bugs with latest batch of hotfixes/updates

[Mike]

I run a Win2K Server-based network, simple setup, single
forest, single domain, 3 DC's, 3 application servers, DNS,
WINs, the usual. I'm still on SP3 for all of the servers,
I haven't finished testing SP4 yet. Anyway, I run windows
update on all the servers approximately every 2-3 months
to make sure that I'm not the first to find out about a
bug. I just updated them last week, and ever since a
couple of the servers have been acting very strange. At
what appears to a completely intermittent rate, the
servers crash. I'm getting a generic blue stop
screen. "If you are getting this message for the first
time, restart the server... check hardware config..."
We've all seen it before. But there's nothing in any
event or debug log, accept the unexpected server shutdown
error that is always generated after a dirty shutdown.
When the servers crash, they have to be cold booted, a
restart will hang just after the SCSI init. I've scoured
them for viruses and trojans, and found nothing. One
server is a Dell PowerEdge 2400 DC, and the other P.E.
1600 app server. HW config is very different for each,
the 2400 has a Dell RAID card, and the 1600 has an Adaptec
2940ou, so I really don't think they both suffered the
exact hardware problem at the exact same time, and I don't
think it's the SCSI bus crashing them, or I'd see events
in the log to that effect. I've found nothing in TecNet
or in any other user groups. Call me over cautious, but
my experience with uninstalling a whole bunch of hotfixes
just to see if one of them was causing a problem usually
causes more problems than you started with. Has anyone
heard or experienced anything like this lately?

M. wild

 

[Bas Auer]

I run a Win2K Server-based network, simple setup, single
forest, single domain, 3 DC's, 3 application servers, DNS,
WINs, the usual. I'm still on SP3 for all of the servers,
I haven't finished testing SP4 yet. Anyway, I run windows
update on all the servers approximately every 2-3 months
to make sure that I'm not the first to find out about a
bug. I just updated them last week, and ever since a
couple of the servers have been acting very strange. At
what appears to a completely intermittent rate, the
servers crash. I'm getting a generic blue stop
screen. "If you are getting this message for the first
time, restart the server... check hardware config..."
We've all seen it before. But there's nothing in any
event or debug log, accept the unexpected server shutdown
error that is always generated after a dirty shutdown.
When the servers crash, they have to be cold booted, a
restart will hang just after the SCSI init. I've scoured
them for viruses and trojans, and found nothing. One
server is a Dell PowerEdge 2400 DC, and the other P.E.
1600 app server. HW config is very different for each,
the 2400 has a Dell RAID card, and the 1600 has an Adaptec
2940ou, so I really don't think they both suffered the
exact hardware problem at the exact same time, and I don't
think it's the SCSI bus crashing them, or I'd see events
in the log to that effect. I've found nothing in TecNet
or in any other user groups. Call me over cautious, but
my experience with uninstalling a whole bunch of hotfixes
just to see if one of them was causing a problem usually
causes more problems than you started with. Has anyone
heard or experienced anything like this lately?

M. wild

Mike,

I have the same problem. It started a month or so ago. I'm already on
SP4, but it started before that. I think it's one of the hot-fixes,
but I don't know which one. If you already have an answer, please let
me know. I already changed the hardware, but that didn't solve the
problem.

TIA.

Bas Auer