Zune 4.0 – Installing Zune software without checking for windows updates or without an internet connection
Contributed by Jimmy Selix 
Tagged: Zune Microsoft’s Zune software is a very good media player and the latest 4.0 update really adds some nice features. However, as with most Microsoft products, the Zune installer will check to see if your Windows Updates are enabled and then continue installing. This check prevents corporate or offline users the ability to install the new Zune 4.0 software.
Most corporate networks have policies setup to PREVENT Windows Updates from running since updates can break corporate/enterprise setups.
This recipe will explain how to install the Zune 4.0 software without checking for Windows Updates or for those without an internet connection. This does require having either Winzip (not free, get trial here) or 7z (free, get here) installed.
1. Download the Zune 4.0 software from Microsoft’s Zune Page to a folder on your desktop.
2. Once the .exe file is download, right-click on the file and go to either the Winzip or 7zip context menu and then choose Extract to “zunesetuppkg-x86\”
3. Once extracted, go to that new folder, zunesetuppkg-x86 and then go into the packages folder.
2. In here, you will see 3 .msi files; Zune-es.msi , Zune-fr.msi, and Zune-x86.msi.
3. Run the Zune-x86.msi and this will start the Zune 4.0 installer. By running the .msi directly, it should not check to see if windows updates are enabled and should not check for any updates either (allowing for corp/enterprise users to install the software and also for those w/o an internet connection to install it too).
4. Once it completes, go to your Start Menu or Desktop and launch the new Zune 4.0 software and experience music the new Zune way!
–Windows 7 Users–
This will work in Win7 also, however you will need to do one additional step to get it to work.
During step 3. instead of running the zune-x86.msi directly, you will need to Right-Click the file and choose “Troubleshoot compatibility”. It will run a test, then click on the Start the Program and it should then allow us to install the Zune 4.0 software.
This recipe has been tested on Windows XP and Windows 7.
You may also like -
Zune 3.0 Software - Tagging MP4 videos / Sorting Videos into Proper Categories
Zune 4.0: Prevent Software From Sending Your Usage Data
Re-Register WMDM if Zune Software Cannot Detect Your Zune
Transfer iTunes Music to a ZuneZune: How To Remove All Content
Zune HD: How To Reinstall Device Firmware Without Deleting Content
Zune Software: Reimport full collection (audio/video/pictures)Zune: Sync Device with Your PC Over Your Wireless Network
Anonymous said on November 25, 2009
Thanks for the tip, I’ll be sure to try this out @ home
My cousin’s been dying to add music to his Zune :D
Anonymous said on November 27, 2009
This worked perfectly on my XP Desktop
Thank you so much
jimmyselix said on November 29, 2009
excellent! glad it to hear it worked for you too!
Anonymous said on December 12, 2009
thans man i hope this works,ill try it on my lap
Anonymous said on December 13, 2009
could not get mine to install it starts up like its going to and then just stops. any ideas?
Anonymous said on December 19, 2009
well i had 4.0. my 30gb (firstgen “brick” zune) would never show up for me to add/remove things to it. thus im stuck with very old crap and would like to change. i downloaded 3.2 off a microsoft site to see if it would work, well it would read my zune for a moment. it would show up then “READ ERROR” woul show up. cany you (or anyone) help
Anonymous said on January 18, 2010
so i tried this and it didn’t work. After i click on the zune-x86 in the packages it says preparing to install and than it pops up with this message.
DriverCA 01:57:04.999: Operation
‘InstallSoftwareDriver’ has finished with result
0×8007f02a
and than it like goes backwards and disappears. Any ideas?
jimmyselix said on January 22, 2010
what operating system are you using?
Vandoo said on January 30, 2010
Mine did the same thing
Christopher Barry said on March 24, 2010
Do we think this will work with version 1?
Anonymous said on April 19, 2010
Is there a solution to this:
it loads, then it goes backwards >
Adrian said on June 8, 2010
Thanks for this. You saved my arss; lol I don’t have internet in Indonesia :PPP
Wes Alvaro said on June 8, 2010
Yay! Exactly what I needed! Now I’m able to install on my corporate network. =D
Parasyte said on July 15, 2010
Thank you! :D
john-hunt said on August 11, 2010
i tried ur way but wen i click zune icon it says mscoree.dll could not be found and zune fails to open.what to do.
alek said on December 1, 2010
application has failed to start mscore.dll was not found, can any body help me???
jlatx said on December 19, 2010
missing mscoree.dll needs you need the microsoft .NET framework update
Jeffstar247 said on May 26, 2011
OMG TTTHHHHAAANNNKKK YOU i lost 2 days of school trying to get this thing to work merci beacoup !
raj said on August 29, 2011
tried all the steps and in compatbility mode checked xp sp3
stuck on checking for updates
on win7 32bit
jimmy selix said on August 30, 2011
@raj i can take a looksy tonight to make sure these are still valid instructions for the latest version of the Zune player.
Prashant said on September 6, 2011
WOW!! worked absolutely fine… I had downloaded it a week earlier and hadnt time ( and bandwidth ) to download 112 MB update.. So thanks!