HP Support system update checker produces invalid XML error

[TY2020]

The error below appears each time the HP support system tries to check for updates. The laptop was not getting any updates via the support tool, and various errors related to graphics etc were causing the machine to crash. I had to manually install Radeon drivers etc from HP website to try to resolve the issues, but in the meantime, this error is still occurring and preventing automatic updates.

I tried installing the latest version from HP website, despite being on latest version of Windows 10 I still get the version 8, which is related to .Net from the notes on the HP site. 

The previous advice to remove the updater from the system start up does not resolve the underlying issue. Any advice on how to get the support tool to work again and automatically keep the drivers updated?

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.Xml.XmlException: Invalid XML document. The document does not have a root element.
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Save(String filename)
at HPSSFUpdater.UpgradeUpdater.IsUpdateNeeded()
at HPSSFUpdater.View.MainWindow._bgWorker_DoWork(Object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.OnDoWork(DoWorkEventArgs e)
at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.WorkerThreadStart(Object argument)

************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4300.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_C
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework64/v4.0.30319/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
HPSSFUpdater
Assembly Version: 8.11.0.1
Win32 Version: 8.11.0.1
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Hewlett-Packard/HP%20Support%20Solutions/Modules/HPSSFUpdater.exe
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4300.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_C
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4270.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_C
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4084.0 built by: NET48REL1
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4190.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_B
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Core
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4320.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_C
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Core/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Core.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4084.0 built by: NET48REL1
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
WindowsBase
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4320.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_C
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/WindowsBase/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/WindowsBase.dll
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.8.4084.0 built by: NET48REL1
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------
HP.SSF.Config
Assembly Version: 3.6.6.6
Win32 Version: 3.6.6.6
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Hewlett-Packard/HP%20Support%20Solutions/Modules/UpdaterTemp/HPSSFUpdater/HP.SSF.Config1.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

[itsmyname]

Which version of the ".NET" software was installed, via Windows Update? 

Can you uninstall all the versions (4.8, 4.5, 4, et cetera), restart, and let Windows Update install some version?