XP Pro borked!

[#1]

My XP on Dell OptiPlex G110 seems to have suffered sometime from a batch of M$ updates. It could be the last kick in the teeth from them to get me to update. The OS boots up nicely to the desktop but the HD continues to run continuously preventing much opportunity to do anything useful. When I can get at Task Manager (rarely) , the HD consumes 85-100%of its time and does not appear to stop however long I leave it. I know it is ancient, but there are some things that I want to do with my backed up data which Win 7Pro cannot deal with because I refuse to spend on M$ Word/Access etc.,. I have Libre Office which does most things just as well but I am having difficulty with printing Database stuff which is easy in Win Access. Linux will come next!
I guess that others who have got into this mess and can advise please.

[#2]

As for the M$ Office, they have now got a free online versions, in competition with the likes of google office etc
https://office.live.com/start/default.aspx
Some has suggested turning off the automatic updates for XP as it slows the machine down

[#3]

Why are people still having problems with XP auto microsoft updates? In case you missed the news, there won't be any more new updates for XP. OK if you have any components of Office 2007 or later installed, they could still get new updates.
The fix could be as simple as switching off automatic updates from the Windows Update control panel, reboot, and then going to the Microsoft Update website, and checking for and installing all updates from there. Then switching automatic updates back on from the Windows Update control panel if you want.

[#4]

@ejs
I do not know if yoiu have since seen the thread linke to

Quote from: ReedRichards

The Windows Update problem is a known bug which I have encountered.  There is a fix, here I think http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1923551/cpu-usage-100.html , although I doubt that is associated with the current problem Quote There is a bug MS are currently trying to fix - which causes Windows Update and Automatic Updates under XP to get stuck searching for updates. See: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=2315886... And : http://www.infoworld.com/t/microsoft-windows/microsoft-... Download IE8 for XP - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/internet-explor... Download latest IE8 Security Update: IE8-WindowsXP-KB2898785-x86-ENU.exe http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id... Install both and reboot - Updates should now work. If you don't want to install IE8 you can update your current IE version with the KB2898785 update IE6: WindowsXP-KB2898785-x86-ENU.exe http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id... IE7: IE7-WindowsXP-KB2898785-x86-ENU.exe http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id... I would think the suggestions here http://www.techsupportall.com/solved-print-spooler-error-1068-the-dependency-service-or-group-failed...; to cure the print spooler error look promising, although I cannot vouch for them.

[#5]

This is all very interesting. I had identified that svchost.exe was largely to blame but did not realise that updating was the basic cause. All the advice is to update IE in some respects. I do not use IE at all directly. What do you think that I can do as a possible alternative? I have never let the machine scramble on long enough (3-4hours max so far). It is daunting problem. All I really want to do is to get Win Access 97 and a printer to do some work. I do not mind disconnecting the machine from the Net if it would stop hackers to run riot.

[#6]

Quote from: colintivy

I do not use IE at all directly.

That makes no odds, your computer uses it indirectly. 
I'm not 100% sure the advice I quoted on the other thread is the correct cure but this is a known bug and there is a documented solution. 

[#7]

You can either use the ie8 fix, or do as I did and just completely disable the autoupdate service. Seemed to work.

[#8]

Quote from: ReedRichards

Quote from: colintivy I do not use IE at all directly. That makes no odds, your computer uses it indirectly.

Indeed. Windows explorer uses it to display things such as the sidebar and other bits. Then it is used in many other programs (eg instant messengers).

[#9]

OK. I have downloaded the IE 7 prog from #3 and put it on disc via my Win7 laptop. I tried to get it into XP but it complained that Windows cannot extract the contents. I do have Admin powers. Any clues? I have disabled the Auto Updates (not that there any) in case it helps. All this is a bit cumbersome because the HD running at 100% much of the time does not help with real activity..
C

[#10]

Quote from: colintivy

OK. I have downloaded the IE 7 prog from #3

I hope you mean IE8.

Quote from: colintivy

I have disabled the Auto Updates (not that there any) in case it helps. All this is a bit cumbersome because the HD running at 100% much of the time does not help with real activity..

You probably need to disable the Automatic Updates Service, not just turn off Automatic Updates.  Try running in Safe Mode if you cannot manage 'real activity'.  You'll probably not be able to install anything in Safe Mode but you can fiddle with the settings. 

[#11]

I tied the update for IE8 using the quoted address and it came up with "no longer available" for some reason. I also note that all these updates appear to have the same file reference apart from the Security version.
I will try to disable the AUS stuff if i can find it using Safe mode.

[#12]

Colin. Try downloading ie8 for xp from file hippo. Its still hosted there. The ie8 security update link should work.
If you want to disable,  so to services (services.msc) from the run prompt. Find the autoupdate service and disable it.

[#13]

Sorry for the delay in furthering this thread, been a bit busy with other problems.
I have downloaded Security update ie8 using my laptop and put it on disk as before but have not had time to wait for XP to stop looking for mythical updates. It never pauses long enough to get the file loaded from the disk.  8 hours is the longest so far. How much longer did you have to wait? 

[#14]

you need to boot into safe mode with networking (but unplug the cable) (push F8 on boot and select the safe mode with networking option)
go to control panel, select windows update and then change the settings to "never check for updates" click apply then ok and close the window.
once your back to  the desktop hit start > run > type in "msconfig"
in the popup select the services tab, scroll down to the entry " windows update" and uncheck the box
hit apply then ok and restart
once windows has booted to desktop it should no longer be looking for updates and should now be working normally as a standalone system

[#15]

That looks promising. I have found a snag in that I can get into the safe mode page but my keyboard refuses to communicate with the program. The up/down keys do not function. I seem to remember that when this happened before it was necessary to plug the keyboard into the USB outlet on the computer itself which it is still there. I have tried it in the USB2 hub but that makes no difference. I might add that the keyboard does work normally when XP is up and sort of running.
Another ploy came to mind which could have helped was to use System Restore (my XP is the Prof one) to go to before the end of April so that I could then use the disk with the IE8 stuff in it.
This proved to be not very helpful in that any Restore Point I selected  actually did a lot of churning finding files and saying that  the chosen set-up was being installed but eventually it gave up and said that the process was not possible. In any event the points only let me go back to 4 June 2014 which may be too late. Sadly the machine had its OS installed under a firm's licence and I do not have a disk to reinstall from scratch.