a request for computer assistance

just wondering if anybody here knows a lot about computer operating systems. here's the story: i have windows xp & am trying to re-install windows service pack 2. i recently did a disc recovery & when i do that, it goes back to service pack 1, so i have to do the upgrade by downloading it off the microsoft site. i did these install/upgrades before with no problem, but this time after i re-downloaded service pack 2, i got an error message when the install was half way through: "service pack 2 setup error unable to read or write to the data base service pack 2 installation not complete" ??? what's up with this? i have a request in to windows for technical support, but it might be a week until i hear from those morons. anybody here know something about this?

http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSP2.htm#Cannot_install_Service_Pack_2

Scroll about 1/3 of the way down the page - there is a topic called "Cryptographic service and related errors". In there there is a link to a batch file called "fixdb.bat". Run that batch file and follow the prompts.

I cannot vouch for the legitimacy of the batch file. I have not run it because I have not experienced the problem with SP2. But I have read posts from several people who had the same problem you are having and the fix worked for them.

Can you boot into Safe Mode? Do a System Restore if you can.

Then boot into Safe Mode with Networking, and look up the instructions for removing SP2 on Google.

I reckon installing SP2 from a network share or CD is easier than the Windows Update method. It;s crap.

why no reformat with a windows xp sp2 cd, but back up your files first instead of going through all that trouble