XP SP2 Problems/Questions thread

[James M. Fisher]

That's great Julia! This SP was almost a year in beta, so it should be pretty smooth.

[Rons]

Thanks James - that is the one I'm using.

[Jason]

I tried installing SP2 on my PC and during the copying file process I got a "Service Pack2 Setup Error. Unable to read from or write to the database". Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution? There are a few people posting the same problem in the newsgroups, but so far none of the posts have been answered.I have a clean and completely updated XP installation (XP Home) with no viruses or spyware and I also keep my system very lean. I disabled NAV and Zone Alarm and received the same error when trying the installation in Safe Mode. I even tried downloading the 266MB file again thinking the first download was corrupted. Any help would be appreciated.

[James M. Fisher]

Once you download the SP2 file, open a command prompt by going to Start>Run... and typing cmd and hit enter. Navigate to where the SP2 file is and type the full name of the file followed by a space then /x (C:\xpsp2.exe /x for example). This will prompt you to create a destination folder where the SP will be extracted to. Once this is done, exit the command prompt, browse to where the extracted files are and open the "Update" folder. Double-click 'update.exe' to start the process.Just curious to see if that makes a difference.

[Jason]

James,Thanks for the info. I'm going to give it a shot right now and post the results once I'm done.

[Jason]

I just got the same error message following your instructions. This is very frustrating as I was able to update over 10 machines flawlessly at work that are not exactly well maintained.Thanks for the help. Please let me know if you come across a fix.

[James M. Fisher]

I just got the same error message following your instructions. This is very frustrating as I was able to update over 10 machines flawlessly at work that are not exactly well maintained.Thanks for the help. Please let me know if you come across a fix.

Darn! At what point in the SP2 process does this message appear, Jason? Where are the extracted files on your HDD: same partition as Windows, or a separate one? Is there enough free space on the Windows drive?The hard disk space requirements for Windows XP Service Pack 2http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=837783 Edited August 12, 2004 by James M. Fisher

[Jason]

While SP2 copies the new files it will stop halfway through and that error message will appear. It makes it past the inventory check and the backing up of the older files. The setup files are on the same partition as Windows (I only have 1 partition on this pc).My machine meets all the requirements: 1.2 Ghz P4, 512 RAM, and 22GB of free drive space. All my drivers are current (and MS certified) and all Windows updates are installed. The only things loading in MSCONFIG are NAV and Zone Alarm (both disabled for the SP2 installation).

[James M. Fisher]

While SP2 copies the new files it will stop halfway through and that error message will appear. It makes it past the inventory check and the backing up of the older files. The setup files are on the same partition as Windows (I only have 1 partition on this pc).My machine meets all the requirements: 1.2 Ghz P4, 512 RAM, and 22GB of free drive space. All my drivers are current (and MS certified) and all Windows updates are installed. The only things loading in MSCONFIG are NAV and Zone Alarm (both disabled for the SP2 installation).

Other than installing from the same partition (which should not be a problem, but who knows?) I cannot think of anything else. Is it possible to burn the files to CD, then retry installing from the CD? This may not work either since the files are still copied to the HDD, IIRC.HDD defragged?(BTW, having one large C: partition is not an ideal arrangement, but that's another issue!)

[Jason]

I originally ran the SP2 update off a CD yesterday and yes, my hard drive is defragged.Thanks for all the help. Hopefully I'll find a solution soon since other people are having the same problem.

[Ozidave]

While SP2 copies the new files it will stop halfway through and that error message will appear.

Hi Jason,This question may sound odd, But when was the last time your PC 'had' to do this amount of work to install something..... and install for so-long a period?.One other question: Is your 512Mb of memory 1 stick, or 2x256Mb?When you consider that there have been thousands of install's without problems, I'm looking to another possible problem.

[James M. Fisher]

Thanks for all the help. Hopefully I'll find a solution soon since other people are having the same problem.

If you do find a solution - and I will keep on the lookout for one- please post back here?Thanks!

[Peachy]

I originally ran the SP2 update off a CD yesterday and yes, my hard drive is defragged.Thanks for all the help. Hopefully I'll find a solution soon since other people are having the same problem.

i.e, you burned the downloaded network install file to CD? Maybe it's the disc or the optical drive.

[Jason]

Hi Oz,I replaced my hard drive about 2 months ago and took the opportunity to do a clean install of XP as opposed to copying an image to the new drive, so my machine has installed alot of software in the last 2 months including Office 2003 Pro a few weeks ago (the day SP1 for Office 2003 came out to be exact). My RAM is (2) 256 MB chips and was just tested last week. I have access to alot of diagnostic tools and tend to use them often. My hard drive is also fine.The only thing I'm leaning towards is that I have NetBeui installed as a network protocol, but I have my doubts about that causing the problem. I have found some Microsoft Knowledge Base articles mentioning the error message I'm getting with other software installations, so I'm going to see if anything can apply to my situation.Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I'll keep you posted.

[James M. Fisher]

I have found some Microsoft Knowledge Base articles mentioning the error message I'm getting with other software installations, so I'm going to see if anything can apply to my situation.Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I'll keep you posted.

Can you give me links to those KB articles, Jason?Also, did you download the SP2 file from the same location each time?Thanks!

[Jason]

i.e, you burned the downloaded network install file to CD? Maybe it's the disc or the optical drive.

I re-downloaded the file on my home machine directly to my hard drive yesterday thinking the copy I had on CD may have been corrupted.

[Ozidave]

Hi Jason,If it persists.... Pull the second stick and try it on 256M, if that fails, swap the sticks and try again. If you had a can of FREON you could freeze them (an old trick in electronics), but you don't, so just try this.

[Jason]

James,Yes, I download the file from the same location both times, but it was directly from Microsoft's site. Here's he link I used:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=enI used the same file on my machines at work at it worked fine.Here's a link to one KB article, but it doesn't really apply to my situation although the error message is identical: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;841187and(Error code 4313)http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default...._4000-5999_.asp

[Peachy]

Check the Event Viewer and see what error codes are generated during the update process.

[James M. Fisher]

I'm wondering if it might be something hardware-related on your PC, or if some service is disabled, etc.

[Jason]

The Event ID that failed was #4373 (Source: NTServicePk)Unfortunately when you click the link, Microsoft site states that there is no information available yet for this problem. I'm now beginning to think that NAV 2004 may be the cause of the problem although I had the error message appear in Safe Mode. I'm going to see if NAV load any services while in Safe Mode and disabled them.

[Ozidave]

I'm wondering if it might be something hardware-related on your PC.

I agree James, because the process is getting to the same point each time... That leaves out the CPU. The only other thing (apart from corruption) that could cause it would be the memory failing to handle large blocks of data.Jason suggested he's got a 'memory' tester, I would suggest he throw it out of the window at a time like this. Pull "BOTH" sticks and try them "ONE ONLY" at a time.And the reason for pulling both... is to clean the contacts a little on re-install, though I suspect it could be more thermal than resistance problems.

[nlinecomputers]

I don't recall the exact issue but SP1 would fail if crypto services were not fully working. Might this be a simular issue?

[AbeL]

I installed SP2 without problems, the only precaution I took before installing was to turn off Norton AV.So far everything runs ok; I do have to re-authorize network traffic in ZoneAlarm for those programs that got updated.One thing that I don't like - Mediaplayer wizard starts anytime I click on any audio/video file, and by default all file types are checked to allow Mediaplayer to be the default player. You have to be a member of the Admin group to change the default. Changing them as Admin does NOT change it for all users! So I guess I'll have to promote my user acct to Admin, make the changes, then demote myself -- who thought up this one? Huh, Bill, who? Abe

[Ozidave]

You have to be a member of the Admin group to change the default. Changing them as Admin does NOT change it for all users! So I guess I'll have to promote my user acct to Admin, make the changes, then demote myself  --  who thought up this one? Huh, Bill, who? Abe

This is because the Admin Acct, does not over-rule the user Acct's on trivial matters.... and personal preferences. And the same in reverse.... you wouldn't want another user to change anything on your computer unless you could absolutely trust them. If you trust them and this is the case, then give them Admin Rights, or if NOT, do the changes for them and revert them back to 'User'. (even if it is yourself, as in this case).

[Jason]

I pulled the memory from my Windows 2000 PC and put it in my XP PC and still had the same problem (they are identical Dell systems).I'm starting to see more and more people post about this same problem on the newsgroups, so I'm hopeful that Microsoft will come up with some kind of fix or workaround.Thanks again for all the suggestions.

[Ozidave]

I pulled the memory from my Windows 2000 PC and put it in my XP PC and still had the same problem (they are identical Dell systems).

It was a thought, and that squashed that one.

I'm starting to see more and more people post about this same problem on the newsgroups, so I'm hopeful that Microsoft will come up with some kind of fix or workaround.

If you run with that, how about getting back and let us know what it was?

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

You're welcome, it's a pity someone couldn't hit it on the head for you...... But SP2 is new and so are some of the probs'.

[-ct-]

here's some more uh-ohs about SP2i haven't run into this myself, as i have no firewire devicesWin XP SP2 "turns Firewire 800 into Firewire 100" The moderator of the RME forum has warned that installing Windows XP SP2 can lead to the bus speed being limited to 100Mbit/s. Matthias Carstens posted the message on the RME forum yesterday, but says it's not a problem particular to RME products. He said: "It affects any Firewire 800 device. If you have a FW800 PCI card and an FW 800 hard disk, go see the bits come one by one through the Firewire cable".RME, he said, was aware of the problem for some time, but "didn't really imagine that Microsoft would have the guts to try to bury an existing standard. We just downloaded the final public version and it is simply unbelievable". He said that some companies are trying to sell Firewire 800 drivers so everything will be hunky-dory. But, he said, these drivers probably won't work correctly with a Fireface 800. linky

[Ozidave]

I'm wondering if it might be something hardware-related on your PC, or if some service is disabled, etc.

Hi James,While you've been sleeping, I've been hunting the web for this error-message, and it's hard to find any info other that what M$ provide.From the snippets I did find, they weren't much use to draw any conclusions from, and much on theory.It did dawn on me though that it could be a processor problem, in that it could be either gating or blocked at that point and unable to handle any more processes. (more theory).But I think you may be right about the HW problem, and it will be interesting to find out should Jason get back.

[Jason]

I'll be sure to post my solution once I find it. I used to spend alot of time here but have been very busy as of late, but I should be here more often now.