Windows Update problem regarding wuauclt.exe and WindowsUpdate.log

[Guest]

I'm getting an error message saying that Windows Updater has to shut down and
wanting to know if I want to tell MS about the problem. I sent it a few times
but stopped letting it. I used EVENTVWR to get more info and here are the
results:
Category100)
Event ID: 1000
Faulting application wuauclt.exe, version 5.4.3790.2182, faulting module
wuauclt.exe, version 5.4.3790.2182, fault address 0x0000c0b5.

Then the next event is:
Category: (100)
Event ID: 1005
Windows cannot access the file C:\WINDOWS\WindowsUpdate.log for one of the
following reasons: there is a problem with the network connection, the disk
that the file is stored on, or the storage drivers installed on this
computer; or the disk is missing. Windows closed the program
WindowsUpdate.log because of this error.

Program: WindowsUpdate.log
File: C:\WINDOWS\WindowsUpdate.log

The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
User Action
1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem that
corrects itself when the program runs again.
2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
- It is on the network, your network administrator should verify that
there is not a problem with the network and that the server can be contacted.
- It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM, verify
that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK, click
Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command prompt, type
CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If not, the
disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your administrator or
computer hardware vendor for further assistance.
Additional Data
Error value: C000009C
Disk type: 3

I tried to access c:WINDOWS\WindowsUpdate.log with notepad and got a message
that the file was being used by another application.

I then tried using an application called Filealyzer and got a similar
message. Clicking the Hex dump option, I can see entries made today so I
don't think the problem is the drive. Filealyzer won't let me copy and paste
the hex dump but it does produce the following report:

********************************************************************
FileAlyzer © 2003 Patrick M. Kolla. All Rights Reserved.
********************************************************************


File: C:\WINDOWS\WindowsUpdate.log
Date: 2/11/2005 11:14:17 AM


***** General ******************************************************
Location: C:\WINDOWS\
Size: 708267
Version:
CRC-32: ?
MD5: ?
Read only: No
Hidden: No
System file: No
Directory: No
Archive: No
Symbolic link: No
Time stamp: Friday, February 11, 2005 8:24:04 AM
Creation: ?
Last access: ?
Last write: ?
Not much info there but I am able to see that the file is being changed by
the automatic updater. I turned off automatic updates and it appeared in the
log. I turned Automatic updates back on and that also appeared in the log
then about a minute later, the error message appeared again.

This has been going on for a couple of days so I've been checking for
updates manually and the first day, I had like 6 critical updates that I
downloaded and installed. Any suggestions on how to solve this puzzle would
be appreciated.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Storage medium errors cause an unexpected program crash in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;884070

 

[Guest]

Thanks Mark, I tried that. The drive is not the problem though. The file is
there but when I try to read it with notepad, I get an error message that it
is being used by another application. I get a very similar message when I try
to read it with Filealyzer but it still manages to get a hex dump and from
that, I can see that the file is being updated. When I was writing this
yesterday, the last entry in the log was:
Time stamp: Friday, February 11, 2005 8:24:04 AM

That time corresponded to the last time the Automatic Updater gave me an
error message. If the file is being used by another application, like the
error message is telling me, is there a way to see what application is using
it? If not, I may just turn off the reporting feature and do the updates
manually. I'm an Opera user so I open IE for a few minutes almost every day
to empty my Hotmail junk mail folder so I can check for updates at the same
time.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Try turning off autoupdate. To repair all system files, go to Start/Run, and type (or paste in): SFC /SCANNOW

 

[Guest]

Mark, thanks again. I ran SFC /SCANNOW and it went all the way to the end.
It didn't give me any errors but it didn't give me any confirmation of being
successful so I checked EVENTVWR and under "system", it gave me this message,
"Windows File Protection file scan completed successfully." I guess time will
tell if that solved my problem. I appreciate the help. ;-)