system hangs when windows update runs

[Force Flow]

This is the second bizarre windows update-related issue I've come across out of two windows vista laptops I've serviced in the past few months. This one is a Dell Inspiron 1525.

(first one went unsolved here: "unknown error" for windows update on vista )

The complaint was that the whole system hung and became unresponsive after about 15-20 minutes of use. I determined that as soon as the windows update icon appeared in the system tray, the system hung.

So, I disabled windows update, and the system had no problem running for hours.

If I ran windows update manually, it would list the available updates, but as soon as I hit "install", the system hung.

Setting windows update back to automatic hung the system when windows update ran.


The laptop was running SP1, which I upgraded to SP2 with an distributable installer.


There are no error messages in the event log.

The only way to escape the system hang is to hold in the power button. None of the open windows will close/terminate, the start menu won't open, and ctrl+alt+del does nothing.


The system is clean...no malware/spyware/viruses. HJT log reveals nothing out of the ordinary.



Any ideas?

[Iamjosh]

FF I remember reading somewhere about certain driver conflicts with Vista and it did involve Dell. I also rememeber that the only solution was to leave it with SP1 only as an upgrade to SP2 would cause issues and a system halt.

The only way is to uninstall those specific updates and then through the process of elimination find which specific update causes this problem.

[Force Flow]

The machine ran fine under SP1, and it runs fine under SP2...that is, until windows update runs.

Happen to know where you heard about this from?


Dell doesn't have any driver updates newer than 2008 for this laptop.

[Iamjosh]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Dell Inspiron 1525.

Sorry I edited my post while you replied.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by Iamjosh Sorry I edited my post while you replied.

Ditto

[rjfvillarosa]

Force. Are there any driver updates in the list? especially wireless card (Atheros) updates?

[Force Flow]

Well, I'd tell you if I could, except now it's hanging when I go to manually check for updates.

It might have included those updates, but I'm not entirely sure without being able to see the list again.

[rjfvillarosa]

Can you "System Restore" back to the previous Winblows updates? or even just before the last updates?

[Force Flow]

Nope, system restore didn't help. Must've started happening further back than system restore went.

Ok, guess this looks like nuke & pave time

[rjfvillarosa]

Try starting in SafeMode and see if you can recognize what point it hangs at from the file list on the screen.

[Force Flow]

Nothing wrong with safe mode. No hangs.

In any case, I went with a nuke & pave since it was a simple config.

Thanks guys