Windows Server Manager stopped working? You might be the victim of a failed Windows Update.

Download and run MS's System Update Readiness tool (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=947821). When it's done, you can read a nice log file located in c:\windows\logs\CBS\checkSUR.log (I don't know what CBS stands for), but it will take a few minutes.

I was pleasantly surprised at

1. The existence of such a thing as a System Update Readiness tool
2. The clarity of the resulting log file
   

But I can't say the same for how to actually fix the errors found by the tool. Sure, it's not that hard to download the right KB update, open up a couple of CAB archives, and replace the corrupted files. However, every one of those steps has little caveats that one must dance carefully around.

For example, it is crucial that you download the KB update for the exact OS you have (e.g. "WS 2008 64-bit" is not the same as "WS 2008 64-bit R2").

Find all the gory details on this awesome post from itsolutionskb.com  ¶ 8:51 a.m.