Automatic updates causing issues

[Andrew Hodgson]

Hi,

For the past few times there have been automatic updates now my system
has gone into a spin, with several services which should be started
(set to automatic) not actually running, including Workstation,
Server, Firewall, Audio, and several others. When I manually start
these, I usually get a prompt later that my system has applied
automatic updates and needs to restart, where everything then
functions correctly. If I restart before I restart the services
again, I am in the same situation. Event viewer gives several access
denied messages, but not sure what these are refering to. When the
system has applied the updates etc, it all goes through fine.

This is XP SP2 connected to a domain, using Microsoft Update.

Any ideas?
Thanks.
Andrew.

 

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Today, Andrew Hodgson made these interesting comments ...

Hi,

For the past few times there have been automatic updates now
my system has gone into a spin, with several services which
should be started (set to automatic) not actually running,
including Workstation, Server, Firewall, Audio, and several
others. When I manually start these, I usually get a prompt
later that my system has applied automatic updates and needs
to restart, where everything then functions correctly. If I
restart before I restart the services again, I am in the same
situation. Event viewer gives several access denied messages,
but not sure what these are refering to. When the system has
applied the updates etc, it all goes through fine.

This is XP SP2 connected to a domain, using Microsoft Update.

Any ideas?
Thanks.
Andrew.

This is precisely the reason why I do NOT allow ANY software to
auto-update. Too many people I know personally or read about on
tech support NGs like this one say this "I went to bed last night
and everything was OK, now this morning, my system is hosed and
won't operate at all. what can I do?". It is a little late after
the horse has left the barn.

You may have to do a repair install or, if extreme enough, a full
nuke and reinstall.

I have my system set to Notify but do not download. That gives me
an opportunity to see what thing(s) MS is proposing to "help" me
with and also time to look in NGs like this to see if there are
any problems with specific updates. And, whether Windows does it
or not, I always set my own Restore Point before allowing the
download and another RP before allowing the install.

Good luck in getting your PC back healthy again!