Automatic Windows Update didn't update...

This morning I got to work bright and early, the sun was shining, and the weekend within reach.

After grabbing a cup of coffee, I logged on my test server. As a geek I am, I always log on to my test server to check the Central Administration... :-)

But this morning, the output was somewhat different. First it gave me the error "Page cannot me displayed..". I immediately checked my SharePoint web application on the test server, and it gave the same message.

OK, on to the IIS, only to find out that all the sites were down... Hmm...
So I started them up again (actually I did an "iisreset"). Going back to the browser to check my Central Administration again, this time with the following error:

"Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0..."

What the f¤#"!!??!! OK, then I thought this day is going to be interesting...

I started a deeper error searching, including Event Log, SharePoint logs, and the assembly.
I actually found out that Microsoft.SharePoint was missing from the assembly. (How did that happen??) Anyway, I still found it in the usual place (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.dll), and dragged it over to the assembly. Crossing fingers...

New error:

"Method not found: 'Void Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequestInternalClass.SetHttpParameters..."

What the h¤#" is going on...?

I went back to the event log again, this time looking with both eyes. I managed to find a GUID for a component: 5A94BDCF-C8C8-4858-9FD0-8597018B7348. Did a search on the local harddrive, and found one file in C:\Windows\Temp. This file was called MSIxxxxx.LOG, and it contained the following:

Error 1935.An error occurred during the installation of assembly component {5A94BDCF-C8C8-4858-9FD0-8597018B7348}. HRESULT: 0x80070005. assembly interface: IAssemblyCacheItem, function: Commit, assembly name: Microsoft.SharePoint,version="12.0.0.0000000",processorArchitecture="MSIL",publicKeyToken="71E9BCE111E9429C",fileVersion="12.0.6039.5000",culture="neutral"
=== Logging stopped: 12.10.2007 03:01:12 ===

Notice the time the logging stopped? 03:01? What is running each night at 03:00 (if you have it enabled to do so? You guessed; Windows Update!

So I opened up Windows Update, and checked the update history. Finally I've seemed to find the reason for the errors. A couple of SharePoint updates failed to update:

• Security Update for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (KB937832)
• Cumulative Security Update for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (KB934525)

I started Windows Update manually, and the updates were installed successfully. Rebooted the server, and voila! Everything was back to normal. Puh!

Funny thing with this, is that when the update fails, it crashes your entire SharePoint installation. Probably because it re-registers some dll's. But if it fails, it should be able to roll back the installation. Microsoft, shame on you!

Tip: Check your Windows Update settings, and set it to automatically download at an interval, but not install. This way, you can manually install updates when you get in to the office in the morning, with all the updates already downloaded and ready to install.