I've installed XP pro from scratch, installed SP2, AntiVir Guard & Microsoft
Antispyware, ensured Windows firewall is active & THEN connected to the
internet for the first time, registered Win XP and logged onto MS update
site. 30 critical updates were installed at once and the PC was restarted as
prompted. When the welcome screen is about to come on, the computer goes back
to POST and this continues to do this in a loop. I've tried the F8 key, all
the options from there lead to the same outcome - reboot - even Safe Mode
Command Prompt Only. I've booted from the installation CD and replaced the
kernel32.dll with the original on the CD through recovery console - Still no
joy. I again booted with the CD and this time chose the 'let windows attempt
to repair the existing installation'. After a while replacing a multitude of
system files, I got a fatal error 'Setup failed to install the product
catalogs'. It then goes on to something about not being able to do something
with SP2.cat and then about an invalid update signature. Setup cannot then
continue. This is the second time the system has done this - the first time,
I was possibly connected to the internet a while before I got adequate
security in place. This time, I'm happy that my PC was secure (apart from the
vulnerabilities the security updates patch up).

Thing is, someone I know rang me out of the blue today to tell me they had
the exact same problem on their machine & could I help them. It seems that
this could be something many people are having trouble with.

Could a redirected rogue update site be to blame or is it a compatibility
problem does anyone know?

I was considering removing the hard disk from one of the machines and
running a virus scan. Before I do, does anyone know what the problem is as
the disk is a pain in the backside to get to in the non-working machine!

Is there any way of running scanreg without windows booting (not even into
safe mode command prompt only)?

Is anyone else having the same problem?

Thanks.

This problem would seem to be a compatibility issue caused by update KB890859
from reading other threads.

Try fixing in this speed related order:-

Solution 1:
Insert winxp installation cd and boot from this. Select recovery console and
run batch files in c:\windows\$ntuninstallKB890859$\spuninst directory.

Solution 2:
Insert winxp installation cd and boot from this. Go along as though
installing windows for first time. When it detects the existing windows
installation choose 'r' to let it repair. Although I tried this, I had
previously reverted my kernel32.dll to the original which probably caused
recovery problems having installed SP2 which I presume has a different kernel.

Solution 3:
Take hard disk out of affected machine and put into place of hard disk on
machine known to work with this update. Boot up in safe mode. Go to
add/remove programs (ensuring show updates is checked). Remove KB890859. Swap
disks back.

Obviously, steps should then be taken to ensure this update is not installed
in future - turn off auto updates for a start.

I also heard something about disabling the L1/L2 cpu cache in BIOS works for
a similar problem. My BIOS does not give the option to disable though so
can't test this - might be even quicker fix. Disable cache, uninstall update,
enable cache.

Hope this helps someone out there. After trying allsorts, my machine is now
too far gone to resurrect so will need a clean install again! If when I have
a go at fixing my friends these steps don't work, I'll add another post.

Forget the last post. Solution 1/Solution 2 don't work. Formatted disk,
reinstalled everything, downloaded updates excluding KB890859 & KB893066 -
got exact same problem. Now running PC without any post SP2 updates. Does
anyone know which of the updates IS causing the problem and what is the best
solution? Disabling L1/L2 cache doesn't work round this problem either.

I and others had severe problems after installing KB890859. I was eventually
able to undo the problem but I found that I then experienced problems with
other Windows Updates and had to turn them off altogether on the machine in
question.

It's too late for you but the way to recover from this update is given at
http://loloyd.blogspot.com/2005/09/h...indows-xp.html

I followed this procedure but would suggest that once you can get some sort
of Windows functionality then a System Restore is the best option.