M$' XP Windows/Micro$haft Update servers failing to do much...

[the86d]

Anyone do any XP updates lately?

They cutting it a bit early?:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/endofsupport.aspx

I have had issues here at work with XP getting stuck on stupid with a clean install while trying to update, and auto-updates saying they are downloading, but never do...

I figured I'd create a XP VM and see if it was a hardware issue, and have a XP VM just in case, but it doesn't appear hardware was the issue. Starts to check for updates, but only gets anything done about 1 hour a day (from what I have seen in the last week) does it work okay, and it appears random.

Closing IE on all machines Virtual or anything during the check (which never ends) doesn't stop the process, or application.

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State

And restarting the update via link on M$ update page returns this netstat:

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP HOST-XP-VM:1131 157.56.96.62:http CLOSE_WAIT
TCP HOST-XP-VM:1132 157.56.96.62:http CLOSE_WAIT
TCP HOST-XP-VM:1133 65.55.58.184:http CLOSE_WAIT

[Peter.Steele]

Huh.

Just the weekend before last I brought home an XP machine from work that's been running since 2004 without having ever been connected to the internet, and ran through every single Windows Update since. No problem. No issues whatsoever.

[pc_load_letter]

Anything in event log?

I've seen Windows XP machines not download updates if the OS had not been activated yet.

Is the OS install disk slipstreamed with SP2? Perhaps you could download the service pack network install file and run that and see if you can get the additional updates after it's run.

[watt79]

I wonder if this is related to the svhost Windows Update bug that Microsoft has been working on resolving.

[stilly]

It is because the XP update is never a straight line. You have to update, reboot, download 4 more updates, install 2, reboot, continue downloading updates, reboot three more times, Etc. So you just have to have the correct combination of actions to make it go smoothly... :\ Like old school shifting on an automatic car with no buttons on the shifter, just catch on things.

[the86d]

I wonder if this is related to the svhost Windows Update bug that Microsoft has been working on resolving.

Yes it appears to be along the lines of this same issue.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-windows_update?sort=lastreplydate&dir=desc&tab=Threads&status=&mod=&modAge=&advFil=&postedAfter=&postedBefore=&threadType=All&tm=1387233507841

Here is the kicker:
I have been using this actual (and many other) XP Pro OEM w/SP3 discs for YEARS. Recently it stopped working, and no updates have been applied from either Automatic Updates, OR Manually via Windows Update, and it is still failing.

I thought it might have been IE6 (WU discontinued support for IE6, I assumed?) that was the issue, but have installed IE8 manually with intermittent results. Today when I get to work (I started YET-ANOTHER yesterday before I left) clean install, so we will see what happens. It it still is an issue, maybe I'll dig up XP Pro SP2 and install SP3 manually and see how that goes.

Like 4 machines AND a VM, all an issue with a clean install. Tried before activation and after.
(My typical process is to install, bring up to SP3, do the first Windows update set [including Genuine advantage installation] until WU tells me I need to activate, activate, then continue updates.
I have had issues sometimes if I activate before doing Windows updates where Windows says it needs to activate, and you log in and then it tells you you need to activate loop and logs me out, if I did it in a different order...)

I never see an error, but get stuck in a loop where updates (Auto-update, OR WinUpdate, OR M$Update tries to talk to their servers [after clicking Express on WU/M$ Update, OR even Custom] and gets nowhere and netstat has ZERO active connections seconds after clicking the WU, or M$Update-links even. Autoupdates MIGHT connect and tell me that some exist, and when it tries to D/Load them is MIGHT start 5-25% then stop and start over at 0%, OR might stay at 0%...

EDIT: This finally irked me enough to install VirtualBox here on my home-rig too. Easy restore if an update whacks it out. I'll do the same at work, and back-rev WHEN it flips to see where the problem lies...and WAY quicker than a "Ghost".

[Quiet]

FYI.
2014 will be the last year Microsoft will support XP.
No more updates after 2014.

[the86d]

FYI.
2014 will be the last year Microsoft will support XP.
No more updates after 2014.

Which is why I need a VM with updates applied, however is not 2014... yet.

Edit: It appears that even IE8, upon install is failing to pull updates.

[stonith3901]

C:\windows\windowsupdate.log should give you enough information to figure out what is going on with windows update related items.

[the86d]

C:\windows\windowsupdate.log should give you enough information to figure out what is going on with windows update related items.

I have installed XP probably 250+ times on various machines for people, over the years... NEVER in the YEARS of XP being out have I ever had to check logs for Windows update issues. Thanks for the info on that file. I never knew it existed, as I have never needed to know of it's existence, until NOW.

[sdkevin]

.. I forgot XP is getting shut down tonight, I have one new laptop that is a downloading fool right now..