Windows update weirdness

[Kando]

I am working on 15 library computers with clean installs of Windows XP with SP2. These are Optiplex GX280's, 512mb ram. There is nothing on them but Windows, Office, Firefox, Ad-aware, Spybot S&D, Spywareblaster, Quicktime and a custom desktop graphic.

The problem is that I can not update Windows.

After the image was installed I opened IE and selected Windows update from the tools menu. The initial update was to have ActiveX installed so the updated Windows update could run. That installed with no problem. The fun began when I went to continue with the updates. I opened up Windows update and selected custom. The progress bar starts moving across the screen and after about 3-4 minutes the window closes. It gives no warning or error message, it is as if I had clicked on the close button.

I thought this was an isolated thing so I went through the process with two other computers. I had the same thing happen. I spoke with DOE technicians and they have never seen this happen.

Any ideas on why this is happening? Or a way to stop it from happening? And how can I update Windows?

Thanks

**Yes, I am using the administrator account.
**There are other computers in the school that do not have this problem.
**The installation was done yesterday.

[Spoiler]

So all of these machines are clones or images of each other? You know that during the update Microsoft looks to see if the S/N is good and not used to copy across machines?

[Kando]

Yeah, I know. The version of Windows is the enterprise version and is used as the basis of ALL the installs used for this school district. It is a legitimate copy and has been used before. The only difference is the drivers for each specific machine.

[Kando]

EUREKA!! It turns out that one of the services, Cisco security agent, was preventing the downloads. It is a new addition to the standard image which is why the other school computers were having no problems. I disabled it and Windows update ran with no problems.

Thanks for reading and catch you next time.

[Spoiler]

Glad to hear that you got it running....

Enjoy!

[stevejohnson1958]

EUREKA!! It turns out that one of the services, Cisco security agent, was preventing the downloads. It is a new addition to the standard image which is why the other school computers were having no problems. I disabled it and Windows update ran with no problems.

Thanks for reading and catch you next time.

I just read this thread...and was going to recommend a firewall security software package or hardware device was probably the culprit...but I'm always a day late and a dollar short.

Glad you got it worked out...