Our server did an automatic update last night and now will not finish rebooting. I am also unable to find how to go to system restore to restore it before the updates took place. We are operating on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Hi, Have you tried with Safe mode or Last known good configuration? if you can go in to Safe mode, try removing recently installed updates and reboot. Thamara.

Hello, please try using Safe Mode to uninstall the latest updates. If this does not help, consider restoring the server from a recently performed backup. Any BSODs? This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer

Hi, Please refer to the following Microsoft KB articles for how to troubleshoot this startup issue. Windows Vista or Windows 7 no longer starts, and the Startup Repair tool does not fix the problem http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934540 How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392 If the issue persists, please also try the following steps to rename the pending.xml file. 1. Boot form the Windows Server 2008 installation disk. 2. Choose the language. Then in the bottom left of the installation windows, click Repair the computer. 3. Choose Command Prompt to repair the computer. 4. Enter the following commands to rename pending.xml file: takeown /f C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml cacls C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml /G <EnterUsernameHere>:F ren C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.old Regards, Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

in addition to Arthur_Li please see the link below where you may find sufficient information on pending.xml file http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2010/03/25/fixing-a-bit-of-pending-xml.aspx http://www.virmansec.com/blogs/skhairuddin

Our server conducting a automatic windows update over night. The server now will not finish booting and I am unable to find a way to restore to a previous date.

Hello, you can start them using Safe mode and uninstall recently installed updates. Updates should be tested and validated before deploying them. If you have backups, you can re-install your system and restore from them. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910339 also you can boot the server from medial and select option for repar.in the repair console you can select command prompt.then go to the system32 and using wusa you can uninstall the updates.using systeminfo you can get the installed updates.as i know in the safemode windows installer service is not runnning.therefore you cant uninstall the softwares. Darshana Jayathilake

Hi, Please refer to the following Microsoft KB articles for how to troubleshoot this startup issue. Windows Vista or Windows 7 no longer starts, and the Startup Repair tool does not fix the problem http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934540 How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392 If the issue persists, please also try the following steps to rename the pending.xml file. 1. Boot form the Windows Server 2008 installation disk. 2. Choose the language. Then in the bottom left of the installation windows, click Repair the computer. 3. Choose Command Prompt to repair the computer. 4. Enter the following commands to rename pending.xml file: takeown /f C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml cacls C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml /G <EnterUsernameHere>:F ren C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.old Regards, Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

in addition to Arthur_Li please see the link below where you may find sufficient information on pending.xml file http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2010/03/25/fixing-a-bit-of-pending-xml.aspx http://www.virmansec.com/blogs/skhairuddin