I’ve been unable to run Windows Update on a Windows 2003 Server for awhile now (automatic updates worked though).
It would either never load the page, or would give me a message about error number: 0x8DDD0004, or it would never load the ActiveX script.
I finally tracked down the problem.
Other people had the same problem – http://www.mcse.ms/archive292-2005-11-1995112.html
led me to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896688/ (MS05-052: Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer)
which led me to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909889/ (ActiveX controls may not load as expected in Internet Explorer due to defense in depth changes introduced in cumulative security update 896688).
After re-registering some DLL’s, re-downloading the Windows Update installer, and applying some registry fixes, my system has recovered from glitches caused by Microsoft Patches.
Yesterday, I finally tracked down some issues with SELinux on RedHat Enterprise 4 that stopped up2date from working.
Everything’s running smooth !