Windows XP - Windows Update won't run, other functions do not work

Over the Christmas break, we have had a problem appear on three computers in
a remote office.

Some of the symptoms are:

1. Windows Update will not run.
2. Users and Administrator cannot drag and drop icons on the desktop or
files between folders.
3. Search never opens when selected.
4. System Restore never opens when selected.
5. Running (open) applications do not appear on the task bar when minimized.

We thought it might be related to a recent Windows Update sent out by our
SUS server.

Does anyone have an idea of what might cause these symptoms ?
A Norton Antivirus scan comes up clean as does a Spybot Search and Destroy
scan.

I have had very similar problems, and Windows Update won't launch, nor does
Search, or Defrag, and many other functions. In need of HELP!!

"CADD" wrote:

> Over the Christmas break, we have had a problem appear on three computers in
> a remote office.
>
> Some of the symptoms are:
>
> 1. Windows Update will not run.
> 2. Users and Administrator cannot drag and drop icons on the desktop or
> files between folders.
> 3. Search never opens when selected.
> 4. System Restore never opens when selected.
> 5. Running (open) applications do not appear on the task bar when minimized.
>
> We thought it might be related to a recent Windows Update sent out by our
> SUS server.
>
> Does anyone have an idea of what might cause these symptoms ?
> A Norton Antivirus scan comes up clean as does a Spybot Search and Destroy
> scan.
>

This is either a virus or one of the recent critical updates we approved on
our SUS server has caused the problem.

We are only seeing the issue on XP workstations with SP1. None of the SP2
installs have the problem. We have also started seeing the problem on
workstations at other sites.

Some other symptoms include:

1. OLE doesn't work. Files with links (Word and Excel)
won't open.

2. Show Quick Launch is turned off, resulting in the taskbar and START
button being unavailable.


The way we are fixing this is by taking the Windows XP CD and running SETUP
and then selecting to run an "UPGRADE". This takes about an hour or longer
on slower PCs.

Then we apply SP2 and then all the critical updates. So far, this has fixed
the problem PCs, but it would be nice to know what is causing the problem.

Like I said, it's either a virus or a recent Critical Update is breaking XP
SP1 workstations. We ARE upgrading all PCs to SP2, but do not have all of
them upgraded yet. It is the SP1 workstations that are having this problem.