Support NeoGAF

[olimario]

As some of you know and most others don't, I had a lot of problems after installing Windows Service Pack 2. A lot of problems had to do with previously stagnant Spyware that sprung to life upon installation.

I downloaded a Spyware remover, got rid of my Spyware but was still encountering some problems with some of my programs, so I decided to uninstall WSP 2.

I ran uninstall, restarted my computer, and all seemed well.

Every program I tried to load would only partially load except for Internet Explorer, but even that wouldn't allow my to access anything online. THen, after a couple minutes after startup I'd get a message saying my physical memory was low followed by a countdown timer to shutdown.

What I need to know is
A) Is there a way to get all of my files off of that computer before I take the next step in fixing it? If not, is there a place that will do it for me?
B) Is there a place that could possibly fix the problems on my computer?
C) If I did call MS Tech Support, would I recieve any information that could restore my computer to it's former glory?

I appreciate any and all help, GAF. I don't know who else to turn to.

 

[Wellington]

About A, if you know a friend that will let you, just take your HD to his place and either burn shit to DVD, or dump it to his HD.

I think your best bet after that is to format.

 

[Outlaw]

Dude!! You just got DellOwned!!

 

[Vormund]

Well after you format, put Windows on it's own partition.

Saves on problems later on.

 

[olimario]

About A, if you know a friend that will let you, just take your HD to his place and either burn shit to DVD, or dump it to his HD.

I think your best bet after that is to format.

Is formatting wiping everything out and starting from scratch?

And how do you do a HD dump with an internal drive?
And once I do it and format my computer, will it be easy to dump files back onto my computer from my friends?

 

[alejob]

Do you have a second hard drive?
If so you can move everything to that and reformat your harddrive.

Yes, formatting means starting from scratch.

Can you boot in safe mode? Press F8 on startup to do it.
Try fixing the instalation with your XP instalation disk, Go into the BIOS and set your PC to boot from CD, then put cd in drive en reboot. Fallow instructions for "Repair instalation".




Your are not supposed to uninstall SP2.

 

[olimario]

I contacted MS about uninstalling SP2 and they told me it would be fine as long as I ran a Virus Checker afterwards and kept it running to protect my computer. Strange that my computer flopped out upon uninstallation.

Should I back up my HD before running the 'repair installation'?

Thanks for your help, alejob.

 

[alejob]

If you want to be really careful, make a back up. But I wouldn't do it. Their shouldn't be a problem.

 

[olimario]

Do you have a second hard drive?
If so you can move everything to that and reformat your harddrive.

Yes, formatting means starting from scratch.

Can you boot in safe mode? Press F8 on startup to do it.
Try fixing the instalation with your XP instalation disk, Go into the BIOS and set your PC to boot from CD, then put cd in drive en reboot. Fallow instructions for "Repair instalation".




Your are not supposed to uninstall SP2.

i cant start Windows in safe mode and i have no clue how to begin repair installation. this is confusing.

 

[jonhuz]

Ok, so I had a few probs too. I removed it via add/remove programs in control panel.
Oli, so safeboot works..try a system restore to a date previous to sp2 install.

 

[olimario]

I am so computer illiterate.. How do I do what I need to do?

 

[jonhuz]

So safeboot into windows (xp right?). Start menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System restore. Then choose restore my computer to an earlier time (hopefully there's a date checkpoint before you installed sp2) and follow wizard.