Application popup: svchost.exe - Application Error : The instruction at
"0x745f2780" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The memory could not be
"read".
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This happened on only two out of ~380 systems back after the August 2006
patch day, but now it is happening on three dozen more of them after
September 2006 patch day. Everytime I think I have figured out what might
be the problem, another system and some more testing blows my current
working hypothesis out of the water.
The only common point is that I point AU to a central WSUS
server and I will point out I never had these errors or these problems
before SP1 was applied to the WSUS server this summer and thus the wuau*.*
client files were updated to version 5.8.0.2607, instead of the usual
5.8.0.2469 version I never had a problem with. However, everyone on these
groups are always quick to defend WSUS SP1 and say there is no possible way
it is the cause of the problems, but then I have yet to find any of them
ever reply with any hint of what the actual cause of these errors are nor
provide a solution.
When does this error happen? Sometimes the popup will even show *before* a
user login, but usually a person logs on soon after the boot up at which
point it appears to be the case that it is happening a few seconds after
logon.
In any case, one interesting thing to note is to NOT click on the "Send
error report" nor the "Don't send", because once one does, the system
pretty much locks up to the point of being useless and a hard hold-down-
the-power-button reboot is really all that can be done. If one just leaves
that error box up, though, the system can still be used.
If one sees the automatic updates yellow taskbar icon and installs the
pending updates, on most systems they will install, but on a few the first
update just hangs and again all you can do is a hard reboot. Here's the
kicker, doesn't matter which patch is the first patch AU will install, at
least I've ruled out three of the seven pending updates so far.
Also, not every system that gets the initial svchost error will hang or
error on installing the pending AU updates. Some do hang on installing
whatever the first pending update is and a hard reboot is all that can be
done at that point. Some were left as long as 5 hours with no change, so I
think we can assume that is an infinite loop condition. Now, on some
where the initial svchost error box was closed, sometimes the system is
responsive enough to still try to install the pending AU updates, but then
the first patch throws another svchost error and things are again locked
up and waiting for a hard reboot.
Note that these are systems which were fully patched before the August
patches and now before the September patches. These systems already had
the ancient KB894391 patch installed and I even tried to install it again,
anyway, even though clearly that shouldn't be applicable nearly a year
later. Oddly, although a reboot after installing it on a system that
already had it didn't throw the svchost error upon boot, when I went to
install the pending AU patches, the first one then caused the svchost
error and... hard reboot time.
Now, what *appears* to have helped me dig my way out of this, although I
can't see how this really was any actual solution, but someone had
mentioned on one of the posts that they were having the same svchost
errors starting last month also connecting to a WSUS SP1 server and by not
approving Office-related patches it cleared things up. Well, that also
*appears* to have helped me as well, once I no longer approved the
Publisher 2003 patch nor the Outlook Junk Mail update. Note that some of
these problem systems do have Publisher 2003, others do not, although just
having Office 2003 installed at all will make the Publisher 2003 available
in AU.
Helped in that the initial svchost error no longer is coming up, based on
a few more systems I visited after making that change. However, these
systems had *already* downloaded those Office updates anyway and had them
pending to install. So, as was the case before, some systems they install
and on others the first update - whichever update happens to be first on
the list -throws the svchost error.
Again, no repeatable logic I have been able to find, I just go to each
system and it behaves differently. The only solution is to install the
updates manually either from the individual downloads or to go to
Microsoft Updates through IE. That of course defeats the entire purpose
of Automatic Updates, WSUS or no WSUS. I'm going to take some of the
systems and no longer point them to the WSUS SP1 server and we'll see if
next month when patch day comes whether they are saved from these issues.
Given that the same svchost error above has happened after two different
patch days, it stands to reason this will happen again on some systems
next month too.
(Disclaimer: Yes, I typed this really fast and didn't proof-read it, I
would if I didn't have all of these systems to patch manually because AU
is useless on them.)
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