NAS broke Windows Update

[N. Miller]

Not long ago I posted a problem with a broken update:

| Subject: Damn KB890830!!! Arrrrggggghhh.
| Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:03:05 -0700
| Message-ID: <x3n7zrovkmn2$.dlg@msnews.aosake.net>

This AM, the Silverlight updated failed. Same symptoms: Update progress
window started, and suddenly an audible "click", and the power was dumped.
Computer restarted automatically, and ran a disk check for inconsistencies
in the file system. Then Windows popped up a notice that it wanted to report
a serious system failure to Microsoft. And the update was still flagged as
needing to be installed.

While working on some files on my newly installed NAS ("Network Attached
Storage") drive, I noticed a slew of temp folders which should not have been
there. Turns out that they were written by Windows Update! This NAS was
added by the system disk manager to the "Hard Disk Drives" group in the
Windows Explorer. The assigned logical volume was the first unused drive
letter after some USB card reader slots.

Apparently, Windows Update writes temporary files to the last logical HDD
volume. Alas, the NAS logical volume depends on a software manager which
doesn't load immediately after boot; the consequence is a failure of the
update to find its files after a restart.

For the HP Pavilion 6745C, I will swap logical volumes, putting the Temp
volume as the last in the list. I can stop the NAS by dismounting it, then
use the Windows XP Disk Manager to alter the drive letters and paths.
Similar for the HP Pavilion a1440n.

For the HP Pavilion m7590n, things proved a little stickier; I have the
Tversity media server running, and while it was accessing the NAS I couldn't
detach it. I had to temporarily disable the startup group, using 'msconfig',
to keep the mediaserver from launching, then reorder the drive letters.
September will tell if I have succeeded in fixing this problem.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

 

[MowGreen [MVP]]

Re: NAS broke Windows Update

Not long ago I posted a reply to your first post. Did you not see it ?

MowGreen [MVP 2003-2008]
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============



N. Miller wrote:

> Not long ago I posted a problem with a broken update:
>
> | Subject: Damn KB890830!!! Arrrrggggghhh.
> | Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:03:05 -0700
> | Message-ID: <x3n7zrovkmn2$.dlg@msnews.aosake.net>
>
<snip>

 

[N. Miller]

Re: NAS broke Windows Update

On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:53:10 -0700, MowGreen [MVP] wrote:

> N. Miller wrote:

>> Not long ago I posted a problem with a broken update:

>>| Subject: Damn KB890830!!! Arrrrggggghhh.
>>| Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:03:05 -0700
>>| Message-ID: <x3n7zrovkmn2$.dlg@msnews.aosake.net>

> Not long ago I posted a reply to your first post. Did you not see it ?

Would that be this one?

| Message-ID: <e9Y#cev$IHA.1228@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl>

You mentioned that the Malicious Software Removal Tool creates a temp file
on the "root drive" of the computer. I would take that as the "C:\" drive;
but I was getting WUPDATE temp folders on the "L:\" drive.

In my case, the "L:\" drive was created by the Netgear "Storage Central
Manager" utility, and it was assigned drive letter "L:" because that was the
next letter available to the Windows Disk Manager.

BTW, when I ran the KB890830 download from the Desktop on the HP Pavilion
a1440n this A.M., it wrote the files to the "E:\" drive, which *was* the NAS
volume, after reordering the letters. But running from the desktop, it did
not want to force a restart.

To recap: When my HP Pavilion m7590n (and two sister computers) had just
beenset up with the NAS, they had the NAS volume as the last assigned letter
to an disk in the HDD group in Windows Explorer. As follows:

HP Pavilion m7590n (Windows MCE 2005, SP3): Drive L:\
HP Pavilion a1440n (Windows MCE 2005, SP3): Drive K:\
HP Pavilion 6745C (Windows XP HE, SP3): Drive H:\

On all three, with Windows Update set for automatic install, WUPDATE wrote
temp files to "L:\", "K", or "H:\", respectively. For some reason, something
tripped the computer power supply during the run of KB890830, or the
Silverlight 1.0.30716.0 update (this A.M.), which was followed by a system
restart, a file integrity check (presumably because WUPDATE was looking on
"E:\", "D:\", and "F:\", respectively, the last drives viewable after
restart, until the Netgear "Storage Central Manager" utility can load, for
its files, and not finding them).

Hopefully re-ordering the drive letters will alleviate the problem on the
next round of Windows Updates.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.