WSUS crashes only when the "WSUS Service" is running

Question

Hello,
I am fixing a WSUS server that was neglected for about a year. There was 30000+ approved updates when I got there and every query would timout.
After messing around with it a little I was able to have WSUS query all of the updates. I removed the superseded updates, unneeded language updates, and drivers. I was able to to get the Approved updates down to ~150.
Most of the computers worked fine and receieved all of their updates. 1 computer kept getting error 8024401F. I read that to fix this I could try "wsusutil reset" after I did that I started getting Timeout errors again. After playing with it some
more, I found that if I stop the "WSUS Service" WSUS will query fine without any issues. As soon as I start the service again I get this error:
The WSUS administration console has encountered an unexpected error. This may be a transient error; try restarting the administration console. If this error persists, <o:p></o:p>
Try removing the persisted preferences for the console by deleting the wsus file under %appdata%\Microsoft\MMC\.
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception -- The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion<o:p></o:p>
Source
System.Windows.Forms<o:p></o:p>
Stack Trace:
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.MarshaledInvoke(Control caller, Delegate method, Object[] args, Boolean synchronous)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.Invoke(Delegate method, Object[] args)
   at Microsoft.UpdateServices.UI.SnapIn.Wizards.ServerCleanup.ServerCleanupWizard.OnCleanupComplete(Object sender, PerformCleanupCompletedEventArgs e)
Any idea what it might be?

Answer 1

Most of the computers worked fine and receieved all of their updates. 1 computer kept getting error 8024401F. I read that to fix this I could try "wsusutil reset"
I'm not sure where you read this, but it makes no logical sense at all to me. If only ONE computer is throwing an error, and many others (if not all) are working fine, the problem is almost certainly at THAT CLIENT, not on the SERVER!
As for your subsequent WSUS problems after launching the reset, it may take several days for the WSUSUTIL RESET to complete its reconciliation, so your behaviors after launching the reset are actually not unexpected. Especially since we know your server
has at least 30,000 updates synchronized.
As for the 0x8024401F error code:
0x8024401f
-2145107937
WU_E_PT_HTTP_STATUS_SERVER_ERROR
Http
status 500 - internal server error
any of several things could be causing an HTTP 500 error, but we really need to know IN CONTEXT where the error code is generated in order to identify an appropriate approach to resolution. One thing I'm pretty certain of... a WSUSUTIL RESET isn't the fix.
I see that you did ultimately resolve the issue by deleting the updates from the database using the PowerShell script. It's quite possible that the large number of updates was contributing to a single client's HTTP 500 error, depending on what the state
of that client actually was at the time the error was encountered.
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCSA, MCITP:EA, MCDBA
SolarWinds Head Geek
Microsoft MVP - Software Packaging, Deployment & Servicing (2005-2014)
My MVP Profile: http://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/mvp/Lawrence%20R%20Garvin-32101
http://www.solarwinds.com/gotmicrosoft
The views expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of SolarWinds.