Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows 2000+: Error message 'There are no child processes to wait for' in Enterprise Console

Using 'Protect Computers' in Enterprise Console may result in workstations that are running Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows 2000+ reporting the following error:

00000080. Could not start installation program on the computer: There are no child processes to wait for.

Scheduled tasks may fail to run, and the following exit code is found in the log:

80 (ERROR_WAIT_NO_CHILDREN)

This is an issue with versions of Windows XP before Service Pack 2 (SP2). For details, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 812400.

What to do

Do one of the following

• Install Windows XP Service Pack 2. See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 322389.
• If you cannot install SP2, follow the advice in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 812400.