the system cannot find the file specified installing sp2

Jimbo

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I have a PC with XP sp2 home addition. there are some corrupt files due to a
virus (cleaned now). When I try to either reinstall or deinstall Windows XP
sp2 I receive the "the system cannot find the file specified" error. I
extracted the sp2 .exe file and run the update.exe file and get the same
error. I tried to look at the event viewer, but, it is corrupt as well. Any
thoughts?
 

ANON

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Computer Viruses: Description, Prevention, and Recovery
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;129972


• You may have to format your computer’s hard disk and reinstall Windows and
all your computer programs if one or more of the following conditions are
true:

• Your antivirus software displays a message that it cannot fix or remove
the virus.

• The virus damaged or deleted some of the important files on your computer.
This may be the case if Windows or some of the programs do not start, or if
they start with error messages that indicate that you have damaged or missing
files

• The symptoms that are described in this article persist even after you
clean your workstation and you are sure the problems are caused by a virus.



"Jimbo" wrote:

> I have a PC with XP sp2 home addition. there are some corrupt files due to a
> virus (cleaned now). When I try to either reinstall or deinstall Windows XP
> sp2 I receive the "the system cannot find the file specified" error. I
> extracted the sp2 .exe file and run the update.exe file and get the same
> error. I tried to look at the event viewer, but, it is corrupt as well. Any
> thoughts?
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Was WinXP SP2 pre-installed on the machine when you bought it?
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security

Jimbo wrote:
> I have a PC with XP sp2 home addition. there are some corrupt files due
> to a virus (cleaned now). When I try to either reinstall or deinstall
> Windows XP sp2 I receive the "the system cannot find the file specified"
> error. I extracted the sp2 .exe file and run the update.exe file and get
> the same error. I tried to look at the event viewer, but, it is corrupt
> as well. Any thoughts?
 

Jimbo

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Feb 20, 2004
390
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The customer doesn't know. I believe it probably came with sp1 as she said
it was a couple of years old. I am trying to find another consultant with
Windows XP Home SP2 so I can boot off the cd and try and do a repair. It is
an e-machine, and they put the install files on the HD. Smart..... The only
way their disks work is to reimage the machine. My customer has a more data
than a CD would hold

Thanks for your help. Is there a way to force sp2 to install. I looked at
all the switches and couldn't find one.

"PA Bear" wrote:

> Was WinXP SP2 pre-installed on the machine when you bought it?
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security
>
> Jimbo wrote:
> > I have a PC with XP sp2 home addition. there are some corrupt files due
> > to a virus (cleaned now). When I try to either reinstall or deinstall
> > Windows XP sp2 I receive the "the system cannot find the file specified"
> > error. I extracted the sp2 .exe file and run the update.exe file and get
> > the same error. I tried to look at the event viewer, but, it is corrupt
> > as well. Any thoughts?
>
 

Malke

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Jimbo wrote:

> The customer doesn't know. I believe it probably came with sp1 as she
> said
> it was a couple of years old. I am trying to find another consultant
> with
> Windows XP Home SP2 so I can boot off the cd and try and do a repair.
> It is
> an e-machine, and they put the install files on the HD. Smart.....
> The only
> way their disks work is to reimage the machine. My customer has a
> more data than a CD would hold
>
> Thanks for your help. Is there a way to force sp2 to install. I
> looked at all the switches and couldn't find one.
>

Jimbo - If you do this for a living and you are a pc tech, then you need
to get:

1. A usb thumb drive that is at least 1GB.
2. A dvd burner on another machine.

If you can't get into Windows and you know the hardware is sound, boot
with Knoppix to get his data off. Here's information about that:

An easy way to retrieve Windows files is to boot with Knoppix, a Linux
distro on a live cd. You will need a computer with two cd drives, one
of which is a cd/dvd-rw OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to
hold your data. To get Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast
Internet connection and third-party burning software. Download the
Knoppix .iso from www.knoppix.net and create your bootable cd. Then
boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows files. If you will
be using the usb thumb drive to copy your data, plug it in before you
boot the system with Knoppix. Otherwise, use the K3b burning program to
burn the files to cd/dvd-r's.

Once you have retrieved the customer's data, use eMachines restore disks
to return the box to factory-condition, apply SP2, and make sure the
customer has a current antivirus installed. Make sure SP2's firewall is
active.

Good luck,

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Sounds like a Repair Install is needed:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

More:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/search?hl=en&group=microsoft.public.windowsxp.general&q=uninstall+%2B+SP2+%2B+%22the+system+cannot+find+the+file+specified%22&qt_g=1
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security


Jimbo wrote:
> The customer doesn't know. I believe it probably came with sp1 as she
> said it was a couple of years old. I am trying to find another
> consultant with Windows XP Home SP2 so I can boot off the cd and try and
> do a repair. It is an e-machine, and they put the install files on the
> HD. Smart..... The only way their disks work is to reimage the machine.
> My customer has a more data than a CD would hold
>
> Thanks for your help. Is there a way to force sp2 to install. I looked
> at all the switches and couldn't find one.
>
> "PA Bear" wrote:
>
> > Was WinXP SP2 pre-installed on the machine when you bought it?
> > --
> > ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> > MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security
> >
> > Jimbo wrote:
> > > I have a PC with XP sp2 home addition. there are some corrupt files
> > > due to a virus (cleaned now). When I try to either reinstall or
> > > deinstall Windows XP sp2 I receive the "the system cannot find the
> > > file specified" error. I extracted the sp2 .exe file and run the
> > > update.exe file and get the same error. I tried to look at the event
> > > viewer, but, it is corrupt as well. Any thoughts?