress installation is, and terminate it?
Thanks,
Joseph

If you leave the computer running for long periods, you may get this error message. Many installations are not totally complete until you restart the computer.
See this data base article.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/236456