Found a really BAD problem from the recent MS updates

I installed all 4 of the most recent October critical updates
including the malicious software removal tool. As is my M.O. I
first lurked here and other places to ensure there were no major
issues. There weren't so I went ahead.

For a week, everything was OK, then my PC began to get more and
more unstable, literally re-booting without warning and/or
completely shutting down. I did the usual diagnostics including
looking at Event Manager and saw absolutely NOTHING going wrong.

So, my suspicions moved from a combination of one of the MS
updates being the culprit in combination with updates to my
multiple malware protection apps. It is not likely to be MS
alone, it is more likely to me to be a combination effect. So, I
rolled my system back over a week to BEFORE all this happened and
it appearrs to be stable.

Now, I am looking for another possible culprit - some malware
infestation. With my PC at least running, I am going through some
pretty exhaustive testing that won't be completed until tonight
or tomorrow. So far, so good.

Here's the message for those interested: Not all updates are
reliable, and they can and DO interact negatively. When I am
certain I am 100% stable again and clean of malware, I will
reinstall the MS updates, but ONE at a time, with a manual RP
before each so I can narrow down the bad one.

Any constructive comments would be appreciated. But, if people
want to suggest I'm a few bricks short of a load, please save
your breath. My entire purpose in posting this note is so that
others may learn from my experience and perhaps save themselves
some pain. Thank you.

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Never complain, never explain" - Henry Ford II

Windows version? What updates did you install? Does uninstalling them
resolve the problems?

How to troubleshoot Windows Update, Microsoft Update, and Windows Server
Update Services installation issues:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=906602

Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

Support for Windows Update:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.org/


HEMI-Powered wrote:
> I installed all 4 of the most recent October critical updates
> including the malicious software removal tool. As is my M.O. I
> first lurked here and other places to ensure there were no major
> issues. There weren't so I went ahead.
>
> For a week, everything was OK, then my PC began to get more and
> more unstable, literally re-booting without warning and/or
> completely shutting down. I did the usual diagnostics including
> looking at Event Manager and saw absolutely NOTHING going wrong.
>
> So, my suspicions moved from a combination of one of the MS
> updates being the culprit in combination with updates to my
> multiple malware protection apps. It is not likely to be MS
> alone, it is more likely to me to be a combination effect. So, I
> rolled my system back over a week to BEFORE all this happened and
> it appearrs to be stable.
>
> Now, I am looking for another possible culprit - some malware
> infestation. With my PC at least running, I am going through some
> pretty exhaustive testing that won't be completed until tonight
> or tomorrow. So far, so good.
>
> Here's the message for those interested: Not all updates are
> reliable, and they can and DO interact negatively. When I am
> certain I am 100% stable again and clean of malware, I will
> reinstall the MS updates, but ONE at a time, with a manual RP
> before each so I can narrow down the bad one.
>
> Any constructive comments would be appreciated. But, if people
> want to suggest I'm a few bricks short of a load, please save
> your breath. My entire purpose in posting this note is so that
> others may learn from my experience and perhaps save themselves
> some pain. Thank you.

PA Bear added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

> Windows version? What updates did you install? Does
> uninstalling them resolve the problems?

WWin XP Pro SP2, most but not quite all updates applied.

I installed the 3 just a week or so ago. Besides the malicious
software removal tool, there was KB939653, KB941202, and
KB933729. No, I did not try to uninstall them because a) I wasn't
sure which one(s) were the culprit, b) I was unsure of whether it
was strictly an MS issue or interaction with other utilities as I
outlined in my OP, but most importantly c) my PC became so
unstable I did not want to risk a partial uninstall.

So, I rolled back my system to an RP prior to when all this
began. It appears to be successful. I am on the last leg of my
malware scan, which included Spy Bot Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware,
eTrust Pest Patrol, and now NAV 2006. The latter 2 take care of
my PC's 3 partitions, the 2 partitions on my Maxtor external HD
on USB and across my simple home network to my wife's PC with 2
partitions. NAV is about 2/3 done. If all goes well, as I expect,
I will set an RP and restart.

For completeness, if the restart proves stable, and I think it
will, I will use JV16 Powertools Registry Clean in user
interactive mode and set to "agressive scan". I run this app
under MY full control about once a month. It almost never finds
any really rogue or dangerous entries it says CAN - but do not
necessarily have to be deleted. It finds 99 44/100% of the time
entries/keys that are obsolete, not valid, or do not point to
anything, e.g., a shortcut no longer there. I set an RP and tell
JV16 to do a Registry backup.

I hope this is a complete enough description. Now, if all goes
well - and again, I think it will - I will try each of the 3
suspect MS KBs each by themselves with an RP before each and
evaluate the situation. That may or may not reveal the root
cause. It could turn out that the problem isn't where I think it
is at all.

Incidently, besides no entires in Event Manager, I saw NO
attempts by Chkdsk to check my HD nor any BSOD nor any Windows
errors whatsoever. The simptoms were all the same: my PC would
suddenly beep and restart itself, first once every few hours,
eventually every few minutes, finally it would not start at all.
I would not have been able to roll it back except that it DID
start in Safe mode. The once error I did see was bogus IMO:
Chkdsk thought there was something wrong with one of my external
HD partions; there were no errors. Thus, all of this may go down
as one of histories mysteries.

> How to troubleshoot Windows Update, Microsoft Update, and
> Windows Server Update Services installation issues:
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=906602

Thank you. I have this link and a number of excellent links,
apps, and MS KB entries to guide me but none proved useful, and I
say above, this morning I lost any control of my PC at all.

> Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
> https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

Again, thanks for the link, I will add this to my MS folder in
IE6. I can't report the incident reliably, though, unless I can
isolate it. Personally, I don't see an upside to confusing
whoever reads these things with some unproven and convoluted
tale. Thus, I also seldom send the after-crash report if one of
my apps crash, unless I can point MS to something specific.

> Support for Windows Update:
> http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Never complain, never explain" - Henry Ford II