error code 0x80004002

[Rainer]

Due to filesystem check errors at boot time, I had to repair my windows xp
installation using a windows xp / SP2 DVD. The repair was done successfully.
Since that time I cannot update my pc from our local windows update server
any longer: the error displayed in windowsupdate.log is
-----
2006-12-15 14:52:05:638 844 e24 Misc =========== Logging initialized
(build: 7.0.5451.90, tz: +0100) ===========
2006-12-15 14:52:05:638 844 e24 Misc = Process:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
2006-12-15 14:52:05:638 844 e24 AUClnt FATAL: Error: 0x80004002. wuauclt
handler: failed to spawn COM server
2006-12-15 14:52:05:638 412 d08 Handler FATAL: 0x80004002: ERROR: Remote
update handler container process created (PID: 844), but exited before
signaling event
2006-12-15 14:52:05:842 412 d08 Agent * WARNING: Exit code = 0x80004002
-----
Following the hints given in this discussion group I tried
net.exe stop wuauserv
regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll
regsvr32.exe wups.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
regsvr32.exe MSXML3.dll
net.exe start wuauserv
without success.
Rebooting the system did not help.
Then I reinstalled SP2 again and repeated what I had done before, also
without success.
Now there are about 65 patches waiting for installation. What can I do else?

[NewScience]

When you do a repair on Windows XP, the repair process only initializes your
system based on the repair information. All other information is removed.

The Update service has been modified since SP2. Keys have been added to the
registry and/or replaced.

First check if the Automatic Updates and BITS is set to be Automatic and are
both started in SERVICE.MSC. If not, start them and try update.

If still error:

First this is what I'd do (since you already re-registered the support
DLLS):

1. Stop services Automatic Updates and BITS in SERVICES.MSC
2. Remove the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder ... the whole thing.
It will be re-created automatically by Windows/Microsoft update.
3. Remove the BITS data files under C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\*.dat
4. Clean out all Event Viewer logs (EVENTVWR.MSC)

The following key may be screwed up:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SvcHost
in the right panel, there is an entry for netsvcs.
Double click on it and make sure that BITS and wuauserv are both in the list
(scroll all the way down).

If they are missing, add them separately on a line to themselves

Reboot.

Check Services and see if Automatic Update and BITS are started. Both
should be set to Automatic.

"Rainer" <Rai...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AE5229F3-F46E-40EE...@microsoft.com...

[Rainer]

Hello NewScience,

thanks for your hints. Unfortunately, they did not solve the problem: The same
error message as before is written to WindowsUpdate.log. Switching from our
local WSUS-Server to Microsoft using the automatic update web pages also
did not help. This lead to error 0x80244018, to which you can find some
disappointing notes in this newsgroup.

Unfortunately, I need the computer as a tool to do my job. So at last I have
downloaded the 60 necessary patches and installed them manually. This, of
course, did not solve the general update problem. So I am still interested in
any useful hints.