Problems Installing Windows Updates/Other programs

[mollyf]

I just recently upgraded from XP Home to XP Pro. I installed Service
Pack 1 and could only get updates by downloading them individually as
the Windows Update program would freeze. Not a big deal but then I
read somewhere that the problem could be corrected by installing SP2 so
I decided to be brave and do it. Afterwards, I got prompted to install
an update to the Windows Update program and ever since, I have not been
able to install any updates--even if I download them to my hard drive.

Every update or other software (I've tried stuff other than Microsoft
updates) hangs when it reaches "Creating restore point." The Task
Manager shows that it's running but there's little to no activity on
the CPU.

I've tried uninstalling SP2 but get an error towards the end of a file
not being found. I have yet to try one of the options from Microsoft's
KB about rebooting with the XP CD, etc.

I have 768MB RAM, about 60GB free hard disk space, and a 2.17GHz CPU.
I also have ZeroSpyware installed (even uninstalled that to see if that
was causing problems--it wasn't the cause and I was able to reinstall
successfully and download updates because it doesn't create a restore
point). I also have Norton Internet Security--have been able to get
updates for that too without any problems.

Any suggestions of what could be causing the problem?

Thanks.

--Molly

 

[Alias]

Try disabling Nortons AV auto scan when installing *anything*.

Alias

 

[mollyf]

Thanks for responding. I'll try that. I guess I didn't figure that
Norton could be causing problems as I was running Norton Personal
Firewall 2003 and Norton AV 2002 for the past couple of years and never
disabled anything when installing software. I just recently upgraded
to Norton Internet Security 2005.

--Molly

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Most every program installer/updater now "recommends" to turn off A/V during
the update/install.

 

[mollyf]

That seems to have done the trick. Just ran home during my lunch break
and was able to install Windows Media 10 where I wasn't able to before.

Thanks.

--Molly