Error 0×80004015 when Automatic updates fail with WSUS Server

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Automatic Updates service on Windows XP may be stopped with the following error

Could not start the Automatic Updates service on local computer. Error 0×80004015: The class is configured to run as a security ID different from the caller.

This can happen when your Windows XP clients download their updates from the WSUS server and is due to a permissions issue. The quickest and the easiest solution would be to reset the permissions on the Automatic Updates client and then try and detect the Automatic Update Server once again.

To display the current status of the Automatic Updates status

1. Click Start - Run and type “cmd” to launch the Command prompt

2. From the command prompt, type

C:\>SC sdshow wuauserv

D:(A;;CCLCSWRPLORC;;;AU)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY)

Now, reset the permissions as follows from the command prompt

C:\>SC sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

That would reset the permissions on the Automatic Update Service. We can now try and detect the Automatic Updates Server from the command prompt to fix the problem

C:\>wuauclt.exe /detectnow

This should fix the problem