OK, this feels like I'm being really stupid, but here goes... I've got a MOSS 2007 Farm with 1 server and Central Admin reports that the version is 12.0.0.6421 (SP2). I apply the October 2009 Cumulative update (in order to get the system to match a customer environment) and everything seems to run correctly. I then run the Config Wizard on all the servers (all 1 of them!) and everything seems fine. If I check the versions of the SharePoint binaries I can see that they've been updated by the hotfix BUT when I return to Central Admin the version is still 12.0.0.6421, not 12.0.0.6520. I've tried other environments and other hotfixes and I can't get the reported version to change - this is what makes me think I've missed something fundamental. BTW, the reason this is a problem is that I'm trying to use a copy of the the client's content db in my dev environment and, at the moment, I'm getting an error that it is at a higher version. Also, running stsadm -o upgrade hasn't helped either.

there is two updates to apply, one for the WSS stage and one for the MOSS stage. You probably miss one? refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263467(office.12).aspx for example, Although Microsoft does not enforce the update installation sequence, we recommend that you install the post-RTM updates for Office SharePoint Server that you require in the following sequence: Service Pack 2 for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (KB 953338) Service Pack 2 for Office SharePoint Server 2007 (KB 953334) The October CU for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (KB 975002) The October CU for Office SharePoint Server 2007 (KB 975731) Mind the language packs also, btw. Emmanuel ISSALY - Sharepoint MCTS, MCNEXT (FR).