Windows crashes when patched

[Jeremy]

Okay, I've been frustrated for a few months now as my
machine has been constantly crashing (totally random
times, but every time it has been accessing the internet -
either in a game or IE6 itself).

I've swapped all hardware to no avail, and even
reinstalled the OS (WinXP Pro) a few times.

I've finally reinstalled the OS and refused to run the
latest security patches... no more lockups. I installed
the patches, immediately the lockups started again.
Restored to previous backup, and lockups dissappeared
again. One of the semi-recent patches (from
October/November on) appears to be locking up my machine.
Any thoughts on this from anyone? I haven't tracked down
exactly which patch yet.

I don't like leaving holes in the security of my machine
by not patching, and right now I am having to rely on my
router firewall and antivirus software to protect me.

 

[dcdon]

Use msconfig... with the patch installed to narrow it down, or install the patches one at a time. I suggest you read all of the patches before installing. That's what I've done in the past, and it has worked for me. The same thing was happening to me. Generally in XP, I create a restore point just prior to installing third party software and M$ patches.

Okay, I've been frustrated for a few months now as my
machine has been constantly crashing (totally random
times, but every time it has been accessing the internet -
either in a game or IE6 itself).

I've swapped all hardware to no avail, and even
reinstalled the OS (WinXP Pro) a few times.

I've finally reinstalled the OS and refused to run the
latest security patches... no more lockups. I installed
the patches, immediately the lockups started again.
Restored to previous backup, and lockups dissappeared
again. One of the semi-recent patches (from
October/November on) appears to be locking up my machine.
Any thoughts on this from anyone? I haven't tracked down
exactly which patch yet.

I don't like leaving holes in the security of my machine
by not patching, and right now I am having to rely on my
router firewall and antivirus software to protect me.

 

[Jeremy]

I've been doing the same. I make sure a restore point is
set before I do any major upgrades or patching and the
like.

Unfortunately, as the lockups are quite random, I cannot
install a patch and duplicate the problem to see if that
patch is the issue. Most I can do is patch, wait a week,
install a new patch, rinse repeat. Bit of a pain.

-----Original Message-----
Use msconfig... with the patch installed to narrow it

down, or install the patches one at a time. I suggest you
read all of the patches before installing. That's what
I've done in the past, and it has worked for me. The same
thing was happening to me. Generally in XP, I create a
restore point just prior to installing third party
software and M$ patches.