windows xp service pack hell - please help

Chippy_Minton

scouselass - There's no need to download it. It is on the cover CD of many current computer magazines or if you are prepared to wait a week or two for delivery you can order it free from Microsoft:

Order SP2 from Microsoft

LincsLad_3

scouselass - There's no need to download it. It is on the cover CD of many current computer magazines or if you are prepared to wait a week or two for delivery you can order it free...[/url]

And at the risk of being called a heretic [again], install it at your own risk.
::)

Debt_Free_Chick

Isass.exe - System Error. endpoint format is invalid. If I click OK, my computer reboots and this creates a horrible cycle

Misty - this was the Sasser worm. More information here

http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.mspx

It could have been removed, without the need for you to format the hard drive and a high likelihood that you would not have lost your files. Sorry - that's of no interest to you now, but posted in case others have a similar problem.

Whenever you get a error message, it's a good idea to search using Google. I put isass.exe into Google and got 10,600 hits. The first page full of sites confirming the Sasser Worm and giving removal instructions.

Now then Misty ... How did you get Sasser? It suggests that you didn't have a firewall installed. Do you have one now?

At the very least, TURN ON the XP firewall, then download the free version of Zone Alarm

https://www.zonelabs.com

Disconnect from the internet, turn off the XP firewall and then run the Zone Alarm setup program.

It could be that the problem was Sasser and not SP2. Just for the record, I've installed SP2 on 3 different PCs with no problems.

Godders

It is possible that all is not lost in regards to your documents. I formatted a guys hard disk 3 times, re-installed the operating system and still got 3Gb of his files back.

I used file scavenger

http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm

Bearing in mind where I am posting this it's not a free utility but data can be worth far more than money. I have never found a free version of this utility that ran without restrictions unless you pay up (correct me if there is one!)

The important things are:

1. Stop using your PC. Data is only lost completely (in normal circumstances) when the area of the hard disk that the data is physically held on is re-used for another file. File scavenger scans the entire disk and tells you what is really there.

2. Put the disk in another PC when you run the utility on it (this is so installing the utility does not wipe out the very things you are trying to get back)

3. If Windows ever stops loading (but the disk is healthy) before you do anything drastic remove the hard disk and plug it into another PC. The files and folders can then be backed up before attempting to fix the problem - This is trickier when you are using a laptop but can still be done.