Microsoft to fix Windows XP update SVCHOST redline issue “soon”

Topic

New Reply

Not quite crystal clear.InfoWorld Tech Watch
[See the full post at: Microsoft to fix Windows XP update SVCHOST redline issue “soon”]

Reply | Quote

Replies

Woody,

THANKS for this quick & clear news
on the XP Updates problem
we are all having.

Also appreciate the fairness and humor,
in your linked InfoWorld article.
I respect you even more that.

Finally, Woody sayeth:
“…Those of you who have written to me and expressed a Dexter-like rage at the people inside Microsoft who caused their machines to keep churning for hours on end…”.

Yes…I think I qualify

I’ll wait for the promised critical fix
from MS’ Doug Neal.

Pls keep us posted!
Again, thanks Woody.
You are doing a GREAT job.

SFer

Reply | Quote

The machines I know of that were affected all had IE8. In addition, the problem affected not only XP systems, but the 32-bit versions of 2003 Server as well. It’s been increasing in frequency over the last several months – about the same time it started taking a heck of a long time to get updates manually thru the Windows Update shortcut in the Start menu. Perhaps if Microsoft had released a 4th service pack a year or two ago it would have set a new baseline for subsequent hot fixes. Maybe that bit of effort on their part would have spared them the venom being spat at them now.

Reply | Quote

I’m yet to be convinced that Microsoft have really found the cause of this problem.

Until then to avoid this problem you either need to disable Automatic Updates via the icon in the Control Panel or manually download and install the LATEST Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer. The Automatic Updates process uses the Internet Explorer engine even if you have a different default browser installed.

The secret is to install the LATEST Cumulative Security Update for your version of Internet Explorer. This appears to block the search for any further IE updates and so avoids the update bug. This is a recurring problem so the current latest versions change each month.

A Google search will find the latest: Cumulative+Security+Update+for+Internet+Explorer

The latest updates are dated November 2013 (as of writing this). Download and install the update that corresponds with your currently installed version of Internet Explorer:

IE6: WindowsXP-KB2888505-x86-ENU.exe
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41064

IE7: IE7-WindowsXP-KB2888505-x86-ENU.exe
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41071

IE8: IE8-WindowsXP-KB2888505-x86-ENU.exe
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41074

Reply | Quote

DougCuk’s solution solved the problem for me on two XP machines that I had been updating successfully for years (*not* via Automatic Updates). However, on my most recent update attempts, Windows was interminably “Checking for the latest updates”, and Task Manager showed svchost consuming most of the machines’ resources.

Manually installing the latest IE8 update took care of the problem on both both of my XP computers — the checking now only takes a couple of minutes. Kudos to DougCuk for this solution, and thanks also for the links.

Reply | Quote

Woody is Safe to go a head and update that Above

The(IE8-WindowsXP-KB2888505-x86-ENU) on my Machine.!! As I’ve mentioned in the past I’m on Windows XP SP3 Home addition..

If you think it’s Safe to go ahead and update it I will proceed.

Thanks. For your Time.. Ron

Reply | Quote

@Ron –

Easiest is to hang on until I give the all-clear for this month’s patches. There aren’t any “must-have” patches at the moment.

Reply | Quote

Woody,

Any news from Doug Neal at MICROSOFT,
on the definitive FIX
for the XP Windows Update problem?

I still cannot update my XP sp3 32 bit,
since **last month **…
It just says: “checking for updates”, forever.

thks for any news…

Reply | Quote

@XP –

I haven’t heard a thing.

Reply | Quote

Doug Cuk’s solution also solved my problems on 2 xp machines with a new install. I looked for 2 days on different forums, none of the fixes worked (even the microsoft Fixit) until I found your site with Doug’s fix. Now both machines are working great, like above, only takes a couple of minutes to see what updates are available. Thanks again Doug!
BillW

Reply | Quote

Microsoft released a new “Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer” on 10th December 2013. But they have NOT yet fixed the XP update bug – So we are back to the same problem again!!

Same temporary fix as before:
Manually download and install the LATEST Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer – KB2898785

For Windows XP 32bit here are the direct download links:

IE8: IE8-WindowsXP-KB2898785-x86-ENU.exe
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41404

IE7: IE7-WindowsXP-KB2898785-x86-ENU.exe
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41442

IE6: WindowsXP-KB2898785-x86-ENU.exe
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41458

MS13-097: KB2898785
Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer: December 10, 2013
For full version listing see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms13-097

Microsoft said they intended to fix this problem by pruning the IE updates database so that only the key Cumulative updates were offered when a search was initiated – this didn’t happen in time for the November updated as intended – and obviously has not happened in time for the December update either!

Reply | Quote

@Doug –

Yep, I just posted on InfoWorld on this very topic.

Reply | Quote