XP won't boot after SP2 upgrade

[Newsie]

Hello, I've been battling virus' and spy/ad ware for some time now, I
finally got it all cleaned. Someone told me I needed to update to SP2 (using
XPhome). I tried 2 times, each time I download the upgrade, it goes through
ok, but when the computer restarts I get a blank screen, it won't boot. I
waited up to 20 minutes at one point. So I F8'd the computer and in safe
mode uninstalled SP2 and the computer was fine.

Any suggestions? Much appreciated.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

"Get Your PC Ready for Windows XP SP2"
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx

"Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Support Center"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=windowsxpsp2

 

[Galen]

In Newsie had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hello, I've been battling virus' and spy/ad ware for some time now, I
finally got it all cleaned. Someone told me I needed to update to SP2
(using XPhome). I tried 2 times, each time I download the upgrade, it
goes through ok, but when the computer restarts I get a blank screen,
it won't boot. I waited up to 20 minutes at one point. So I F8'd the
computer and in safe mode uninstalled SP2 and the computer was fine.

Any suggestions? Much appreciated.

It generally means that the malware isn't completely clean when this
happens. To be honest your best choice is likely to back-up and do a clean
installation. From there install SP2, a firewall, and an AV application.
Then grab all of your updates and move on from that.

See also:

Windows XP Service Pack 2:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/winxpsp2.html

Malware Cleaners and Repair:
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/malwarefix.html

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Newsie]

Thanks for your suggestions all.... on my way to try again.

 

[Newsie]

Followup:

Those links you sent were very helpful.
Downloaded e-squared malwear removal, wow 72 bugs. No wonder the computer
was crappola! Also ran spybot search and destroy, that found over 129
infected files. Mcaffe didn't find anything, its the latest version and
supposed to stop all this nonsense, but it wasn't doing its job. (yes it
was turned on) )

Tomorrow I'm going to get into safe mode and run all three scans again, then
install SP2, I have the disk from microsoft.

Just have a question, when I install SP2, do I turn off System Restore? Some
sites say yes, some no.

Thanks again

 

[Galen]

In Newsie had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Followup:

Those links you sent were very helpful.
Downloaded e-squared malwear removal, wow 72 bugs. No wonder the
computer was crappola! Also ran spybot search and destroy, that found
over 129 infected files. Mcaffe didn't find anything, its the latest
version and supposed to stop all this nonsense, but it wasn't doing
its job. (yes it was turned on) )

Tomorrow I'm going to get into safe mode and run all three scans
again, then install SP2, I have the disk from microsoft.

Just have a question, when I install SP2, do I turn off System
Restore? Some sites say yes, some no.

Thanks again

Absolutely not. Leave system restore on EVEN when cleaning out the malware.
Malware - no matter how evil - will not suddenly crawl out of restore and
back onto your PC no matter what the big guys claim. So leave it ENABLED and
THEN (when you're sure the system is clean) delete the old restore points
and create a new restore point. System restore is not a substitute for a
full system backup but it IS a nice thing to have just in case.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Newsie]

Hi, I hope someone is still following this post. If I do not receive a reply
I will start a new post.

I did all that was advised. Cleaned my computer so much it squeaked.
Proceeded to install SP2 from disk, install went well, no error messages, it
too almost 1 1/2 hours. The computer restarted and WHAM right into safe
mode, it will NOT boot after SP2, I have to go into safe mode and ininstall.

Can anyone tell me why my computer will not accept SP2? Do I need it
anyway???

Thanks again

 

[Galen]

In Newsie had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hi, I hope someone is still following this post. If I do not receive
a reply I will start a new post.

I did all that was advised. Cleaned my computer so much it squeaked.
Proceeded to install SP2 from disk, install went well, no error
messages, it too almost 1 1/2 hours. The computer restarted and WHAM
right into safe mode, it will NOT boot after SP2, I have to go into
safe mode and ininstall.
Can anyone tell me why my computer will not accept SP2? Do I need it
anyway???

Thanks again

Yes, yes you need it. With all that malware that was on the system you MIGHT
be better off (and this is what I would do) simply backing up your data.
Download the offline SP2 installation and burning it to CD. Disconnect and
continue by doing a clean installation of XP, installing SP2, installing AV
and other security applications. After that re-connect (don't surf) and
download all new security patches from the Windows Update site.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Newsie]

Do you mean to totally reformat the drive and install XP/and SP2? or a
reinstallation of XP? then SP2?

And the offline download,, is that available on microsoft.com?

I have the SP2 disk from Microsoft, can I use that?

thanks for your help

 

[Galen]

In Newsie had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Do you mean to totally reformat the drive and install XP/and SP2? or a
reinstallation of XP? then SP2?

And the offline download,, is that available on microsoft.com?

I have the SP2 disk from Microsoft, can I use that?

thanks for your help

The SP2 disk is perfect.

And yeah, if you have been that infested with malware there's no way you can
ever be 100% sure that you're clean again nor that the malware cleaning
applications have done the job properly and that there won't be major system
issues later on. I don't recommend this often but when you're that far gone
then, well, it's really worth considering.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes