While repair installs often work I have seen in cases where I have tried it
myself that there were still issues after it and have seen the same thing
with SP2 installs. At this point I think your best bet would be a clean
install to a formatted system drive but be sure to backup any important
files and configuration. That usually means you at least backup at least
your My Documents, internet favorites, and any email files if you use
Outlook Express/Outlook that are in your user profile folder. I always
suggest that users backup their entire user profile under documents and
settings/username [be sure to tell Explorer to show hidden files and system
files] to external media before a clean install and you may need to logon as
an administrator that is not the source user for the profile copy after a
reboot. Any programs like Quickbooks have their own built in file backup
that should also be used to backup files. If you have used EFS in XP Pro to
encrypt files be sure to decrypt them before a clean install.
I wish I had better news but sometimes a clean install is the only way to
fix problems. Of course when done doing one be sure to go to the internet to
download needed Windows Updates after installing your Service Pack 2 and
install and update antivirus/spyware software before you do any internet
browsing, email activity, or restoring your backup files and applications.
If you don't have any current antivirus or spyware software, for free I like
AVG and the free version of Spyware Doctor from
http://pack.google.com .
Steve
"Chris" <Chris DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3EF3B74E-1296-4A71-A3BF-0FC97D281C7B@microsoft.com...
> Okay, so I followed the instructions on the page thoroughly, and did a
> repair
> install. It fixed the services problem, but now my IE and Outlook Express
> will not work, and when I go to "Add/Remove Programs," there is no list,
> it
> just brings up a blank screen. It doesn't even say "wait until the list is
> populated."
>
> I had SP2 on a separate disc (my xp pro is oem) but I am unable to install
> it. It gets so far and then hangs. I really do not want to have to do a
> fresh
> install, but at this point I am at a loss. Since IE doesn't work, I can't
> go
> to windows update to get any updates either. Any ideas? I was hoping if I
> got
> SP2 installed it would fix some of these things, but I'm lost with it. >> Stay informed about: services mysteriously turned off, can not start