Sudden unexplained network wide Windows 2000 pro problems...

[qp]

Weird, this morning a bunch of Win 2K users (we have a few 9x, but mostly XP Pro, and a few Win 2K) were reporting blue screens (at first I was like oh no BSOD!), but actually their computers were just sitting there after login, but before the desktop appears.

After much digging, adaware installing etc I found out a few things
- I could bring up task manager and end the explorer.exe process and relaunch it and get in
- I could usually unplug the network cables first and then get in (logging in from the cached account)
- if I renamed the file wualcts.exe, the system would complain, but then would work fine the next restart (apart from the wualcts.exe not found message) - this process is not found in a google search and was hogging the clock cycles on those workstations

So as a workaround i've renamed the file on affected machines, I assume wualcts.exe has something to do with Windows Update, and one of them is currently downloading SP4 and every other update to see if that will correct the problem.

Our NC consultant doesn't even know what could be causing this!

[Exodor]

wualcts.exe is the Windows Update Client


I noticed my machine at home installed an update last night - I wonder if MS has updated their Update software? Are you machines updating automatically overnight?

[qp]

I thought it must be something to do with that, thanks for the link. Obviously MS has just changed Windows update in the past 24 hours and f'd up all my 2K boxes.

Lol wonder if I just spelled it wrong the first time...no wonder google never found it.

[LordMortis]

My XP crashed a couple of programs last night while just getting the message that something was to be updated.