Installed xp sp3, Windows Update not Working, Safe to browse?

Darith

Just reinstalled xp home sp2 on my desktop. Downloaded sp3 and installed ok. Windows updates will not work either before or after sp3. Infact it crashes the computer. when i reboot ; i get freezing again. The only way to resolve this is too reinsatll sp2 and then sp3. So i am going to leave at sp3 until i get sp3 pro installed. I have avast av and zone fw installed. So is it safe to browse in the mean time using firefox not IE?

joetoad

Yes

BaconZombie

Re-download SP3 and save it to any external drive.
Then wipe, reinstall then install SP3 BEFORE connecting to the network.

Darith

BaconZombie wrote: »

Re-download SP3 and save it to any external drive.
Then wipe, reinstall then install SP3 BEFORE connecting to the network.

Just did a clean install of xp pro sp3, turned off automatic updates, installed drivers and then turned on automatic updates. Computer just hung. Did a repair using the same cd, activated it. Now running windows update, its been going ten minutes now with no sign of it producing a list updates?!

BaconZombie

Have you ran a RAM test?

Darith wrote: »

Just did a clean install of xp pro sp3, turned off automatic updates, installed drivers and then turned on automatic updates. Computer just hung. Did a repair using the same cd, activated it. Now running windows update, its been going ten minutes now with no sign of it producing a list updates?!

Darith

BaconZombie wrote: »

Have you ran a RAM test?

When i last attempted to fix this computer i ran a memtest from a boot cd and it passed ok. I will do it again, i presume memtest should suffice?

BaconZombie

Grab a copy of PartedMagic it has a load of memory, HD test tools and some stress test/burn-in tools.

Darith

I heard a updated windows systems plus a goood av & fw is needed to safley browse? Or am i wrong ?

Capt'n Midnight

Darith wrote: »

I heard a updated windows systems plus a goood av & fw is needed to safley browse? Or am i wrong ?

The last time microsoft released patches to stop randomers taking complete control of your computer was TODAY An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user.

And in XP the current user defaults to an administrator


so if you have the bandwidth get http://download.wsusoffline.net/
download all of the XP patches put them on USB / CD and then you can patch a clean install without going on line

You will then need to tweak the firewall, make all sharing is off etc etc
microsoft security essentials is fine for now

Use ninite.com or filehippo for applications, and install as few as you really need

Don't use IE , use Chrome or Get Firefox + noscript

Don't visit strange sites - many now target people who use google images to tempt them


Things aren't as bad as this, which was an extreme example, but it shows that you really don't have time to download critical patches that should have been applied before connecting to the interweb.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4423733.stm

We set up a poor Windows XP machine with no firewall or anti-virus software.

Connecting it to the internet would be like throwing it into a lion pen with raw meat strapped to its hard drive.

How long would it be before we were hit by something nasty on the net? Hours, minutes?

As it turned out - eight seconds!

Capt'n Midnight

The simplest option for AV is to install microsoft system essentials and then run malwarebytes ever week

cptlongnostrils

i experienced the same thing once.

you've mentioned it already.

windows update wouldn't work for me as i had installed some OEM specific (and unecessary) drivers - before running windows update.

install only necessary drivers eg: wireless/lan and then get all necessary updates before installing the rest of your drivers.

-worked for me.

Darith

Usually only installed chipset and cpu driver. I gave up and send it to a shop, i think he did what you did and only installed the chipset drivers to get the ethernet working and let windows update the cpu. I still get a registry recovery error and sometimes the graphics card appears as generic which i get by doing a reboot to show up the graphics card.