XP SP2 - Oh, The Humanity

Last night I got the great idea to go ahead with Windows XP SP2 on my aging but otherwise fully-patched Dell Dimension 8100. This turned out to be a horrible idea. I went to Windows Update, where I was told that SP2 was available as an update for my PC. I hit the Download button, and when the download completed, the Install button. I then went in the other room as I figured it would be awhile.

A couple minutes later, I heard some pretty serious beeping coming from my office. I went in and checked the computer, which showed a blue screen of death with a message to the effect that WinSrv could not be loaded and I might need to reinstall the program. Then the computer rebooted itself, tried to load Windows, showed the BSoD again, rebooted, and continued through this pathetic cycle. I put it out of its misery and tried rebooting several times. I made it into setup but could never get into safe mode or even a DOS prompt.

At this point, I was pretty much checking the dates of my last major backups (especially my Money file), as it was becoming clear that I was probably going to have to FDISK and cut my losses. My last hope was the Server Admin at work. If he couldn't do anything, I was going to take it to Best Buy or CompUSA and allow myself to get screwed. And I hated that prospect.

The Server Admin, T., is a good sport about this sort of thing. This morning he said he likes a challenge, and apparently this machine offered one. It's screwed up and good. He found some article on the Microsoft site about uninstalling Windows XP SP 2 using the recovery console. And I won't know for sure until tonight, but after wrangling for most of the morning with it, I think he brought her back from the dead.

If he did manage the incredible, I will be deeply indebted and have learned a couple of valuable lessons:

• Don't install Windows XP SP2, or at least take CNET's advice and wait awhile.
• Backup the important files weekly and the whole thing every couple of months (more argument for getting that DVD burner)

The most frustrating aspect of all of this is that I consider myself pretty computer-savvy, and I don't think I did anything wrong; neither does our Server Admin. I'm nervous about what will happen when SP2 heads my way again through Automatic Updates. There may have been some conflict with my drivers that Windows Update should have detected. It's just been a miserable experience and if I haven't lost everything, I'll consider myself lucky.

Comments

[JenInSC]

Update: The computer IS back from the dead. Along with several years' worth of digital pictures I feared were lost when it died.

[Lisa O'Connor]

Same thing happened to me. I think that my registry was corrupted before i did the install and it caused problems. I haven't been able to fix it - I even decided that I would have to bite the bullet and reinstall windows - and then to my horror discovered that my laptop is refusing to boot from the cd drive.
What solution eventually worked for you?
I'd really appreciate any advice you can offer.

[Charlie]

Lisa,
I wish I had better advice for you. Our server admin here at work is really the one who worked the magic, and he can't remember what he found that finally worked. He just said he did a Google search for the error and eventually found it. Best of luck. I still can't believe the experience I had with this.