Service Pack 2 "eats" my drivers!

[Guest]

My operating system (XP Pro, SP2) had a major meltdown and wouldn't allow a
restore, repair, etc. I eventually gave up and formatted my hard drive, and
started from scratch - the only way that XP would install. Everything was
working fine, until I installed Service Pack 2; then I lost nearly all of my
drivers (print, video, sound, etc.) again! Trying to reinstall them was
impossible, because on every attempt I received an error telling me that the
driver could not be installed while in safe mode (was not logged on in safe
mode). When I tried to uninstall the service pack, windows received a
permission error. (I was logged on as Local Administrator) I tried removing
the SP several ways, and actually did try starting in safe mode. I wasn't
able to uninstall the SP OR reinstall the missing drivers that way, either.
I tried to repair the OS again, but wound up finally starting over from
scratch. In the end, I actually had to format the hard drive to get the
computer to accept the OS again.

After going through this several times and trying (without success) to
determine the cause, I finally gave up and set everything up without SP2. My
problem now is that the workstation, which I use to test other programs
before installing them on other workstations, is no longer standard. In
other words, I need SP2!

I did download new firmware for my computer, and the most recent drivers for
all of my hardware; and I didn't install or attach anything that wasn't
absolutely necessary. I did also try installing all of my drivers after the
OS and SP were all installed and had the same result.

Has anyone else had a similar problem? Does anyone have a solution? I'm
falling behind on everything else because of this!......THANKS!!!

 

[Rock]

My operating system (XP Pro, SP2) had a major meltdown and wouldn't allow
a
restore, repair, etc. I eventually gave up and formatted my hard drive,
and
started from scratch - the only way that XP would install. Everything was
working fine, until I installed Service Pack 2; then I lost nearly all of
my
drivers (print, video, sound, etc.) again! Trying to reinstall them was
impossible, because on every attempt I received an error telling me that
the
driver could not be installed while in safe mode (was not logged on in
safe
mode). When I tried to uninstall the service pack, windows received a
permission error. (I was logged on as Local Administrator) I tried
removing
the SP several ways, and actually did try starting in safe mode. I wasn't
able to uninstall the SP OR reinstall the missing drivers that way,
either.
I tried to repair the OS again, but wound up finally starting over from
scratch. In the end, I actually had to format the hard drive to get the
computer to accept the OS again.

After going through this several times and trying (without success) to
determine the cause, I finally gave up and set everything up without SP2.
My
problem now is that the workstation, which I use to test other programs
before installing them on other workstations, is no longer standard. In
other words, I need SP2!

I did download new firmware for my computer, and the most recent drivers
for
all of my hardware; and I didn't install or attach anything that wasn't
absolutely necessary. I did also try installing all of my drivers after
the
OS and SP were all installed and had the same result.

Has anyone else had a similar problem? Does anyone have a solution? I'm
falling behind on everything else because of this!......THANKS!!!

Firstly, you should invest in a drive imaging program such as Acronis True
Image, Norton Ghost, or Terabyte Unlimited's Image for Windows. Acronis
seems to be the favorite these days. Image the system to an external device
such as a USB hard drive. That way if the SP2 installation or any software
or other problem causes irrecoverable problems, you can restore the image in
a matter of a few minutes and be running. I use this type of process
regularly for backup purposes and would never make a major system change
such as installing an OS service pack without first imaging.

I can't say why you are having problems, but here are some links with info
on installing SP2. Another thought, why don't you create an installation CD
that has SP2 integrated into it, called slipstreaming, rather than
installing XP, then adding SP2. I have included some links for how to
slipstream SP2. Using Autostreamer makes it straight forward.

Slipstreaming
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm
http://unattended.msfn.org/beginner/slipstream.htm

Autostreamer
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/1092632287/1
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/using_autostreamer/using_autostreamer.html
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=223562

Cannot install Service Pack 2
http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSP2.htm#Cannot_install_Service_Pack_2

How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 2 from your computer
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=875350

Download Windows Service Pack 2 Standalone Version
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default810.mspx

Installing Service Packs
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/xpsp2.htm
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spackins.htm

Pre-Install, Install, Cleaning Up Afterwards
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=45

What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx

Get the Latest Updates and Information from Your PC Manufacturer Before
Installing Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/oemlinks.mspx

The hard disk space requirements for Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Cheryl

Log on in Safe Mode as the Administrator ( not your usual Logon ) and
this should enable to change all permissions for your own for day to
day use. Grant your self Special Permissions.

Explanation of Safe Mode
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Mode

Most computers use the F8 key to access Safe Modebut there are some
variations.

Next have a look at the permissions shown in the Registry. Look at
Method 3 in the following KB Article:
You receive an "Administrators only" error message when you try to
visit the Windows Update Web site or the Microsoft Update Web site
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316524/en-us

Then try installing Windows XP SP2.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Rock]

Thanks to both of you!

I think I remember using Slipstream once before, back in the old NT4SP6
days
- thanks for reminding me about it again!

The meltdown that my computer suffered came afer I installed a program to
test for one of our engineers and it gunked everythnig up. When I tried
to
restore the image with Ghost (which I've done several times before) it
BSOD'd
and wouldn't run Ghost, the repair disk, or anything after. I have Ghost
licenses for 33 computers, and am now kind of gun shy about using it. I
did
also log on as Administrator in safemode, but was still not able to do
much,
including editing the registry.

The fact that everything worked before is what has me so stumped! I made
no
physical changes, so none of it makes much sense to me. If there was a
problem in the mainboard, disk, or memory, would something in the service
pack react to it when the OS doesn't?

I will read through all of the links that you both provided me, and see if
I
can get the slipstreamed version to work and let you know. Thanks again!

Have a happy and healthy New Year!

Same to you Cheryl, and good luck.