HELP! PLEASE

[Robert Meek]

Somehow my WinXP Pro w/sp2 system is all screwed up! Most everything
works except that I cannot shutdown, change users, or run Windows Update!
When i try the first two my screen freezes at Saving your Settings and I
must shut the machine down manually. when I try update or even the update
from the System properties tab IExplore or the tabsheet just freeze up and I
have to use the taskmanager or shut the machine off to recover!
You all gave me urls for a lot of ms and provate sites with info about
both of these, but nothing I found anywhere seems to help or even is
applicable! I get no error messages at all!
So then I checked my user accounts and found that there is suddenly a
new account I never created called ASP.NET 1... Also, when I sign on under
my main administrator account and try to delete another administrator acount
I cannot!
I'm beginning to think that the ONLY thing I can do is re-install or
repair! Can someone tell me which would be best to try? Also, for either,
what steps do i take so that it doesn't lose all my applications and their
registry settings?

--
from Robert Meek dba "Tangentals Design"
Personal e-mail: (e-mail address removed)

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[Rich Barry]

Robert, I would try a System Restore first. Then try a Repair Install.
Finally a Clean Install.
For Sys Restore go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System
Tools>System Restore. Go back as far as you can.
For Repair and Clean Install check here
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[Robert Meek]

I can't do a system restore because the system doesn't shut down
properly! And then I put my OEM WnxXP cd in the drive and started the
system. It began botting up from the cd abd I clicked the repair option and
it told me I didn't have a hard disk!

--
from Robert Meek dba "Tangentals Design"
Personal e-mail: (e-mail address removed)

-------------------------------------------------
visit us on the World Wide Web and pick up
your free copy of "The Keep" at:

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E-mail us at one of the following:

(e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed)
-------------------------------------------------

Robert, I would try a System Restore first. Then try a Repair Install.
Finally a Clean Install.
For Sys Restore go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System
Tools>System Restore. Go back as far as you can.
For Repair and Clean Install check here
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

I can't do a system restore because the system doesn't shut down
properly! And then I put my OEM WnxXP cd in the drive and started the
system. It began botting up from the cd abd I clicked the repair
option and it told me I didn't have a hard disk!

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.
Perhaps a clean install will clear the matter.
But don't take my advice until there is no other alternative.

 

[Robert Meek]

I thought maybe if I just re-installed SP2 it might straighten out too,
but I can't download it because the update doesn't work! I'm caught between
a rock and a hard place!

--
from Robert Meek dba "Tangentals Design"
Personal e-mail: (e-mail address removed)

-------------------------------------------------
visit us on the World Wide Web and pick up
your free copy of "The Keep" at:

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E-mail us at one of the following:

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[Donald L McDaniel]

I thought maybe if I just re-installed SP2 it might straighten out
too, but I can't download it because the update doesn't work! I'm
caught between a rock and a hard place!

Can't you download the Network install version? If you don't have
broadband, it would be a bad idea to try to download it. However, Microsoft
provides a free CD containing SP2.

Download the Network install version here: (very large, so don't try unless
you have broadband)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

Order the free CD here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspx

These links might break in your newsreader. If they do, just click and
paste.

Personally, I believe you should reinstall XP clean, using the install CD to
boot with.
Also, have a professional check your hardware (or purchase a new HD. It
would probably be cheaper, anyway.)

 

[T. Waters]

Can't you download the Network install version? If you don't have
broadband, it would be a bad idea to try to download it. However,
Microsoft provides a free CD containing SP2.

Download the Network install version here: (very large, so don't try
unless you have broadband)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-
8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

Order the free CD here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/defau
lt.mspx

These links might break in your newsreader. If they do, just click
and paste.

Personally, I believe you should reinstall XP clean, using the
install CD to boot with.
Also, have a professional check your hardware (or purchase a new HD.
It would probably be cheaper, anyway.)

In addition, you may find that if you call a local computer store, they
probably have a free SP2 disk you can pick up pronto.

 

[Robert Meek]

I knew about the Administration version of SP2 but I wasn't sure if it
would work on a standalone machine and didn't want to screw anything up even
further! In any case I just ran it and it didn't help anyway.
It's really odd...if I right-click on "My Computer" and then click the
"properties" item, the multi-tab property sheet comes up and all tabs work
except if I click on the "Update" tab. If I click on that just to see what
the settings are it freezes the entire properties dialog. Everything else
works but I have to shut down and restart to get rid of it again!
Let me ask you something. I have a CD R/W drive, a Floppy 3 1/2, a DVD,
and a raid 0 Hardisk setup up. In the Setup menu you get if you click
Ctrl-I during boot, in what order is the boot settings supposed to be? I
have it set for the hard disk as second, and the CD R/W as first so that if
the WinXP CD is in the drive when I start up it will boot from the CD, but
the other day when I attempted doing a repair it told me that I didn't have
a Hard Drive? Could I have set these up wrong? A while back when I was on
the phone with a tech rep we were switching them around because were trying
to figure out why my DVD had stopped working and I don't remember what the
original settings were or if I re-set them as they were supposed to be!
Also, using an OEM WinXP CD, to do a re-install so that it will pick up
my installed applications properly, do I just boot from the CD and select
the Install;; option when it appears, or is there something else I need to
do first?

--
from Robert Meek dba "Tangentals Design"
Personal e-mail: (e-mail address removed)

-------------------------------------------------
visit us on the World Wide Web and pick up
your free copy of "The Keep" at:

http://www.TangentalsDesign.com

E-mail us at one of the following:

(e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed)
-------------------------------------------------

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

I knew about the Administration version of SP2 but I wasn't sure
if it would work on a standalone machine and didn't want to screw
anything up even further!

So you installed it anyway. Why did you think that by installing SP2 all
your problems would be solved?

In any case I just ran it and it didn't
help anyway. It's really odd...if I right-click on "My Computer"
and then click the "properties" item, the multi-tab property sheet
comes up and all tabs work except if I click on the "Update" tab.

This sounds suspiciously like virus or worm activity. Many viruses and
worms diable the ability to update Windows. As to the suddenly-appearing
ASP.net account, have you recently installed .NET Framework? I know that
when .NET Framework is installed, an ASP.net account is created on your
machine.

If I click on that just to see what the settings are it freezes the
entire properties dialog. Everything else works but I have to shut
down and restart to get rid of it again! Let me ask you something.
I have a CD R/W drive, a Floppy 3 1/2, a DVD, and a raid 0 Hardisk
setup up. In the Setup menu you get if you click Ctrl-I during boot,
in what order is the boot settings supposed to be? I have it set for
the hard disk as second, and the CD R/W as first so that if the WinXP
CD is in the drive when I start up it will boot from the CD, but the
other day when I attempted doing a repair it told me that I didn't
have a Hard Drive? Could I have set these up wrong?

It's possible that you disabled your HD somehow when you started making
changes in the System BIOS setup program. I sincerely hope you will NOT go
into the BIOS setup program and start making any more changes. Take the
machine PHYSICALLY to a computer tech.

A while back when I was on the phone with a tech rep we were switching them
around

1) "WE" WEREN"T switching them around. YOU were switching them around. The
tech rep (maybe a man or woman in a call center in India, who had absolutely
no idea what you were doing.)
2) That's the problem with support over the phone. Sometimes, to fully
appreciate the problem, the tech has to be PHYSICALLY in front of the
machine himself.

because were trying to figure out why my DVD had stopped working and
I don't remember what the original settings were or if I re-set
them as they were supposed to be!

If you have no idea what the original settings were, how do you expect me to
know? I don't even know what motherboard you have.

Also, using an OEM WinXP CD, to do
a re-install so that it will pick up my installed applications properly,

There are several types of "OEM WinXP CDs" I have absolutely no idea how
yours works. Its not always possible to save your applications and data
when using the various flavors of OEM CDs. You should have backed them up
weeks ago.

do I just boot from the CD and

select the Install;; option when it appears, or is there something
else I need to do first?

My personal opinion is that you should stop messing around with your
machine, and take it PHYSICALLY to a reputable computer tech and have HIM
fix it. It will cost you some money (maybe $100 or more...or maybe less.
If your machine is used in your business, you can write off the repair costs
on your taxes), and it may cost you lost data if he has to completely
reformat the HD, but at least it will be done right.