J
Joe Riley
Automatic Update Nightmare
(Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. A possible fix
is appended and I'd appreciate any comments on how safe it is.)
This is not a pretty story....
I bought my mother a new computer for Christmas (running Windows XP
Media Center Edition). I set the computer up, cleaned up the extra
junk that comes with a new computer, and set up her Internet
connection and programs. She lives in the country and has a poor
dial-up connection (typically 24K) so I disabled all software updates
(via Windows Startup Inspector) and turned off Automatic Updates. All
was working flawlessly and the computer was used by various family
members all day. When I shut the computer down that night, there was
a pop-up saying that there were four updates to install. There was no
indication of what they were nor were there any options listed. I hit
the little X to close the pop-up and shut down only to get a message
that the updates would be installed before I could shut down. And
they were.
The next morning I found that security settings had been changed and
the infuriating and idiotic "Information Bar" had been added to
Internet Explorer. I knew how to disable most of its intrusions but
several html-based programs on the computer (e.g., a slideshow
generated by digital camera software) were immune to changed settings
and were almost impossible to run. But that was minor compared to
what happened when I connected to the Internet. After connecting to
the Internet, the connection was essentially hijacked by a continuous
download without any indication of what was being downloaded. It went
on and on and made the connection essentially impossible to use. I
let the download continue, hoping that an update would end and I could
then try to fix things. It kept going and going and going (many
megabytes at 24K ... sigh). I confirmed that the downloading was due
to Automatic Update by scanning with Directory Opus to see what files
were being created. Almost all the files were going to
Windows\software distribution\download with a few small files going to
other directories used by Automatic Update. Many of the files were
duplicates, downloaded again and again, even though Automatic Updates
was (reportedly) disabled. There was no list in Control Panel for any
roll-back but I tried a number of things (system restores, etc.) to no
effect: every time I connected to the Internet, Automatic Update took
over the connection. Since this was the only connection to the
Internet available to me, it wasn't possible to search for possible
fixes. At least email worked so the only thing seemed to be to wait
and hope I could find information later. I kept the time connected to
the Internet to a minimum since there was no telling what Microsoft
was going to do next.
Then it got worse....
Whenever the computer was on, but not connected to the Internet,
Automatic Update would try to open a connection, dialing without
asking or providing any option not to open the connection. If the
connection was closed either during the dial-up attempt or after it
had connection, it would stay quiet for a few minutes and then try
again. If I hadn't been able to see that it was Automatic Update
files that were being created, I would have thought that the computer
came pre-installed with hacked software.
That is where things stand now. I have returned home and I am trying
to find some sort of fix, hopefully one that doesn't require me to
teach my mother how to use regedit....
I have used PCs of various kinds extensively for over 25 years and I
have never been as frustrated or angry as I am now. Mistakes and bugs
happen but I am furious that Microsoft would release a modification of
the operating system that takes over a computer.
My mother is 83, "technologically challenged," and it has taken her
some time to learn how to use a computer. If this were not the case,
I would return the computer and buy her an iMac. And, if Microsoft
goes ahead with its announced plan to make Automatic Update a
requirement eventually, I will disconnect my main computer from the
Internet and my next computer will be a Mac.
=================
I found the following possible fix at
http://www.amset.info/windows/auto-updates.asp and wonder if anyone
knows if this is safe to use (followed by turning off automatic
updates). Quoting from the webpage:
Remove and Reinstall of Automatic Updates
This another batch file that actually removes and reinstalls the
Automatic Update system.
What does it do?
The file stops the "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" and the
Automatic Update service, then removes the Automatic Update system,
the logs and downloaded software files. It then reinstalls the
automatic update system, starts the services and then forcing it to
look for changes.
Copy the text below in to a new notepad document and save it as
reinstall.cmd. Double click on the file to run it.
net stop bits
net stop /s wuauserv
regsvr32 /u wuaueng.dll /s
del /f /s /q %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\*.*
del /f /s /q %windir%\windowsupdate.log
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll /s
net start bits
net start wuauserv
wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow
(Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. A possible fix
is appended and I'd appreciate any comments on how safe it is.)
This is not a pretty story....
I bought my mother a new computer for Christmas (running Windows XP
Media Center Edition). I set the computer up, cleaned up the extra
junk that comes with a new computer, and set up her Internet
connection and programs. She lives in the country and has a poor
dial-up connection (typically 24K) so I disabled all software updates
(via Windows Startup Inspector) and turned off Automatic Updates. All
was working flawlessly and the computer was used by various family
members all day. When I shut the computer down that night, there was
a pop-up saying that there were four updates to install. There was no
indication of what they were nor were there any options listed. I hit
the little X to close the pop-up and shut down only to get a message
that the updates would be installed before I could shut down. And
they were.
The next morning I found that security settings had been changed and
the infuriating and idiotic "Information Bar" had been added to
Internet Explorer. I knew how to disable most of its intrusions but
several html-based programs on the computer (e.g., a slideshow
generated by digital camera software) were immune to changed settings
and were almost impossible to run. But that was minor compared to
what happened when I connected to the Internet. After connecting to
the Internet, the connection was essentially hijacked by a continuous
download without any indication of what was being downloaded. It went
on and on and made the connection essentially impossible to use. I
let the download continue, hoping that an update would end and I could
then try to fix things. It kept going and going and going (many
megabytes at 24K ... sigh). I confirmed that the downloading was due
to Automatic Update by scanning with Directory Opus to see what files
were being created. Almost all the files were going to
Windows\software distribution\download with a few small files going to
other directories used by Automatic Update. Many of the files were
duplicates, downloaded again and again, even though Automatic Updates
was (reportedly) disabled. There was no list in Control Panel for any
roll-back but I tried a number of things (system restores, etc.) to no
effect: every time I connected to the Internet, Automatic Update took
over the connection. Since this was the only connection to the
Internet available to me, it wasn't possible to search for possible
fixes. At least email worked so the only thing seemed to be to wait
and hope I could find information later. I kept the time connected to
the Internet to a minimum since there was no telling what Microsoft
was going to do next.
Then it got worse....
Whenever the computer was on, but not connected to the Internet,
Automatic Update would try to open a connection, dialing without
asking or providing any option not to open the connection. If the
connection was closed either during the dial-up attempt or after it
had connection, it would stay quiet for a few minutes and then try
again. If I hadn't been able to see that it was Automatic Update
files that were being created, I would have thought that the computer
came pre-installed with hacked software.
That is where things stand now. I have returned home and I am trying
to find some sort of fix, hopefully one that doesn't require me to
teach my mother how to use regedit....
I have used PCs of various kinds extensively for over 25 years and I
have never been as frustrated or angry as I am now. Mistakes and bugs
happen but I am furious that Microsoft would release a modification of
the operating system that takes over a computer.
My mother is 83, "technologically challenged," and it has taken her
some time to learn how to use a computer. If this were not the case,
I would return the computer and buy her an iMac. And, if Microsoft
goes ahead with its announced plan to make Automatic Update a
requirement eventually, I will disconnect my main computer from the
Internet and my next computer will be a Mac.
=================
I found the following possible fix at
http://www.amset.info/windows/auto-updates.asp and wonder if anyone
knows if this is safe to use (followed by turning off automatic
updates). Quoting from the webpage:
Remove and Reinstall of Automatic Updates
This another batch file that actually removes and reinstalls the
Automatic Update system.
What does it do?
The file stops the "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" and the
Automatic Update service, then removes the Automatic Update system,
the logs and downloaded software files. It then reinstalls the
automatic update system, starts the services and then forcing it to
look for changes.
Copy the text below in to a new notepad document and save it as
reinstall.cmd. Double click on the file to run it.
net stop bits
net stop /s wuauserv
regsvr32 /u wuaueng.dll /s
del /f /s /q %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\*.*
del /f /s /q %windir%\windowsupdate.log
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll /s
net start bits
net start wuauserv
wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow
Luck ]