Service Pack 4 install-post-install boot failure

[Adam Davies]

I ran the update scan from the Microsoft site today and
updated Explorer to 6.1 and also put on Service Pack 4,
but since then the machine fails to boot in normal mode.
It does boot in safe mode, and a review of the log gives
the following message:

The DHCP Client service depends on the NetBios over Tcpip
service which failed to start because of the following
error:
A device attached to the system is not functioning.

However, when I start in safe mode I get network access.

Any suggestions - I've wasted the best part of a day so
far.

thx in advance

 

[DocA]

Hi Adam,

If you had upgraded from the base W2K (no service pack), you would have
experienced similar symptoms if your boot hard disk happened to have had a
capacity limiting jumper set on it. But as you upgraded from W2KSP1 that
doesn't seem to be the case here. Just to be sure though, what size is your
boot hard drive?

Adrian

 

[Adam Davies]

Hi Adrian,

It's a 20Gb drive. I'm currently considering re-installing
SP4, or trying to roll back to SP1, but am not convinced
either of these would work.

Any advice would be useful

thx

Adam

 

[DocA]

Definitely nothing to do with the jumper then. Other than that I've no idea
what could be the problem. If you chose to archive the previous
configuration when asked during SP installation then you should be able to
uninstall via Add/Remove programs to get back to your previous state. I'd
try that. If that isn't an option or doesn't work, and you don't get any
other leads, I'd think about copying data off the disk to another pc then
reformatting, reinstalling etc....a right pain in the butt, but you could
spend more time troubleshooting.

I had loads of trouble upgrading to SP4 (on four different pcs) and then,
when it finally worked it kept crashing, so I reinstalled the whole shebang
again, but with SP4 from the start, and it seems to run fine. (For a 30Gb
disk it took me approx 30 minutes to format, 1h to reinstall W2K, 30mins to
add SP4, 2h to configure internet, mail, printer and scanner, and 3h to
reinstall all programs - about 30 of em. A long day.) Then I made a backup
of the entire system to a second hard drive


Adrian

 

[Adam Davies]

Thanks for the advice mate, I decided to rollback
yesterday and after uninstalling SP4 my machine is back.
Don't really fancy a full re-build, so might just wait for
SP5

thx again

Adam