SP2 Paranoia

[Nobody Special]

I'm really paranoid about doing the SP2 update. All the
Microsoft Knowledge Base articles I read tell me that I
will need my Windows XP CD ROM if I need to do something
or other to my system. I have serious problems with that.
First off, my HP Pavilion Desktop computer didn't come
with a Windows XP CD. It came with a system restore
utility instead. Couple of problems with that - what
happens if my computer won't boot to Windows? How do I get
to that utility? Plus, the last time I had to do that, it
reinstalled Windows XP alright - the ORIGIONAL system that
came with the computer. All my programs and data were
gone! and it took me four months of headaches to get my
system back to where it was, and that was because some dll
file or whatever someplace went capoots. With almost
100,000 files presently on my computer, you can appreciate
why I'm just a tad paranoid about doing anything that
might make it unusable, especially reading all the horror
stories out there regarding problems with SP2. So, I guess
my real question is whether or not there is some
relatively painless way to back up my system. I have
Norton Ghost and yesterday decided to do the backup
process with Ghost. Well, everything went just fine until
the last (10th) CD when Norton Ghost crashed and wouldn't
restart from where it left off. As you might imagine, I
was just a tad more than pi**ed off. I proceeded to
uninstall Norton Ghost and lo and behold, this morning I
noticed that all my System Restore points had gone
byebyes. Would one of you highly informed tech types
please help me out here with some good advice? I'd really
really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

If you are paranoid, maybe you shouldn’t upgrade...

How to successfully install Windows XP Service Pack 2:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/winxpsp2install.htm

Hope this helps!
---
Spyware/Virus Removal and Prevention:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/windowsxpsolutions.htm
(Links to online virus scans on the same page)

How to optimize Windows XP, 2000, ME
for the best performance (Step-by-step Visual Guide):
http://www.fixyourwindows.com

 

[Guest]

If you are paranoid, maybe you shouldn’t upgrade...

How to successfully install Windows XP Service Pack 2:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/winxpsp2install.htm

Hope this helps!
---
Spyware/Virus Removal and Prevention:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/windowsxpsolutions.htm
(Links to online virus scans on the same page)

How to optimize Windows XP, 2000, ME
for the best performance (Step-by-step Visual Guide):
http://www.fixyourwindows.com

 

[Nobody Special]

You probably didn't read my entire post, but thanks anyway
for responding.

 

[Nobody Special]

Mr Jones-
Thanks for responding. After sitting through the burning
of 10 CDs I'm a bit reluctant to try installing Ghost
again, plus I'm not worried about my data because I back
up all my data regularly. The thing I'm really not keen on
is rebuilding my system from scratch (original XP
version). I had to do that once and it was a real pain in
the you-know-what. Microsoft's instructions for repairing
a failed SP2 install calls for the WinXP CD (which I

 

[Stan]

I may be 100% wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure I read
in one of these newsgroups that if you contact HP and
insist on getting a Windows XP CD, they'll send you one
for a few bucks shipping charge.
Another thing I may be wrong about but I also think I read
this, that there's a hidden partition on your hard drive
that contains all the files that are on the Windows XP CD,
and you can burn these files onto a CD and use that as a
Windows XP CD and use that CD in case you ever need to
reinstall XP.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Stan;
Depending on the model of computer, HP may, for a cost, send a
recovery CD, not to be confused as a Windows CD.

HP also normally has a hidden partition for recovery purposes.

They MUST provide some way to recover the computer to original
settings.
Many furnish CDs, some including HP use hidden partitions.

Contact the manufacturer and/or check the manual for details.

 

[joust in jest]

Jupiter:

FYI: for HP it is six (6) CDs and cost my brother-in-law $23.00 (to
cover shipping and tax).
The recovery CD set wipes the drive, re-creates the hidden partition,
writes the OS , application, and HP utilities to the hidden partition, then
inititates the recovery process from the hidden partition.

[hope this data-bit doesn't bush a data-bit out the other end of the
bit-bucket] )

steve

 

[Nobody Special]

Hi Stan,
That's what I heard too so I called HP and they took my
information and told me I should receive them in a week or
so. Well, I never received them. Anyway, in regards to the
hidden partition containing 'all the CD files': there is
indeed a hidden partition named 'HP RECOVERY' which is
used to do a system re-install. I don't know about being
able to write it out to disk. I did have to do a re-
install about a year ago, and of course all my personal
files and settings went byebyes and I had to start from
scratch withan original version of XP. It took me a good
four months to everything back to where I had it before
probably one bit in some dll file somewhere flipped the
wrong way and made my system unusable. Anyway, I really
don't relish the thought of _ever_ going through that
again.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Guest]

Jupiter,
See my reply to Stan above.

-----Original Message-----
Stan;
Depending on the model of computer, HP may, for a cost, send a
recovery CD, not to be confused as a Windows CD.

HP also normally has a hidden partition for recovery purposes.

They MUST provide some way to recover the computer to original
settings.
Many furnish CDs, some including HP use hidden partitions.

Contact the manufacturer and/or check the manual for details.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/





.

 

[Nobody Special]

Steve:
To tell you the truth, the version of XP that is in that
hidden partition isn't worth $23 if you ask me. What I
have right now is worth a great deal more to me than the
price of a Windows XP CD. I just want a fool-proof way to
back up my system in a manner that I can re-establish it
in the case of some system file going bad like it did
before on me. Manually feeding 10 CDs into Norton Ghost
just to have it give up on me on the last CD isn't much to
look forwad to either. I use ERUNT to back up my registry
and I back up my data on a regular basis. I use Norton's
WinDoctor, Hijack this, autoruns, etc., yet because of my
past experience with certain actions wiping out my system
restore points and the like, and the fact that Microsoft's
instructions for uninstalling SP2 in the case of a serious
problem calling for "my Windows XP CD", I'm really
reluctant to go ahead with this update without a way to re-
establish my system. Oh, gee. What to do, what to do.

-----Original Message-----
Jupiter:

FYI: for HP it is six (6) CDs and cost my brother-in- law $23.00 (to
cover shipping and tax).
The recovery CD set wipes the drive, re-creates the hidden partition,
writes the OS , application, and HP utilities to the hidden partition, then
inititates the recovery process from the hidden partition.

[hope this data-bit doesn't bush a data-bit out the other end of the
bit-bucket] )

steve

Stan;
Depending on the model of computer, HP may, for a cost, send a
recovery CD, not to be confused as a Windows CD.

HP also normally has a hidden partition for recovery purposes.

They MUST provide some way to recover the computer to original
settings.
Many furnish CDs, some including HP use hidden partitions.

Contact the manufacturer and/or check the manual for details.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/

.