Windows 2008 Broken After Windows Update

Question

I have two Dell R710 servers running Windows Server 2008. Both of them are scheduled to run Windows updates early on Monday morning. This morning both the servers went down after rebooting. They're failing to start pretty much everything (RDP, IIS etc). Also I can't log onto them in person. They both hang on "Applying User Settings" (I've left them on this screen for around an hour).

I can get onto the machines in safe mode but rolling back the windows updates hasn't worked. I've also tried using last good configuration and removing all third party software.

Answer 1

If rolling back the update doesn't work, your options are quite limited. I would check the Event Logs to see if there are any errors that may indicate what is causing these problems. Whilst it may have been the Windows update that triggered the fault, it my actually lie in another area of system and show different symptoms.

If that doesn't work, or you don't have the time to spend troubleshooting these systems, I would suggest a restore from backup, to before the update was applied.

If this is a fault with the update, you could also try contacting MS support. They may charge you initially for the support call but if its proved its a problem caused by the support call it should be refunded.

Answer 2

Bummer, big time. I had a similar problem years ago with 2003 server right after an update, and it turned out to be a APC UPS driver that was causing the problem - so getting rid of third party software is a good first step. Are you sure you got all of them?