-----Original Message-----

"MJ" wrote in message
...
I did an incredibly dumb think last weekend. I installed
Windows
Service Pack 2 because I was informed that it was vital
to install the
security updates. My PC worked beautifully prior to
SP2. It's a
homebuilt beauty with an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
motherboard, two SATA 250
GB hard drives, 2 IDEs, a DVD and CD burner with 1.5 GB
of RAM. In one
fell swoop it reduced my HD to rubble since it resulted
in crashing
half my applications and then causing boot errors so
that I couldn't
even boot into windows, repeated automatic restarts,
inability to fix
using the worthless Recovery Console, resulting in my
needing to
recover my data form lost partitions, move my data all
over the
place... etc. etc. etc. what a bloody mess.

I'm still not finished figuring it out but in the
process of trying to
resurrect my HD and reinstall windows through repair
and then
reinstall over the existing installation of windows
(kept crapping out
my PC), I have been informed that all my Windows
XP "allocated
installs" are used up. I had to call MS, give them a
very long code,
in order to obtain the ability to register my copy of
XP. I'm told
that EVERY time that I may have to reinstall I can look
forward to
this procedure and having to justify to Microsoft why I
need another
install key from them.

Note to Microsoft: If this is an install issue then you
should give me
another 20 automatically when I say the phrase "Windows
XP required
full reinstalls after an 'update' caused my PC to crash
and burn and
require formatting and attempted restore/reinstalls."

It's not a good feeling to be insecure about the fact
that the money
you plunked down now requires justification for further
installation
in the future.

Sounds like a fairly new system, and totally up to specs
for anything XP, including SP2, but you didn't prepare for
it. You should have read here, or at MS for the "How Tos"
for installing SP2 (or any major MS update/service pack)
before installing it.

If your hard drive crapped out, then it is a hardware
problem, and should be relegated to the manufacturer for
warranty. SP2, Windows (or any software for that matter)
doesn't break hardware, people do, or time does!
.

You assume an awful lot. How do you know the OP didn't
properly prepare? I did, and I had very similar results.
And note that the OP doesn't say anything about
*mechanical* failure of his HD. The fact is, and I
learned this the hard way, you can have a system that's
running like a top, fully patched, fully protected,
defragged, etc., etc. and SP2 can still make a mess of it.
Just because *you* haven't had issues and *you* choose
to swallow the line of crap about the wonderful "stability"
of SP2 being spewed by MS and a few of the MVPs here
doesn't mean that everyone should. Consider yourself
fortunate, and remember that it's still early. My own
time bomb didn't go off until a week after installation.