I think doing the "repair" from the original XP CD just overwrote some of the SP2 files and did not really uninstall SP2. You might still be able to uninstall SP2 by going to Add/Remove programs in the control panel. I've uninstalled SP2 this way five times now and it always worked for me.

I'm having the same problem with SP2 that you are: no internet. I'm still looking for a solution.

There is no sp2 in my add/remove programs because I already removed it.  So that's not my problem, but thank you for the suggestion.  Keep them coming please.

I think you could probably spend forever trying to repair this installation but I would suggest that the answer probably lies in a complete reinstallation of XP followed by an immediate installation of SP2 (backing up all your files first!).

The way I've approached SP2 upgrades on the machines I've dealt with so far (and it is an upgrade when you get it running right) is to copy the complete main drive to another using Casper XP first. This gives you a bootable copy in the event of problems, or a source to copy all your data from if you have to reinstall XP. If you use an USB 2.0 or Firewire enclosure and put your new drive in that (jumpered master), you can carrry out the copy without even opening the case. Whatever the outcome, you've got a backup of your data files.

If you carry out this procedure you can really get stuck into the defective installation & attempt some repairs, knowing that if things degenerate you can replace the main drive with the copy from the enclosure (rejumpered to CS) and be back to where you were.

Good luck.

I have a similar problem to you.  I bought a brand new Dimension 2400 (last week) and before loading any other programs, installed SP2.  Now whenever I click the red shield security icon in task bar, I get an exception report and failure to run wscui.cpl and when i click Control Panel icon, I get the message Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close.

My suspicion is that it was something to do with McFee which was preloaded and running.  Did you have McFee running ?

I reloaded Windows XP (without formatting) and reloaded SP2 and the problem remained.  McFee isn't running now and is not loaded but maybe reinstalls don't start completely afresh.

I think my next step is to reformat drive c and reload Windows XP and then wait for loading SP2 until Dell recommend it.

Hi,

Try applying XP SP1 on its own. This is more straightforward than a repair and was the cure on older windows if a remove of a later Service Pack caused issues - though I have never tried on XP.

You can download XP SP1 here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp1/network.mspx

This is the full SP1 (so called 'network' download) which is the best to apply rather than the incremental approach in my experience.

Thanks,

 

Al.

Ok, everyone, now I have read so many different posts and tried so many things I don't know if I am coming or going.  I am afraid to try anything lol!  I do know my BIOS version is A05 which is the latest available for the Dimension 2400.  I have Level 2 Cache so I don't know if my chip is a Celeron D or not.  It can't be a Prescott because those were in computers after June, 2004 and I got my computer in mid-January, 2004.

From everything I am reading, I think my problems were because I just downloaded the sp2 without reading about it first and hadn't run Spybot and AdAware first or turned off my Norton Anti-Virus.  I am NOT the smartest on computers.  Since then, I have run the Spybot and AdAware and updated my virus detections and scanned my whole computer for viruses. 

Do you think I should try to re-install sp2 (after creating a new restore point!)????

Right guys - here's my £0.02 worth!

Started off yesterday morning with a clean 40Gb drive as XP was running like a dog - too many unwanted packages installed so decided to start off with a clean build.

Once the install had gone through and all hardware had it's correct drivers - I installed the usual required apps (Winzip, Winamp, NERO, PowerDVD etc etc) then installed SP2.

Things were ok until I tried to send a file through MSN Messenger and it wouldn't go - so I thought i'd try and turn off the firewall and that's when I got the message.

Thing is, I didn't have this problem before but i'd installed SP1 first - might be worth reinstalling XP, SP1 and then SP2.

Any ideas?

Best regards,

Darren

I have the best luck when I install XP-2 first after installing XP . . ( or SP2 slipstreamed into XP) . . then chipset drivers, then other drivers and then programs.  Have not had a problem yet with this process

Hope this helps . . wrs