Travel Technology - XP SP3 uninstalling for 5 hours - am I hosed?

This afternoon, while getting files together to take on a trip tomorrow morning, the computer tells me it wants to install WinXP SP3 update. I need a break, so I say OK. The install failed (I'll check it out later). Anyway, the rollback, or uninstall, has been going on for 5 hours now. Drive light flickering pretty much constantly.

Ctrl-Alt-Del pops up the usual choices (shut down, task manager, etc.), but it doesn't act on your choices (too busy, I'm guessing). I can get the Start Menu to pop up, but anything I click just goes into some queue.

Any thought about what will happen if I just power it down?

And the answer is ... yep! &#$%$)_!@:mad:

I waited a total of 6 hours. Pushed power button hoping to see it tell me it was shutting down ... no such luck. Powered up to a Windows XP screen that looked OK, but no IP services, few working icons, and an endless stream of error dialog boxes.

Thankfully, my main HD (a pair of Raptors in RAID 0) is backed up nightly to a huge EIDE internal drive using an old program, Drive Image 7. Took about an hour to restore to Saturday night's image - some of that was making a floppy with my RAID drivers.

So all is well, except I had to stay up late duplicating a lot of work I did yesterday. :mad: Ah, well, I hope I can get some shuteye on the plane.

My computer wants to download SP3 also. Is this one I really need, or should I skip it. Seems like folks are having lots of 'issues' with it. Thanks for the help.

I installed SP3 to fix a bug that couldn't be fixed any other way. There were no problems and the bug is fixed. But I would not install SP3 without having a reason for it.

Like with most servicepacks, you'll have to install it sooner or later. At a certain cutoff point, Microsoft won't issue hotfixes for machines not on the latest SP version...

I had issues with SP3 too with drivers for DLink wireless drivers.
The DLink site provided new drivers but also mentioned that even those don't work sometimes.... of course this was the case on my PC ...

some of that was making a floppy with my RAID drivers.

What is this black magic you speak of? :)

All stuff needs to support booting off a flash stick or card. Vista won't install to a removable flash drive, but I use to have an XP install on a flash drive. I still travel with Portable Apps on one and an Ubuntu install on another. Why, I don't know, as I also drag my original Eee PC around everywhere.

My computer wants to download SP3 also. Is this one I really need, or should I skip it. Seems like folks are having lots of 'issues' with it. Thanks for the help.

Definitely worth installing, and not a lot of issues with it.

If you have a raid setup, like OP, make sure you have backups before the install. (actually a good suggestion for anybody.)

I think the sp3 install itself takes a restore point, and offers to do it even if you have that feature of XP disabled. (I seem to recall it offered to do it for me, and I normally have restore points disabled.)

-David

...the computer tells me it wants to install WinXP SP3 update....The install failed (I'll check it out later)...
Not sure if this person is addressing the problem you had. You may want to check it out:

SP3 downloads won't install- this will repair it (http://techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2008/05/14/windows-xp-sp3-has-problems/#comment-2246)

I am running Service Pack 2.

When did Service Pack 3 come out?

What is this black magic you speak of? :)


Recovering with Drive Image involves booting from a CD which has a mini-Windows version plus the DI program. But it does not see my C: drive unless I load RAID drivers. This is the same process you go through when installing Win2000 or WinXP from a CD to a new drive. About 10 seconds after starting from the CD, it tells you to press F6 if you have a RAID drive that need drivers loaded.

Not sure if this person is addressing the problem you had. You may want to check it out:

SP3 downloads won't install- this will repair it (http://techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2008/05/14/windows-xp-sp3-has-problems/#comment-2246)

Doesn't sound the same, as mine failed. Your article describes one that seems to have suceeded, but doesn't boot properly. I've since found plenty of articles that may describe my problem. I appreciate the thought, however.

Today, I'm about 1000 miles from my pc, and though I remotely access it daily, I think I'll skip trying to install it until I get back next week. I can imaging trying to guide my wife through restoring my pc, and I don't think I want to have that conversation.