SP2 problem

[Newsie]

Hi,
Heres the deal: my computer was a mess, the only thing that would fix it
was to do a complete reformat.

After backing up all of my files I inserted the WinXP disk and the
installation went very well with no errors. The computer started normally.
Before I did anything else I installed (from Microsoft) the CD for SP2. The
installation went well, when the computer reboot, it would just shut down
and attempt to reboot and then asked me to go into safe mode, etc. I tried
rebooting several times and the same thing happened. I had to go into safe
mode and uninstall SP2, after the uninstall the system restarted with no
problem.

One of the main reasons aside from malware/junkware/etc. that I wanted to
reformat was because the system would not take SP2. Everytime I tried to
install, it wouldn't reboot, I had to go into safemode and uninstall SP2.

I have two disks from Microsoft, both have been installed on other computers
so I know its not faulty disks. I went to the microsoft webpage detailed
what to do before installed SP2, nothing seemed to apply bacause I was doing
a clean/fresh installation.

Why won't this harddrive take SP2?? even after a complete reformat??
Is there anything I can do to get SP2 on this system?
Do I really need to update SP2?

I'll wait for some answers (if any) before I do another thing. Right now the
only thing on the computer is winXP.Home. Nothing is connected except
keyboard/mouse/monitor.

Thanks for any help,
N

 

[John]

Heres the deal: my computer was a mess, the only thing that would fix it was to do a complete reformat.

I would do it again, use both of these, start with Zap 1st. Both can go
on your boot disk.
Zap
http://mirror.href.com/thestarman/asm/mbr/BootToolsRefs.htm#ZAP
http://www.storage.ibm.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Zap is a DOS software utility that writes zeroes to the first 128
sectors on a hard disk drive, including the Master Boot Record and the
first Partition Boot Record. It can be used with both SCSI and IDE
drives. This function is now included in the Drive Fitness Test.

=======================================

WIPE OUT
http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/index.html
http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/wipeout.zip
Freeware.
WIPE OUT: as the name implies, this utility will absolutely WIPE your
hard drive. For those times when an industrial strength cleaner is
needed to remove any pesky files Fdisk may have left behind. A readme
file is included in the zip file. WARNING...WIPE OUT will remove ALL
data from the Hard Drive.

DIRECTIONS

1- Unzip file
2- Copy WIPEOUT to a Win9x boot disk
3- Boot with Win9x disk, make sure the bios is set to boot from floppy
1st.
4- At the A:\> type "wipeout c: /nq /np" (no quotes)
/nq = no queries - you will not be asked if you are sure.
/np = no partitions - this will overwrite the MBR

Press Enter.

Now run fdisk to set up partitions.
http://fdisk.radified.com/
When done, reboot & format.

 

[Newsie]

Thank you John, sorry I didn't get back to thank you sooner, I was too
nervous about doing the zerofill thingy, so I went out and bought a new hard
drive and have been spending the last two days setting it up.

I installed a 160g but it"s only registering as a 130gb. Any way to fix
that?
I'll probably never use the extra 30 but I was just wondering.

thanks again

 

[John]

Thank you John, sorry I didn't get back to thank you sooner, I was too
nervous about doing the zerofill thingy

Thats OK Newsie, don't throw the old drive out, it should be OK when
it's cleaned up, do it in a comp on it's own, jumpers set as Master.

I installed a 160g but it"s only registering as a 130gb.

This should cover that.
Working With Large Hard Drives - The issues and the Limits
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mosaddique/Working with Large Hard Drives.html

 

[Newsie]

Hi again, I actually left the old drive in and when I get the spare time I
plan to set it as a slave, reformat and use as a backup drive.

Now the 160g hard drive issue, I read the website and it states I should
reinstall WindXP again, seems I also should have partitioned the large
drive. Oh well. Maybe another rainy day.

But thanks for your time and advice.
Carol "Newsie"