On decommissioning of update servers for 2000, XP, (and Vista?) as of July 2019

[LonghornXP]

2 hours ago, Dave-H said:

Thanks.
BITS was already on Manual.
I've now put the Automatic Updates service to Manual too, although as you say, it starts anyway.
A pity that XP does not have the 'delayed start' option of later Windows versions.

"automatic (delay start)" is only available in Vista or later

[NotHereToPlayGames]

I use this to delay startup of programs and services.  I use version 3.0, unsure if there has been any new updates and don't subscribe to "newer is better" so I'm at v3.0.

[AstroSkipper]

2 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

I use this to delay startup of programs and services.  I use version 3.0, unsure if there has been any new updates and don't subscribe to "newer is better" so I'm at v3.0.

I use Glarysoft's Quick Startup. It has a delayed startup feature too. Very good tool and afaik more recent. But it has to be a less recent version because the more recent one are a bit annoying. It' s very often the same with software versions. The more recent, the more worse. If wanted I can upload this version.

[Dave-H]

Thanks @AstroSkipperand @NotHereToPlayGames.

I already use Startup Delayer version 3.0 to delay some other things which cause the boot to be very slow if they're not delayed, but it doesn't seem to be able to delay the start of services, only startup programs. Please tell me if I'm missing something!
I will have a look at the other option and see if delaying the Automatic Updates and BITS services with that makes the errors go away.
If it works I may well use that program instead of Startup Delayer for the other functions too.
Cheers, Dave.

 

[Dave-H]

@AstroSkipper

I had a look at the current version of Glarysoft's Quick Startup.
It doesn't seem to be able to delay system services, the 'delay' option appears to be greyed out on all of them.
If you have an earlier version which might work better, I'd love to try it.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

23 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

I already use Startup Delayer version 3.0 to delay some other things which cause the boot to be very slow if they're not delayed, but it doesn't seem to be able to delay the start of services, only startup programs.

Ah yes, right you are.

It has a Services Tab (which I don't actually use) so I assumed it could delay services, my bad.

I use it for programs because my OCD "must" have the systray icons in the same EXACT place every reboot.  

[AstroSkipper]

19 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

I had a look at the current version of Glarysoft's Quick Startup.
It doesn't seem to be able to delay system services, the 'delay' option appears to be greyed out on all of them.
If you have an earlier version which might work better, I'd love to try it.

AFAIK there is a general problem to delay system and application services in Windows XP which means this feature isn't supported. In my case I never needed it. But  I had a look into my installed version and you're absolutely right. No chance of delaying system and application services in Windows XP. But anyway, Glarysoft's Quick Startup in version 5.10.1.143 is great and does its job very well. 

Edited April 3, 2022 by AstroSkipper
correction

[Dave-H]

12 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Ah yes, right you are.

It has a Services Tab (which I don't actually use) so I assumed it could delay services, my bad.

I use it for programs because my OCD "must" have the systray icons in the same EXACT place every reboot.  

Yes, that 'Services' tab is very inviting, but of course is purely informational!
For your systray icons, I can well recommend @ntfoxy's SysTrayUtil.
I used to use Tray Factory, which isn't free, but this is simpler and better I think!
Make sure you have the latest version of the dll (read through the thread) and you will need to probably manually add and tweak its registry entry.
Now I've got it the way I want it, it works flawlessly!

[Dave-H]

On 4/3/2022 at 4:46 AM, RainyShadow said:

@Dave-H

Set the "Automatic updates" and "BITS" services to manual instead of automatic startup. They usually get started anyways, but hopefully this will give more time to your proxy to get running before the first check. 

In Event viewer logs what is (roughly) the time between the "service entered running state" event for AU and that error you get?

I just noticed I forgot to answer this, sorry!
I appears that the start time of the AU and BITS services are not logged in the Windows Event Viewer, so I can't tell how long after that the error message appears.

[AstroSkipper]

16 hours ago, Dave-H said:

I appears that the start time of the AU and BITS services are not logged in the Windows Event Viewer, so I can't tell how long after that the error message appears.

Although the delayed start of services isn't supported there is a way to still start them delayed. Disable services AU and BITS, then create following batch file:
@echo off
ping localhost -n 60 > nul
sc start "wuauserv"
sc start "bits"
exit
The bold number is the time in seconds to delay the start of both services. Copy code, create a batch file, for example StartWU.bat, insert code and store it. Then add this file to your autostart or start it as a task. Restart your system. When you finished your Windows XP session, you can execute a second batch StopWU.bat with this code manually or automatically while or before shutdown:
@echo off
sc config "wuauserv" start= disabled
sc stop "wuauserv"
sc config "bits" start= disabled
sc stop "bits"
exit
Try different values for bold number to find best time for delaying. Have fun!

Edited April 5, 2022 by AstroSkipper
addition

[RainyShadow]

3 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

When you finished your Windows XP session, you can execute a second batch StopWU.bat with this code manually or automatically:

This may be useful https://www.windows-help-central.com/windows-shutdown-script.html

[Dave-H]

Thanks both, I'll give that a try and let you know!
I'm still not certain that the services starting before HTTPSProxy has started is the cause of the error messages, but this should prove it one way or the other.
Just one query, why would i need a second batch file to stop the services if I'm shutting down anyway?

[AstroSkipper]

1 hour ago, Dave-H said:

Just one query, why would i need a second batch file to stop the services if I'm shutting down anyway?

I didn't test my code yet. I just wrote it and it should work. The StopWU.bat is meant to disable both services before shutting down system. Once you want to start your system again, both services should be disabled, otherwise they would start as usual.
I did in this moment a test and it seems if once both services are disabled they stay in that status and can't be started without setting them to demand start. Therefore we have to change code of StartWU.bat.
Change code of StartWU.bat to:
@echo off
ping localhost -n 60 > nul
sc config "wuauserv" start= demand
sc start "wuauserv"
sc config "bits" start= demand
sc start "bits"
exit
Leave code of StopWU.bat as it is:
@echo off
sc config "wuauserv" start= disabled
sc stop "wuauserv"
sc config "bits" start= disabled
sc stop "bits"
exit
StartWU.bat set both services to demand start and will start them. StopWU.bat set both services to disabled start and will stop them. Therefore both files are necessary. Sorry for confusion!

And here both batches as executables exe files without annoying black console windows: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ui7casl48g20ke0/Start_and_Stop_WU.7z/file
If another delay time is necessary, let me know!

PS: And what did we learn? First you have to test your code, then you can publish it! I should know that!

Edited April 5, 2022 by AstroSkipper
addition

[Dave-H]

Wow, thanks, I was going to ask about the command prompt window sitting there for a minute on every boot!
I will see how things go with the error messages and let you know.
I'll need to wait a couple of days as they only seemed to appear on alternate days anyway.

 

[AstroSkipper]

13 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

Wow, thanks, I was going to ask about the command prompt window sitting there for a minute on every boot!
I will see how things go with the error messages and let you know.
I'll need to wait a couple of days as they only seemed to appear on alternate days anyway.

This time I've tested both files and they are working fine. Maybe your security scanner could produce false positives. Avast does not have any problems with my files. Code is absolutely clean. If problems occur, add both files to exclusion list. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by AstroSkipper
addition