windows update failing

chipp

This is on machines at my place of work. They are unsupported by the corporate IT dept because we dared to buy Win7 machines rather than go for XP ones with about 512k RAM that were available through official routes at a much higher price. In the 18 months we have had the machines they have been fine. They are set up to give all users (volunteers) their own profile (we hot desk).

Win updates started failing 14 Sept, initially microsoft security essentials updates. I know there are arguments for and against all the different AV packages, we went for MSE because it's unobtrusive and doesn't require anyone to do anything. I checked the computers to see whether anyone had installed any new programs but there didn't seem to be anything untoward, however that's not to say we haven't picked up something nasty.

I brought the machines home and the updates successfully downloaded and installed in almost less time than it took to plug the machines in, but now the next batch of updates are failing. Our BB speed isn't brilliant but BBMAX generally indicates around 2Mbps, ample time to download the necessary updates during anyone's "shift". I managed to download MBAM from CNET but was blocked from updating the definitions. A scan using out of date definitions revealed nothing.

Whilst there may be some spyware or a virus present (and I think I'll have to bring the machines home again in order to check this and deal with it if necessary), the fact that I was able to do the microsoft updates from home suggests to me that something in the corporate domain has started blocking our updates, but I'd appreciate a second opinion.

Writing this from home on my own machine because the corporate firewall or whatever it is prevents me from viewing this forum :wall:

WTFH

OK, they may have blocked certain websites/access. Do you all have admin rights on the machines?

As for anti-virus scans, try running housecall, it's a free online one from Trend Micro:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/index.html

chipp

None of the profiles have admin rights except the admin account, which isn't passworded (but will be with the pwd known only to the manager & me once I get the machines sorted!). I have been logged in as admin when I've been trying to force the downloads, but MS updates should happen regardless. We routinely suffer from the line "dropping out" and although an interrupted download should pick up where it left off when the connection comes back, I did wonder if the machines had been left in some sort of "undefined state", so I rolled back to a restore point from before they started failing, to no avail.

The likelihood is that trendmicro will be blocked in the office along with anything else useful, however when I bring the machines home and after I've updated them with everything microsoft thinks they should have, I'll follow the suggestions in one of the virus/spyware stickies on this board.

In the meantime can anyone come up with a logical reason why MS updates won't download or run when going through the official domain but they will when I bring the machines home?

TheSaint_2

They probably uses a wsus server on the lan, and have then blocked windows update at your proxy (do you have a proxy?). There is a registry setting to point your win 7 machines at the wsus, but if you are using xp corporately they may not be keeping the 7 updates on your wsus server. You are going to have to talk to your it dept I'm afraid.

chipp

I don't know if we have a proxy. If it's a case of asking someone I doubt I could find anyone who knows, so I hope it's something the machines will tell me if I can be given instructions to follow. And will the registry setting be on the modem at our shop? I can't see how it can be on the machines because they update OK elsewhere. But thanks TheSaint, I think you've put in technical terms what I suspected but didn't have the words for.

I'll try finding someone in IT support who's more than a first-line call-handler and quote what you've written, but I don't think I'll get very far because it's already been suggested we should down-spec the machines to the corporate norm. I think most things IT are outsourced to a company or individuals who do things on the fly and on the cheap, they certainly don't undertake a full analysis first. And sat in their ivory towers the powers that be probably don't have a clue that microsoft are ceasing support for XP in a matter of months.

Sooler

The install of the updates hangs?

Go into task manager and stop spoolsv.exe

chipp

the download hangs, after spending several hours reaching a few percent.