• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

XP Service Pack 2 will not install

R

rw120555

Golden Member
My son's computer had a bunch of weird programs on it and was being bombarded with junk ads. After running Ad-Aware SE Personal 1.05, Spybot S & D 1.3, and doing some registry tweaks, it appears I was able to get most of the problems solved.

BUT, when I try to install XP Service Pack 2, it gets about halfway through, and gives me a cryptic "Access denied" error.

I've also run Norton Win Doctor -- it comes up with around 30 errors it can't fix, although I don't know why. It can't seem to delete registry keys for invalid activex entries and stuff like that.

Other than total re-install, any suggestions as to what I should do? Are there other registry cleaners besides Norton that might do better, or other spyware programs I should maybe check out? Should I try the install from Safe Mode maybe?

For my own computers, I do a good job of documenting what I install, holding on to the disks, backing things up periodicially...But for his computer it is total chaos. He probably needs a newer, more powerful machine but I dread the thought of trying to get it set up! Thanks for any tips.
 
If you do decide to reinstall, I made a page with some suggestions for getting the system fairly secure next time around. If you can get away with locking down the Administrator powers and make him a Limited user, that's worth a great deal as a deterrent to spyware/adware/trojans/etc, in combination with other good practices. If it were me, I would definitely start from scratch.

If you want to slug it out with the damaged installation, look in Event Viewer and see if it says what the hangup is, and also do this:
  1. Make a folder C:\HJT
  2. Download Hijack This (a Zip file) into the C:\HJT folder, and extract the hijackthis.exe into that folder.
  3. Run hijackthis.exe, hit the Save log button, and post the text from the logfile in this thread for analysis.
  4. While you're waiting...
    1. Disable System Restore
    2. Update your antivirus signatures and run a scan with all options maxed, including heuristics and compressed files. What antivirus is it running, anyway?
    3. Try getting second and third opinions using Panda's online scanner and TrendMicro's too, if you have the time. If the system has the protection of a hardware firewall (router), you can start in Safe Mode With Networking and run these that way.
    4. Set strong passwords on the user accounts to deter exploitation of the system's Administrator account and its capabilities. Control Panel > User Accounts.
 
Thanks for the very detailed feedback mechBgon. I think you are right that it is better just to start from scratch, which I think I'll do when and if we get him a new machine (his current machine is a 450 mhz Pentium which is around 5-7 years old). I'm going to save your instructions though, in case a computer I really care about (like mine!) has problems like this someday.

Other than not installing SP2, the machine seems to be functional now. What I am doing is (a) making a Ghost backup of the C: drive, so I can go back to its current state if further efforts just make things worse; and (b) I have used the immunize feature of Spybot S & D, so that will hopefully keep future problems down. (I've also issued dire threats to both my children about what will happen if they try to install their weird programs on machines besides their own. Why my daughter needs 4 messenger programs running at the same time, one of them in Spanish, is beyond me. And I don't care how cute he is, I never want to see Bonzi again.)

I'm still open for quick and dirty suggestions that wouldn't require too much effort if anyone has them. Like MechBgon says, I don't think it is worth "slugging it out" but if there is something that will take 5 or 10 minutes of my time I'm willing to try it!
 
How old are your kids? Maybe a "safe internet cumputing talk" would help. No Bonzi. Prefer PC-Cillin Trend Micro security to Norton. Firewall? Maybe help your kids set-up new computer... fun...quality time Dad.
 
I have had this problem in the past as well and here's an idea you can try. Make sure to log on using the administrator account even if your son's account has administrative priviledges. The user account you use has to have "backup files and directories" access or the SP2 upgrade will fail. By default, only the administrator account has this priviledge.
If you want to change that, open up Administrative Tools and go to Local Securtiy Settings. Under "User Rights Assignments" you will see "backup files and directories". Open that up and add another username.

Hope this helps.
 
I have had issues with trying to install SP2 for a while. I just gave up, I had to run the system restore disk to fix the prblem all three times I've tried to install it. I think you guys are right about the format idea, I probably need to just rip the whole OS out. Oh well.
 
Wow, thanks for all the feedback. I'll have to consider some of these and try them out.

The kids are 16 and 14. They're really much better about this stuff than they used to be. I thought we'd cleared a lot of this junk out a year ago, but I suspect remnants were still there and came back to haunt us.

Even on my own PC, which is in pretty good shape, I have this ongoing urge to reformat and reinstall. Assorted programs just don't work quite right, e.g. Winfax Pro locks up everytime I try to edit the phonebook, Word 2003 gives me lots of weird errors too. If it gets annoying enough, I'll either try to troubleshoot the problems or start from scratch. You always worry that you will spend hours doing that, though, and either (a) you'll screw something up, or (b) you'll still have the exact same problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top