Windows SP2 and hotfix

[Steve Johnson]

I should be able to figure this out...but I'm a little perplexed.

While working on a friend's PC...I came across the following:

1)  SP2 is installed on his system running XP Pro, the install is shown in his Add/Remove Programs, however, the Security icon and the Firewall icon are not visible in Control Panel.

2)  Windows Security Update KB835732 is also installed, however Automatic Updates wants to continually download this security patch.

3)  He uses Norton Corporate Edition and was able to connect...run Live Update and perform a full system scan with no infections found.

4)  He uses Spy Sweeper from WebRoot and was also able to update the program and run full system scan with no infections found.

5)  Able to connect to the Windows Update site with just the glitch described above.

6)  No other visible forms of malware present.

Everything on the system appears to be working fine.  No connectivity issues.  No apparent browser hijackers or adware.  I'm stymied.

Any suggestions?  Or should I just uninstall the above mentioned updates and try again or run HiJack This or another spyware program?


Saviour

[merlin_2]

sorry cant help......use win9x/linux....

[Saviour]

Thanx Merlin_2...

I'll pass that on to him.


Saviour

[merlin_2]

maybe you know the answer to his woes.?

[Saviour]

I'm the one who submitted it...forgot to login...lol.

[merlin_2]

Twin poster.........did your pc run ok before sp2 was installed......

[Saviour]

Not my PC...a friend's.  Anyway, he was having connection issues.  Trobleshooted a bad cable modem.  Replaced it.  Everything else is running fine except for those two issues.

His initial complaint was that his browser could not display pages.  I fixed that issue when the modem was replaced.  Like I said...everything seems to be running fine.

[merlin_2]

you may need to talk more to your friend ,who has this problem.......and find out more..imhao

[Mac]

Is this an OEM install or does he have an XP Professional CD? What make and model of computer does he have?

If he has the XP Pro CD he should slipstream SP2 and do a clean install.

I had to.

Then he should be able to see what goes wrong when he adds his other software.

Click on the link at the foot of this post for more.

[Saviour]

Mac...

He has a Dell (model unknown)...about 6 years old and the OS was installed by someone else.

I'll give the software a try to see if it works.  Thanks for the link.

After a little more digging into his problem...and finally getting to look at his PC again...SP2 is not showing up in his Control Panel...there is a hotfix for SP2 there though.

I don't have his PC with me now, so I'll have to get back to you if you need additional info.

I'm a little curios as to what caused it though and for the life of me ...can't figure it out.  The guy who was working on it before me stated he had installed SP2.  Could've fooled me.

Do you mind if I ask why you had to slipstream SP2 yourself?  It may help me out.

Thanks, again, Mac!

[Mac]

Do you mind if I ask why you had to slipstream SP2 yourself?  It may help me out.

Thanks, again, Mac!

You'll already know that the SP shows up if you open the Properties on My Computer.

I found that installing SP2 on top of other programs caused instability and, as I didn't know which program, or programs, was/were causing the problem, I just decided to go for a clean install, set everything up properly, and make a clean drive image to restore with, to save me having to do it all again.

Constant updates do make a mess of the theory though, but at least I can go back to a good drive image and not have to do all of the basic re-installing.

A bit of updating and I am back in business.

I wonder when we'll see SP3?

Personally I would prefer if MS just released a fully updated CD, especially if any new files could be incorporated by simply running SFC /SCANNOW or SFC /SCANBOOT.

I don't know if that would be too difficult if they allowed computer stores to have a Gold (master) CD to make copies for customers from.

You sure he didn't disable/uninstall the Security Centre together with the firewall?

[Saviour]

The problem I was having with my friend's....(in all actuality...my landlord) PC was that he is given advice from several people.  Although it gives him varying opinions...it's not good to have several different people helping him...especially if one is computer illiterate.

He needs to find one person to take his questions to.

Anyway...his problem has been resolved...thanks to you.  I really do appreciate the support and the previous link.  It will definitely come in handy in the future.

Thanks...

BTW...with the advent of Vista...I'm sure SP3 will be just around the corner...and I agree...an SP2 Cd would be sweet!

[Mac]

Pleased to be of help to the both of you.

You'll find the SP2 CD order form on one of the links.