the system cannot find the file specified installing sp2

[Guest]

I have a PC with XP sp2 home addition. there are some corrupt files due to a
virus (cleaned now). When I try to either reinstall or deinstall Windows XP
sp2 I receive the "the system cannot find the file specified" error. I
extracted the sp2 .exe file and run the update.exe file and get the same
error. I tried to look at the event viewer, but, it is corrupt as well. Any
thoughts?

 

[PA Bear]

Was WinXP SP2 pre-installed on the machine when you bought it?

 

[Guest]

Computer Viruses: Description, Prevention, and Recovery
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;129972


• You may have to format your computer’s hard disk and reinstall Windows and
all your computer programs if one or more of the following conditions are
true:

• Your antivirus software displays a message that it cannot fix or remove
the virus.

• The virus damaged or deleted some of the important files on your computer.
This may be the case if Windows or some of the programs do not start, or if
they start with error messages that indicate that you have damaged or missing
files

• The symptoms that are described in this article persist even after you
clean your workstation and you are sure the problems are caused by a virus.

 

[Guest]

The customer doesn't know. I believe it probably came with sp1 as she said
it was a couple of years old. I am trying to find another consultant with
Windows XP Home SP2 so I can boot off the cd and try and do a repair. It is
an e-machine, and they put the install files on the HD. Smart..... The only
way their disks work is to reimage the machine. My customer has a more data
than a CD would hold

Thanks for your help. Is there a way to force sp2 to install. I looked at
all the switches and couldn't find one.

 

[Malke]

The customer doesn't know. I believe it probably came with sp1 as she
said
it was a couple of years old. I am trying to find another consultant
with
Windows XP Home SP2 so I can boot off the cd and try and do a repair.
It is
an e-machine, and they put the install files on the HD. Smart.....
The only
way their disks work is to reimage the machine. My customer has a
more data than a CD would hold

Thanks for your help. Is there a way to force sp2 to install. I
looked at all the switches and couldn't find one.

Jimbo - If you do this for a living and you are a pc tech, then you need
to get:

1. A usb thumb drive that is at least 1GB.
2. A dvd burner on another machine.

If you can't get into Windows and you know the hardware is sound, boot
with Knoppix to get his data off. Here's information about that:

An easy way to retrieve Windows files is to boot with Knoppix, a Linux
distro on a live cd. You will need a computer with two cd drives, one
of which is a cd/dvd-rw OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to
hold your data. To get Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast
Internet connection and third-party burning software. Download the
Knoppix .iso from www.knoppix.net and create your bootable cd. Then
boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows files. If you will
be using the usb thumb drive to copy your data, plug it in before you
boot the system with Knoppix. Otherwise, use the K3b burning program to
burn the files to cd/dvd-r's.

Once you have retrieved the customer's data, use eMachines restore disks
to return the box to factory-condition, apply SP2, and make sure the
customer has a current antivirus installed. Make sure SP2's firewall is
active.

Good luck,

Malke

 

[Guest]

I'm Sorry. I should have been more clear. I can boot into Windows XP just
fine. I could burn their images to a cd, but, that would be more time
consuming, plus, I may miss somehting. I was hoping there was a way to force
sp2 to reinstall. I am hoping another consultant can get me a copy of Home
XP with sp2 and I can do a repair when it boots off the cd rom. I tried the
sfc.exe and it crapped out on me as well. The challenge is e-machine doesn't
provide a bootable XP disc.

Thanks for the idea, though.

 

[PA Bear]

Sounds like a Repair Install is needed:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

More:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group...system+cannot+find+the+file+specified"&qt_g=1

 

[Malke]

I'm Sorry. I should have been more clear. I can boot into Windows XP
just
fine. I could burn their images to a cd, but, that would be more time
consuming, plus, I may miss somehting. I was hoping there was a way
to force
sp2 to reinstall. I am hoping another consultant can get me a copy of
Home
XP with sp2 and I can do a repair when it boots off the cd rom. I
tried the
sfc.exe and it crapped out on me as well. The challenge is e-machine
doesn't provide a bootable XP disc.

Thanks for the very good explanation of what you are doing.
Unfortunately, I think you're stuck doing a factory restore. The system
is in a hosed state right now and there isn't going to be any clean way
to unwind it. Maybe someone else will have an idea for you, but from my
experience you are going to need to just back up the data and use
eMachines' crappy little restore disk. This is the joy of cheap
computers. You can try a Repair Install with an OEM SP2 disk, but if I
were you I'd back up that data first and not bother. Your call, of
course.

Best of luck to you,

Malke