serious october security rollup package problem

[M.]

i'm reporting a pretty serious system problem caused by
one of the updates in the october security rollup package
for xp pro. if anyone can help with forwarding this to
microsoft i'd appreciate it.

after i installed the october security rollup package my
system began hanging--if i let the computer idle for a
while, the hard disk would eventually begin making a
repetitive scratching/croaking/clicking noise. the system
would hang and eventually crash entirely. the only way to
duplicate this short of letting the computer sit there was
to attempt to install one of the recommended updates from
the windowsupdate site (usb 1.1 and 2.0 update).

after some investigation with file monitor i've come to
the conclusion that the problem has something to do with
the options: open access: all command. that command is
certainly what seemed to have been causing the
clicking/croaking (after i uninstalled the srp the
croaking sound seems to have gone away completely), and at
the very beginning of the usb update the command is
invoked repeatedly.

this is obviously a big deal. if anyone has any thoughts
on it or can put me in touch with someone at microsoft i'd
appreciate it.

i'm running xp pro on a vaio z505s with a 6.4gb ibm 6gn
travelstar.

MM.

 

[Roger Abell]

In this sort of situation, where hardware in involved,
also first check that you have the latest BIOS for your
system (from Sony).

 

[Karl Levinson [x y] mvp]

Phone support from Microsoft is free for problems caused by patches. Get
the normal phone numbers from www.microsoft.com/support and click on the
"$245" option. Call during normal business hours for best results and state
up front that the call should be free per their web site.

HOWEVER, if the hard drive is making noise like that, I would be worried
about possible unrelated hard drive failure that would require replacing the
hard drive. Running a full Scandisk might help confirm or deny whether this
is the case. Even though the problem stopped when you uninstalled the
rollup, I've not yet seen a software patch that could cause scratching
noises in a hard drive. Just something to check and possibly rule out.

 

[M.]

(1) i updated the bios and every firmware i have a few
weeks ago when i bought the computer. it's a pretty old
laptop.

(2) yeah, i know about possible hard drive failure (which
this problem has hastened i'm sure), but it's not like i
can do anything other than back up my data and wait for it
to happen. lucky for me this computer was practically
free.

rollup, I've not yet seen a software patch that could
cause scratching
noises in a hard drive. Just something to check and

yeah, it took me like a week to figure out that it was one
of the security updates. i ran full scandisk twice and it
showed nothing. the partition is fat32 so perhaps i
should also try spinrite...

thanks for your input.

M.