service pack three failed to install!

[DJW]

I am running windows XP Professional and had automatic updates on. It
tried and failed to install service pack 3. Now I have a ton of
folders in my windows folder in blue with names like
$NtUninstallKB821557$ and one in black named $hf_mig$;.
I have a few questions:
1. Can I manually move them to the trash and will things be OK?
2. Each one has an uninstall exe in it should I run each one?
3. Should I turn automatic updates back on and see if it will try to
reinstall service pack 3 is there a way to turn updates on but tell it
not to try ever again to install service pack 3?
Would it be better to go and down load service pack 3 installer
program and run it from my hard drive and if so will it still need to
go out to the web during the installation?
4. Is there a reason why it would not install? Possible an older BIOS
and it will never be able to install it. Would have been nice if it
can't install it that it could have looked at my system and never
tried to install it. I have service pack 2 installed and the thing
that freaked me out is at the end of the pack 3 install and failure it
said that it failed and that my present system my no longer work
correctly. Great! Thanks Microsoft! So far it seems to be working OK.
Any help with this matter will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bruce Hagen]

I am running windows XP Professional and had automatic updates on. It
tried and failed to install service pack 3. Now I have a ton of
folders in my windows folder in blue with names like
$NtUninstallKB821557$ and one in black named $hf_mig$;.
I have a few questions:
1. Can I manually move them to the trash and will things be OK?
2. Each one has an uninstall exe in it should I run each one?
3. Should I turn automatic updates back on and see if it will try to
reinstall service pack 3 is there a way to turn updates on but tell it
not to try ever again to install service pack 3?
Would it be better to go and down load service pack 3 installer
program and run it from my hard drive and if so will it still need to
go out to the web during the installation?
4. Is there a reason why it would not install? Possible an older BIOS
and it will never be able to install it. Would have been nice if it
can't install it that it could have looked at my system and never
tried to install it. I have service pack 2 installed and the thing
that freaked me out is at the end of the pack 3 install and failure it
said that it failed and that my present system my no longer work
correctly. Great! Thanks Microsoft! So far it seems to be working OK.
Any help with this matter will be greatly appreciated.

If SP3 was downloaded with an anti-virus, or anti-spyware, program
running, you may have had a bad installation.

From: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/cc164204.aspx

* If the configuration of your antivirus software prevents certain system
files from being changed, SP3 installation might fail. Try temporarily
disabling your antivirus software. You can usually do this by
right-clicking your antivirus program icon (which typically appears in the
bottom right-hand corner of the computer screen) and clicking Disable.

* If you disable your antivirus software before you install the service
pack, be sure that you are aware of the risks involved, and be sure to
enable it after the service pack is installed.


Download and install it again. Before you do, turn off your anti-virus and
any anti-spyware programs such as Windows Defender. If you use a third
party firewall, disable it and turn on the Windows Firewall in the Control
Panel for the installation. Once SP3 is in and working, you can enable the
third party firewall and turn of the Windows Firewall. Do not keep both
running.

Steps to take before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3:
http://support.microsoft.com:80/kb/950717

WinXP SP3 - Read all prerequisites for a successful installation
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldro...requisites-for-a-successful-installation.aspx

Release Notes for Windows XP Service Pack 3
http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/d/8/cd8cc719-7d5a-40d3-a802-e4057aa8c631/relnotes.htm

Download Windows XP Service Pack 3 here. Save it first and then install
it. Do not install from Windows Updates.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en

 

[micky]

I am running windows XP Professional and had automatic updates on. It
tried and failed to install service pack 3.

A friend didn't have SP3, years after she was supposed to have it.
She said it had tried to install a few times before, and it did it
once when I was using her computer. It wouldn't finish.

Eventually, I dl'd SP3 on put it on a CD, so we could try installing
it without downloading each time, and without my having to find it in
a temp directory somewhere, especially since I wasn't sure I would
find the right thing.

When I went to her house to install it, maybe a year after I became
aware of this, it was already installed. Probably automatically.

AIUI, if you don't have sp3, other things one needs won't work, or
maybe something a little weaker than that.

 

[DJW]

If SP3 was downloaded with an anti-virus, or anti-spyware, program
running, you may have had a bad installation.

From:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/cc164204.aspx

* If the configuration of your antivirus software prevents certain system
files from being changed, SP3 installation might fail. Try temporarily
disabling your antivirus software. You can usually do this by
right-clicking your antivirus program icon (which typically appears in the
bottom right-hand corner of the computer screen) and clicking Disable.

* If you disable your antivirus software before you install the service
pack, be sure that you are aware of the risks involved, and be sure to
enable it after the service pack is installed.

Download and install it again. Before you do, turn off your anti-virus and
any anti-spyware programs such as Windows Defender. If you use a third
party firewall, disable it and turn on the Windows Firewall in the Control
Panel for the installation. Once SP3 is in and working, you can enable the
third party firewall and turn of the Windows Firewall. Do not keep both
running.

Steps to take before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3:http://support..microsoft.com:80/kb/950717

WinXP SP3 - Read all prerequisites for a successful installationhttp://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldron/archive/2008/05/08/windows-xp-sp...

Release Notes for Windows XP Service Pack 3http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/d/8/cd8cc719-7d5a-40d3-a802-...

Download Windows XP Service Pack 3 here. Save it first and then install
it. Do not install from Windows Updates.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5B33B5A8-5E7...

No, no virus software is on it had some but did not pay for the update
and uninstalled it using the add remove control panel. The only
firewall running is MS XPs. Thanks for the links I will take a look at
them

When a folders name is in blue does that mean it is a temporary one
even though it is not in a tmp folder and might XP remove it one day
on it's own. Once I ran clean up on a windows 98SE machine and when it
or I rebooted it hung so never again did a clean up! I do not trust
Microsoft to remove stuff. Also always when asked at an uninstall
dialog box when questioned about files possibly being used by more
than one application to never delete them.

 

[DJW]

A friend didn't have SP3, years after she was supposed to have it.
She said it had tried to install a few times before, and it did it
once when I was using her computer.   It wouldn't finish.

Eventually, I dl'd SP3 on put it on a CD, so we could try installing
it without downloading each time, and without my having to find it in
a temp directory somewhere, especially since I wasn't sure I would
find the right thing.

When I went to her house to install it, maybe a year after I became
aware of this, it was already installed.   Probably automatically.

AIUI, if you don't have sp3, other things one needs won't work, or
maybe something a little weaker than that.

Well so far in the system control panel says service pack 2. Did your
friend leave on automatic updates after the non-install the first
time? I turned it off for now.

 

[Char Jackson]

No, no virus software is on it had some but did not pay for the update
and uninstalled it using the add remove control panel. The only
firewall running is MS XPs. Thanks for the links I will take a look at
them

With no antimalware protection, all bets are off when it comes to
system security. It's a bold move, but if it were me I'd probably save
the personal documents, reformat, reinstall Windows, update to SP3,
and get some darn antimalware stuff installed pronto.

 

[Bruce Hagen]

No, no virus software is on it had some but did not pay for the update
and uninstalled it using the add remove control panel. The only
firewall running is MS XPs. Thanks for the links I will take a look at
them

When a folders name is in blue does that mean it is a temporary one
even though it is not in a tmp folder and might XP remove it one day
on it's own. Once I ran clean up on a windows 98SE machine and when it
or I rebooted it hung so never again did a clean up! I do not trust
Microsoft to remove stuff. Also always when asked at an uninstall
dialog box when questioned about files possibly being used by more
than one application to never delete them.
****************************************************************************

Blue folders are compressed folders.

No anti-virus program on your machine? That's not a good idea.

Download and run the free versions of these two programs after you check
for updates.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free

SpywareBlaster
http://download.cnet.com/SpywareBlaster/3000-8022_4-10196637.html

Once you have confirmed the machine is clean, I would recommend you
install MSE. It's an Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malware program all
in one. IMO, this is one program MS got right.

Microsoft Security Essentials
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

 

[micky]

Well so far in the system control panel says service pack 2. Did your
friend leave on automatic updates after the non-install the first
time? I turned it off for now.

Yes, it was on. There's a slim chance her son came over and
installed it, but he lives out of town and doesn't come often, or pay
enough attention to her computer when he does. Even if he did do it,
it still shows that even though it failed several times**, it worked
eventually.

Perhaps something else that she did or that happened to her system
over the course of months or years made it accept SP3 I'm not
recommending trying over and over again on the same day, just saying
it can work eventually.

**She said she thought it had tried to install before, plus given how
mnay years had passed since sp3 came out, I figure it must have been
sent by automatic updates at least a few times before. Since it sent
it while I was sitting there, and I had done nothing to cause that. .

Is there a special reason to turn it off, other than to save a little
time?


I decided it was installed because the General tab in System
Properties said so.