Another Computer Question

[dreamshark]

This is for Windows people only - you Appletonians can just move right along. No snarky comments, please. You guys have your own issues y'know.

I have tried several times to upgrade my Windows XP Home Edition to Service Pack 2. It fails every time, with no indication why. It downloads and installs for hours, then excretes a popup saying something like, "SP2 could not be completely installed - click OK to roll back the partial upgrade." Does anybody know why this might be happening and what I can do about it?

I'm not sure I actually NEED SP2, but a lot of programs claim that they require it (and then seem to work anyway). On the other hand, I have been having annoying application hangs with increasing frequency. Maybe they really DID need SP2.

Comments

Another Computer Question

[(Anonymous)]

Downloading SP2 never did work for my Windows XP system. Eventually I ordered the free SP2 CD and when it arrived the installation was very smooth. I don't recall if ordering the free copy is linked to providing the unique installation information for your system, but given that it's Microsoft, that's probably the case.

- Karen J.

Re: Another Computer Question

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's a useful bit of info. I found a tip on the Alienware site suggestng that the best way to upgrade to SP2 is to download the upgrade completely to hard disk, THEN install, instead of using that "install over the Net" online utility. That sounds similar in concept to installing from CD. I think I'll try that.