Windows XP forum: Auto update not working on XP home edition after virus

Given staying at SP2 does open the door to known exploits in this old OS, I always like to hear folk's reasons for not staying current. Well, 4 years ago it was out, so you've had plenty of time to get it done.
Bob

Thanks for that. I tried to run the windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe package as it suggested and that reported it failed.

Further down the page it reports a manual method of registering wups2.dll. After successfully registering tried to restart the service and it failed. Came back with error 2185, which the help guide reports is it tried to start a service that is not configured on this system.

Does this mean that whatever infected the machine has wiped out the whole service? Is a restore required?

Thanks.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=wups2+error+2185

Here it hits the solved item in a XP forum. Looks like trojan damage to me.

BTW, this sort of damage can overtax the usual support and if you didn't save your files, and if you didn't save your files to 2 or more places you often read the owner lost it all.
Bob

Might wish to point out that Microsoft stopped supporting XP SP2 in all forms as of July 13, 2010.

Here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/products/lifecycle

Scroll down the page to see when SP2 support ended.

SP3 is needed before additional updates can be gotten for your system. Certainly, getting hit with an infection did not help you either.

The laptop had been with a friend for a while which is why it hadn't been updated to SP3.

Managed to fix the issue. Followed this link: http://msmvps.com/blogs/athif/archive/2006/04/05/Re-Installing-WUA.aspx


Many thanks for all who took the time to answer.

Glad you found the answer.

Too bad the OP in Bob's link in the other post did not know or was able to find this solution for this.

You can download the SP3 .exe file from here and save some time in updating this or any other machine you may have that is still at SP2 or earlier: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24

Disconnect from the internet for the duration of the SP3 install.

Put this file in a new folder you name and create on the root of the Windows drive. Turn off a/v and firewalls before starting, if third-party firewall, uninstall, as SP3 will update and make default the Windows Firewall. Conflict will arise if a third-party firewall is running. System will likely freeze or stall on reboot.

Disable firewall and reboot to ensure it is not running. Uninistall if third-party. Get new copy of firewall if third and disable Windows Firewall before installing. Reboot after disabling Windows Firewall. Reboot after installing third-party firewall.