wuaudt.exe is really bogging down my computer

Anonymous
2010-08-03T18:57:06+00:00

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
2010-08-22T19:22:13+00:00

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!

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Anonymous
2010-08-20T19:29:09+00:00

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-09-05T13:26:26+00:00

    Following this thread with much interest because my own (fairly old!) laptop has been struggling with the same problem.

    Can anyone advise me on this question, please: if I change from Microsoft Update to Windows Update, will Windows Defender still get updated?

    Any info on this very gratefully received!

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-09-03T05:49:53+00:00

    Very good. With Windows Update as your default update source now (vs. Microsoft Update), most WinXP users don't encounter the behavior being discussed in this thread.

    See this post of mine for a few tips & caveats:  http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu/thread/ef18ff87-db7f-4705-8105-33dcf9a9a03b/#44e80262-9a91-4ddb-9770-63810962cb8c

    That being said, Norton and McAfee applications are notorious for not uninstalling (or upgrading) cleanly. Executing the following steps may make things even better on your end:

    1a. Download the Norton Removal Tool, saving it to your desktop: ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe

    1b. Download the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool, saving it to your desktop:http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe 

    1. Close all open applications (i.e., anything with an icon on the taskbar).
    2. Double-click on the file you saved in #1a above to run the utility. Don't TOUCH your keyboard until the run completes, then reboot.
    3. Double-click on the file you saved in #1b above to run the utility. Don't TOUCH your keyboard until the run completes, then reboot.
    4. OPTION A: Uninstall AVG & reboot, then do a fresh install of AVG: This time select the CUSTOM install option and do NOT install (i.e., uncheck) Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active Surf-Shield, Security toolbar [none of which are IE8-compatible IMHO], or any of the email scanning components.

       • Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email 

       http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htm

    OPTION B: Uninstall AVG & reboot, then install Microsoft Security Essentials (free):http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

    1. Open Internet Explorer (only) to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058 & run the Fix It in DEFAULT mode.
    2. Reboot & test.

    OPTIONAL:

    1. Open Internet Explorer (only) to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058 & run the Fix It in AGGRESSIVE mode. [1]
    2. Reboot & test again.
    
[1] Full Disclosure: Running the Fix It in AGGRESSIVE mode will delete your Update History but not the list of installed updates in Add/Remove Programs.

* * *

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) ~ MS MVP (IE, Mail, Security, Windows & Update Services) since 2002 ~ Disclaimer: MS MVPs neither represent nor work for Microsoft

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-09-03T00:00:45+00:00

    Oops, on question 2, I meant SP3 is installed on my XP (Home edition, btw)

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