On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 21:37:02 -0800, "Shumandu"

>I know spyware is an issue but people tend to blame it for eveything that
>goes wrong on an OS and thier divorces and WMD's too. I have scanned with
>four different spyware tools. I do not have spyware on my system, if I do
>it's hidden so well it deserves to stay there.

Actually, no;if it's that well hidden, then you'dbe more intent on
removing it. Malware is common, and malware persistance through the
typical approaches to detect it ("I scanned using Norton AV" etc.) is
quite common too, and it can botch all sorts of upgrades.

>What other possible issues can cause the "Sorry for the
>inconvienience but Windows can not start .."

I'm jumping in late, and missed the start of this thread. There are
licensing issues that will prevent SP2 from installing, and other
technical issues that can stop the first and subsequent post-SP2
bootups from working. For example, a combination of
Prescott-generation Intel processor and insufficiently-aware BIOS can
lock the PC up on the black graphic loading screen, as per...

http://cquirke.mvps.org/sp2intel.htm

>"Shumandu" wrote:

>> Even though I'm still not convinced of the value, after much study and prep I
>> decided to install SP2. I followed all suggestions for a successful install.
>> Downloaded all current updates to SP1, disabled McAfee virus and firewall,
>> and ZeroSpyware spyware programs even removed them from startup after full
>> clean scans, removed all virtual drives i.e. Game Drive, I am the administrator.
>> I used the install disc and after indicating a successful install I
>> restarted the system.

OK; SF,SG...

>> I then got the "Sorry Windows was unable to start" screen.

More on that? Like, details??

>> I then started in safe mode and was able to access Windows.

OK, that's not the Prescott issue, as you'd not have been able to boot
Safe Mode, and wouldn't have seen any "Sorry..." except perhaps the
mandated F8 boot menu that follows a failed OS startup.

What is the difference between normal (which fails) and Safe (which
works)? Device drivers and startup axis.

So I'd use MSConfig to suppress all startup axis entries and then try
normal Windows again. If that works, test-to-break by adding back
those startup axis entries one by one. If that also fails, try normal
mode with plain VGA. If that fails too, then it's either some other
device driver issue, malware, or something that wasn't suppressed in
MSConfig such as an Explorer shell integration, BHO, etc.

>> I am running SATA Raid 0, and have a gig of memory even though Msinfo32
>> shows only 512M, the system is 2 year old assembled by ABS Computers.

Interesting to have 1G RAM and only 512M shown - suggests something
like a pair of 512M sticks that are incompatible with the way they are
installed on the mobo so that one "hides" the other, sor something.

Does BIOS POST show 1G RAM, or also 512M?

>> Here is my system info as per, Msinfo32:

>> OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
>> Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 Build 2600
>> Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 8 AuthenticAMD ~2210 Mhz

Another reason to scratch Prescott issue off the list :-)

But, reminds me; try the Boot.ini entry parameter to disable DEP, as
many apps and utils are incompatible with this (especially some av).
DEP is supported by recent AMD and more recent Intel CPUs, and is an
OS feature added by SP2. Quite likely to be your problem.

>> Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
>> Available Physical Memory 539.01 MB
>> Total Virtual Memory 3.41 GB
>> Available Virtual Memory 2.63 GB
>> Page File Space 2.41 GB
>> Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Surprisingly large page file; are you using large error dumps and/or
fast user switching, or just large apps?

Is your HD bigger than 137G? If so, that's a reason to want SP2, and
to want an installation CD with SP2 slipstreamed into it. SP1 is
supposed to be OK over 137G, but in some contexts it is not (e.g. when
doing a crash dump) and can corrupt the HD in such cases.

Pre-SP1 XP can't install on > 137G, so you'd have to slipstream at
least SP1 to create a useable installation disk for such HDs.



>---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
Don't pay malware vendors - boycott Sony
>---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

JJ
I have owned computers for more years than I care to admit and have never
had to reinstall any version of the Windows operating system.
Lucky? Yes, but as I said I keep a clean machine.
I feel this is the techs quick fix but never really gets to the root of most
issues.
I'll continue to search for a clue to this issue.
I think it is hardware related.
If I can't solve it i'll just wait for Longhorn for a clean install.
Do you know if there are any issues when installing SP2 on a, SATA/RAID 0,
drive setup? Since SP2 is a OS upgrade and you have to be concerned about
your SATA drivers on a OS install (not automatically included that is why
they are provided on a floppy you have to hit F16 or something during install
to include them) anybody out there install SP2 on a drive with this config.?


--
Onward through the fog


"Jupiter Jones [MVP]" wrote:

> If your computer is "junk free", then either you have a hardware
> incompatibility, you missed something or something probably to remain
> unknown happened.
> No one may never know and that may be why you have not been given a specific
> answer.
>
> Find another hard drive and clean install Windows followed by SP-2.
> If you have the same problem, you have a hardware problem.
> If there is no problem, you have a software issue with your original
> installation.
> More than likely there is an unknown problem with your computer.
>
> --
> Jupiter Jones [MVP]
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
> http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
> "Shumandu" <Shumandu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B90E895F-586F-45F2-BFBD-045240BA9BD1@microsoft.com...
> > Ken & Plato
> > Thanks for the old tune on Spyware, virus, trojans blahh blahh blahh.
> > My computer is way more junk free than this thread.
> > I do appreciate your response but not one person here has posted anything
> > in the least bit helpful. I'm not even sure any of you read my original
> > post?
> > shumandu-you don't
> > --
> > Onward through the fog
>
>
>

cquirke
Thank you for your reply, the most helpful yet.
To answer your questions.
I was only joking about leaving well hidden spyware on my system it was only
ment as a homage to anyone who can write code that can be hidden that well.
Along with scanning with three differant spyware programs I submitted a
HijackThis log to a forum at AumHa for analysis, just to be sure.
In a reply to Plato I asked about the possibility of a drive issue as I am
running SATA/Raid 0 drives, Since SP2 is a OS upgrade and you have to be
concerned about your SATA drivers on a OS install (Iv'e read they are not
automatically
included in a XP install that is why they are provided on a floppy you have
to hit F16 or something during install to include them) I can't imagine this
is the issue as many people are runnig this drive config out there.
I have two 160 Gig drives ,0 striped.
As for the memory issue the BIOS and all other system info programs I have
show 1 Gig. I think Msinfo has a glitch because the memory is dual channel?
Before trying to installing SP2 I used codestuff startup manager to disable
all but the system startup funtions.
I also diconnected all peripherals and removed thier drivers.
I installed SP2 from a disc the first time so none of my browsers were active.
Can you explain your following passage with a little more detail
"But, reminds me; try the Boot.ini entry parameter to disable DEP, as
many apps and utils are incompatible with this (especially some av).
DEP is supported by recent AMD and more recent Intel CPUs, and is an
OS feature added by SP2. Quite likely to be your problem."
i.e. how do I check for and disable DEP, what is DEP, what is av, I'm just
computer savvy enough to be dangerous but not that hep.
This may help analyze my problem it is an excerpt from the SP2, svcp_log
,created when SP2 tried to install. There are three logs in all too large
for the post size allowed here.
3.157:
================================================== ==============================
3.157: 2004/09/28 18:57:36.765 (local)
3.157:
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\S-1-5-18\0915379b547e57fc7f174520805bc480\update\update. exe (version 5.5.1005.0)
3.172: Service Pack started with following command line: /si
/ParentInfo:a4b9a2388558e6408f665916a472bd1f
3.203: Return Value From OnACPower = 1
3.203: OnACPower returned value( 0x1 ) which is Equal To 0x1
3.203: Condition succeeded for section OnACPower.Section in Line 1 of
PreRequisite
3.203: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\Wi ndowsFeatures is
not Present
3.203: First Condition in A6Block.Section Succeeded
3.203: Condition succeeded for section A6Block.Section in Line 2 of
PreRequisite
10.985: DoInstallation: CleanPFR failed: 0x2
11.032: SetProductTypes: InfProductBuildType=BuildType.IC
11.047: SetAltOsLoaderPath: No section uses DirId 65701; done.
11.266: IncludeDirectoryIdFromInfSection: No DirId found for:
DontRemoveOnUninst.DirId
11.266: DoInstallation:SetupOpenInfFile for OldUninstallInf file
C:\WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst\spuni nst.inf not found: 0x3
11.266: CreateUninstall = 1,Directory = C:\WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$
16.250: CheckRegistryValue: RegOpenKeyEx for SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active
Setup\Installed Components\{FDC11A6F-17D1-48f9-9EA3-9051954BAA24} KeyName
failed :0x2
16.250: Conditional load of section WindowsMessenger.Condition succeeded
118.844: ref tag c:\windows\driver cache\i386\sp2.cab does not exist
118.844: ref tag c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\sp2.cab does not exist
118.907: Starting AnalyzeComponents
118.907: AnalyzePhaseZero used 0 ticks
118.907: No
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\S-1-5-18\0915379b547e57fc7f174520805bc480\update\updtblk .inf file.
123.547: SetupVerifyInfFile failed with error 0x490 for fgdscsi.inf of
device FGDXBIOS\FGDX\0000
123.688: SetupVerifyInfFile failed with error 0x490 for
c:\windows\inf\fgdscsi.inf of device FGDXBIOS\FGDX\0000
123.891: SetupOpenInfFile in IsThirdPartyInf Failed with error 0x2
126.563:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\oem4.CAT
trusts inf c:\windows\inf\oem4.inf of device
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00D4&SUBSYS_0C111458&REV_A4\3&13C 0B0C5&0&09
129.782:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\oem7.CAT
trusts inf c:\windows\inf\oem7.inf of device
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_7003&SUBSYS_00401102&REV_04\4&2FF 3801D&0&4150
130.110: Failed to query DriverPath of ROOT\LEGACY_MODEM\0000 0x2
130.625: SetupVerifyInfFile failed with error 0x490 for fgdxbus.inf of
device ROOT\SYSTEM\0002
130.782: SetupVerifyInfFile failed with error 0x490 for
c:\windows\inf\fgdxbus.inf of device ROOT\SYSTEM\0002
132.641:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\oem29.CAT
trusts inf c:\windows\inf\oem29.inf of device
USB\VID_06A9&PID_0005\03B407796122
135.157: OEM file scan used 16250 ticks
213.828: c:\windows\system32\ativvaxx.dll is in the list of oem
drivers...skipping copy!
214.500: c:\windows\system32\ati3duag.dll is in the list of oem
drivers...skipping copy!
214.500: c:\windows\system32\ati3d2ag.dll is in the list of oem
drivers...skipping copy!
214.641: c:\windows\system32\ati3d1ag.dll is in the list of oem
drivers...skipping copy!
214.703: c:\windows\system32\drivers\ati2mtag.sys is in the list of oem
drivers...skipping copy!
214.875: c:\windows\system32\ati2dvag.dll is in the list of oem
drivers...skipping copy!
219.328: AnalyzePhaseOne: used 100421 ticks
219.328: AnalyzeComponents: Hotpatch analysis disabled; skipping.
219.328: AnalyzeComponents: Hotpatching is disabled.
219.328: Persisted hotfix directory is missing.
219.328: FindFirstFile c:\windows\$hf_mig$\*.*
219.328: Error getting find handle for c:\windows\$hf_mig$\*.*
252.860: AnalyzePhaseTwo used 33532 ticks
252.860: AnalyzePhaseThree used 0 ticks
252.860: AnalyzePhaseTwo used 0 ticks
252.860: AnalyzePhaseThree used 0 ticks
273.750: AnalyzePhaseFive used 20890 ticks
275.391: AnalyzePhaseSix used 1641 ticks
275.688: AnalyzeComponents used 156781 ticks
275.688: Downloading 2020 files
275.688: bPatchMode = TRUE
275.688: Inventory complete: ReturnStatus=0, 264422 ticks
275.688: Num Ticks for invent : 264422
321.641: [dumpDownloadTask] Update.exe posting request file to download a
total of 82502763 bytes (61938227 bytes in patches and 20564536 bytes in
fallbacks)
321.672: [dumpDownloadTask] Returning 0xf200
321.672: dumpDownloadTask returned 0xf200 (more files to download)
326.375: UnRegisterSpuninstForRecovery, failed to delete SpRecoverCmdLine
value, error 0x2
326.375: DoInstallation: Failed to unregistering spuninst.exe for recovery.
326.469: Service Pack 2 installation did not complete.
326.469: Update.exe extended error code = 0xf200
1.312:
================================================== ==============================
1.312: 2004/09/29 05:32:46.281 (local)
1.312:
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\S-1-5-18\0915379b547e57fc7f174520805bc480\update\update. exe (version 5.5.1005.0)
1.312: Service Pack started with following command line: /si
/ParentInfo:12805abe9a28d044bf4fb093b900099d
1.328: Return Value From OnACPower = 1
1.328: OnACPower returned value( 0x1 ) which is Equal To 0x1
1.328: Condition succeeded for section OnACPower.Section in Line 1 of
PreRequisite
1.328: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\Wi ndowsFeatures is
not Present
1.328: First Condition in A6Block.Section Succeeded
1.328: Condition succeeded for section A6Block.Section in Line 2 of
PreRequisite
8.453: ---- Old Information In The Registry ------
8.468: Source:C:\DOCUME~1\ALLUSE~1\APPLIC~1\McAfee.com\Ag ent\McSubDB.Dat
8.468: Destination:
8.468: ---- New Information In The Registry ------
8.468: Source:C:\DOCUME~1\ALLUSE~1\APPLIC~1\McAfee.com\Ag ent\McSubDB.Dat
8.468: Destination:
8.515: SetProductTypes: InfProductBuildType=BuildType.IC
8.531: SetAltOsLoaderPath: No section uses DirId 65701; done.
8.750: IncludeDirectoryIdFromInfSection: No DirId found for:
DontRemoveOnUninst.DirId
8.875: Express: 82,502,763 bytes were downloaded.
63.906: [PatchFilesFromResponseBlob] returning STATUS_READY_TO_INSTALL
65.390: UnRegisterSpuninstForRecovery, failed to delete SpRecoverCmdLine
value, error 0x2
65.390: DoInstallation: Failed to unregistering spuninst.exe for recovery.
65.422: Service Pack 2 installation did not complete.
65.422: Update.exe extended error code = 0xf201
5.594: ================================================== ==============
Thank you for your help
Shumandu
--
Onward through the fog

cquirke
Any way I could send the three logs created when my SP2 install failed.
They are too large to post here.
Shumandu