The following information was taken from a newsletter .... Cannot Start Windows XP After Installing SP1 and Then Performing a System Recovery Operation What a mess! We've received hundreds of letters from people who could not even restart the computer after installing Windows XP SP1. If you're in this unhappy group and you have a HP Pavilion or a Compaq Presario, then you might be in luck. This article describes a method you can use to get back into your computer. It's not a perfect fix, but it's better than nothing. http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=021001CO-System_Recovery More Follow Up on Windows XP SP1 The cards and letters kept flowing in regarding Windows XP SP1. While the percentage of bad installs hasn't increased, they don't seem to be decreasing either. From what I can tell, there's still a one in five chance your computer world is going to be turned upside down by Windows XP SP1. If you plan to install this monster, I recommend you do so on a weekend when you don't have to go to work. Start early in the morning. Then when things explode, you have the rest of the day to reformat and reinstall. Speaking of reformatting and reinstalling, that's what I had to do. A couple of readers wrote in saying that I had no right to 'dis' Windows XP SP1 without putting it to the test on my own workstation. I took the acid test and installed it on my main box. This machine has three USB hard drives, a USB scanner, a Firewire drive, a USB CD burner, three internal hard disks, an internal CD ROM, three video cards and monitors, a USB joystick, a USB keyboard, a PS/2 mouse, and a bunch of software installed. Can you say "cratered"? After installing the service pack I did the restart. The machine hung on restarting. I tried again and again and again. I tried a number of techniques that usually work at getting a hung machine going again. Forgetaboutit. Reformat and reinstall. Now everything works, without the dreaded SP1. Go figure. SHARING works.... try it..... just once... you could reap the benefits ! ! ! ! !.