Will SP2 Crash my machine?

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I made the bad mistake of installing Service pack 2 when it came in through the MS updater last week and afterwards- no connectivity at all and the system was going real slow.

I'd already done a spyware scan and cleared it all out with Adaware and run Norton Security and Anti-virus.

So I eventually after trying a microsoft "fix" for this problem but to no avail decided to roll back to before SP2 was installed and initally things worked ok again but then a few days later my connectivity has messed up again.

Everything was working fine for many months-no problems at all...that was until I installed SP2 and it's made my pc practically incapable of net access now.

SO DO NOT INSTALL THIS RUBBISH - SERVICE PACK 2 IS NOT WORTH IT!

After this experience I have turned off my MS updater and will never trust Microsoft enough to download any more of their rubbish again.

Well...on my experience about SP2 is that if i install it on desktop/laptop computer they don´t work anymore...symptoms are that when i start XP again i´m waiting it to crash what it will do in a time scale 10sec to 4hours...so...don´t install it if you want to keep your pc alive...i´ve learned it the hard way...in the end i have to say that: GOOD WORK MICROSOFT...(just kidding)

alright, as some of you have made...i also made the biggest mistake of all and tried to install sp2, and of course i restarted my computer and of course it was going slow. so, i went into safe mode and used system restore. problem was the restoring files froze up! it was 20 minutes and still at the same part. so, i restarted and held the power button for 10 seconds to shut off. so here is what it is doing now.
It restarts the computer, shows a black screen with words as to "Your computer was not shut down properly. Please select an option to load Windows." something among those lines. so, the options are safe mode, safe w/netwrking, safe w/command prompt, local config settings and start windows normally. ive tried all 5 and none work. when you press on them it starts to think flashes a blue screen with white letters that i cant read b/c its too fast and then restarts the comp, a boot loop...it sometimes can come with different options when i press f8, but i do not know what to press...

SP2 killed CD Anywhere on my system; V-Com says they are withdrawing it from sale since Microsoft is not forthcoming on how or why it is broken.

"SP2" INSTALLED PERFECTLY.
Like many people, I had a thing against Microsoft simply because "*everyone else" did.(*always a stupid reason to do anything).
I decided to get it over with and install SP2. UGH!,On Dial-Up, I knew it take hours! I went to the SP2 website and was amazed to find that Microsoft would send out SP2 on CD in the (postal) mail absolutely FREE. (they even paid postage!) I received it, decided to *format and start clean, installed XP pro, SP2, and then everything else I like. It runs perfectly. The most important part after you install SP2 is to disable anything you do not want. (security alerts, firewall restrictions, or whatever) You control "IT" rather than "IT" controlling "YOU". If you need help, ask a competent person to help. !Keyword: Competent! It’s just a silly machine. You can’t break it. Nothing except a hammer will destroy a computer.(except maybe flashing the BIOS improperly) If you buy a new one because it wont run properly, you wasted a lot of money and got $crewed-but "not by Microsoft".
*FYI: the most vital part of reformatting is:![1.fdisk /MBR]! [2.fdisk] [3.format] [4.install OS] or check out - FDISKdotcom/FDISK/
http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/

Hi, I have a hp pavilion 722a with XPSP2ProAcademic on it. A lot of programs (not all) and websites will appear sometimes for a few seconds and then disapear. Assuming this might be a virus I have tried running/updating/removing NAV2002 and installing a later version. It wont let me even with RNAV2003.exe.I cannot even run regedit. As you can see it has let me write you this. Any ideas please? Mike

I'd boot in safe mode to run both a virus scan and a spyware scan. If after that you still can't update your anti-virus and anti-spyware packages, I'd see about using a different computer to get them downloaded, burned to CD or whatever, and run the updated ones in safe mode as well.

HELP ME !!!
at around the same time that i installed SP2 my multiple user windows xp, dissolved all knowledge of my different users. SP2 i think has wiped the slate clean for all of my users, they have reverted back to the original state, this means that i have no access to the programs that i have installed, although i can access my work through my documents and settings, im running a 60 - 60 hard drive partions, and dont know whether it was sp2 or ..... ok it was defintly sp2. Any help to fix this problem would be much appreciated.

Do not install SP 2

I had the same problem with SP2. I bought a PC Beginner Unitilities CD from http://www.pcbeginner.com and their support guy gave me a good solution. Here is a copy:

1. Unplug your PC power cord, all network (internet) cables. Wait for several seconds and then plug back.

2. Set all your BIOS settings to "Default" one. For more info about BIOS settings: http://guide.pcbeginner.com/pcdoctor/pcdoctor.htm#not_boot

3. Enter Safe mode and uninstall SP2 using the standard Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
How to enter Safe mode: Restart your computer. When the machine first starts again it will generally list some equipment that is installed in your machine, amount of memory, hard drives installed etc. At this point you should gently tap the F8 key repeatedly.

4. Reinstall your Windows to see if the problem will be fixed.
How to Reinstall Windows, While Leaving My Programs and Files Intact?
Use PC Beginner CD to create bootable floppy disks for Windows (D:\WinTool\Windows boot rescue disks).
During installation, if you see a prompt that asks you to select one of two options, please do NOT select "format hard drive". Instead, select the one like "Leave your programs/file there" (or something like that). This way will reinstall your Windows, while leave all your programs and files intact.

5. If all above do not help, you have to back up your files first and then reinstall a clean Windows.

Backup files:
You can remove this "bad" hard drive and then install it into a good PC as a slave hard drive. Then you can access this slave drive.
http://guide.pcbeginner.com/tips/slave.htm

Reinstall a clean Windows:

(1). First, erase anything from hard drive:

D:\DiskTool\HDRescue

(D: is PC Beginner CD)

In a good computer and in Windows environment, use the tool in this folder to create a bootable floppy disk. Use this floppy to boot up your "bad" computer to do "low-format".

(2). Insatll Windows:

D:\WinTool\Windows quick install disk

(D: is PC Beginner CD)

In a good computer and in Windows environment, use the tool in this folder to create a boot/setup floppy disk. Then use this floppy to boot up your "bad" computer.

Every time i use SP2 my start menu & icon disappears and nothing works!!! HELP ANYONE

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