Windows updates service starts and then stops

I have several workstations running XP SP2 that start the windows update
service as expected but then it stops almost immediately with a message that
says "The Automatic Updates service on Local Computer started and then
stopped. Some services stop automatically if they have no work to do, for
example, the Performance Logs and Alerts service."

There is a corresponding event log entry (ID 7036).

Any idea what causes this?

Here is the solution to my problem. Searching Google for "sdset wuauserv"
will get you to the sites that contain the details:

sc sdset wuauserv
DA;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLO CRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRP WPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)