[billz103071]

Hello,

I am not sure if this is the correct area to post this, but here it goes. I actually have 2 problems that I am hoping that someone can help me with.

First problem: I have no problem with the log on screen, but when I start my laptop and the desktop loads up and the internet browser (Firefox) is loaded, my keyboard acts funny. And it's just not that, it's with all programs that involve typing. My keys are locked in the CAPS position. All letters are uppercase and the numbers are locked in and will only show the symbols above them. When I actually turn on the CAPS LOCK, the letters are lowercase, but the numbers are still showing the symbols above them. I have to restart my computer several times before it is up and running fine. Also, at certain times, my SHIFT button, when used, displays this "NB~A". This has been going on for about a month or so, but here lately, it is almost every time I start my laptop.

Second problem: Here recently, about a week, a friend of mine and myself, installed the SP3 for Windows XP Home Edition for my laptop. Everything was working fine for the first 2 days, but then I started to have a problem with my wireless internet connection. So I went into the Device Manager to check to make sure everything was ok and up to date. To my surprise, EVERYTHING is gone. The entire page is blank. Nothing it there. I clicked the Show Hidden Devices tab, still......nothing. So I went into my Network Connections.......nothing. Everything is completely blank. It shows NO Local Connection, 1394 Connection or Wireless connection. Yes, my switch for my wireless is on and working properly. This all started right after the SP3 install.

I have ran my Norton Internet Security, which is updated as of today, and nothing comes up as far as viruses, trojans, malware or spyware. I also have SUPERAntiSpyware installed and updated.......still nothing comes up. Everything is clean.

So if anyone can help I would be greatly appreciative.

Thanks

[daniel_b2380]

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console for advanced users

or here with pictures
Recovering Windows XP using the Recovery Console

[billz103071]

Daniel,

Thanks for the reply, but when I looked at the suggestions that you gave, it looks a little complicated. Are you talking about using the recovery disc that came with my laptop? If so, won't that wipe out everything that I have on my hard drive?

Thanks

[daniel_b2380]

bill,
and excuse my manners, welcome to tech support guy,
maybe i should have been more clear - the words restore and recovery get thrown around so much, it's sometime hard to differentiate the two, even from microsoft
a repair / restore is a lot different than a total system recovery from the 'hidden' partition,

maybe this is more what you were looking for,
How to restore Windows XP to a previous state


note: you need to backup any and all personal files before doing anything, as a 'notorious' memeber here on the forums says:
data you don't have two copies of is data you don't care about

[billz103071]

Hi Daniel,

OK, i tried the system restore and went back a month. Still there is nothing on the device manager or the network connections. Now this only has happened since I installed the SP3 for Windows XP. I had no problem with any of this with the SP2. Is it possible to uninstall the SP3 and reinstall SP2 or is there a HotFix/Patch for the SP3 to correct this problem?

Thanks for your help.


[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/William/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/William/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/William/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg[/IMG]

[daniel_b2380]

did you:
start > all programs > accessories > system tools > system restore
and follow the on-screen prompts to 'restore' the machine - picking a day or so BEFORE you installed sp3?

you can also read this:
How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 3 from your computer

[Hughv]

You have a lot of disabled services. I'm not sure why, but you have to suspect SP3 or Norton. What happens in Safe Mode?
You can enable services with Msconfig or in Control Panel/AdminTools/Services.

[Pengu]

Hmm this reminds me of my other computer. I installed SP3 from SP2 and the wireless wasn't working at all the computer kept rebooting when i logged in everytime. So i removed SP3 and the wireless was working again. It has something to do with services in SP3 that is not compatible with the wireless device. I suggest removing SP3.
Start --> settings --> control panel --> add or remove programs. Should be at the very bottom. Just click continue to uninstall when it says something about certain programs not working when uninstalling this program.

The other problem I think with the keyboard I think its something to do with the Fn key button. just hold Fn and look around on the keyboard and see if theres any key lock on it thats on.

[daniel_b2380]

we don't read the other posts in the thread?

Originally Posted by daniel_b2380

you can also read this:
How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 3 from your computer

[Courtneyc]

(1) Before you do any uninstalling, press Fn + F11 on your keyboard. This turns of the NumLock key on your laptop.

(2) When you log in, does it say that your profile is damaged? If it does, it explains your second problem. Despite Microsoft's extensive fix, there is a 5-second fix that will do the same thing, but it only works if your profile is actually damaged.

Let us know.

Courtney

[billz103071]

Sorry for the long delay in responding to everyone that helped me with this thread. I have tried everything that was posted and nothing worked. So what i ended up doing was having to back up all my files and restoring my system to the orginial factory install, then reinstalling all my files. Also, that put me back to sp2. After days and hours of consent copy and paste and ensuring everything was where it was suppose to be, i am finally back up and running. From what i gathered, it was the sp3 install that really messed things up, even though i followed the install steps to the letter.

I just assume that the service pack was corrupted, but no matter what, i am sticking with sp2 for now until i can find one that is not corrupted.

Again, thanks to everyone for their help and time with this problem

[daniel_b2380]

bill,
sorry to hear of all your 'pain-&-suffering' - sometimes ms is more than we want to bear
i doubt though that anything was 'corrupt' - to many other people have troubles with the sp3 installation

you might want to look at one of the backup imaging programs -

Free Drive Cloners/Imagers:
courtesy elvandil - 18-Mar-2009, 10:16 PM #6

might save some 'pain' if it occurs again - especially now that you have everything up, running and tweaked to your satisfaction

and thank you for returning to post your solution,
you can mark the thread solved if you feel it is
[button @ top-left in your first post]

[billz103071]

Daniel, Courtney and Hugh:

Thank you all for your help in solving my potentially serious problem. I could have not done it without your assistance.

Again, THANK YOU!!

Bill