XP hangs (on shutdown + elsewhere) if automatic updates are activa

[Guest David Llewellyn]

After a repair from the SP2 CD, if automatic updates are activated, my French

XP SP2 hangs frequently while doing many functions, and it looks like a

conflict somewhere. The machine is virtually unuseable! The problems seem

mostly random, but the following are systematic:

1. I cannot access the E:\ drive from Windows explorer (the system hangs),

2. the system hangs at shutdown (with no programs running, I click

"démarrer"/"arreter"/"redémarrer", the system starts to shut down, displays

the blue shutdown sceen with message "deconnexion", then the message

"fermeture de Windows" appears and the system hangs. I then have to turn off

the power.

 

If I deactivate Automatic updates from msconfig (click on "Mises à jour

automatique" to clear the tickmark, then reboot) then all the problems

disappear and the machine functions normally. However, many updates are

missing and cannot be installed (they are downloaded, but the initialisation

hangs).

 

Note that if I change the drive letter in disk manager, it is always drive

E:\ that I cannot access, even though it is a different physical drive.

 

I have tried the fixes in kb-943144, but they have had no effect. I suppose

I am going to have to do a new clean installation, then add my applications

one by one until I find the one which conflicts (if indeed there is one).

That is a pain, because I have a lot of applications, (at least a week's

work).

--

David Llewellyn