SP2 Disaster

[opchiasm]

Thanks very much in advance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm running XP Pro and decided to apply SP2 last night. I did so via
the downloaded file, not via Windows Update.

After running the update and rebooting the system, I immediately
(right after the Intel splash screen) got a message that Windows can't
start because ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt. I booted via the XP
Installation CD and expanded NTOSKRNL.EXE into windows\system32. On
reboot, I immediately got an error that ntfs.sys was missing or
corrupt. I copied NTFS.SYS from the installation CD into
windows\system32\drivers.

When I turn on the computer, I now get the XP splash screen briefly
followed by a BSOD indicating an intialization failure. If I try to
boot into safe mode, I get only a string of lines similar to this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\winnt="Windows NT workstation
(I'm not sure this line is exactly right.)

Is there any way I can use the Windows installation CD to make use of
whatever backups the SP2 performed when I tried to apply it? Is there
anything else I can do? I also now have 2 files from my installation
CD that have replaced ones that were "missing or corrupt".

Thanks again, very much, in advance.

 

[Edward W. Thompson]

I would think your best approach would be to boot using your WINXP CD and do
a repair or, if you have a backup, restore your system from the backup.

You will have corrupted both the SP2 installation and your original
installation by 'cross pollination' of files so you have neither SP1 or SP2
on your machine. Once you have 'repaired' your installation, I would
disconnect all peripherals (printers, scanners, etc), remove your firewall
and AVP, close all other running programs (use Enditall) and then run the
SP2 upgrade.

Good luck.

 

[opchiasm]

Thank you very much. I will try that.

I would think your best approach would be to boot using your WINXP CD and do
a repair or, if you have a backup, restore your system from the backup.

You will have corrupted both the SP2 installation and your original
installation by 'cross pollination' of files so you have neither SP1 or SP2
on your machine. Once you have 'repaired' your installation, I would
disconnect all peripherals (printers, scanners, etc), remove your firewall
and AVP, close all other running programs (use Enditall) and then run the
SP2 upgrade.

Good luck.