This server was in the middle of installing 35 updates but could not get
past 31 of 35, due to WWW publication service's inability to be stopped.
After the server was manually restarted the following services could not
start automatically or manually:

- www publishing service
- exchange routing engine
- smtp service

I did a couple of reboots with the same result.

I did a restore of System State from the night before the failed updates
and the server then started with all services running correctly and all
looked normal. I have cancelled all the updates until I find out which
one may have borked the server.



Looking at this server now I notice that, while all is OK from the
clients' side several things are still broken, e.g.:

- IE 7 will not launch (nothing happens at all, IE event log is empty
and no system or app log errors)
- SBS management console borked. Looks OK until you click on almost any
object under "home page" and can only get "manage internet and e-mail"
- in control panel/internet options does not do anything

This looks like it might be IIS-related, at least partially but I'm
unsure how best to troubleshoot this. Any ideas, anyone? BPA finds zilch
event logs are ugly, but that's mostly because of a couple of dirty
restarts. Maybe I will clear the logs and restart the server again
tonight and see what the errors are.

As much as I usually don't recommend updating browsers on a server, in this
case, I'd recommend installing IE8. Most of the MMC snap-ins use the IE
engine for display purposes, so a broken IE install will cause problems
throughout the server. underlying services will be fine, but display-wise
(And thsu managing the server) is going to be impossible.

Hopefully installing IE8 will re-register any missing dll's and give you a
functional IE engine.

As always, have a backup handy. NOT just a system-state!

-Cliff


"Bill Glidden" <bill@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:OKh9TBEWKHA.1792@newsgroup

> This server was in the middle of installing 35 updates but could not get
> past 31 of 35, due to WWW publication service's inability to be stopped.
> After the server was manually restarted the following services could not
> start automatically or manually:
>
> - www publishing service
> - exchange routing engine
> - smtp service
>
> I did a couple of reboots with the same result.
>
> I did a restore of System State from the night before the failed updates
> and the server then started with all services running correctly and all
> looked normal. I have cancelled all the updates until I find out which one
> may have borked the server.
>
> Looking at this server now I notice that, while all is OK from the
> clients' side several things are still broken, e.g.:
>
> - IE 7 will not launch (nothing happens at all, IE event log is empty and
> no system or app log errors)
> - SBS management console borked. Looks OK until you click on almost any
> object under "home page" and can only get "manage internet and e-mail"
> - in control panel/internet options does not do anything
>
> This looks like it might be IIS-related, at least partially but I'm unsure
> how best to troubleshoot this. Any ideas, anyone? BPA finds zilch event
> logs are ugly, but that's mostly because of a couple of dirty restarts.
> Maybe I will clear the logs and restart the server again tonight and see
> what the errors are.

Cliff Galiher wrote:

> As much as I usually don't recommend updating browsers on a server, in
> this case, I'd recommend installing IE8. Most of the MMC snap-ins use
> the IE engine for display purposes, so a broken IE install will cause
> problems throughout the server. underlying services will be fine, but
> display-wise (And thsu managing the server) is going to be impossible.
>
> Hopefully installing IE8 will re-register any missing dll's and give you
> a functional IE engine.
>
> As always, have a backup handy. NOT just a system-state!
>
> -Cliff
>
>
> "Bill Glidden" <bill@newsgroup> wrote in message
> news:OKh9TBEWKHA.1792@newsgroup

>> This server was in the middle of installing 35 updates but could not
>> get past 31 of 35, due to WWW publication service's inability to be
>> stopped. After the server was manually restarted the following
>> services could not start automatically or manually:
>>
>> - www publishing service
>> - exchange routing engine
>> - smtp service
>>
>> I did a couple of reboots with the same result.
>>
>> I did a restore of System State from the night before the failed
>> updates and the server then started with all services running
>> correctly and all looked normal. I have cancelled all the updates
>> until I find out which one may have borked the server.
>>
>> Looking at this server now I notice that, while all is OK from the
>> clients' side several things are still broken, e.g.:
>>
>> - IE 7 will not launch (nothing happens at all, IE event log is empty
>> and no system or app log errors)
>> - SBS management console borked. Looks OK until you click on almost
>> any object under "home page" and can only get "manage internet and
>> e-mail"
>> - in control panel/internet options does not do anything
>>
>> This looks like it might be IIS-related, at least partially but I'm
>> unsure how best to troubleshoot this. Any ideas, anyone? BPA finds
>> zilch event logs are ugly, but that's mostly because of a couple of
>> dirty restarts. Maybe I will clear the logs and restart the server
>> again tonight and see what the errors are.

>

Hi Cliff,
Thanks for replying. I have installed IE8 but have not had a chance to
restart the server yet. Console still not behaving properly and IE8 does
not launch. Assuming a reboot will not make this better, I need a plan
for doing a restore. Can I do a selective restore of the system volume
from the last backup, which was on Tuesday night? If so, which folders
should I restore? Exchange mailbox and client data is on another volume,
but Public Folder data is on C: (they do not use Public Folders).
Cheers, Bill

A restore of the windows directory, program files, *and* system state (need
the registry, which unfortunately is not broken out separately) should get
you fixed back up.

-Cliff


"Bill Glidden" <bill@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:4AE984C3.6090409@newsgroup

> Cliff Galiher wrote:

>> As much as I usually don't recommend updating browsers on a server, in
>> this case, I'd recommend installing IE8. Most of the MMC snap-ins use
>> the IE engine for display purposes, so a broken IE install will cause
>> problems throughout the server. underlying services will be fine, but
>> display-wise (And thsu managing the server) is going to be impossible.
>>
>> Hopefully installing IE8 will re-register any missing dll's and give you
>> a functional IE engine.
>>
>> As always, have a backup handy. NOT just a system-state!
>>
>> -Cliff
>>
>>
>> "Bill Glidden" <bill@newsgroup> wrote in message
>> news:OKh9TBEWKHA.1792@newsgroup

>>> This server was in the middle of installing 35 updates but could not get
>>> past 31 of 35, due to WWW publication service's inability to be stopped.
>>> After the server was manually restarted the following services could not
>>> start automatically or manually:
>>>
>>> - www publishing service
>>> - exchange routing engine
>>> - smtp service
>>>
>>> I did a couple of reboots with the same result.
>>>
>>> I did a restore of System State from the night before the failed updates
>>> and the server then started with all services running correctly and all
>>> looked normal. I have cancelled all the updates until I find out which
>>> one may have borked the server.
>>>
>>> Looking at this server now I notice that, while all is OK from the
>>> clients' side several things are still broken, e.g.:
>>>
>>> - IE 7 will not launch (nothing happens at all, IE event log is empty
>>> and no system or app log errors)
>>> - SBS management console borked. Looks OK until you click on almost any
>>> object under "home page" and can only get "manage internet and e-mail"
>>> - in control panel/internet options does not do anything
>>>
>>> This looks like it might be IIS-related, at least partially but I'm
>>> unsure how best to troubleshoot this. Any ideas, anyone? BPA finds zilch
>>> event logs are ugly, but that's mostly because of a couple of dirty
>>> restarts. Maybe I will clear the logs and restart the server again
>>> tonight and see what the errors are.

>>

> Hi Cliff,
> Thanks for replying. I have installed IE8 but have not had a chance to
> restart the server yet. Console still not behaving properly and IE8 does
> not launch. Assuming a reboot will not make this better, I need a plan for
> doing a restore. Can I do a selective restore of the system volume from
> the last backup, which was on Tuesday night? If so, which folders should I
> restore? Exchange mailbox and client data is on another volume, but Public
> Folder data is on C: (they do not use Public Folders).
> Cheers, Bill

Cliff Galiher wrote:

> A restore of the windows directory, program files, *and* system state
> (need the registry, which unfortunately is not broken out separately)
> should get you fixed back up.
>
> -Cliff
>
>
> "Bill Glidden" <bill@newsgroup> wrote in message
> news:4AE984C3.6090409@newsgroup

>> Cliff Galiher wrote:

>>> As much as I usually don't recommend updating browsers on a server,
>>> in this case, I'd recommend installing IE8. Most of the MMC snap-ins
>>> use the IE engine for display purposes, so a broken IE install will
>>> cause problems throughout the server. underlying services will be
>>> fine, but display-wise (And thsu managing the server) is going to be
>>> impossible.
>>>
>>> Hopefully installing IE8 will re-register any missing dll's and give
>>> you a functional IE engine.
>>>
>>> As always, have a backup handy. NOT just a system-state!
>>>
>>> -Cliff
>>>
>>>
>>> "Bill Glidden" <bill@newsgroup> wrote in message
>>> news:OKh9TBEWKHA.1792@newsgroup
>>>> This server was in the middle of installing 35 updates but could not
>>>> get past 31 of 35, due to WWW publication service's inability to be
>>>> stopped. After the server was manually restarted the following
>>>> services could not start automatically or manually:
>>>>
>>>> - www publishing service
>>>> - exchange routing engine
>>>> - smtp service
>>>>
>>>> I did a couple of reboots with the same result.
>>>>
>>>> I did a restore of System State from the night before the failed
>>>> updates and the server then started with all services running
>>>> correctly and all looked normal. I have cancelled all the updates
>>>> until I find out which one may have borked the server.
>>>>
>>>> Looking at this server now I notice that, while all is OK from the
>>>> clients' side several things are still broken, e.g.:
>>>>
>>>> - IE 7 will not launch (nothing happens at all, IE event log is
>>>> empty and no system or app log errors)
>>>> - SBS management console borked. Looks OK until you click on almost
>>>> any object under "home page" and can only get "manage internet and
>>>> e-mail"
>>>> - in control panel/internet options does not do anything
>>>>
>>>> This looks like it might be IIS-related, at least partially but I'm
>>>> unsure how best to troubleshoot this. Any ideas, anyone? BPA finds
>>>> zilch event logs are ugly, but that's mostly because of a couple of
>>>> dirty restarts. Maybe I will clear the logs and restart the server
>>>> again tonight and see what the errors are.
>>>

>> Hi Cliff,
>> Thanks for replying. I have installed IE8 but have not had a chance to
>> restart the server yet. Console still not behaving properly and IE8
>> does not launch. Assuming a reboot will not make this better, I need a
>> plan for doing a restore. Can I do a selective restore of the system
>> volume from the last backup, which was on Tuesday night? If so, which
>> folders should I restore? Exchange mailbox and client data is on
>> another volume, but Public Folder data is on C: (they do not use
>> Public Folders).
>> Cheers, Bill

>

Good news, Cliff. All that was required was for the server to be
restarted after IE8 install. All is now fixed.
Thanks for your suggestion!
Bill