SP 2 breakdown

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zack Griendling
  • Start date Start date
Z

Zack Griendling

We have a HP pavilion, 1.6 G, 512 RAM with XP. We tried months ago to
upgrade to Service Pak 2 and the computer crashed. I can't remember what
exactly happened, but I know I had to restore the registry to get rid of it.

At the time, there was coincidentally articles about the problems with
Service Pack 2. in fact, my daughter's college specifically advised AGAINST
upgrading.

Today, nearly a year later, I decided to try again. The computer has slowed
to a crawl and is unusable.

If, as has been suggested in a thread of another message on the newsgroup,
upgrading is a "no brainer," why is it destroying my computer?

Suggestions welcomed.

Bob
 
SP 2 really is a no brainer - everyone should have it. But Service Packs are
like judgement day for computers with underlying problems. That's why it's
important to be very sure that everything on your computer is working
correctly, configured only in ways that Microsoft supports, virus- and
spyware-free, and completely up to date. Otherwise, you may very well
experience problems. Fortunately, Microsoft has published lots of
information to help. Start here:

"What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2"
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx

Ted Zieglar
 
Well, I haven't run AdAware in a couple of days, but the reason I wanted to
install SP2 was because my anti-virus software, AVG, has found 28 viruses
every day. Searching on the 'net, I found that the type of virus was
addressed by installing service pack 2. So it's a chicken and egg thing. I
can't get my computer clean until I install SP2 and now you say I can't
install SP 2 until I clean the computer.

So what now that I have render this machine useless?

Bob
 
FYI, responding from two different computers Zack and Karla are the same
person, and my name is Bob!

Bob
 
No, SP 2 does not contain anti-virus software. It strengthens the underlying
security of the operating system to reduce your chances of being infected,
but it does not remove viruses or spyware. As the information on Microsoft's
web site explains, your computer must be free of viruses and spyware -
completely - before installing SP 2.

Ted Zieglar
 
Can all the files in C:\Documents and Settings\Zack\jpi_cache\jar\1.0 be
deleted without harming my computer??

That's where AVG identifies Java/Byte/Verify "infected embedded object."

Bob
 
Perhaps, but that won't get rid of the virus. Good antivirus software is
equippred to remove viruses completely. Don't try to remove it on your own.

Ted Zieglar
 
Well, since you didn't advise me what to do once I had upgraded to SP2 and
certina functions of my computer slowewd to a crawl, I removed the update,
went to the site you sugeested, and updated all the drivers and maximized my
performance (Scan disk, defrag, etc.). I also went into safe mode and ran
the anti-virus software (AVG) and got rid of the Java/Byte/Verify virus.

I ran Adaware several times to get rid of spyware and then tried to upgrade
to SP2 again.

Now certina functions are still very slow.

Boot up to the log in screen is fine, but once I chose a profile, the
background (including a photo) comes up fine, but it takes:
4:00 (four minutes) for the task bar at the bottom of screen to appear
2:00 more until desktop icons appear
2:00 more until all icons change from generic to their usual icons
2:00 more for icons in taskbar to come up
2:00 more for the Office shortcut bar to appear, for a total boot up time of
about 12:00.

Then when I hit Start to choose a program, it can take another 1:30 for it
to open, another 1-2:00 after hitting "Programs" for the program list to
appear and just as long to close the start menu. Once I open IE, browsing
is fine and are other applications, except Outlook Express, launced by the
Read News function within IE too 1-2:00 to luacnh.

As I write this, I can't get to my taskbar items at the bottom of my screen
becasue a double sided arrow is there.

Any suggestions?

Bob
 
As you didn’t advise what to do after I had already upgraded unsuccessfully
to SP 2, I removed it and went to the article you suggested and did
everything they recommended (installed drivers, updated settings and ran
scan disk and defrag). I also booted up in safe mode as Symantec advised and
got rid of the viruses on the computer.

However, once I again installed SP 2, many functions slowed to a crawl or
stopped responding. Boot up was fine until I hit the log on screen. The
background and photo appeared fine, but it took: 4:00 (four minutes) for the
task bar to appear, another 2:00 for icons on my desktop to appear, another
2:00 for them to finish, another 2:00 for icons in the task bar to appear
and another 2:00 for the MS Office shortcut bar to appear, for a total of
more than 12 minutes to boot up.

After hitting the start button, it took about 1:30 for it to open and at
least that long after hitting Programs for the program list to populate.
Everything in the task bar and start menu was very slow, but applications
and browsing are fine.

All the application, once I can get to them, work normally and usually
browsing is fine, although sometimes when I log off, I get a message saying
iexplore.exe and explore.exe are not responding.

When I first tried to send you this message, the Outlook Express stopped
responding, so I'm sending this from yet another computer.

Do you have any suggestions?

Bob Griendling
 
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