F
foobar5@home.com
Guest
My daughter has a Lenovo laptop running XP Home, SP2.
I get on it periodically for maintenance (my account on that computer
is admin; hers is not).
Earlier this week, I had the yellow shield alerting me that SP3 was
downloaded and ready for installation. The installation proceeded
smoothly and uneventfully until about 2/3 of the way through, when it
had a problem copying a file. Stupidly, I said to proceed without
copying that file, but then the next file copy had a problem too, so I
aborted the SP3 install.
The installation looked like it smoothly "rolled back" to SP2 and the
computer restarted. But then I had no internet access, even though
the WLAN was detected, with strong signal strength. After fiddling
with that for a while (disconnecting and reconnecting, uninstalling
the wireless card and having XP find it again, all the usual stuff)
and coming up empty, I used System Restore to put the computer back to
where it was the day before.
That's when things really went south. On startup, the black XP screen
with the three blue dots scrolling across it would be up for five
minutes before the login screen appeared. After logging in, the clock
would freeze for a few minutes while "stuff" happened behind the
scenes, then would resume.
Skipping over several other things I tried, I finally used Scandisk
with both boxes checked. The process ran for more than three hours on
a 40% occupied 60 gig drive. Among some of the things that occurred:
* repairing the security file record segment
* cleaning up 699 unused index entries from index $sii of file 9
* cleaning up 699 unused index entries from index $sdh of file 9
* cleaning up 699 security descriptors
* fixing mirror copy of the security descriptors data stream
And Windows replaced bad clusters in hundreds (100+ that I noted, but
there were lots of times I was away from the computer) of files.
Several were from the system restore area. Several were from various
parts of the \windows folder, leaving me scared. There was also a
file called usbport.sys that had bad clusters replaced.
Naturally, I was completely shocked when the computer seemingly
returned to full functionality, including the boot/startup sequence
shortening down to normal. And we have 100% reliable internet
connectivity.
Obviously, a bunch of issues are in play here. Just among the ones
I'm aware of:
It's not normal to have so many file problems and disk errors. I am
attributing this to my daughter's penchant for dropping her laptop
while it's in use (off her bed, short drop to floor, but not exactly
acceptable care for a sensitive device), and to walking around with
the laptop open and in use. I am about to purchase Spinrite, about
which I've heard many good things, to assess and optimize her disk. I
had problems copying files off of it last night, so I know that the
disk is in shaky shape; just not yet sure how shaky.
Because system restore files were damaged, I turned off System Restore
to clear that stuff out, then reenabled System Restore to start anew.
The USB port doesn't work, which doesn't surprise me since usbport.sys
was damaged. What's the easiest and best way to restore port
functionality?
Although I am certain that several Windows components were damaged,
again, the computer seems to function wonderfully; I am sure I'll run
in to other odd behavior that will need to be repaired. Is there any
way, short of reinstalling and updating Windows from scratch, to
assess what updates are needed? Other than SP3, the computer was 100%
up to date on Windows updates.
Speaking of SP3, I specifically saw portions of the SP3 download that
had bad clusters replaced. How can I just delete the download from
the machine, then go back to Windows Update and get a new one
downloaded?
Long post, I know. Hope the information answers relevant questions.
My own questions for now boil down to three really:
1. How do I restore USB port functionality?
2. How do I assess and replace Windows updates that were damaged?
3. How do I get a fresh SP3 for download and install?
I get on it periodically for maintenance (my account on that computer
is admin; hers is not).
Earlier this week, I had the yellow shield alerting me that SP3 was
downloaded and ready for installation. The installation proceeded
smoothly and uneventfully until about 2/3 of the way through, when it
had a problem copying a file. Stupidly, I said to proceed without
copying that file, but then the next file copy had a problem too, so I
aborted the SP3 install.
The installation looked like it smoothly "rolled back" to SP2 and the
computer restarted. But then I had no internet access, even though
the WLAN was detected, with strong signal strength. After fiddling
with that for a while (disconnecting and reconnecting, uninstalling
the wireless card and having XP find it again, all the usual stuff)
and coming up empty, I used System Restore to put the computer back to
where it was the day before.
That's when things really went south. On startup, the black XP screen
with the three blue dots scrolling across it would be up for five
minutes before the login screen appeared. After logging in, the clock
would freeze for a few minutes while "stuff" happened behind the
scenes, then would resume.
Skipping over several other things I tried, I finally used Scandisk
with both boxes checked. The process ran for more than three hours on
a 40% occupied 60 gig drive. Among some of the things that occurred:
* repairing the security file record segment
* cleaning up 699 unused index entries from index $sii of file 9
* cleaning up 699 unused index entries from index $sdh of file 9
* cleaning up 699 security descriptors
* fixing mirror copy of the security descriptors data stream
And Windows replaced bad clusters in hundreds (100+ that I noted, but
there were lots of times I was away from the computer) of files.
Several were from the system restore area. Several were from various
parts of the \windows folder, leaving me scared. There was also a
file called usbport.sys that had bad clusters replaced.
Naturally, I was completely shocked when the computer seemingly
returned to full functionality, including the boot/startup sequence
shortening down to normal. And we have 100% reliable internet
connectivity.
Obviously, a bunch of issues are in play here. Just among the ones
I'm aware of:
It's not normal to have so many file problems and disk errors. I am
attributing this to my daughter's penchant for dropping her laptop
while it's in use (off her bed, short drop to floor, but not exactly
acceptable care for a sensitive device), and to walking around with
the laptop open and in use. I am about to purchase Spinrite, about
which I've heard many good things, to assess and optimize her disk. I
had problems copying files off of it last night, so I know that the
disk is in shaky shape; just not yet sure how shaky.
Because system restore files were damaged, I turned off System Restore
to clear that stuff out, then reenabled System Restore to start anew.
The USB port doesn't work, which doesn't surprise me since usbport.sys
was damaged. What's the easiest and best way to restore port
functionality?
Although I am certain that several Windows components were damaged,
again, the computer seems to function wonderfully; I am sure I'll run
in to other odd behavior that will need to be repaired. Is there any
way, short of reinstalling and updating Windows from scratch, to
assess what updates are needed? Other than SP3, the computer was 100%
up to date on Windows updates.
Speaking of SP3, I specifically saw portions of the SP3 download that
had bad clusters replaced. How can I just delete the download from
the machine, then go back to Windows Update and get a new one
downloaded?
Long post, I know. Hope the information answers relevant questions.
My own questions for now boil down to three really:
1. How do I restore USB port functionality?
2. How do I assess and replace Windows updates that were damaged?
3. How do I get a fresh SP3 for download and install?
