Security Pack 2 malfunction

[Guest]

I began downloading the Security Pack 2 update and, after a bit, got a big,
red error message that a particular component was unable to download
because it had no port of entry. It gave me the option to click "ok", so I
did...
and nothing happened. The same error message remained. Continuos
clicking of "ok" did nothing. Things were stuck at that point - the download
was frozen, but I couldn't get out of the error message. At that point, I did
'ctrl, alt, delete' and rebooted.

When Windows (I'm running XP, incidentally) came back up, I got a message
saying that, because Security Pack 2 hadn't fully downloaded, my system
was unstable... I needed to uninstall it, then reinstall. So, I proceeded
with
the uninstall. After several minutes, it had uninstalled, and I got a message
to reboot so the changes could take effect. Changes definitely took effect.

After the reboot, the computer launched, stopped midway though all the
intro scripting stuff, and went to a b&w screen. It tells me on that screen
that Windows has quit unexpectedly and gives me a list of possible reasons.
Depending on the reason, I should re-start in one of several modes: Safe
Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Prompt, Last Good
Configuration, etc. If I'm unaware of why Windows quit unexpectedly, I
ought to start Windows normally. Which, I tried... and to no avail. Now, no
matter what mode I try to start in, the PC is caught in a cycle.

It will start seemingly normally, stop, launch in that b&w screen... I choose
an option (or let it time out so that Windows begins on its own), the
computer begins to whir, then all the keyboard, screen and drive lights blink
like crazy and it begins to reboot.

All I did was try to download a stupid Security Pack. What the crap went
wrong and please... how do I fix it?

 

[Rock]

I began downloading the Security Pack 2 update and, after a bit, got a big,
red error message that a particular component was unable to download
because it had no port of entry. It gave me the option to click "ok", so I
did...
and nothing happened. The same error message remained. Continuos
clicking of "ok" did nothing. Things were stuck at that point - the download
was frozen, but I couldn't get out of the error message. At that point, I did
'ctrl, alt, delete' and rebooted.

When Windows (I'm running XP, incidentally) came back up, I got a message
saying that, because Security Pack 2 hadn't fully downloaded, my system
was unstable... I needed to uninstall it, then reinstall. So, I proceeded
with
the uninstall. After several minutes, it had uninstalled, and I got a message
to reboot so the changes could take effect. Changes definitely took effect.

After the reboot, the computer launched, stopped midway though all the
intro scripting stuff, and went to a b&w screen. It tells me on that screen
that Windows has quit unexpectedly and gives me a list of possible reasons.
Depending on the reason, I should re-start in one of several modes: Safe
Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Prompt, Last Good
Configuration, etc. If I'm unaware of why Windows quit unexpectedly, I
ought to start Windows normally. Which, I tried... and to no avail. Now, no
matter what mode I try to start in, the PC is caught in a cycle.

It will start seemingly normally, stop, launch in that b&w screen... I choose
an option (or let it time out so that Windows begins on its own), the
computer begins to whir, then all the keyboard, screen and drive lights blink
like crazy and it begins to reboot.

All I did was try to download a stupid Security Pack. What the crap went
wrong and please... how do I fix it?

Do you have a backup of all the important files? If that's so, then go
on with the options later in this message. If not backup the data now.
One option is to install the drive as a slave drive in another
computer running XP or Windows 2000 and copy the files off. The other
option, if you have two CD drives, one a burner, is to download a copy
of Knoppix. This is a linux package that will run from CD. It can read
ntfs drives and has a cd copy tool. You download the .iso file and burn
it to a 700 MB or larger CD.

http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/FaqDownloading

Boot from the CD and use the tools to copy the data files you need to
CD. After the data is safe, then try the following:

Put the windows installation CD in and boot from it. Take the first
repair to get into the recovery console. Assume the administrator
account password is blank [unless you remember assigning one at the time
of install] and hit enter.

From the command line run chkdsk /r. This may take some time. I don't
think this will resolve the booting issue but it won't hurt to try it.
After it runs boot normally without the windows CD. If it boots, great.
If not do a repair install. See these directions:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Good luck and post back.