Microsoft Update crashing

I have created two Virtual PCs running Windows XP SP2 with Office 2003.

Both of these have had all available Windows Update updates installed with
no issues. Every update ran reasonably fast and succesfully.

Today, I am trying to install Microsoft Update on both of them. The
Microsoft Update ActiveX installation seems to work properly on both Virtual
PCs but on both of them, once I have installed the ActiveX control and try to
check for updates, it usually crashes after about 20+ minutes of "checking
for the latest updates on your computer...".

In the one instance where I managed to get the list of updates (14 priority
Office 2003 updates), and then tried to install the updates, Microsoft Update
stops after downloading 2 updates. It isn't completely frozen in that it
does repaint the window if I drag or move it, but it never moves on to the
next.

After sitting for another 30 minutes with no change in the progress, I
cancelled that download which led to another 15 minutes of no progress change
until finally the word "cancelling" showed up in the progress list box.
Another 15 minutes of no progress or change in the screen and I finally shut
down the Virtual PC throwing away all my changes.

I retried all the above but the next time I end tasked on the Update window
rather than shut down the VPC. After end tasking the Update windows I was
unable to open Windows Update or IE until I rebooted the VPC. I used Task
Manager to close all instances of IE and wmupdmgr to no avail. I was still
unable to open IE or Windows Update. Trying to open either would leave an
iexplorer or wmupdmgr process in my process list, as expected, but no IE
window would ever open.

Thank goodness for Undo disks - I can throw it away and start as if whatever
crashed never happened.

The systems are Windows XP with IE7 and Office 2003 with 1GB of memory
assigned to the VPC. The host is Windows Vista Ultimate running Virtual PC
2007 on a Core-2 Duo 6400 processor host with 2GB of memory.

It is really unclear if this issue is a Microsoft Update issue or an
Internet Explorer 7 issue but it is really kicking my tail here today.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Dale

--
Dale Preston
MCAD C#
MCSE, MCDBA

Courtesy of MVP Emeritus Ottmar Freudenberger:

1. First install the newly released 'standalone' version of Windows Update
Agent 3.0, v7.0.6000.374
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932494

Direct Download links:

x86-based versions of Windows (most users)
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x86.exe

x64-based versions of Windows
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x64.exe

Itanium-based versions of Windows
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...ent30-ia64.exe

2. Now (re)install this (updated) fix:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927891

NB: Windows Update/Automatic Updates started offering 927891 on 22 May-07.
If "Update for [Windows XP] (KB927891)" is listed in Add/Remove Programs
(make sure Show Updates box is checked), it's already installed. cf.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec...ry/927891.mspx

3. Reboot.

The MS update team believes that this solves all three svchost problems that
folks have been experiencing. See
http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...follow-up.aspx
and http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...update-on.aspx

<QP>
It’s important to note that with the MSI fix and the new client installed,
the CPU may still go near 100%, but the system should still be responsive
and not lock up. If another task requires CPU cycles they will be shared,
but if the system is idle, MSI will use the full cycles available. If a
task is running at the same time as MSI, the system may be slightly slower,
but should still be responsive during this time. Key to remember the MSI
fix and the new client address unresponsive or locked systems. CPU spikes
during some scans are expected, machine unresponsiveness is not. If your
watching the process monitor, you will still see 100% CPU during some scans
and this is expected behavior.
</QP>
Source:
http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...follow-up.aspx
--
Windows Update-specific newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof....windowsupdate

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)

Dale wrote:
> I have created two Virtual PCs running Windows XP SP2 with Office 2003.
>
> Both of these have had all available Windows Update updates installed with
> no issues. Every update ran reasonably fast and succesfully.
>
> Today, I am trying to install Microsoft Update on both of them. The
> Microsoft Update ActiveX installation seems to work properly on both
> Virtual
> PCs but on both of them, once I have installed the ActiveX control and try
> to check for updates, it usually crashes after about 20+ minutes of
> "checking for the latest updates on your computer...".
>
> In the one instance where I managed to get the list of updates (14
> priority
> Office 2003 updates), and then tried to install the updates, Microsoft
> Update stops after downloading 2 updates. It isn't completely frozen in
> that it does repaint the window if I drag or move it, but it never moves
> on
> to the next.
>
> After sitting for another 30 minutes with no change in the progress, I
> cancelled that download which led to another 15 minutes of no progress
> change until finally the word "cancelling" showed up in the progress list
> box. Another 15 minutes of no progress or change in the screen and I
> finally shut down the Virtual PC throwing away all my changes.
>
> I retried all the above but the next time I end tasked on the Update
> window
> rather than shut down the VPC. After end tasking the Update windows I was
> unable to open Windows Update or IE until I rebooted the VPC. I used Task
> Manager to close all instances of IE and wmupdmgr to no avail. I was
> still
> unable to open IE or Windows Update. Trying to open either would leave an
> iexplorer or wmupdmgr process in my process list, as expected, but no IE
> window would ever open.
>
> Thank goodness for Undo disks - I can throw it away and start as if
> whatever
> crashed never happened.
>
> The systems are Windows XP with IE7 and Office 2003 with 1GB of memory
> assigned to the VPC. The host is Windows Vista Ultimate running Virtual
> PC
> 2007 on a Core-2 Duo 6400 processor host with 2GB of memory.
>
> It is really unclear if this issue is a Microsoft Update issue or an
> Internet Explorer 7 issue but it is really kicking my tail here today.
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
>
> Dale

Thanks, PA. That did the trick mostly. It still takes about 20 minutes to
scan for updates but at least the process does go through now. It appears
this is a pretty widely spread problem with Windows Update and even worse
when Office 2003 is in the picture.

I hope they fix this soon; it's really going to effect users' confidence in
Microsoft and Microsoft update. For years I have told most users that they
need to turn on automatic updates and that the risks of doing so were so much
less than the risks of not doing so. Now I won't ever suggest it again - not
based on one single problem with the updates but based on the slow, lacking,
and complicated resolution to the problem. This issue is going to leave many
thousands of users without updated PCs.

Dale
--
Dale Preston
MCAD C#
MCSE, MCDBA


"PA Bear" wrote:

> Courtesy of MVP Emeritus Ottmar Freudenberger:
>
> 1. First install the newly released 'standalone' version of Windows Update
> Agent 3.0, v7.0.6000.374
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932494
>
> Direct Download links:
>
> x86-based versions of Windows (most users)
> http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x86.exe
>
> x64-based versions of Windows
> http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x64.exe
>
> Itanium-based versions of Windows
> http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...ent30-ia64.exe
>
> 2. Now (re)install this (updated) fix:
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927891
>
> NB: Windows Update/Automatic Updates started offering 927891 on 22 May-07.
> If "Update for [Windows XP] (KB927891)" is listed in Add/Remove Programs
> (make sure Show Updates box is checked), it's already installed. cf.
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec...ry/927891.mspx
>
> 3. Reboot.
>
> The MS update team believes that this solves all three svchost problems that
> folks have been experiencing. See
> http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...follow-up.aspx
> and http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...update-on.aspx
>
> <QP>
> It’s important to note that with the MSI fix and the new client installed,
> the CPU may still go near 100%, but the system should still be responsive
> and not lock up. If another task requires CPU cycles they will be shared,
> but if the system is idle, MSI will use the full cycles available. If a
> task is running at the same time as MSI, the system may be slightly slower,
> but should still be responsive during this time. Key to remember the MSI
> fix and the new client address unresponsive or locked systems. CPU spikes
> during some scans are expected, machine unresponsiveness is not. If your
> watching the process monitor, you will still see 100% CPU during some scans
> and this is expected behavior.
> </QP>
> Source:
> http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...follow-up.aspx
> --
> Windows Update-specific newsgroup:
> news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof....windowsupdate
>
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
>
> Dale wrote:
> > I have created two Virtual PCs running Windows XP SP2 with Office 2003.
> >
> > Both of these have had all available Windows Update updates installed with
> > no issues. Every update ran reasonably fast and succesfully.
> >
> > Today, I am trying to install Microsoft Update on both of them. The
> > Microsoft Update ActiveX installation seems to work properly on both
> > Virtual
> > PCs but on both of them, once I have installed the ActiveX control and try
> > to check for updates, it usually crashes after about 20+ minutes of
> > "checking for the latest updates on your computer...".
> >
> > In the one instance where I managed to get the list of updates (14
> > priority
> > Office 2003 updates), and then tried to install the updates, Microsoft
> > Update stops after downloading 2 updates. It isn't completely frozen in
> > that it does repaint the window if I drag or move it, but it never moves
> > on
> > to the next.
> >
> > After sitting for another 30 minutes with no change in the progress, I
> > cancelled that download which led to another 15 minutes of no progress
> > change until finally the word "cancelling" showed up in the progress list
> > box. Another 15 minutes of no progress or change in the screen and I
> > finally shut down the Virtual PC throwing away all my changes.
> >
> > I retried all the above but the next time I end tasked on the Update
> > window
> > rather than shut down the VPC. After end tasking the Update windows I was
> > unable to open Windows Update or IE until I rebooted the VPC. I used Task
> > Manager to close all instances of IE and wmupdmgr to no avail. I was
> > still
> > unable to open IE or Windows Update. Trying to open either would leave an
> > iexplorer or wmupdmgr process in my process list, as expected, but no IE
> > window would ever open.
> >
> > Thank goodness for Undo disks - I can throw it away and start as if
> > whatever
> > crashed never happened.
> >
> > The systems are Windows XP with IE7 and Office 2003 with 1GB of memory
> > assigned to the VPC. The host is Windows Vista Ultimate running Virtual
> > PC
> > 2007 on a Core-2 Duo 6400 processor host with 2GB of memory.
> >
> > It is really unclear if this issue is a Microsoft Update issue or an
> > Internet Explorer 7 issue but it is really kicking my tail here today.
> >
> > Any help will be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dale
>
>

YW & thanks for posting back.

Workaround: Change the default from Microsoft Update to Windows Update: Go
to Microsoft Update > Click on Change Settings in left pane > Scroll to
bottom of page > To Stop Using Microsoft Update > Disable Microsoft Update
software and let me use Windows Update only (check). cf.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901037

With Windows Update as your default, you will need to check in at Office
Update to keep your Office applications fully patched:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/do...incatalog.aspx
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org

Dale wrote:
> Thanks, PA. That did the trick mostly. It still takes about 20 minutes
> to
> scan for updates but at least the process does go through now. It appears
> this is a pretty widely spread problem with Windows Update and even worse
> when Office 2003 is in the picture.
>
> I hope they fix this soon; it's really going to effect users' confidence
> in
> Microsoft and Microsoft update. For years I have told most users that
> they
> need to turn on automatic updates and that the risks of doing so were so
> much less than the risks of not doing so. Now I won't ever suggest it
> again - not based on one single problem with the updates but based on the
> slow, lacking, and complicated resolution to the problem. This issue is
> going to leave many thousands of users without updated PCs.
>
> Dale
>
>> Courtesy of MVP Emeritus Ottmar Freudenberger:
>>
>> 1. First install the newly released 'standalone' version of Windows
>> Update
>> Agent 3.0, v7.0.6000.374
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932494
>>
>> Direct Download links:
>>
>> x86-based versions of Windows (most users)
>> http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x86.exe
>>
>> x64-based versions of Windows
>> http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...gent30-x64.exe
>>
>> Itanium-based versions of Windows
>> http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7...ent30-ia64.exe
>>
>> 2. Now (re)install this (updated) fix:
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927891
>>
>> NB: Windows Update/Automatic Updates started offering 927891 on 22
>> May-07.
>> If "Update for [Windows XP] (KB927891)" is listed in Add/Remove Programs
>> (make sure Show Updates box is checked), it's already installed. cf.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec...ry/927891.mspx
>>
>> 3. Reboot.
>>
>> The MS update team believes that this solves all three svchost problems
>> that folks have been experiencing. See
>> http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...follow-up.aspx
>> and http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...update-on.aspx
>>
>> <QP>
>> It’s important to note that with the MSI fix and the new client
>> installed, the CPU may still go near 100%, but the system should still be
>> responsive and not lock up. If another task requires CPU cycles they
>> will
>> be shared, but if the system is idle, MSI will use the full cycles
>> available. If a task is running at the same time as MSI, the system may
>> be slightly slower, but should still be responsive during this time. Key
>> to remember the MSI fix and the new client address unresponsive or
>> locked
>> systems. CPU spikes during some scans are expected, machine
>> unresponsiveness is not. If your watching the process monitor, you will
>> still see 100% CPU during some scans and this is expected behavior.
>> </QP>
>> Source:
>> http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...follow-up.aspx
>> --
>> Windows Update-specific newsgroup:
>> news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof....windowsupdate
>>
>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
>> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
>>
>> Dale wrote:
>>> I have created two Virtual PCs running Windows XP SP2 with Office 2003.
>>>
>>> Both of these have had all available Windows Update updates installed
>>> with
>>> no issues. Every update ran reasonably fast and succesfully.
>>>
>>> Today, I am trying to install Microsoft Update on both of them. The
>>> Microsoft Update ActiveX installation seems to work properly on both
>>> Virtual
>>> PCs but on both of them, once I have installed the ActiveX control and
>>> try
>>> to check for updates, it usually crashes after about 20+ minutes of
>>> "checking for the latest updates on your computer...".
>>>
>>> In the one instance where I managed to get the list of updates (14
>>> priority
>>> Office 2003 updates), and then tried to install the updates, Microsoft
>>> Update stops after downloading 2 updates. It isn't completely frozen in
>>> that it does repaint the window if I drag or move it, but it never moves
>>> on
>>> to the next.
>>>
>>> After sitting for another 30 minutes with no change in the progress, I
>>> cancelled that download which led to another 15 minutes of no progress
>>> change until finally the word "cancelling" showed up in the progress
>>> list
>>> box. Another 15 minutes of no progress or change in the screen and I
>>> finally shut down the Virtual PC throwing away all my changes.
>>>
>>> I retried all the above but the next time I end tasked on the Update
>>> window
>>> rather than shut down the VPC. After end tasking the Update windows I
>>> was
>>> unable to open Windows Update or IE until I rebooted the VPC. I used
>>> Task
>>> Manager to close all instances of IE and wmupdmgr to no avail. I was
>>> still
>>> unable to open IE or Windows Update. Trying to open either would leave
>>> an
>>> iexplorer or wmupdmgr process in my process list, as expected, but no IE
>>> window would ever open.
>>>
>>> Thank goodness for Undo disks - I can throw it away and start as if
>>> whatever
>>> crashed never happened.
>>>
>>> The systems are Windows XP with IE7 and Office 2003 with 1GB of memory
>>> assigned to the VPC. The host is Windows Vista Ultimate running Virtual
>>> PC
>>> 2007 on a Core-2 Duo 6400 processor host with 2GB of memory.
>>>
>>> It is really unclear if this issue is a Microsoft Update issue or an
>>> Internet Explorer 7 issue but it is really kicking my tail here today.
>>>
>>> Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Dale