xp sp2 automatic updates constantly turn disable themself

I'm working on a customers computer and this one has me completely baffeled. He has xp sp2 on his Dell with the latest Norton IS, the one with the annoying "Norton has detected a volunerability - click here to fix" thing.

Well, his Automatic Updates keep disabeling themself and I can't figure out why. I've disabled system restore, set AU to on, and the computer has all the patches it needs from windows update.

Also, I've completely cleaned the computer of any spyware/viruses.... grr.

...with the latest Norton IS

Click to expand...

Even if that isn't the problem, do that person a favor and uninstall it.

try this ...

go to start, run - type in regedit

navigate to this
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

do you see this in there under windows key ??
WindowsUpdate\AU

if not click back on the windows folder ... right click and select second option down new - key

name your key WindowsUpdate

click on WindowsUpdate that you just created.... and select new key again.

name that AU

click on AU and select new - DWORD value (you will want to create 4 of those)

go back and rename each to -
NoAutoUpdate
AUOptions
ScheduledInstallDay
ScheduledInstallTime


under NoAutoUpdate right click and choose modify ... enter 0 for enabling (1 for disable)

repeat for

AUOptions 1 = auto updates disabled, 2 = notify for download and install, 3 = auto download and install, 4 = auto download and schedule install

ScheduledInstallDay 0 = install when downloaded , 1-7 1 being sunday etc...

ScheduledInstallTime 0-23 time of day

restart and let me know what happens ...

norton could be the cause from installation ... was norton installed after sp2 or rigth when windows was installed ... also what about nortons updates ??

if the computer is a somewhat beefy pc and they really like it keep it installed... otherwise look for alternatives... if you choose to uninstall just ask there are plenty of good free stuff..

is there any dell software that installs updates ?? could be an issue to ... not sure if dell offers it but some pc manufacturers do ...

If you do decide to uninstall Norton (which is advisable) I would suggest avast! It is free and basically a set-it-and-forget-it type of deal. Which is perfect for the average user.

Yes they want Norton and removing it isn't a posiblility.

Xtreme Barton, I'll check some of those out when I go back to work. It had all the symptoms of some worm_spybot or troj_spybot and I left it overnight doing a scan after changing all the regestry settings back.

what spyware tools are you using ??

i would suggest at least two others will add

but spybot enable beta and configure advanced menu to include options that are not by default

also a microsoft antispyware ...

adaware, spybot, spysweeper, microsoft antispyware, trendmicro's free scan. Of course not all at the same time, mind you.

hahahah of course not ...

what about the dell support/update software ?? any of iton there ?

Not that I recall.

Check to see if there's a Service running called "Network Client" (or "NetClient"). Apparently the Service executes "netclnt.exe", which is a residual from a variant of the Boxed virus (Trojan.Boxed.E). Some virus scanners apparently don't pick up this particular virus, which could be the reason your scanner missed it. The virus disables Windows Automatic Updates and also Norton AutoProtect. The Trojan also has a number of aliases... Troj/Boxed-E, DDoS-Boxed, Trojan.Win32.Boxed, and variants of these all seem to be in the same family.