Failed SP2 upgrade - possible causes?

[Terry Pinnell]

A day or so ago I made my second attempt in 18 months to upgrade from
XP Home SP1 to SP2. I was doubly careful to prepare as carefully as
possible and once again I had a Success message at the end. However, I
had serious problems, ranging from My Computer taking 2 minutes to
open to a completely empty Network Connections folder, erratic
freezing, and several other weird issues. After a painful day of
trying in vain to resolve them (interrupted by frequent forced
reboots) I gave up and yet again returned to SP1.

Today I've been methodically studying a variety of other pages on the
preparatory steps necessary, to see what I may have done wrong, such
as this especially comprehensive guide:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spackins.htm

The only ones I've come up with so far are the following:

1. I did not "16. Disconnect all peripherals (camera, scanner, printer
etc)"
But is this really essential? I have a scanner, printer, USB bus, dock
for my PPC - all familiar stuff. Never heard of anyone disconnecting
*everything* to do their upgrade...

2. I did not "6. Check with computer manufacturer to insure
compatibility with Windows XP SP2."
From previous experience with MESH (UK) that would have been an
unproductive exercise!

3. I did not follow a recommendation I've seen in several places (but
also seen contradicted elsewhere) to use the 266 MB CD version, not
the 75 MB online automatic update that I used.
From subsequent research, it seems that I would have had insufficient
space on my C: partition to do so anyway, as it needs 1.8 GB, c.f. 800
MB for the online version, and I had only 1.3 GB spare capacity on
that partition, despite 150 GB elsewhere.

4. This last one, the only one I have any real hope for, is not
explicitly covered anywhere I've seen on any site, and concerns Norton
Protect. I had no applications or utilities running, only my internet
connection. But of course there were also many Services, and one of
them was NPROTECT.EXE. This is part of SystemWorks 2002, and delivers
the Norton Unerase facility, which is occasionally a life saver when
the Recycle Bin fails to catch an accidentally deleted file. It can be
set on any drive, and I had it on all of my partitions, including my
OS partition C: So now I'm wondering if that could have caused all the
havoc?

Of course, it's probably something entirely different! Therefore any
advice, help or insights would be warmly welcomed. I see that SP1
support is due to be dropped in October. I don't expect to have a new
pre-loaded PC by then to replace this Athlon 1800 512MB. So I reckon
I'll have to make my 3rd attempt at SP2 before then.

 

[PA Bear]

Terry, it would help immensely if you'd please stick to one (1) thread in
one (1) newsgroup. Thanks.

1. You've done the first step I'd recommend: Uninstall SP2 & reboot.

1. Uninstall SP2 via Add/Remove Programs and reboot.

2. Run a thorough check for hijackware, including posting your HijackThis
log to an appropriate forum.

Checking for & Removing Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878

http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

When all else fails, HijackThis (http://aumha.net/downloads/hijackthis.zip)
is the preferred tool to use. It will help you to both identify and remove
any hijackware/spyware.

=> hijackthis.exe MUST be located in its own, dedicated folder (e.g.,
C:\Program files\HijackThis\hijackthis.exe).

=> Close all browser, messenger, mediaplayer, mail client, and Office
windows & apps before scanning with HijackThis (HT).

**Post your HijackThis log to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30 or
other appropriate forum for expert analysis, not here.**

3. Do not install SP2 until an expert gives your HijackThis log a clean bill
of health.

 

[Glen]

You say you have problems with the SP2 install but then ask for further
advice on the advice you already read, which seemed like good advice to me.
As I was reading you problem I was already thinking about installing SP2
with minimal hardware and you are asking if its necessary to remove
peripherals. When you have problems like you have and don't know what is
causing it then you have to remove all unneeded hardware and start again.
Before putting SP2 on you need a stable system.

Have only motherboard, CPU, graphics card or chip, mouse and keyboard, hard
drive. Reformat reinstall XP and install any needed drivers. Then install
the service pack. If Windows is fine then you know the problem was caused by
a piece of hardware or software. Start putting hardware back and testing the
system each time. If all the hardware goes on the problem must be software.
Again install one at a time testing between each.

Norton Systemworks 2002 is very old now and is a likely suspect. Symantec
would not have made it SP2 compatible. Also the AV, even with new
definitions is not going to give you the same level of protection as a newer
package.

You should now have all the needed info to make the update to SP2
successful. You really should put it on as it gives a lot of protection.

 

[Jim]

A day or so ago I made my second attempt in 18 months to upgrade from
XP Home SP1 to SP2. I was doubly careful to prepare as carefully as
possible and once again I had a Success message at the end. However, I
had serious problems, ranging from My Computer taking 2 minutes to
open to a completely empty Network Connections folder, erratic
freezing, and several other weird issues. After a painful day of
trying in vain to resolve them (interrupted by frequent forced
reboots) I gave up and yet again returned to SP1.

Today I've been methodically studying a variety of other pages on the
preparatory steps necessary, to see what I may have done wrong, such
as this especially comprehensive guide:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spackins.htm

The only ones I've come up with so far are the following:

1. I did not "16. Disconnect all peripherals (camera, scanner, printer
etc)"
But is this really essential? I have a scanner, printer, USB bus, dock
for my PPC - all familiar stuff. Never heard of anyone disconnecting
*everything* to do their upgrade... You never heard of me then.

2. I did not "6. Check with computer manufacturer to insure
compatibility with Windows XP SP2."
From previous experience with MESH (UK) that would have been an
unproductive exercise!

Can't say about Mesh, but I definitely needed to check Dell.

3. I did not follow a recommendation I've seen in several places (but
also seen contradicted elsewhere) to use the 266 MB CD version, not
the 75 MB online automatic update that I used.
From subsequent research, it seems that I would have had insufficient
space on my C: partition to do so anyway, as it needs 1.8 GB, c.f. 800
MB for the online version, and I had only 1.3 GB spare capacity on
that partition, despite 150 GB elsewhere.

The CD needs 266MB just to store its files. XP needs 1.8 GB for temporary
working space, expanded files, etc.

4. This last one, the only one I have any real hope for, is not
explicitly covered anywhere I've seen on any site, and concerns Norton
Protect. I had no applications or utilities running, only my internet
connection. But of course there were also many Services, and one of
them was NPROTECT.EXE. This is part of SystemWorks 2002, and delivers
the Norton Unerase facility, which is occasionally a life saver when
the Recycle Bin fails to catch an accidentally deleted file. It can be
set on any drive, and I had it on all of my partitions, including my
OS partition C: So now I'm wondering if that could have caused all the
havoc?

You should have disconnected the computer from the network, disabled all
anti-virus, and disabled any firewall. The anti-virus programs tend to
hinder installation of new software. And, since you won't be connected to
the internet, you do not need a firewall lying in wait.

Of course, it's probably something entirely different! Therefore any
advice, help or insights would be warmly welcomed. I see that SP1
support is due to be dropped in October. I don't expect to have a new
pre-loaded PC by then to replace this Athlon 1800 512MB. So I reckon
I'll have to make my 3rd attempt at SP2 before then.

I updated my system in 2 hours which included the time taken to download and
install all of the updates since SP2. You ought to be able to match that
timing.
Jim

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Terry, it would help immensely if you'd please stick to one (1) thread in
one (1) newsgroup. Thanks.

Thanks, I appreciate your help, and I'll stick with this thread for
this particular query. But you can't seriously be suggesting it would
be helpful if I were to include *all* detailed queries on all specific
aspects of my problems in one thread in one newsgroup? Apart from the
sheer potential length of such a post (this one is long enough!),
specialised newsgroups *exist* to handle specialised subjects. As
you've seen from my other posts, and as I pointed out in my opening
post here, the queries I've raised cover a wide range, and include
some quite obscure issues.

1. You've done the first step I'd recommend: Uninstall SP2 & reboot.

1. Uninstall SP2 via Add/Remove Programs and reboot.

2. Run a thorough check for hijackware, including posting your HijackThis
log to an appropriate forum.

Checking for & Removing Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878

http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

When all else fails, HijackThis (http://aumha.net/downloads/hijackthis.zip)
is the preferred tool to use. It will help you to both identify and remove
any hijackware/spyware.

=> hijackthis.exe MUST be located in its own, dedicated folder (e.g.,
C:\Program files\HijackThis\hijackthis.exe).

=> Close all browser, messenger, mediaplayer, mail client, and Office
windows & apps before scanning with HijackThis (HT).

**Post your HijackThis log to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30 or
other appropriate forum for expert analysis, not here.**

3. Do not install SP2 until an expert gives your HijackThis log a clean bill
of health.

Thanks. I will try HijackThis before my next attempt. But I'm familiar
with most of the above links, apart from elephantboycomputers, which
contains some interesting new suggestions. So I'm reasonably sure that
I'm clean after the many steps I've taken, as I've mentioned before.
These include Spybot, Adaware, AVG, ewido Security Suite, Norton
WinDoctor, CCleaner, SystemMechanic, online parasite diagnostics at
two sites, defragging, etc, etc. And some weight should be given to
the fact that my SP1 system is running stably and has been doing so
(with a few occasional exceptions) for 4 years or so.

Do you have any thoughts on the specific points I raised, especially
regarding Norton Protect please?

 

[PA Bear]

...But you can't seriously be suggesting it would

be helpful if I were to include *all* detailed queries on all specific
aspects of my problems in one thread in one newsgroup?

If you'd restricted your replies to only one (1) thread and included all of
the previous message in your replies, we'd have a way to know what you've
already asked, what was already suggested, and what you've already tried to
resolve your problem.

Do you have any thoughts on the specific points I raised, especially
regarding Norton Protect please?

There's a case in point: As you didn't post them in this thread, we have no
idea what points you've raised previously, especially regarding Norton
Protect (whatever that is). We might find them by wading through your
previous posts
(http://groups.google.com/groups/sea...up:microsoft.public.*&start=0&scoring=d&hl=en)
but...

BTW, I see you've had at least one hijackware problem in the not too distant
past:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...?q=hijackware+++terry&rnum=1#5e112ff2fec0454b

Back to your failure to install WinXP SP2, see my previous reply in this
thread. Complete your preliminary scans and post your HijackThis log to an
appropriate forum for review by an expert to rule out hijackware as being
the cause of the problem.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

If you'd restricted your replies to only one (1) thread and included all of
the previous message in your replies, we'd have a way to know what you've
already asked, what was already suggested, and what you've already tried to
resolve your problem.


There's a case in point: As you didn't post them in this thread, we have no
idea what points you've raised previously, especially regarding Norton
Protect (whatever that is).

You really need to spend a little more time reading my posts before
dashing off your criticisms!

Quote from point #4 of my original post in THIS thread:

"4. This last one, the only one I have any real hope for, is not
explicitly covered anywhere I've seen on any site, and concerns Norton
Protect. I had no applications or utilities running, only my internet
connection. But of course there were also many Services, and one of
them was NPROTECT.EXE. This is part of SystemWorks 2002, and delivers
the Norton Unerase facility, which is occasionally a life saver when
the Recycle Bin fails to catch an accidentally deleted file. It can be
set on any drive, and I had it on all of my partitions, including my
OS partition C: So now I'm wondering if that could have caused all the
havoc?"

 

[Plato]

A day or so ago I made my second attempt in 18 months to upgrade from
XP Home SP1 to SP2. I was doubly careful to prepare as carefully as

http://www.bootdisk.com/xptop20.htm#1

 

[Terry Pinnell]

http://www.bootdisk.com/xptop20.htm#1

Thanks. Already studied those (apart from the first of the 4 links,
which is invalid).