Update to XP SP3 Problem

[calintexas]

I finally updated to SP3 on my 3rd and primary use (for secure transactions) computer. All went fine until near the end. Progress just stopped at the cleaning up temporary/old files stage. The computer was running fine, task manager showed that the update programs were running, but nothing was happening (low to no CPU use, no disk activity). After 3 hours, I went ahead and rebooted the machine. Windows came up fine and SP3 appears to be fully installed. I've been able to do additional Windows updates just fine (although the updates install history log on the "MS Updates" site shows the SP3 install as failed). I'm guessing there's some junk still on the computer somewhere.

Should I let well enough alone, use add/remove to back out of SP3 and try to install it again. or ....? Where should I look for leftover files besides the windows temp file?

[malware destroyer]

try downloading ccleaner and that will clean temp files and after that i would just leave it alone as everything seems okay so best to not fiddle with it but if you do have problems whatever that maybe use ccleaner to clean all the temp files then try reinstalling it and see if that works

[Firefox]

just recently I installed SP3 on a computer that had SP2 on it. It installed fine, and like you it stayed in the cleaning stage for some time, I let it run for about 2 hours and it was still there, it was getting late so I just went to bed and left it that way. I am not sure how long it stayed that way, but when I checked it in the morning (about 5 hours later) it was done, and it was waiting for me to hit Restart.

I would try and re-install the SP3 so that it could finish doing what is was doing, and just let it sit there till it gets done, now if it goes all night, there may be other issues we may need to look at.

[exile360]

Yep, I had this happen once myself. After waiting a very long time, I finally forced a reboot, uninstalled SP3 via Add/Remove Programs, then reinstalled SP3 manually via direct download from MS (not through Windows Update) after a reboot. The reinstall went fine.

[Firefox]

Just To Add....

The ones for me were not from the windows update, they were done from the MS direct download as well, I thinks some computers just take a while to finish it. Like I said my took several hours not sure how long as I went to bed after 2 hours had passed.

You could just un-install it like excile stated and then re-install it.

[noknojon]

Just to add -

My last update to XP SP3 took at least 3 hours to Fully complete -

Then it took another ? 2 hours to complete the other M/soft updates at that time - Lucky the computer had 80% free at the time -

Some M/soft items still required several attempts and reboots -

Then I did a disk clean up after that -

[calintexas]

Thanks for the input. I'll uninstall it and try again (with more patience). It's good to know that I'm not the only one with the same issue and that uninstalling and re-installing is likely to not cause more problems.

Thanks again.

[AdvancedSetup]

I would highly recommend using this download version and not the update site. Also if this is an HP then make sure you get the update patch before installing SP3

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers

Disable ALL of your Anti-Virus and Security software and then try running the install.

You might also want to check your hard drive for errors just in case BEFORE trying the install.

You may have corrupted files on your disk. Please try running the following.

First close ALL Applications as this routine will automatically restart your computer.

Click on START - RUN and copy / paste the following entry into the box and click OK

CMD /C ECHO Y|CHKDSK C: /R | SHUTDOWN /R /T 30

[calintexas]

Ok, thanks Ron. I'll do that. The first time I did turn off mbam and Norton. Previously, I've restarted after the turnoffs before starting the SP3 install. I didn't this time and thought that might be part of the issue. I'm away from the problematic computer for a couple of weeks. I'll let people know how it went once I've done the re-install. it will be a few weeks. The computer is not an HP (It's an ABS with a Azus MB)