Re: SP2 Adventures (aka Life with SP1.5)

From: YouAreIncompetent (YouAreIncompetent_at_Dude.com)
Date: 08/15/04 

Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 22:27:59 -0400

So Joe, what did you learn?

"Joe Glotz" <joe_glotzz@y_yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9545D418B5BF1JoeGlotz@216.77.188.18...
>A number of my clients were eager to update to SP2, and with more than
>a
> little apprehension I agreed. Hell, I had already tried it out on a XP
> Home and XP Pro system and was not all that disappointed (the BHO
> feature
> in IE was worth the price of admission alone.)
>
> The first installation on a highly tailored XP Home box went without a
> hitch. A veteran of many Windows ME battles, my confidence was high.
> Bill's Guys may have actually pulled this off.
>
> The next installation, a WIN XP Pro, nearly out of the box and
> appropriately trimmed, made for a very long day.
>
> I have been around long enough to know to back up 'critical' data and
> this was no exception. These are Bill's Guys we are dealing with, and
> the
> owner was quite understanding if not just plain out irritated by the
> process of making sure every single file of interest was burned to CD.
>
> I plugged in my SP2 update and the lengthy update went without a
> hitch,
> well, until it was time time to restart the computer. And then there
> was
> a shutdown error...
>
> ...you know the one, some complaint from Explorer, and then several
> ones
> thereafter...just a shutdown glitch as many of us have seen before...
>
> ...but this one wouldn't leave.
>
> After the restart and all of the fanfare, the Explorer error
> reappeared,
> as well as after the next restart. This was not looking good for the
> home
> team.
>
> Without batting an eye, the computer was started in Safe Mode (the
> holiest of ground) for a quick examination of the situation and a
> system
> restore if needed.
>
> The Explorer error was relentless. There wasn't even a 'Start' button
> to
> work with - even in Safe Mode. A restart and to the Safe Mode command
> prompt looked promising. No errors. System restore here we come...
>
> ...but there wasn't a single restore point left.
>
> Of course I am looking at a mostly dead computer at this point when
> the
> owner has a revelation that there was a whole bunch of pictures that
> 'we' had missed in our backup. Needless to say he didn't quite
> understand
> my disertation on the role Explorer plays with a computer and that
> file
> access was not the easiest thing to come by at that point.
>
> And of course it was 300 Mbyte of family pictures.
>
> Oddly, IE would work with a little prodding and the Internet would
> come up
> to some extent (no graphics). I could access the files on the computer
> through IE but the CD burner wouldn't recognize a disk to burn if it's
> life
> depended on it.
>
> It was back to basics more or less. Enough of SP2 was there to allow
> an
> install of an old FTP program. My concerns over the firewall were
> unfounded
> since it is still a mystery what it is a firewall from. In mere hours
> I had
> the files uploaded to my personal server and the games could begin in
> earnest. You just gotta love a dial-up modem and pay by the hour.
>
> The Win XP installation disk was no sooner in the drive and 39 minutes
> later (Microsoft minutes) the installation was 'repaired'. Oh yes, the
> hour
> and change trying the service pack uninstall and registry edits before
> that
> are not worth mentioning. I am sure Bill's guys were just having a
> little
> fun with those suggestions.
>
> And 'repaired' even as a new meaning or two, especially running
> Service
> Pack 1.5. Pergatory comes to mind for one.
>
> Some of the OS worked, and some of it balked and flickered. Hey, it's
> normal for Windows on a three month old computer to take 6 minutes to
> load
> right?
>
> To cut to the chase, it took 6 hours for the update and to get things
> back
> to normal.
>
> I'm kinda dreading the call tomorrow from this guy asking why he is
> getting
> a Windows 98 splash screen. I think I'll tell him to call Bill's guys
> next
> time.
>
>
> p.s. please excuse the spelling errors and alike - I, too , am running
> SP2.
>
>
>

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