Thanks for the info! I've opted out of Microsoft Updates as you and PA Bear have suggested. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything works normally tomorrow!
wuaudt.exe is really bogging down my computer
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Anonymous
Recently, when I first start my computer for the day, wuaudt.exe runs and really bogs down my computer. In Task Manager it shows it is using a lot of memory along with one of the many svchost.exe's that are running. I had my computer set up to notify me when updates are available. I have investigated this problem and found about the only thing to do is disable automatic updates altogether. I have turned off Automatic Updates, unchecked Automatic Updates under the Services tab in msconfig and in services.msc I have set Automatic Updates to manual. This seems to keep wuaudt.exe from running. I read in one place that Microsoft issues updates on the first and third Tuesday's of each month so I plan on doing manual updates at those times. Does anyone know why wuaudt.exe is suddenly such a memory hog? It only seems to be a problem the first time I time turn my computer on (I turn it off when not in use to save electricity). If I shut it off and restart it later in the day, there is not a performance problem. I have a Dell Dimension 5100C, Windows XP Pro SP3, 512 MB RAM, Pentium 4 3.00 Ghz processor.
I would like to be able to be notified of critical updates when they are issued but I don't want wuaudt.exe running every day if it is going to bog me down. Any ideas?
Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures
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Anonymous
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
Update: Due primarily to exchanges with several MS MVPS on the behalf of users like you, Microsoft is aware of and has acknowledged the issue:
"We have gotten reports from multiple sources and consider this to be a live service issue and we are investigating it as a Priority 1."
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) ~ MS MVP (IE, Mail, Security, Windows & Update Services) since 2002 ~ Disclaimer: MS MVPs neither represent nor work for Microsoft
163 additional answers
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Anonymous
2010-08-05T22:20:43+00:00 Maybe I am too optimistic. However:
1) 12 hrs ago I renamed C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore
2) Restarted my PC
3) Now - 12 hrs later - still no problem! I am optimistic!
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore has been recreated automatically and apparantly everything works fine. Cannot recall how I got the idea, but surely Google has something to do with it...
I'LL BE BACK! That is, if problems return....
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Anonymous
2010-08-04T17:22:45+00:00 I have experienced the same symptoms as tedley318. The process name is wuauclt.exe so I expect it to be legitimate.
Windows update starts at least once a day and uses a lot of memory (relative to my 512mb). In fact my PC is non-responsive for at least 30 min.!! Any suggestions on how to avoid this?
It may the a conflict with the installed antivirus/security suite; it may be an issue with the updating database log; it may be an issue with the updating components being damaged or not installed properly.
Which edition of Windows is installed ? I ask because the updating components can be reset but the system should be configured to Clean boot first so that no 3rd party software will interfere with the reset process -
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista and Windows 7
How to configure Windows XP to start in a clean boot state
NOTE: All 3rd party firewalls will be Disabled in the Clean boot state. Open Control Panel > Windows Firewall to ensure that the native Windows firewall is now On.
After the system has been configured to Clean boot, go here - How do I reset Windows Update components?
Download and save the Fixit. Do not run it while the browser is open, please.
When the download completes close all open programs and browsers.
Now run MicrosoftFixit50202.msi and restart the system when it's finished it's operations. Reboot.
Does the process issue still exist while in the Clean boot state ? If not, then undo the Clean boot configuration steps, restart.
Does the process issue still exist in normal Windows mode ?
MowGreen Update Services - Consumer Security
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Anonymous
2010-08-04T16:33:48+00:00 I have experienced the same symptoms as tedley318. The process name is wuauclt.exe so I expect it to be legitimate.
Windows update starts at least once a day and uses a lot of memory (relative to my 512mb). In fact my PC is non-responsive for at least 30 min.!! Any suggestions on how to avoid this?