No Audio No Network Browsing - Automatic Services Failing to Start

[Guest]

I Have 50 PCs on my subnet that I manage.
Aprox 3 weeks ago a user complained he could not hear sound through
mediaplayer but sound worked on windows logon. I looked under device manager
and the device looked fine - I looked under sounds in control panel and It
said "No Audio Device". I uninstalled and reinstalled drivers - No luck.

I also found that when you try to type in a UNC path to network share on
that PC an error msg displays saying it's can't be located...also you cannot
browse the network. NOW i've got 5 computers with these symptoms. I have
ran Virus scans with AVG and ran Spybot...All Clean. I'm stumpted. If I
start the workstation service I temporarly get network, but a minute later it
shuts down on its own.

All users are on a Workgroup running XP sp2 all recent updates, windows
update set to install automatically. I have not made any network changes in
several months nor installed any new network wide software. The users are in
different buildings and also do not have access to same shares. A format
and reinstall of XP fixes the issue... Reinstall of network adapter, client
for microsoft, etc does not get network back either.

Problem on one machine no biggie...2 machines concidence...3...4...5
machines is an issue. Is there a possibility that a windows update could
have played havoc on some of my systems?

Ran Services.msc and sorted by automatic and the following services are not
starting on all machines:
Automatic Updates
Computer Browser
Cryptographic Services
DHCP Client
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Error Reporting Service
HID Input Service
Logical Disk Manager
Secondary Logon
Security Center
Server
Shell Hardware Detection
System Restore Service
Windows Audio
Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration
Workstation

 

[ghostofxavier]

I am also having this same problem on a large network. We are using HP
D530 workstations, as it seems to be limited to those at the moment.
What brand/model of workstations are you using, or are they all
different models?

 

[Guest]

The majority of the issues on my network seemed to on Dell GX280s. However,
I had the Issues on a Dell GX270, Gateway Profile 5, and an IBM Desktop....
Monday afternoon I received a call from the person with the IBM and I ran
spybot and AVG...All clean as usual. But the same services were not
starting.

Also, besides lack of audio and network, you can notice that the users
profile defaults back to the classic view - instead of the colorful XP theme.
Kinda like flashes back and forth between the two themes.

There was a windows update that required a restart that day too. I don't
know if this was a factor or not...But All the services that should have
started automatically, I started every one of them manually prior to
restarting - after I restarted,the issue was resovled on the IBM.

So far I've reinstalled 3 PCs and 2 have magically fixed on their own after
a windows update restart. I am really REALLY scratching my head.....The ONLY
thing in common between these random PCs was the fact that they all were set
to auto install updates.

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Try checking for updates... For some reason all my machines that were
experiencing issues have been fixed on their own. I haven't seen any other
new systems with problems yet (knock on wood).

I would, however, like to know what is actually causing this. I know it is
more widespread than just the people that have responded to my thread so far.

Possibly restarting ALL the services that failed to start and then
restarting resolved it, as that is was I tried on one machine....