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WinXP Aborted Update Installation... Missing Data?


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#1
princessmimi

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Hello,

Unfortunately, I'm not a very computer savvy person, so I'm not sure how big a problem this is or how it affects my computer in the long run, but:

I was prompted to begin the WinXP Service Pack 3 update today. Everything went fine until the progress meter froze at about 75% and remained there (with the note that it's "finishing installation - performing cleanup"), while the memory kept going down. The Service Pack itself is listed as being around 1.5GB, yet my memory went down 5GB and continued until there was around 800MB left on my hard drive. After 40 minutes, I received an error message that the installer wasn't responding and to end the process. Immediately after this, the memory went back up and kept going up until reaching 20.7GB. Before the update installation, there was around 5.7GB left, so I have no idea what happened to that 15GB or so in the process. I restarted the computer and everything seems to be working properly: all files are here, software and Windows-related programs are working fine. Unfortunately, the System Restore Point made before the installation (and all those before it) seems to no longer exist, so I can't set the computer back to before. Is there some way of finding out exactly what happened to that 15GB, if there was any permanent damage done to my computer, and how can I fix it?

Thanks so much for your help and let me know if I need to include any more information. :)
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#2
NexRad

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Greetings princessmimi, and welcome to Geeks To Go! I would like to start troubleshooting this issue by looking into the current version of XP that is on your system. Please click on the Start button, then click on Run. In the box that opens up I need you to type winver then press OK. Please reply with what is shown after you click on OK.

Thank you,
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#3
princessmimi

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NexRad, I'm hoping this is all you need:

Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234 : Service Pack 3)
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#4
NexRad

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Thank you for the swift reply. Just a couple of questions and then we will decide how we want to go about double-checking this installation:
  • What type of internet connection do you have
  • What Anti-Virus and Firewall software are you using?

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#5
princessmimi

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I have a DSL? (direct through the phone line) internet connection.

My antivirus software is AVG Free 8.5. As far as I know, it doesn't come with firewall software and other than Windows firewall, I have nothing else installed.
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#6
NexRad

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Okay. Since I am not sure if the SP3 downloaded completely, I am going to refer you to Microsofts download site for this service pack. The reason I am doing this is that the trouble you had with this update sounded a lot like issues I have had in the past with Microsoft update and my Anti-Virus running together. This is a pretty big download and will take a little while to complete but just remain patient. The website states,

If you have problems obtaining the service pack from Windows Update, you can download the stand-alone update package from the Download Center. This page will say that this installation package is intended for IT professionals and developers. However, you can safely download this file. The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center

. The download link is here. Once the download completes, disconnect from the internet, disable your anti-virus, and run the service pack update.
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#7
princessmimi

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I'll do that right now and hopefully, it'll work. Thanks so much for your help!!!
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#8
princessmimi

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The installation worked perfectly and finished without any problems; however, that 15GB in extra hard drive space is still there. Is this normal? Is there any way of finding out what happened to the data, or at least what exactly was deleted?
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#9
NexRad

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I am glad that worked for you! :) As for having that "extra" 15gigs, I have not seen this happen before. I will look around a bit and see what I can come up with.

The community here is GREAT and if someone drops by to check on the progress of this thread and knows the answer off the top of their head they will drop you a line as well. Either way we will do all we can to get you an answer!

In the meantime, I would like you to stop by our Malware and Spyware forum and follow the initial instructions there to see if there is anything going on with some sort of Malware.

Thank you for your time,

Edited by NexRad, 07 August 2009 - 06:02 PM.

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#10
princessmimi

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No, thank YOU for helping me out. :) I really appreciate it you taking the time to reply and for doing it so quickly. Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out where this space came from, as I've been looking through my files much more thoroughly and everything is fine, even in Windows and system folders. *shrugs*

I will check out the malware/spyware forum. Actually, the reason that I got this update in the first place was because I apparently had some malware blocking automatic updates. But, anyways, thanks again!!
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