Installation of Service Pack 2 hangs XP

[Mudvayne_Nothin]

I have a Sony Vaio PCV-RX550.

It came with XP Home, but I formatted the HDD about 2 months ago, and installed Windows XP Pro. Works great. I didn't install any windows updates because I just had dial up. I got DSL 2-3 days ago, and I started to get all the updates.

My system is this:

Windows XP Professional
P4 1.5Ghz
256MB Ram

(Sorry I can't be more descriptive at this time about the specs - I'm on a different computer).

So today, I did the service pack 2 update. The first time after installation everything worked great. Upon rebooting, it loaded up to the desktop background, but no icons appeared, and it just sat there. I would do a ctrl + alt + del, and then restart from the 'shutdown' feature. Sometimes icons and the start menu appear, but they aren't clickable, and the system would just hang. (Please note: I loaded up safe mode fine, and it didn't hang). Next, I did a system restore, and everything is back to the way it was (working) in the regular XP Pro.

I did some research and went to the Sony Vaio site (www.vaio.net) and Microsoft's site, and downloaded a few updates (one of them being the BIOS update). (total of 3 files)

I downloaded the BIOS update and Windows XP Security Patch Q811493 from here:
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/swu-li...teType=Updates

I verifed the new BIOS update was in place by going to Start -> Run, and typing in msinfo32 (in safe mode, and after i restored the system).

I also went to Microsoft support and downloaded this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885626/

So i downloaded those 3 things.

In the process, I learned there are issues with certain processors.

http://support.intel.com/support/pro.../CS-015171.htm

My processor is:

x86 Family 15 Model 0 Stepping 10 Genuine Intel

So, I did the bios update, the windows security update, and the one from Microsoft about windows hanging after installation of SP2.

I've been doing this all day (trying hotfixes and then restoring the system back to working order)

One other thing I heard that I didn't try yet was something about the graphics driver. Apparently there is something about AGP440.sys, Mup.sys.

I also read something about changing my bios to "plug and play". I'm not even sure what's its set at now.

This site had a lot of information, about it: http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSP2.htm

On that page look under "Boot or shutdown problems after Service Pack 2 installation"

and "Hangs after reboot, keeps rebooting endlessly, or does not shut down"

I hope I given enough detailed info. Any help to get this working would be appreciated. Thanks.

[glc]

Before you try to install SP2, you must make absolutely positive you have no viruses or spyware on the computer. It's best to install it immediately after a fresh XP install before installing ANYTHING else, and sometimes you must install SP1 first, going from baseline to SP2 won't take. It's also best to download the entire network install of SP2 (270mb) or use a CD instead of the active install from Windows Update.