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incisor
13th July 2007, 10:55 AM
welp

i am stumped, first time in years i cant nut it out.

xp pro machine that simply will not install downloaded updates...

tried the usual things. repair install cleaned out the caches etc etc etc

update log gives no clues

i really dont want to format this box unless it just has to be done and that is looming fast....

any pros out there got any ideas?

LR V8
13th July 2007, 11:29 AM
I dunno what's going on there incisor...

Did ya try turning auto update off and do a manual (custom) update ?

Good luck,

Pete

incisor
13th July 2007, 12:00 PM
been there done that... :P

doesnt matter how you get the updates there, they wont install...

fun fun fun...

MacMan
13th July 2007, 12:20 PM
We just went through seven kinds of hell trying to upgrade to XP (made me laugh too) and install on a partition. The machine was originally supplied with OEM XP disks but the decision was made to run with Win 2000 instead. The bastard thing would not install on a partition the way the support material said it should nor would it format the disc and make a partition. I cricumvented the process and ran FDISK as a dos command from a boot disk and installed it that way. But then Xp refused to acknowledge the ONBOARD network adapter and a whole swag of other things.

Had to revert to it doing what it wanted (the opposite of what the support docs said could be done) and then the countless downloads of patches started. First was 72Mb, restart, another 30Mb, restart, then two lots of about 40Mb.

FUGGIN NIGHTMARE. Now crashes about 3 times a day. No blue screen of death, but programs become non responsive and task manager cannot close them. I have to resort to pulling the power lead! :eek:

FUGGIN NIGHTMARE.

Pedro_The_Swift
13th July 2007, 12:56 PM
while I'm no pro,,,

is it a legal install:angel:

incisor
13th July 2007, 12:58 PM
yep

dmdigital
13th July 2007, 01:00 PM
Inc have you tried getting the Knowledge base downloads individually?

I'm assuming you've tried using the WindowsUpdate site and if that will run up you can get the KB numbers off it and try through the downloads/support pages to do things individually. If windowsupdate doesn't work there's usually an error number shown and I've found half a day on google usually finds an answer as to why.

incisor
13th July 2007, 01:16 PM
yep

tried the several knowledge base suggested fixes to no avail....

never struck one like it i have to say...

fast developing a hatred for update.exe :P

will sleep on it one more night..... well the sleep will happen after the rum i imagine..... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Snapper
13th July 2007, 01:21 PM
My XP started to do that so I tried the "ignore it and it will go away" theory. When that failed I messed around with my internet security features. I dont know exactly what I did but it now seems to work with the Auto update.

So anyway what I'm trying to tell you is that I have no clue on how to fix it.

abaddonxi
13th July 2007, 01:59 PM
Are you using Microsoft Update or Windows Update? Had that problem a few weeks ago.

Have you rolled back a bit and tried again?

Virus/spyware? Have you tried Prevx 2? They seem to be the goods at the moment.

http://www.prevx.com/

Sorry I've only got the basics today.

Cheers
Simon

incisor
13th July 2007, 02:17 PM
no virus
no rootkits
no trojans

no dam reason that i can find

its a goody.....

looking into permissions at the moment ....

dmdigital
13th July 2007, 02:51 PM
Inc,

Realy dumb question: What SP is it? I assume its SP2 or you'll definitely have issues.

Try with all F/wall and AV disabled, though I'm assuming you've done that.

Have you looked through the event log for any errors/warnings?

What account are you using on the machine? If you're using an Administrator group account, try doing it from the machine's Administrator account.

Also I'd run one of the RegFix utilities and check the registry for crap. Also check that the registry DB hasn't blown out, there's a few tools that will compress it as well.

I haven't had to look there for ages, but I assume JSI is still around - think its jsifaq.com now - always a good source of info.

abaddonxi
13th July 2007, 03:03 PM
P2P hogging internet access. Peerguardian blocking access. Router cache corrupt?

Pretty unlikely.

Cheers
Simon

grumpybastard
13th July 2007, 03:27 PM
There used to be a non "Microsoft" Windows update site floating about for those that didnt use IE or had ...ummm ... problems with "genuine advantage activation"

But i cant find it now :(

It appears there some hacks around to let Mozilla access Windows update, if you are desperate enough ....you could give that a go, it would at least eliminate the browser as an issue.

But just to clarify, maybe im barking up the wrong tree...is it downloading the updates fine then "failing" to install them?

If so have you tried creating a new user on the box and hence a new profile and doing it from the new user?

awabbit6
13th July 2007, 06:40 PM
What happens when you try to do an install Inc? Anything? Any error message?

Are you running through a physical firewall or proxy??

Debacle
13th July 2007, 07:16 PM
Are you talking about "security update for microsoft.NET framework version 2.0".
I have had an issue with it. It downloads the update but wont install succesfully then auto update feature keeps telling you that you have downloads waiting to be installed but installation fails every time.

HangOver
13th July 2007, 08:45 PM
had this several times @ work, yer it's odd ay

enable auto updates to automatic and schedule a time, (the time is irrelivant as it doesn't do it on time anyhow) then leave it for a day or two and auto updates will kick-in.

OR
Try Microsoft update <--- NB not windows update
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate

incisor
14th July 2007, 08:04 AM
had this several times @ work, yer it's odd ay

enable auto updates to automatic and schedule a time, (the time is irrelivant as it doesn't do it on time anyhow) then leave it for a day or two and auto updates will kick-in.

OR
Try Microsoft update <--- NB not windows update
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate
been there done that ... no go ..

tis a ******...

Pedro_The_Swift
14th July 2007, 08:13 AM
I have Autopatcher on discs:angel:

incisor
14th July 2007, 08:16 AM
I have Autopatcher on discs:angel:
me too...

fun fun fun...

Pedro_The_Swift
14th July 2007, 08:24 AM
just reinstall Inc,,,





would be funny if it still wouldnt update thou---:wasntme:

Bytemrk
14th July 2007, 01:15 PM
Dave,

When it fails... does it write anything to event viewer logs anywhere?

What exactly is the error message if there is one? Usually when auto update fails there is a code in the upper right of the screen, something like Error 8007000D ... can sometimes help.. (other times it will just lead you on a wild goose chase:p )

Can you run the MS baseline security analyser on it ( http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsa2/default.mspx) and then download one of the updates suggested and try that...
It would be interesting to see if those install..at least that way you'll know if it is an autoupdate issue or something much more fundamental.

I'll keep thinking for you Dave... these things can be a PITA... may endup doing a repair from the XP installer:mad:

Mark

sclarke
14th July 2007, 03:31 PM
Inc,
Have you tried this.

You can go to the Windows update site and down load the patches you need as a stand alone install, for example, you need to install the IE patch xxxxx, then you can download it as a stand alone and then install it to as many machines as need be.

Then you can try to manualy install the patch's, if that works then its not a permission issue or "rights" issue.

Have you tried to run the auto updates as an administrator?

Is it logged onto a Server? or stand alone PC on the net?
I had a XP box and it was on a Netware Server, it would not alow me to load anything, logged it off and logged on as a local PC and it was ok, Weird as no other XP box from the same ghost image had that problem.

Sorry i cant be more helpfull

Steve

Captain_Rightfoot
14th July 2007, 03:33 PM
Do microsoft have something called telephone support? Is that worth a try or will they just say nuke it?

HangOver
15th July 2007, 10:39 PM
Do microsoft have something called telephone support? Is that worth a try or will they just say nuke it?

Yes they have phone support and yes they charge for it $$$
about the only software company that does.

kaa45
15th July 2007, 11:43 PM
Could turn "updates" off. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I disable it on all my customers machines, never had a problem. ;)

jik22
16th July 2007, 02:14 AM
Just a thought, but is your registry at or approaching the max registry size you have set?

Also, is it just windows updates that won't go on, or can you make it fail with all msi apps?

Or, a corrupt profile, so can you create a new admin user, login and try with that?

Must confess, after 20 years in IT, and having been an MS fan in the NT3.1-Win2k days, I'm now heartily sick of their bloated and needlessly complex (From an admin POV) crap and my next machine build at home will be Linux and the next hardware buy will be a Mac. I reckon I now need 10% of the functionality in Windows, and don't like the fact I can't just install that 10%.

incisor
16th July 2007, 06:19 AM
yeah it is nothing that i can track down, mickeysoft have sent me a tool to try on it, so that is todays course of action when i get back from my job out and about.

the installer works fine, every dam thing works fine except for bloody auto updates and update then goes nuts when it fails and uses 90% of the cpu..

forget linux, just download one of the many pc osx images and run it on your pc, they even do images for amd hardware i believe.

abaddonxi
16th July 2007, 07:02 AM
These links are what I used when I had a problem that sounds the same. svchost using all the cpu time. Sure you've already seen them.


http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&qsc0=0&SearchBtn0=Search&q=svchost.exe&first=11&FORM=PNME

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309615

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932494

http://ask-leo.com/svchost_and_svchostexe_crashs_cpu_maximization_vir uses_exploits_and_more.html

Cheers
Simon

jik22
16th July 2007, 10:55 AM
forget linux, just download one of the many pc osx images and run it on your pc, they even do images for amd hardware i believe.

Is this a native image as opposed to a VMWare one? Sounds interesting...

incisor
16th July 2007, 11:06 AM
bootable cd image i believe.. on heaps of torrent sites...

jik22
16th July 2007, 04:39 PM
bootable cd image i believe.. on heaps of torrent sites...

Ah, OK, thanks. Was hoping someone had hacked the installer to let you install on a non-Apple Intel platform.