a few months back my pc running windows xp downloaded and tried to install the latest service pack. It failed to finish the install and now my pc is way out of shape. it will only run in windows classic, and a lot of my programs won't run, not to mention the system backup has no backups now. Anyone have a suggestion on where to start, i don't want to re install windows unless i absolutely have to.

 

First thing you want to do is check the Add/Remove Programs in Windows XP. The Service Pack may show up and its simply a matter of uninstalling it.

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs

If it shows up in the list, it should be at the very bottom, most likely the very last application in the list....



Now, if it doesnt show up, this is where it can be a little bit of a pain, but I've included a Microsoft link that will give you several other options to uninstall it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950249

I hope this helps!

 

no it's not in there, and looking around last night i noticed that my device manager is empty, any suggestions on how to get it back, i have tons of photos that i really dont want to loose. Nice avatar devilsreject This would explain why it runs in windows classic, and why the mp3's wont play.

 

Thanks

As to the question at hand, you can try running a Windows repair on your computer. If you still have your Windows XP install disc, a simple repair may fix the issue.

Another thing you can try, which is what I would recommend trying first, is re-downloading Service Pack 3 and trying to reinstall it. This may also fix your problem. MAY be being the operative word.


As to your music and photos, as long as you dont delete them off the system, you can still get to them. My advice would be to consider purchasing a nice lil external harddrive. These are relatively cheap and you can get 500GB for under $150 anymore..

 

If running it through Windows Update fails again you can also download the standalone installer here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

 

well since my device manager is empty, i cant get online with it, and the windows disk i have for it is the windows xp disc alone, its a backup computer now but it still has photos i haven't got around to saving to disc. If I reinstall windows do i loose everything on the hard drive? I've forgotten more than i know anymore. And thanks for all your help

 

I wouldnt reinstall windows until you backed your files up.... but you can run a repair on windows with ANY regular windows XP disc...

 

just wanted to say thanks for all the help here, one more problem to figure out maybe? i was looking around in safe mode, seeing how bad it was, then i decided to try the repair with the windows cd. Well wouldnt u know i forgot to take the pc out of safe mode before i did this, it ran the setup repair, then it loads windows, tells me it can't finish in safe mode and has to restart. So now it is in this cycle setup to windows safe mode, i don't get the screen to choose to take it out or how to start windows, i canceled the setup and it still tells me that windows must finish the setup. Its looking to me that i may have to reinstall xp, last resort so any info or help would be greatly appreciated

 

Sounds like you will need a reformat. Did you already get the pictures and what you wanted off it? If not and you have access to a computer that can burn CD's you can probably get your files off by downloading Knoppix and burning it to CD then using that to get your files (It runs off the CD). This will be easiest if you have a USB Flash Drive or External USB Hard Drive you can save the files to.

Knoppix can be downloaded here: http://www.knoppix.net/
A tutorial for using it is here (this was written with an older version so the pictures may look slightly different but it is done the same way): http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/

Good Luck!

 

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