windows update service locks up windows

Hello,

On June 4th, my system did an automatic update of the windows update client
to version 7.0.6000.374. Shortly thereafter, windows stopped responding
after a few minutes upon reboot and log in. After discovering that windows
update was causing this problem, I noticed that soon after the wuauclt.exe
process begins to run, the computer becomes unresponsive. I have not noticed
svchost pegging out to 100%, but that's probably because windows becomes
inactive before then.

I have installed the new standalone version of WSUS v3.0 and the hotfix
927891, however I am still encountering unresponsive behavior from the
computer after boot up and log in. For the time being, I am booting up with
the WU service turned off in order to be able to use my computer normally.

Without pointing a finger here, I'd like to have a fix that works for this
problem. Are they any other suggestions other than installing WSUS 3.0 and
the hotfix?

Thank you.

I began having this same problem...right after I upgraded my XP machine from
128meg to 512meg. I tried all of the "fixes" on the forum here without
success. I ran diagnostics on the machine and on the memory...no problems
reported.

I did find two workarounds...

1. Set your display adapter to 640x480 - 256 colors. Download works, buy
the machine will still hang occasionally.

2. I removed one of the 256meg memory sticks and put the 128meg stick back
in. Updates now work correctly, and the machine no longer hangs.

It is possible that although the machine (A Gateway PIII) claims to support
512meg, it really doesn't, but, its also possible that Windows current memory
manager has a problem at 512meg...

"linuxmoose" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> On June 4th, my system did an automatic update of the windows update client
> to version 7.0.6000.374. Shortly thereafter, windows stopped responding
> after a few minutes upon reboot and log in. After discovering that windows
> update was causing this problem, I noticed that soon after the wuauclt.exe
> process begins to run, the computer becomes unresponsive. I have not noticed
> svchost pegging out to 100%, but that's probably because windows becomes
> inactive before then.
>
> I have installed the new standalone version of WSUS v3.0 and the hotfix
> 927891, however I am still encountering unresponsive behavior from the
> computer after boot up and log in. For the time being, I am booting up with
> the WU service turned off in order to be able to use my computer normally.
>
> Without pointing a finger here, I'd like to have a fix that works for this
> problem. Are they any other suggestions other than installing WSUS 3.0 and
> the hotfix?
>
> Thank you.

Could you please make your own thread for your issue? It is completely
different from mine, as I'm using a machine with 2Gb of Ram and an Athlon 64
processor.


"OriginalGorrilla" wrote:

> I began having this same problem...right after I upgraded my XP machine from
> 128meg to 512meg. I tried all of the "fixes" on the forum here without
> success. I ran diagnostics on the machine and on the memory...no problems
> reported.
>
> I did find two workarounds...
>
> 1. Set your display adapter to 640x480 - 256 colors. Download works, buy
> the machine will still hang occasionally.
>
> 2. I removed one of the 256meg memory sticks and put the 128meg stick back
> in. Updates now work correctly, and the machine no longer hangs.
>
> It is possible that although the machine (A Gateway PIII) claims to support
> 512meg, it really doesn't, but, its also possible that Windows current memory
> manager has a problem at 512meg...
>

Hi,

I have had this happen on several occasions, my work around was to disable
the Windows Update service. I have had no more problems since, I guess there
is a buggy update that came through which affected it. If this is the case
we should get a fix soon enough and then re-enable the automatic starting of
the service.

I have searched for a fix and can't get useful info so this is my best guess
for now.

Dustproof.

"linuxmoose" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> On June 4th, my system did an automatic update of the windows update client
> to version 7.0.6000.374. Shortly thereafter, windows stopped responding
> after a few minutes upon reboot and log in. After discovering that windows
> update was causing this problem, I noticed that soon after the wuauclt.exe
> process begins to run, the computer becomes unresponsive. I have not noticed
> svchost pegging out to 100%, but that's probably because windows becomes
> inactive before then.
>
> I have installed the new standalone version of WSUS v3.0 and the hotfix
> 927891, however I am still encountering unresponsive behavior from the
> computer after boot up and log in. For the time being, I am booting up with
> the WU service turned off in order to be able to use my computer normally.
>
> Without pointing a finger here, I'd like to have a fix that works for this
> problem. Are they any other suggestions other than installing WSUS 3.0 and
> the hotfix?
>
> Thank you.

"linuxmoose" <> wrote in message
news:BB92B1E6-94B8-4502-AD25-...
> Hello,
>
> On June 4th, my system did an automatic update of the windows update client
> to version 7.0.6000.374. Shortly thereafter, windows stopped responding
> after a few minutes upon reboot and log in. After discovering that windows
> update was causing this problem, I noticed that soon after the wuauclt.exe
> process begins to run, the computer becomes unresponsive. I have not noticed
> svchost pegging out to 100%, but that's probably because windows becomes
> inactive before then.


Are you saying you can't even do Ctrl-Alt-Delete then?

What about running Task Manager in "tiny footprint" mode
(so you can always see some detail with it)
or using PerfMon to create an alert for the hypothesised condition?


>
> I have installed the new standalone version of WSUS v3.0 and the hotfix
> 927891, however I am still encountering unresponsive behavior from the
> computer after boot up and log in. For the time being, I am booting up with
> the WU service turned off in order to be able to use my computer normally.
>
> Without pointing a finger here, I'd like to have a fix that works for this
> problem. Are they any other suggestions other than installing WSUS 3.0 and
> the hotfix?


You need to get more details about your symptoms before you can
look for a fix... ; )


>
> Thank you.


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---

Robert,


>
> Are you saying you can't even do Ctrl-Alt-Delete then?
>
> What about running Task Manager in "tiny footprint" mode
> (so you can always see some detail with it)
> or using PerfMon to create an alert for the hypothesised condition?
>
>

I have been able to open the Task Manager on log in. Everything seems to be
running smoothly until the wuauclt.exe process pops up. Soon after that (few
seconds), all windows and menus stop responding (as well as a soft reboot
through Ctrl-Alt-Del). By disabling the windows update service, and hence
wuauclt and its related dll's, everything runs fine.

I've never used PerfMon before, so I guess I can give that a go. I'm not
sure what good it will do, however...as it is pretty obvious that Windows
update is the culprit.

"linuxmoose" <> schrieb:

> I have installed the new standalone version of WSUS v3.0 and the hotfix
> 927891, however I am still encountering unresponsive behavior from the
> computer after boot up and log in. For the time being, I am booting up with
> the WU service turned off in order to be able to use my computer normally.

Hm, do you have the ZoneAlarm beast installed? If true, I recommend
uninstalling that one and activation the Windows XP "Firewall" instead.
You may also want to give a "netsh winsock reset" entered under "Run"
in the Start menu a try and reboot the machine afterwards.

Bye,
Freudi

"linuxmoose" <> wrote in message
news:CDFD3365-B808-4B8A-9ADC-...
> Robert,
>
>
>>
>> Are you saying you can't even do Ctrl-Alt-Delete then?
>>
>> What about running Task Manager in "tiny footprint" mode
>> (so you can always see some detail with it)
>> or using PerfMon to create an alert for the hypothesised condition?
>>
>>
>
> I have been able to open the Task Manager on log in. Everything seems to be
> running smoothly until the wuauclt.exe process pops up. Soon after that (few
> seconds), all windows and menus stop responding (as well as a soft reboot
> through Ctrl-Alt-Del).


The point is that TM (e.g. with its Always On Top option in tiny footprint mode)
could be set up to *prove* if that service was doing what you think it is.
I think that your other symptoms are contradicting your hypothesis.
In particular, Ctrl-Alt-Delete should not be causing a soft reboot
but just opening and giving focus to Task Manager.
Is a record added to an event log at least when you do it?
Otherwise I think you may be interrupting a malfunctioning driver.


> By disabling the windows update service, and hence
> wuauclt and its related dll's, everything runs fine.


Which may only mean that a problem driver is not being used by any other
program (at least in the same way that the wuauserv service uses it)... <eg>


>
> I've never used PerfMon before, so I guess I can give that a go. I'm not
> sure what good it will do, however...as it is pretty obvious that Windows
> update is the culprit.


I'm not sure how responsive an alert would be for this scenario anyway.


HTH

Robert
---

I'm sorry...I wasn't trying to jack your thread. I was simply pointing out
that I had a similiar problem which got solved by removing memory. My
machine has an Intel 82810e video adapter (admittedly outdated), which I
beleive, in certain video modes, shares memory with the CPU. I suspect the
problem you and I experienced is caused by poor memory management somewhere
in the OS, or, by loss of timing between the display adapter and the CPU.

"linuxmoose" wrote:

> Could you please make your own thread for your issue? It is completely
> different from mine, as I'm using a machine with 2Gb of Ram and an Athlon 64
> processor.
>
>
> "OriginalGorrilla" wrote:
>
> > I began having this same problem...right after I upgraded my XP machine from
> > 128meg to 512meg. I tried all of the "fixes" on the forum here without
> > success. I ran diagnostics on the machine and on the memory...no problems
> > reported.
> >
> > I did find two workarounds...
> >
> > 1. Set your display adapter to 640x480 - 256 colors. Download works, buy
> > the machine will still hang occasionally.
> >
> > 2. I removed one of the 256meg memory sticks and put the 128meg stick back
> > in. Updates now work correctly, and the machine no longer hangs.
> >
> > It is possible that although the machine (A Gateway PIII) claims to support
> > 512meg, it really doesn't, but, its also possible that Windows current memory
> > manager has a problem at 512meg...
> >
>

"OriginalGorrilla" <> wrote in message
news:74081133-F2CE-481C-8308-...
> I'm sorry...I wasn't trying to jack your thread. I was simply pointing out
> that I had a similiar problem which got solved by removing memory. My
> machine has an Intel 82810e video adapter (admittedly outdated), which I
> beleive, in certain video modes, shares memory with the CPU. I suspect the
> problem you and I experienced is caused by poor memory management somewhere
> in the OS, or, by loss of timing between the display adapter and the CPU.


Are you using a Dell? Apparently it has a quirk like this (at least with Vista).

I asked people who were using that workaround if making a /maxmem
change in the boot loader would be sufficient but didn't get any responses.
(Much easier IMO to make changes to the boot loader settings than open
the computer case and mess around with chips.)

Oh. And there is also this where Robin Walker [MVP] suggests using
*exactly* 3Gb RAM (for a particular update). YMMV.

http://www.microsoft.com/communities...5bb&sloc=en-us


FYI

Robert Aldwinckle
---