SP2 woes

N

Neil Howie

I think Microsoft should be very very worried by the statistics and
tales of woe about SP2 on this page:

http://isc.sans.org/xpsp2.php

They echo what I have been reading in these newsgroups. I also was
brought a computer to fix which kept rebooting and was totally
inaccessible in any mode. This year-old laptop had had no additional
software installed in addition to that originally supplied (MS Office),
had never been connected to the internet and had had its AV definitions
regularly updated. Trying to create a Powerquest Drive Image file so
that I could recover the user's files failed with an error suggesting
that the partitioning had an error.
 
?

.

How many people are bothering to come here and tell how they successfully
installed SP2? Of course the people with problems are going to seek help
and make their voices heard. I personally installed SP2 on four very
different computers running Windows XP Home Edition and all the installs
were perfectly successful.

Jim W.
http://www.gatorgrad.com
 
J

John Butler

I agree with Jim. i have installed 38 SP2 upgrades for Windows XP pro users
and I have not had any problems.

It occurs to me that it an installation was in someway defective before hand
installing SP2 could cause problems, which is why I made sure each system
was clean before upgrading

Jon
 
J

Jupiter Jones [MVP]

Unfortunately the unknown problems are often at least as bad as the
known.
We just seem to ignore the possibility because we do not see them.
Obviously this can apply to everything, not just computers.
 
N

Neil Howie

No, I am not trying to knock SP2. I also have installed it on almost
forty computers, including three at home, with no problems. Nor did I
have any problem with the installation on the laptop.

My point is that this phenomenon, Windows XP SP2 restarting itself
without booting, is being widely reported and not as a direct result of
the installation process itself. The only mention in the knowledgebase
concerns the presence of a driver for a particular scanner, but at least
M$ know that it happens.

As a matter of interest, my own computer at home, which has run happily
since XP came out, decided today , after an apparently perfect normal
shutdown, to run chkdsk at the same moment in the startup sequence where
the laptop does its restart. I have backed up all my important stuff and
am holding my breath. I have no evidence that there is anything wrong
with the machine. I am seriously considering uninstalling SP2 and
reinstalling all the critical updates I previously had.

--
Neil

Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to dot)


|I think Microsoft should be very very worried by the statistics and
| tales of woe about SP2 on this page:
|
| http://isc.sans.org/xpsp2.php
|
| They echo what I have been reading in these newsgroups. I also was
| brought a computer to fix which kept rebooting and was totally
| inaccessible in any mode. This year-old laptop had had no additional
| software installed in addition to that originally supplied (MS
Office),
| had never been connected to the internet and had had its AV
definitions
| regularly updated. Trying to create a Powerquest Drive Image file so
| that I could recover the user's files failed with an error suggesting
| that the partitioning had an error.
|
| --
| Neil
|
| Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to
dot)
|
|
|
 
J

Jupiter Jones [MVP]

Neil;
You now have a second clue that you have a hardware and not a software
issue.
The fact Windows is running chkdsk is evidence there is something
wrong with the hard drive.
If there is a failure of the hard drive, SP-2 is not the cause.
Get the diagnostics as suggested previously.
 
P

Peter D

Jupiter Jones said:
Neil;
You now have a second clue that you have a hardware and not a software
issue.

False conclusion. :)
The fact Windows is running chkdsk is evidence there is something
wrong with the hard drive.

Or that something is wrong with the software resulting in it incorrectly
starting chkdsk.
If there is a failure of the hard drive, SP-2 is not the cause.

Quite true. "IF" being the operative word.

That said (and to calm the shaky nerves of SP2 worshippers), SP2 is a decent
upgrade and MS almost got it all right this time around. Certainly, a better
Sevice Pack upgrade process than previous ones -- for the casual/novice end
user anyway.
 
J

Jupiter Jones [MVP]

"False conclusion. :)"
Not really a conclusion, but a good possibility since Neil in two
separate posts has now listed two symptoms each individually could
indicate hard drive problems.

"Quite true. "IF" being the operative word."
That is why hard drive diagnostics are in order.
The diagnostics can be run independent of any software or OS.
A hardware problem can be quickly ruled out as the possibility.
Not always near as easy with a software problem.
 
B

BP

I agree. It is an interesting analogy for so many things today, particularly
when so many would rather hide from problems than solve them at all.
 
N

Neil Howie

I have now checked both my disk drives and all eight partitions with
chkdsk, scandisk, including surface scan (seven partitions are FAT 32),
Partition Magic and then all the Seagate tools.

All report that there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.

--
Neil

Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to dot)


| "False conclusion. :)"
| Not really a conclusion, but a good possibility since Neil in two
| separate posts has now listed two symptoms each individually could
| indicate hard drive problems.
|
| "Quite true. "IF" being the operative word."
| That is why hard drive diagnostics are in order.
| The diagnostics can be run independent of any software or OS.
| A hardware problem can be quickly ruled out as the possibility.
| Not always near as easy with a software problem.
|
| --
| Jupiter Jones [MVP]
| http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/
|
|
| | > | >> Neil;
| >> You now have a second clue that you have a hardware and not a
| >> software
| >> issue.
| >
| > False conclusion. :)
| >
| >> The fact Windows is running chkdsk is evidence there is something
| >> wrong with the hard drive.
| >
| > Or that something is wrong with the software resulting in it
| > incorrectly
| > starting chkdsk.
| >
| >> If there is a failure of the hard drive, SP-2 is not the cause.
| >
| > Quite true. "IF" being the operative word.
| >
| > That said (and to calm the shaky nerves of SP2 worshippers), SP2 is
| > a decent
| > upgrade and MS almost got it all right this time around. Certainly,
| > a better
| > Sevice Pack upgrade process than previous ones -- for the
| > casual/novice end
| > user anyway.
|
|
 
J

Jupiter Jones [MVP]

Neil;
Since the drive is probably OK, check for damaged/missing system
files:
Start/Run
Type "sfc /scannow" ENTER
Follow prompts and have the Windows XP CD available.
 
N

Neil Howie

Jupiter,

Is this procedure safe? Vast numbers of system files have been changed
by SPs and CUs since Windows was installed.

--
Neil

Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to dot)


| Neil;
| Since the drive is probably OK, check for damaged/missing system
| files:
| Start/Run
| Type "sfc /scannow" ENTER
| Follow prompts and have the Windows XP CD available.
|
| --
| Jupiter Jones [MVP]
| http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/
|
|
| | >I have now checked both my disk drives and all eight partitions with
| > chkdsk, scandisk, including surface scan (seven partitions are FAT
| > 32),
| > Partition Magic and then all the Seagate tools.
| >
| > All report that there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.
| >
| > --
| > Neil
| >
| > Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to
| > dot)
| >
| >
| > | > | "False conclusion. :)"
| > | Not really a conclusion, but a good possibility since Neil in two
| > | separate posts has now listed two symptoms each individually could
| > | indicate hard drive problems.
| > |
| > | "Quite true. "IF" being the operative word."
| > | That is why hard drive diagnostics are in order.
| > | The diagnostics can be run independent of any software or OS.
| > | A hardware problem can be quickly ruled out as the possibility.
| > | Not always near as easy with a software problem.
| > |
| > | --
| > | Jupiter Jones [MVP]
| > | http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/
| > |
| > |
| > | | > message
| > | > | > | >> Neil;
| > | >> You now have a second clue that you have a hardware and not a
| > | >> software
| > | >> issue.
| > | >
| > | > False conclusion. :)
| > | >
| > | >> The fact Windows is running chkdsk is evidence there is
| > something
| > | >> wrong with the hard drive.
| > | >
| > | > Or that something is wrong with the software resulting in it
| > | > incorrectly
| > | > starting chkdsk.
| > | >
| > | >> If there is a failure of the hard drive, SP-2 is not the cause.
| > | >
| > | > Quite true. "IF" being the operative word.
| > | >
| > | > That said (and to calm the shaky nerves of SP2 worshippers), SP2
| > is
| > | > a decent
| > | > upgrade and MS almost got it all right this time around.
| > Certainly,
| > | > a better
| > | > Sevice Pack upgrade process than previous ones -- for the
| > | > casual/novice end
| > | > user anyway.
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|
|
 
J

Jupiter Jones [MVP]

Neil;
Yes, that is the purpose of C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles.
That is the changes files for the Service Pack.
It is always a good idea to have back-ups of important data just in
case.
 
N

Neil Howie

Thanks. Nothing showed up there. Wasn't sure the process had finished,
no report, goodbye or anything!

I am very relieved I did take a full backup of my C: drive a couple of
days ago. AdAware AdWatch trashed my registry and removed all my links
this morning. Now I'm sure there's a way of activating Sytem Restore
without a link, but when you can't get at Windows Help either....

--
Neil

Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to dot)


| Neil;
| Yes, that is the purpose of C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles.
| That is the changes files for the Service Pack.
| It is always a good idea to have back-ups of important data just in
| case.
|
| --
| Jupiter Jones [MVP]
| http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/
|
|
| | > Jupiter,
| >
| > Is this procedure safe? Vast numbers of system files have been
| > changed
| > by SPs and CUs since Windows was installed.
| >
| > --
| > Neil
| >
| > Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf ~ idps ~ co ~ uk (change ~ to
| > dot)
|
|
 

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