Automatic Update Service will not start

Try one of these two solutions: (I believe you already tried the first one, but no completely)

#### 1st Option - Repair Automatic Updates System ####
Copy the text below in to a new notepad document and save it as repair.cmd. Double click on the file to run it.

net stop bits
net stop /s wuauserv
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\atl.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\jscript.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\msxml3.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\softpub.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuapi.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuaueng.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuaueng1.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wucltui.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wups.dll
%windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuweb.dll
net start bits
net start wuauserv
wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow

#### 2nd Option - Remove and Reinstall of Automatic Updates ####
Copy the text below in to a new notepad document and save it as reinstall.cmd. Double click on the file to run it.

net stop bits
net stop /s wuauserv
regsvr32 /u wuaueng.dll /s
del /f /s /q %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\*.*
del /f /s /q %windir%\windowsupdate.log
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll /s
net start bits
net start wuauserv
wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow

Hope this works.
Cheers,
PP

Also, have you checked your event viewer for any related errors? If you don't know how, open your start menu, click "Run...", type "eventvwr.msc", press Enter, go to the "System" section, look for events with a red circle and a white X in the middle, double-click them, and check their descriptions for anything that might have to do with your problem.

I have run the sfc.exe /scannow command as Dave suggested and as far as I can tell it did not find any errors.  I ran option 1  that Paul suggested and it gave the same error in the cmd screen as i noted in the original message.  It them came up and said: "Configuration Manager: A required entry in the Registry is missing or an attempt to write to the Registry failed".  Then, "The system cannot find the file specified".  I ran option 2 with the same results.

I checked the error logs and found the following DCOM errors:

Event Type:      Error
Event Source:      DCOM
Event Category:      None
Event ID:      10005
Date:            5/13/2008
Time:            3:52:51 PM
User:            ********
Computer:      *******
Description:
DCOM got error "The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. " attempting to start the service wuauserv with arguments "" in order to run the server:
{9B1F122C-2982-4E91-AA8B-E071D54F2A4D}

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

I am also now receiving a BITS error:

Event Type:      Error
Event Source:      BITS
Event Category:      None
Event ID:      16391
Date:            5/13/2008
Time:            5:58:31 PM
User:            N/A
Computer:      **********
Description:
The BITS job list is not in a recognized format.  It may have been created by a different version of BITS.  The job list has been cleared.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Thanks for the great update. I'm wondering if you have attempted any type of OS repair?
It appears from your last post that there is an issue with a required Registry file.
If you choose the Repair option, this link can help walk you through the procedure. Note: A Repair does NOT overwrite/reformat your hard drive. However, you should take all precautions as it relates to any data that you deem important.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

You can also try running:
rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 C:\WINDOWS\inf\qmgr.inf

I did try to repair windows earlier with no luck.  I also tried the running the qmgr.inf command line as suggested by orangutang, no luck.

I'm currently fixing a client's computer with the same exact problem.  Looking at the date of this post, it seems to be an issue with a recently released version of Vundo or something similar.  This is definitely not good news.  I'm glad I found this and will definitely keep this post updated if and when I find a fix.

Nobody has any updates?  This is really bugging me.  I'm about to just perform a re-install.  I would like to get to the bottom of this but I cannot let this computer sit while I search for days on end.  Here's to a fix!

Sorry Ryan, got tied up with other things at work.  The boss became inpatient and I had to perform a fresh install.  I could not get anything to work.  

Hope this can problem can be rectified in the future without having to do a fresh install.  Thanks for you help though!

No problem.  I guess I'll do the same.  It sucks that we can't figure it out.  I'm sure it's a registry key or something of that sort that has been deleted due to the spyware removal.  Thanks though!

Same issue on coworker machine, all started with the malwarrior trojan/virus

FIXED
I have just spent about 14 hours fixing this problem on a client computer that had been infected with a lot of spyware, including virtumonde. I tried every fix on the net and ran sweeps with AVG 8.0, Spysweeper, Superantispyware and Counterspy. I was about to give up until i discovered an internet explorer plugin that i could not disable or remove because it would just re.enable or reinstall itself. The file is pmnKHYQh.dll in the Windows\system32 folder. I tried to remove it with Killbox but to no avail, even with the kill on reboot option. I got rid of it by booting with Erd Commander and deleting it. I'm sure you could do the same with the revovery console.
After i did this i enabled Automatic updates, started the service and immediately started updates.
Hope this helps someone.
Will

To Will:
Just want to say a huge THANKS!! Your info helped save me a reload and lots of frustration! I checked IE add-ons and found a dll file that could not be disabled. My file was named rqRLcYPF.dll and after booting with ERD and deleting it, I too was then able to start automatic update service!
Thanks again for your info!
Jamie

My issues started with an install and subsequent attempts to uninstall Zango. I then, thanks to this thread, also found a IE addin that can't be disabled. It's name is ygnfnvhw.dll. But i can't find ERD Commander in the sysinternals suite i just now downloaded from
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/0e18b180-9b7a-4c49-8120-c47c5a693683.aspx
Where can i get "ERD"?

Please excuse me for not understanding your technical jargon but can someone please tell me what is ERD Commander?

Thank you all...you saved me a ton of time trying to figure this one out.  For the record, my problem file was "rqRJBUVT.dll".  Solved with the ERD trick.

Thank you all...you saved me a ton of time trying to figure this one out.  For the record, my problem file was "rqRJBUVT.dll".  Solved with the ERD trick.

Thank you all...you saved me a ton of time trying to figure this one out.  For the record, my problem file was "rqRJBUVT.dll".  Solved with the ERD trick.

Virtumonde is a nasty, nasty trojan/spyware.  How it got there may have been because of a foolish click on a malicious website.  
To ceck and see if your computers are infected by Virtumonde, go to regedit and search for the Run dir under these places:
-HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
-HKLM\Software\Mcrosoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
-HKUsers\Default (and other users, e.g. S-1-5-18....)\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

In these Run directories, you will find strange dlls and exe file names that start strange services that cause these problems everyone has been describing.  These names morph, so you most likely will not have the same dll names as mentioned earlier.  As you try to remove these entries from the registry, some will reappear if you hit F5 (refresh).
You can try to remove them in safe mode and they will do the same.  The trick is to break up their hooks, then delete them.  Two products have done this for me in the past, Windows Defender and MalwareBytes.  Both are free from their respective websites.  Once these spyware remover utilities find and delete as many files as they could, you may have to do some manual clean up.  Scanning more than once (after rebooting) is always a good thing.  Also, disable system restore so these files wont come back after you've deleted and rebooted the system.  

To manually clean out these files, go to the System32 folder and make sure hidden files are visible and their extensions are displayed.  Sort by filetypes, and pay attention to .exe files and dll files.  hidden exe and dll files are greyed-out (or at least the icons appear lighter in color than non-hidden files when you view using the details style).  THese files are the "hooks"  and services that cause problems.  make s list of these files, move them somewhere else, then search the registry for these files.  I've deleted them all, but I made notes of the dates of these files to clue in on the infection date(s).  
After mannual deletion, you'll find that deleting suspicious entries in the registry is now possible without reappearance. After a successful cleaning, reenable system restore if you wish.

Hope this helps also!!!
 

In my registry, the virus had replaced "%systemroot%" with "%fystemroot%"
in several spots, so the correct files could not be found. I did a search
for "fystemroot" in regedit, and replaced with "systemroot". (I did have to
click "Edit" / "Permissions" and allow full control in each of the folders
first. Evidently the virus disabled the permissions first.) I hope this
helps anyone else who has a similar issue.