That is the very reason why I haven't done an update on any of my computers for.... I don't know how long now. Update a computer that is working fine only to have it break. Microsoft is quite famous for that.

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Yes, because having an OS full of security holes is preferable to having to do a little debugging. "Working fine" is great until your systems are compromised maybe isn't so great after all.

Hey Danny, were you able to get everything patched ok this time around? I've seen this sort of thing before on my son's computer, I didn't want to call MS either (that is just a pain) luckily he doesn't have any data on there so I re-formatted and started from scratch.

If you do find the culprit let the rest of us know!!

M.O updates sometimes do alot more harm than good, I updated mine on a Friday came in on Monday and there it was svchost.exe - Application Error : The instruction at "0x745f2780" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The memory could not be "read". I did a system restore worked for a few weeks and had to reformat my PC at the end of it all. What can we do re these updates, you just don't know if you will be affected.

So far, that procedure that Scott Swigart covered (link above in story) has been solid. I've been up and running all day. I really suggest anyone having this issue try it.

Danny,

I would like to say I have had similar problems but I haven't. I have a Mac. I have it to stay away from M$ and that particular kind of problem/s. Sorry to hear you are so frustrated. What is a .exe file any way?

I've been in the same boat. I always keep updates set to prompt me before downloading and installing, because I'm often on a slow connection or don't want my computer to start a reboot in the middle of a presentation (MS will do an automatic restart after some updates - you have to be watching the screen to cancel it)

Twice now, 'some' update has reset the settings to automatically download, install and reboot, causing me to lose unsaved work and then causing problems with the laptop.

Not happy, not happy at all.

Quote "The computer flashed a message that it was installing update 1 of 15. Then it sat like that for the next 1/2 hour. I pondered leaving it to waste electricity all night long but concluded the update procedure must have had a problem. I shut it off."

--> Why do you blame Microsoft? I would assume that one should know that it might not be the best idea to turn off a computer while in the middle of an update scenario. Seriously!

When changing the tires of your car yould you consider it to be smart to kick the car-jack away simply because dinner is ready???

It's always easy to blame somebody else! Think about!

Hans, after a half hour, the update had shown no progress. It hadn't moved to step 2 at all. That's unusual. It's a sign that the update wasn't happening but instead that the computer froze. It's sort of like putting that new tire on, lowering the car and discovering the tire is flat anyway.

Shutting off a computer before the operating system itself has closed is always a dangerous move, so I gave it a hard think before doing so. I did it in the end only because I was very confident something was wrong with the update situation.

Have you considered moving to the other side?

http://www.apple.com

David Weinberger put it well a few days ago:

"Unless Mac hardware never fails, please do not tell me to get a Mac. Thank you."

Meanwhile, Dave Winer's struggles with his Macbook have gone on so long that I'm to the point of unsubscribing from his feed, I'm so tired of hearing about it. But his saga underscores that it's all not happy Mac, either.

Whatever the platform, we all just want our systems to work. Honestly, I'd move to Ubuntu if I thought that would give me stability. But I suspect it would give me a host of other problems. Windows is far, far from perfect -- but I know what I'm getting with it, and XP has been so, so much better than any version that came before it.

If you have a SP2 update CD, you could simply reinstall SP2. That should fix any corrupted files. Some say you'll need to d/l all MS security installs etc but I've never had to do that.
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It's really going to be funny to watch the chaos if Microsoft actually makes this an automatic update. There are SO many sites out there that will just flat break. Microsoft is going to take a lot of heat over this if it happens.

Hmm - few people moaning here about Windows Update causing their desktop machine to fail.

Sounds bad, but wait until it brings down your Windows 2003 server and you get to explain, one by one, to each employee of the company, why you are frantically wiring them to a direct net connection so they can get at least some work done, and slowly & carefully explaining how they can read their emails through a web browser because Exchange aint where it should be today. Then, and only then, shall you know true hatred of the upadte mechanism and it's devilish plans for your day.

Danny, you're displaying a pretty poor quality of thinking in your earlier comment. To recap:



Danny: My Microsoft software fell over! Ack!



garypool & grnidone: Try a Mac! Apple's software doesn't fall over!



Danny: But their hardware isn't 100% perfect and shiny and never-failing, so no!



Hrm. Coulda fooled me, but I thought you were struggling with a software problem, not a hardware problem. In a way you remind me of my brother-in-law who only last week, while I was handing him a Windows XP CD for reinstallation because his Thinkpad was giving him so many hardware-unrelated problems over the last few months, said to me, "I like Windows because I haven't had to do much to fix it." I asked him what it was he was doing and the light bulb went on.



Implicit in your response is the notion that Apple hardware is somehow so much less reliable than whatever your PC brand of choice is that Macs are unworthy of the slightest consideration. Until, that is, their hardware never fails. So in that spirit, allow me to introduce you to the most reliable computer I can think of: the abacus.


So before you rely on the quote of a random guy having a hardware problem on his PC to defend your handling of a software problem, and another random guy having trouble with his MacBook, you might want to consider the fruits of an industry borne out of the desire to stop making big decisions based on anecdotal evidence: this survey.



Full disclosure: My father uses a MacBook and is completely happy with it. I don't use Macs much. I use generic PC hardware which tends to fall over from time to time, mostly because I'm cheap. I hate logical fallacies more than platform wars.

> Implicit in your response is the notion that Apple hardware is somehow so much less reliable than whatever your PC brand of choice is that Macs are unworthy of the slightest consideration.

Not at all. Macs are certainly worth consideration. I'm simply saying that I don't expect that a Mac experience is going to be a flawless one, whether it's a hardware or software problem.

For the most part, Windows XP has worked very, very well for me. System Restore has been absolutely wonderful for getting out of the occasional problem. I like Windows. I want Windows to be better, and this was a serious issue. I'd rather Windows solve it instead of me having to switch to an entire new platform. I'm not there yet :)

Also, as a postscript, I've since applied all the updates and IE7. The problem hasn't come back and seems to have been specific not to the updates or IE7 but a glitch with the actual update process.