A tragic tale of update trauma

Many moons ago, Win98SE was my OS of choice. I rarely had issues with it, and when I did, they were almost always a direct result of using Microsoft's Update "service ". I learned quickly to never update unless I had a distinct and debilitating problem that I couldn't solve any other way.

Well, I've since graduated to WinXP Pro, which I've been using on a single install for the past year and a half or so. I've been very pleased with it's stability and never once have I had to resort to the dreaded Windows Update.

Enter the MSblast virus. A quick stop at Symantec's site landed me the removal tool and after very little frustration, I had the bugger deleted. Scanning the Symantec site, I noticed a recommendation that I download the patch (available on the Windows Update site) to cover the security hole that allowed the virus in in the first place.

Now, call it a momentary lapse in judgement, temporary insanity, or amnesia, but I figured maybe I was being overcautious with avoiding all those "critical" updates that were staring at me, begging to be installed.

I said to myself, "If the install I did off the two year old disk was stable, it makes sense that these very recent and up-to-date patches would only increase that stability! "

So, I began the download and install. It first attempted to install the WinXP service pack. A dialog popped up recommending I back up my files but I didn't have the room on my hard drive, and I was feeling lucky, so I chose not to.

The service pack seemed to finish installing, but then paused right near the end. I assumed it was just going slow, and since I'd had a long night, I decided to go have a nap.

I come back a few hours later to my computer in the midst of resetting. "That's odd," I think. Watching it for a few minutes I realize that it is in a perpetual reset loop -- directly after the WinXP splash screen I get a flicker of a Blue Screen of Death, but it doesn't stay. It's there and then, boom, reboot.

Each time around, of course, it allows me to choose to start in safe mode, with networking, which is how I'm writing this.

At the top of my desktop is the line:

"Microsoft (R) Windows XP (R) (Build 2600.xpsp1.020828-1920: Service Pack 1) "

So, anyone want to take some stabs on how I can fix this infernal mess of an update?

I'm nearly resigned to a reformat -- that's how I've had to fix every other Windows Update fiasco I've ever blundered into.

 

Hello Zenpyrrho,

If you don't solve the problem and can't get SP1 installed, look at this thread
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21075&highlight=SP1

Some of Sp1's features are needed. Within that thread there is a post with a link to a list of the individual patches.

I would also recommend doing MS updates using the Catalog site in the future http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp?corporate=true

You have to know the patch #'s. This site allows downloading of updates to your HD for manual install and for saving in case of future need. I would also take a System Restore point just prior to an update so that you an roll them back if they prove to be a problem. Not all patches creat one automatically.

Regards - Charles

 

Thanks for all the consideration, guys.

Here's the information you asked for:

The BSOD says:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGES_AREA

Recommends disabling or removing any newly installed hardware or software, and disabling BIOS memory options like caching or shadowing.

Technical info:

STOP: 0x00000050 (0x88727990, 0x00000001, 0x804F35D7, 0x00000000)

Physical memory dumped.

Also, a friend of mine (who works for Microsoft as a tech support guru, no less) suggested I try restarting in Diagnostic mode through running msconfig. This didn't work (that is, I still got the BSOD and had to reset in safe mode again).

However, it had some very strange effects otherwise -- even though I still get the option of starting in Safe Mode with Networking, and I don't get any errors that something's gone wrong, I'm completely disconnected from the network. I can't get any sort of access back. (I'm now using the roommate's PC.)

Interestingly, on the login screen, my user account said "6 unread emails" yesterday and today says "8 unread emails" -- so it's connecting to the network somehow, it's just not letting me have access once I log in.

Other effects of trying to restart in Diagnostic mode were that when I attempt to view System Event Logs, I get the message: "Unable to complete the operation of "System ". The interface is unknown." I should note that BEFORE I tried to restart in Diagnostic mode I could access System Event Logs just fine.

Even more discouraging is that when I went to my hardware drivers list window, to check if my ethernet card was working properly, NOTHING showed up -- just a big empty box with no hardware.

Finally, when I tried to change the critical failure options so it wouldn't automatically restart so I could read the blue screen, I got a dialog telling me that the Alerter service needed to be turned on first. So I go to the services window and try to start it and get the message: "Could not start the Alerter service on Local Computer. Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start. "

Now, when I restarted, the auto-reset was gone anyway, so it worked in the end, but I thought this might be valuable information.

 

That's a negative.

The PC in question is in an even more debilitated state than when I initially posted.

A quick rundown:

I attempted to install SP1.
I left the computer to install.
When I returned, it was in a constant reset loop, due to a BSOD.
I could, at that point, start in safe mode with networking.
After attempting to restart in diagnostic mode, even safe mode with networking does not provide network access.

Current status: Completely NOT up and running. It can be started in safe mode with no network access, and other problems (detailed in my second post) have popped up as well.

I am now posting this on my roommate's PC, which is perhaps where the confusion sprung from.

 

You mentioned being very short of drive space. How short?