windows update fails

[laserblazer]

This happens on both of our 2003 servers. It gets to the "Updates are being Prepared and Downloaded" hangs for a few minutes then fails. I've tried all of the fixes MS suggest. XP machines appear to be ok, although they sometimes blip a bit.

[kmount]

Have you checked out the proxy settings to make sure they are allowed access to pull down .exe's etc?

 

Do you have WSUS at the site you could set up for your boxes to use, that way you have a single place to troubleshoot/look at downloading from the outside and you control what goes out to your boxes and save some bandwidth from them all going to the internet.

[laserblazer]

Proxy settings haven't changed and they are the same as the XP machines that do work. It was whilst I started planning WSUS that I noticed it. I don't know if it's a good idea to use WSUS until I've got this sorted.

 

I let it run its course and it has installed a Powerpoint viewer update but nothing else!

Edited March 13, 2010 by laserblazer

[mac_shinobi]

not sure if its the same on a windows server as it is on an xp box, on an xp box you can stop the automatic update service and either rename / delete the software distribution folder ( generally inside the windows or system32 directory ) and then restart the service, not sure if that will make it worse or not but if you rename the directory and see if re creating it helps, if not you can always delete the newly created one and rename the original one back to what it was.

[kmount]

If it pulled *something* down it's kind of working so that to me rules out BITS etc.

 

Have you had a butchers in the log?

 

How to read the Windowsupdate.log file

[laserblazer]

I disabled auto updates and a manual update is sort of working on both servers. Some updates are going through and some are failing. I've left it to get on with it and I'll check the logs o Monday.

[kmount]

Is it the same updates on both failing?

 

Could be the filename getting picked up on the filter maybe?

 

Or dodgy internet connection corrupting the files during download so crc check fails.

[laserblazer]

not sure if its the same on a windows server as it is on an xp box, on an xp box you can stop the automatic update service and either rename / delete the software distribution folder ( generally inside the windows or system32 directory ) and then restart the service, not sure if that will make it worse or not but if you rename the directory and see if re creating it helps, if not you can always delete the newly created one and rename the original one back to what it was.

 

This seems to have been the problem. Once I worked out how to completely shutdown the automatic update I was able to remove the corrupted database in SoftwareDistribution.iIt built itself a new one and seems fine now