XP Service Pack woes

[XP user]

I had a up and running system with XP professional. But to
keep the system uptodate I installed Windows Service Pack
1 using the Windows update. The installation went well by
backing up all the files etc. But when I rebooted the
system, the system failed to come up. I tried with boot
floppy and install CD to bring the system up, but it
proved futile. Finally I reinstalled the OS (shameful
though). Now I am trying to install .Net for which I think
SP1 is needed. So, before I install the SP1, I would like
to know from the gurus what precautions need to be taken
before and while installing the SP1. And in the worst case
scenario, if the system fails to come up after the SP1
intallation, what are the different ways, I can bring the
system up. Thanks in advance.

 

[pwr]

I had a up and running system with XP professional. But to
keep the system uptodate I installed Windows Service Pack
1 using the Windows update. The installation went well by
backing up all the files etc. But when I rebooted the
system, the system failed to come up. I tried with boot
floppy and install CD to bring the system up, but it
proved futile. Finally I reinstalled the OS (shameful
though). Now I am trying to install .Net for which I think
SP1 is needed. So, before I install the SP1, I would like
to know from the gurus what precautions need to be taken
before and while installing the SP1. And in the worst case
scenario, if the system fails to come up after the SP1
intallation, what are the different ways, I can bring the
system up. Thanks in advance.

Not making any accusations but if you are using a pirated version of XP
installing SP1 will result in failure of the OS to start..

paul