SP2 Pains

[subedei]

Okay I installed service pack 2 on one of my machines and I am having huge problems. When I originally installed it, it asked to reboot so I rebooted but after reboot it would not allow me to get into windows it would just crash after some writting on blue screen would appear for a second. I did this some time ago now, so I can't remember exactly how I fixed it but long as I remember I went into safe mode and it ran after that and acted like the service pack had installed. But now my my graphics card driver, which is a nvidia 6800 Ultra, won't work at all and it causes bad slow downs. I got in contact with gigabyte but that was unproductive, all they said was 'Ya, SP2 can cause problems with the drivers' and thats it.

I have tried to uninstall SP2 but unfortunately everytime I go into add/remove windows components I get a message saying "Another copy of this setup is running. Please wait until the other setup is completed before attempting to run this program again". I get the impression it didn't install properly, so is there a way of uninstalling it, besides going into add/remove windows components or maybe is there a way of rescueing this install. Any and all help would be appreciated, thanks.

[macko72]

How to Repair Install: ***Also removes Service Packs***
Sometimes the only way to repair XP is to reinstall. You do not have to wipe your partition and start over. Just as with previous versions of Windows you can reinstall right over top of an existing setup. This has the advantage of retaining your installed applications, data and settings. You will lose previously saved System Restore Points but System Restore will begin creating new restore points again immediately following the Repair Install. You will need to reinstall SP2 and any Critical Updates from the Windows Update Site. Be aware that a Repair Install will leave your system vulnerable to the Blaster and Welchia worms. Do not go on line until you have enabled XP's firewall first. Then visit the Windows Update Site to patch your system It is always prudent to backup important data before you make changes to XP.

There are two approaches. The first one should be used if you can still boot to your Windows Desktop. Simply pop the XP CD into the CD-Rom drive and select Install->Upgrade[recommended]. This will install XP overtop of itself in the same way as upgrading from a previous setup. However if your version is an OEM version then you will not have this option. If you do not see the option to Upgrade[recommended] DO NOT choose New Install as that will either overwrite your current setup completely or give you a dual boot setup. Also if you have an older version of XP and have upgraded to a new service pack you will get a message stating that a newer version of Windows was found and you will not be able to run the Upgrade. Create a Slipstream version to solve this problem

If you cannot boot to the Desktop, or you have an OEM version of XP, or you want to remove a service pack then the following should be used to complete a Repair Install.

Boot with the Windows XP CD and at the Setup Screen press the Enter Key
You will be taken to the Windows XP Licensing Agreement. After reading the agreement press F8 to proceed.
The next screen gives you the option to do a fresh (clean) install or to repair the selected Windows XP installation. To run a Repair Install Press "R" at this time.
***CAUTION*** if you do not see the option to repair the selected Windows XP installation DO NOT choose the option to continue installing a fresh copy without repairing as that will overwrite your data and cause unrecoverable data loss.

Windows XP will copy the necessary files to your Hard Drive to begin the installation and will then reboot. You will see the message that informs you to "Press any key to boot the CD". Do not press any keys this time just wait a few seconds and the Windows Startup Screen will be displayed. Following this you will be greeted by the Windows XP Setup Screens.

[subedei]

Okay I tried to Install>Upgrade with the windows disk in the drive while windows was opened but unfortunately, it said that the current version of windows was newer so would not let me. So I tried to Repair install from BIOS, after pressing R I got DOS prompt screen which said
"Microsoft Windows XP(TM) Recovery Console
The Recovery Console Provides System Repair and recovery functionality
Type Exit to quit the recovery console and restart the computer
C:>"
If I typed in Help I got a list of commands but which one of these should I use? Also when I clean install I normally need to install third party RAID drivers because I use RAID, so when I am using Repair do I have to do the same thing?

[macko72]

Repair install is after that don't choose recovery console but choose SETUP windows now after that when setup searches for prvious versions of microsoft windows it will give you what is explained in previous post.
Do not choose recovery console!!!

Here you can see in pictures what I'm talking about at the bottom of the page!!!