Encountering a few problems and wondered if anyone had suggestions.
I received the latest security updates and experienced problems with the XP program so I read and decided to uninstall KB896688 since my problems resembled others. I then visited the Microsoft site, downloaded the file, saved it to my hard drive, turned off my AV and then installed it. All seemed to go well until I had to restart the computer and now it locks. I can start, the windows screen appears with the icons and in the bottom right a few programs start, but then it freezes and nothing works. System Restore will not work as it goes through the whole process and then says that the restore is incomplete since nothing has changed- I could choose any date and get the same response so it's obviously turned off. I can only access the Command Prompts and have gone into APPWIZ.CPL to delete KB896688 which was causing the original problems. However, on reboot, I still freeze after the Windows screen appears and about two icons appear in the bottom right of the window on start-up.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and they are very much appreciated.

Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go.

Are you able to get into Safe Mode With Networking? (tap F8 while booting)

If so, boot your computer up into Safe Mode With Networking and have your computer scanned at Trend Micro's online virus scanner. Disinfect or delete any junk that it finds. When you're done, restart your computer and see if it works.

This post has been edited by computerwiz12890: Oct 31 2005, 11:01 AM

I hope this is ok to put this here. Can anyone tell me what the dynamics are here? Nearly everytime we do updates there are time consuming "fixes" to be done. I just shudder when there are updates to be installed.
Thank you for any input on this.

Thanks Computerwiz and appreciate the welcome. I looked at many sites in my search for answers and found this site during my research. This is a very interesting place and I look forward to being a contributing member in the time ahead.
I'll try your recommended action of trying the Safe Mode with Networking. Tried everything else in safe mode and they all didn't work, but hopefully this will be different. I was also going to turn back on my system restore through cammand prompt or the registry, but don't know if any of the past dates will still be in memory or if they all disappear when it's turned off.

They will have all been deleted when System Restore was turned off. A virus of some sort is most likely your problem, but one symptom could have many solutions, with only one being the correct one. Scanning for and cleanning any problems is the first step

This post has been edited by computerwiz12890: Oct 31 2005, 12:07 PM

Too bad about the System Restore as that was the easy solution. If the Safe Mode with Networking doesn't work, can I go into the Windows XP repair feature and try to reinstall. It seems fairly safe, but I haven't had to use it in the past.
I just wonder what the next step would be if I can't get on the network to run a check with Trend Micro.
Thanks

You're correct. You can use the repair feature if you can't use Safe Mode or if Trend Micro doesn't help. Keep me informed of your progress.

I certainly will and thanks for the help.