I just realized that his was in event log of 2 of the problem computers:

Event ID 16, Source: Automatic Updates

Unable to connect: Windows is unable to connect to the Automatic Updates
service and therefore cannot download and install updates according to the
set schedule. Windows will continue to try to establish a connection.

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



"Lude" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I work for a company with about 150 Windows 2000 computers needing Automatic
> Updates. We have have the AU turned on via group policy and they are
> scheduled to download and install everyday at 12pm. The problem is that they
> aren't downloading at all. The AU icon never appears at anytime. We have
> a proxy server which I thought was the problem but I've specified the proxy
> server with the proxycfg.exe command. I checked the WindowsUpdate.log on 2
> of the computers; on one of them the most recent entry is from the year 2002
> and the other ones most recent entry is 2004. The AU service is running and
> I've restarted it. Any ideas?
>
> Thanks!