XP SP2 Problems

[Guest]

I have installed SP2 about 4 times. Each time it installs okay, I use
Ad-Aware to scan the hard drive and clean up any unwanted software/spyware
and installed the most recent BIOS for XP SP2 as recommended by Dell. SP2
usually works fine for about a week up to 3-4 weeks. Then out of the blue I
will start up my computer and receive start-up failure in which case I have
to start up in Safe Mode and use System Restore to go back to uninstall SP2.
I have reviewed all the "before you install SP2" instructions from both
Microsoft and Dell and I am still unable to keep SP2 in use. Any
suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Do yuo see any error message prior to the problem occuring? If not, have a
look in the Event Viewer to see if any entries there may point towards the
problem.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Will,

I went to the event viewer, not sure what I am looking for, I copied 12
system events and 4 application events as noted below. I did not see
anything else that would give me a clue. These are the events that started
during the last successful logon and the last time SP2 failed...I am assumimg
this is SP2 related. Any suggestions? Thanks again!

SYSTEM: (not sure what is relevent and what is info only)
1) Microsoft (R) Windows (R) 5.01. 2600 Service Pack 2 Uniprocessor Free.

2) The Event log service was started.

3) DCOM got error "This service cannot be started in Safe Mode " attempting
to start the service netman with arguments "" in order to run the server:
{BA126AE5-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}

4) DCOM got error "This service cannot be started in Safe Mode " attempting
to start the service EventSystem with arguments "" in order to run the server:
{1BE1F766-5536-11D1-B726-00C04FB926AF}

5) The SYMTDI service depends on the TCP/IP Protocol Driver service which
failed to start because of the following error:
A device attached to the system is not functioning.

6) The DHCP Client service depends on the SYMTDI service which failed to
start because of the following error: The dependency service or group failed
to start.

7) The DNS Client service depends on the TCP/IP Protocol Driver service
which failed to start because of the following error: A device attached to
the system is not functioning.

8) The TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service depends on the AFD Networking Support
Environment service which failed to start because of the following error: A
device attached to the system is not functioning.

9) The IPSEC Services service depends on the IPSEC driver service which
failed to start because of the following error: A device attached to the
system is not functioning.

10) The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load: AFD,
Fips
IPSec, MRxSmb, NetBIOS, NetBT, Processor, RasAcd, Rdbss, SAVRT, SAVRTPEL,
Tcpip

11) DCOM got error "This service cannot be started in Safe Mode "
attempting to start the service EventSystem with arguments "" in order to run
the server:
{1BE1F766-5536-11D1-B726-00C04FB926AF}


APPLICATION:
1) wuauclt (2240) The database engine stopped.

2) wuaueng.dll (2240) SUS20ClientDataStore: The database engine stopped the
instance (0).

3) The description for Event ID ( 1800 ) in Source ( SecurityCenter )
cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry
information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer.
You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see
Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event:
..

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Do you have any specific problems with Windows Update? What kind of
Internet connection have you got? Dial-up or Broadband?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

You need to remove spyware and viruses *before* you install SP 2 - not
after. Your hard disk must be absolutely clean of any trace of spyware and
viruses in order to successfully install a service pack.

Since spyware is so difficult to remove, most people use more than one
anti-spyware application. And it sometimes takes several passes before an
infection is removed. Unfortunately, sometimes it's impossible to completely
remove spyware or viruses.

Once the infection is completely gone - or after you've reinstalled all your
software, if need be - then you must focus on avoiding this malware. If you
aren't able to keep spyware and viruses off your computer, then it's only a
matter of time before you'll find yourself in trouble once again.

Ted Zieglar

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ted,

I ran the Ad-Aware priot to downloading SP2 and ran it several times untill
everything was gone, also manually downloaded my virus definitions and did a
full virus scan. I will try downloading another program for spyware also.

 

[Guest]

Denny,

I have absolutely no problems with Windows Update, SP2 downloads perfectly
everytime and installs okay. Unfortunately, I have dial-up (cable/dsl is not
available yet here...one more month DSL will be available). As I mentionrf
before, SP2 works okay for a while (generally 3-4 weeks) unlike this time it
only lasted 6-days. Then all of a sudden after no program changes or
software upgrades or additions I can only start up in Safe Mode until I
remove SP2.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Jay;
Why do you think this is an SP-2 issue?
When you System Restore back before SP-2, you also go back for
everything else.
It would be extremely unusual for anything to have such a delay.
What else happens at the time of the problems?

 

[jeffrey]

Hi,

Doesn`t sound like a SP2 problem, especially if everything is working for
several weeks. Seems like something else is causing your problem. I
haven`t had any problems on computers I updated to SP2 that I maintain.

Jeff

 

[Guest]

Jupiter Jones,

I actually do not know. I do know that I have had no problems until I
downloaded SP2, granted it was immediate problems and this last time was
6-days after I updated SP2. I do not use THIS computer for much else except
e-mail and browsing the web....SP2 is the only thing I have installed on this
computer in months other than other Windows updates and Virus updates for
Norton. I cannot think of anything in particular I do that would cause it
since I never know there is a problem until the next time I start it up...I
always shut down normally. I may just have to leave SP2 off for a while to
see if I have any problems. The last time I updated to SP2 other than email,
I did not update, download or install anything
other than XP & Virus updates. (????)

 

[Guest]

Jeffrey,

As I just wrote to Jupiter Jones, the last time I updated to SP2, other than
email, I did not download, update or install anything (except XP & Virus
updates). I did not even change any settings. So I am baffled. I may just
go without SP2 for a while to see if I have any problems. You are both
right, it may not be a SP2 problem, may just be a coincidence. (????)