Service Pack 3 Not Installing

[johnscott]

The little yellow shield in my tray menu keeps telling me to update to Service Pack 3. I click "OK", and it begins. About 6/10 of the way through, an error pops up saying that it couldn't install, and I have to go about taking all of the partially installed things off. I've restarted my computer, then attemtped again, but to no avail. Why is this happening? Why can't I update my PC?

 

[mike_n_herrin]

the service pack might be timing out while trying to download. unless it's already downloaded and trying to install from that.

at any rate, i would try to download the service pack separately. once it's downloaded restart your computer in safe mode (by pressing and holding F8 right after your computer powers on) and then try the install.

you can download it here. it says it's for IT managers, but don't worry about that.

http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/...a8-5e76-401f-be08-1e1555d4f3d4&displaylang=en

 

[Maklaar13]

I tried installing it and it wreked my computer, it took me hours to fix the damage, something is very wrong with it, so I will simply not mess with it anymore. People beware!

 

[johnscott]

Wow, that doesn't sound too good. If two people have come across serious problems, then should I still install it? If not, how do I stop it nagging me to download it?

 

[mark1111]

Funny thing, this just happened to me a few hours ago. I turn on the machine and get the yellow shield telling me to install updates and low and behold, its sp3.

After a while, I get "access denied" and then it informs me that it must delete all that it installed, and on top of that, it says xp may have problems ....

Any ideas?


(Hey Noelie, its been a while)

 

[mike_n_herrin]

^ You either have me on ignore johnscott or else you're choosing to ignore me - anyways - thousands upon thousands of people have installed SP3 for XP with no problems - have you tried using the link mike_n_herrin gave you yet?

A service pack is a really big deal - it's like a new OS sometimes. Anyone who chooses not to install it (especially after so many have installed it without problems) ... well ... I won't finish that and I'll let Mikey deal with ya.

someone's cranky

but yes, i agree with noelie. most people have installed it without problem. on most of the machines i've installed it on, it's improved performance significantly. my mom has reported some problems with lock ups since installed it on her machine over the 4th of july, but her machine is fairly old and there maybe something else wrong. so i'll have to fiddle with it at christmas when i go home. so i think the potential problems are worth trying to insall anyway.

 

[Phantomfrk]

SP3 didn't fuck up my computer but it did make some of my programs unable to run!

 

[Telstra]

Is service pack 3 free?

 

[johnscott]

Noelie, I didn't ignore you at all: I take your advice on here extremely seriously. However, inevitably you must understand that I was wary of installing something on my computer that two people prior to your post found malicious. I have downloaded SP3 now, however I have one more question before I install it:

Should I uninstall anything on my computer before installing it? I don't use Norton.

Thanks.

 

[johnscott]

Hi Noelie,

Should I just install it anyway? I am slightly running out of time as I am off to uni again tomorrow...

My computer specs are:

Dell Dimension 8300
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
2.99 GHz, 512 MB of RAM

Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

As you can see, it's not the newest PC in the world!

With regards to Major Apps (I don't use Photoshop), I don't know what I'd call major, but:

1. PowerDVD Ultra
2. Apple Mobile Device Support
3. Ad-Aware
4. Audacity 1.3.5
5. AVG Anit Spyware 7.5
6. AVG Free Edition
7. Dell Picture Studio
8. iTunes
9. Exact Audio Copy
10. Logitech Desktop Manager
11. Microsoft Office Professional 2007
12. Nero 6
13. VLC
14. WinRAR

Now, as I say, I'm not sure what one would say which are 'major applications', but those are the big ones that I use.

Thanks.

 

[johnscott]

Hmm Noelie,

I'm now confused. I uninstalled AVG (both parts) and rebooted my computer when promted. From there, I proceeded to click on the .exe on my desktop to install SP3 (downloading it from the link given above), however the same thing happened - after about 6/10 of the installation process (I *THINK* it was when it said "checking product keys" or something like that), the installation window disappeared and an error window popped up saying it didn't work... Weird.

What action should I take?

Thanks.

 

[sonny10305]

Contact Microsoft support, start a chat with a tech, they should be able to fix the problem. Any time I have contacted support they have been very helpful, even callling me back for follow up.

 

[johnscott]

Hi Noelie,

I have installed all the pre-SP3 patches and I have 31.6GB of free Hard Drive space. As I am the only user of the computer, I do run it as the administerator. I didn't use Task Manager to close all, but I did try booting into Safe Mode, then closing all of the start-up programs, such as MSN Messenger.

In Safe Mode, I clicked on the .exe and the exact same thing happened: it came up with the following message:

"Access is Denied. SP3 installation did not complete. Select 'OK' to install the changed that have been made".

And then:

"SP3 installation did not complete. Windows XP has been partially updated and may not work properly".

I googled that and I was taken to the microsoft site where resolutions were suggested, but I felt like I had already tried all that they have suggested.

I mean, I had uninstalled AVG from the start, so it's not Anti-Virus software that's causing the problem.

Would any of these be a problem:

1. Spybot - Search and Destroy
2. CCleaner
3. Lavasoft Ad-Aware
4. Windows Defender

I can't think of anything that is preventing it.

I've read those two links that you have provided, thank you, but I have been taking those steps from the start.

I haven't used the final link you've provided yet.

Thanks, I tried ringing Microsoft Support but they are closed on Weekends.

Thanks for all your help so far.

 

[johnscott]

Thank for this Noelie, you're awesome.

I've downloaded and installed the SubInACL thing and ran it. I don't know what it does or did, but it's on my PC now.

I opened the log and I found the three things that you and the link said to find. So it's verified.

I followed your second link ("winhelponline") and did it step by step.

I copied that info in NotePad, saved it as reset.cmd and then closed everything and ran it.

A small black DOS window flashed up for a fraction of a second and then disappeared, so I fear nothing has happened. It said it may take a few minutes to run, but it didn't even take a second...

I'm not sure what's going on.

However, at least we've verified what the problem is here...

Thanks.

 

[johnscott]

Noelie, you are an awesome human being.

My update:

I did everything you said in your last post, and copied and pasted each of the six command lines into the relevent command prompt. They finished.

I am about to reboot into Safe Mode, exit all open programs and attempt to install SP3.

 

[johnscott]

After 12 hours of fiddling, I've finally been able to install it! It's now 1:42am the morning before Fresher's Week starts. Not clever. Thanks for all your help Noelie - invaluable!

 

[mike_n_herrin]

Excellent!!! noelie you are to be commended for your patients and johnscott you for your persistence!