XP won't run with SP2

[Bill Fraser]

I use Win XP Pro, upgraded from Win 98 a couple of years ago. I downloaded
and installed SP2, and everything went well until I restarted the computer.
I gather that a blue screen is supposed to come up for quite a while, well,
it just flashed on and off, and the computer rebooted. I got the select
panel for safe mode etc. Computer starts up in safe mode OK. I tried
reinstalling my video and audio drivers, but that didn't work. Funny thing
is, when the Windows logo comes up in SP2, it says Windows XP, not XP Pro
like normal.
I tried going back to the restore point I had made, but it wouldn't work.
Finally, I uninstalled SP2 in safe mode, and got back to normal. I tried
the whole thing over again, just in case there was a bad download, but the
same thing happened.
Any suggestions?

 

[Mike H]

You must disconnect from the internet, disable a/v program and firewall,
disconnect peripheral devices other than monitor, mouse and keyboard.. try
it again..

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

And the screen is supposed to say just Windows XP. No Home, Pro, Tablet
Edition or Media Center Edition. It's by design.

 

[Bill Fraser]

OK, I tried that with the same result. Well, not exactly the same. This
time, I couldn't get Windows to load even in safe mode. Tried several
times. In desperation, I plugged my printer, scanner and webcam back in and
tried again. WHEW!! It came on (in safe mode). So, I uninstalled SP2
again. Maybe I need to try the IT professional version. I don't know. Any
more thoughts?
Thanks for the replies.
Bill

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Place the XP CD in the drive, when the setup screen appears, select Check
System Compatibility. While the system has worked find up until now, you
may have some borderline hardware or software that might be causing the SP2
setup to choke.

Also check device manufacturer websites for the latest XP drivers for your
devices and application maker websites for any necessary patches or updates
for your software.

 

[Bill Fraser]

I ran System Compatability, and aside from needing to download an update to
setup, it found no incompabatabilities.
Checked all the manufacturers websites I could think of, and saw no driver
downloads needed, or SP2 compability problems identified. I checked the
Windows site for the driver compability list for SP2, and I don't have any
of the items listed there. This is really agravating. A friend of mine
installed SP2 with absolutely no problems. Can you think of anything else I
could try?
Bill.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

That blue screen you mentioned though it only flashed on and off, too fast
for you to check, is nonetheless indicative of some hardware issue. What
can you tell us about your system and in addition to your processor, if it's
an Intel, do you know what chipset. If you are running Intel's latest
Prescott edition, we are hearing about some issues between it and SP2.

 

[Guest]

I had exactly the same problem, except that the OS sysem
changed to Media Player!! This could have interesting
implications worldwide! I have got as far as installing a
second version of XP Home from my Recovery Disc and
asking if I can use that to attempt to salvage my emails
before a complete reinstallation.

 

[Bill Fraser]

Michael:
I have a Celeron 900 Meg processor on a Via P6VXA mainboard with Award Bios
(Bios string 06/27/2001-694X-686-P6VXAC-00). I have 640 Megs of SDR
memory(133 Megs), and an NVidia FX5200 Video card(128 Megs memory) and a
Soundblaster Live Value Sound card. I am using Windows XP Pro SP1 (build
2600). I have the latest Soundblaster driver, but am using the NVidia 53.03
driver as the latest ones don't run Links 2003 very well. I don't know if
that's enough info on my system or not, but get back to me if there's
anything else you need to know.
I have a friend in the local area that has a system very similar to mine
except he uses XP Home. He installed SP2 with no problem at all.
Hope you can come up with something, or I'll just pass on SP2 for now.
Thanks. Bill.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Two things jump out at me from your specs. First, if you have another
graphics card or access to another card other than the nVidia, try
temporarily swapping it with the nVidia card and see if that gets you
through the installation and a successful SP2 setup. Once you are set up,
then reinstall the nVidia card and see what happens.

Second, if the above doesn't work, you might want to check the Via website
for any updates for your chipset as Via chipsets can be finicky.

 

[Bill Fraser]

OK Michael. I tried all that. I borrowed a video card from a friend that
has SP2 working on his computer (which is almost identical to mine by the
way). No go with that. I checked the Via website for updates to the
software for my VT82C686B Southbridge chipset. No luck. All they had was a
small utility to check what chipset you have (I read it off the chipset). I
tried changing video drivers with the no luck. I tried to run the System
Compatability Check with SP2 installed (in safe mode of course), but just
got a notice that the Windows version in my computer was newer than the one
on my CD, and that it couldn't run the check.
On the off chance that it might be different, and just to say I've tried
everything I can think of, I downloaded and installed the IT Managers
version of SP2. Same result.
HEY! I can take a hint. MS does not want me to have SP2 on my computer.
Maybe the v1.1 will be better. LOL.
Anyway, I've spent quite a few hours at this, with nothing for all the
effort but a bad taste in my mouth for SP2. I think I'll go back to my
trusty Zone Alarm Pro for protection (I hear it's still better anyway).
Do I need to contact the SP2 people at Microsoft to tell them what's going
on, or can you do that?
Thanks for all the suggestions. Unless you can think of something that is
definitely going to solve the problem, I think I'll pass on SP2 for now.
Bill.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

I don't blame you at all, Bill. You've spent more than enough time on this.
I really don't know the source of this issue. I'm surprised about the
compatiblity wizard, that should really make no difference. If you were
running the Wizard off your CD, perhaps you might want to try the
doaloadable version to see if that makes a difference though, given all the
time you've already invested, I wouldn't blame you for just ending it here.

In any event, here's the link to the downloadable wizard, it's called the
upgrade advisor:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

I think you mean Media Center Edition. Media Center Edition is a superset
of XP Pro and is only available on a Media Center Computer from the
manufacturer and the update is aware of the differences so I'm not sure how
such a mistake was made.

The problem you now have is that there is no downgrade and recovery disks
don't usually have a reinstall option, they are usually all or nothing.
Hence, they wipe the drive and start over fresh.

If during the SP2 upgrade process, you elected to save your previous setup,
there should be an entry in Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, "Windows
XP Service Packe 2" and you should be able to use it to go back to your
previous setup. I'm assuming you either downloaded SP2 from the following
site:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

Or, you received it through Windows Update. If you went anywhere else to
download the file, I can't vouch for anything and might be the reason why
your system became, Windows Media Center Edition.