I need XP service pack 1 back

[Mistyfog]

Doris my firewall is Norton. Last night it was working until I downloaded SP3. Then it wasn't working. This morning I uninstalled SP3 to see if the firewall would work and also to see if I could get on the internet. I still cant get on the internet with my desktop nor will the firewall come back. Still no email either. Thanks for all you help.

[patndoris]

In order to best help - I need to ask that we deal with one step at a time. No installing or uninstalling unless we need to please - it really confuses things and I can't troubleshoot with you if the system is constantly changing.

Please go to Start/My Computer, right-click, choose Properties and verify that you are currently showing SP2 as the installed service pack. I want to be 100% SP3 was uninstalled. If SP3 is still showing, please leave it and just let me know.

Which version of Norton Firewall are you running? Is it part of the Norton Internet Security Suite? Do you have the installation disks (DO NOT reinstall it if you do - I just need to know if you have them).

When you install the Service Pack, it will generally re-enable Windows Firewall. Two software firewalls won't play nice together at the same time. (In my opinion Norton doesn't play nice with much, but that's just my opinion.) Please go to Start / Control Panel / Windows Firewall and ensure the Windows Firewall is marked to OFF. Then reboot and see if Norton Firewall is working afterwards. Do not do anything beyond that - just let me know.

Please just deal with these two issues. Let's try and get your preferred firewall back up and working and then we'll deal with the internet issue. If you have conflicting firewalls, it can cause the connectivity problems. This may be a slow process to troubleshoot with all the changes you've made to your system recently. I'm fairly confident we can work thru it though. As for the email - you will not likely get it back because it's not a part of SP2 or SP3. But we'll worry about that after the firewall and internet issues.

Please post back the requested information. I'm at work today but I will keep an eye on the thread and try to help you as quickly as I can to keep things moving for you.

[Mistyfog]

Doris I am at work also, so will get back to you later, around 5 o'clock eastern time. Will do just what you said and nothing more. Thanks

[Mistyfog]

Doris I have SP2 when I checked. I had downloaded the firewall from the internet so I don't have an install disc. The firewall is off and I cannot click it on. Not going any farther till you tell me. ..Misty in a Fog

[Mistyfog]

p.s. Doris I can get the internet again.

[patndoris]

OK 1 down. Your internet works - that's a plus!!

Now for firewall. In your taskbar, in an empty area, can you please right-click and choose Task Manager. When the screen opens, choose the Processes tab. Please scroll to the right until you can see the "Description" column. If you click one time on the Description heading it should put them in alphabetical order. Then scroll down and tell me if you have anything Norton or Symantec showing as a running process.

If not, can you please go to Start / Programs and try to launch Norton manually? If it works great! If not, please tell me what happens. It's possible the service was simply disabled with all the installs/uninstalls.

If it does show in your running processes then just let me know.

Norton is generally something you have to pay for. If you have a strong preference for it I certainly understand, but I will be honest that most people I know do not use Norton/Symantec on their personal computers. There are other options that are totally free and work as well or better than the paid firewalls and anti-virus programs. If you are interested in using a free alternative please let me know and I can recommend one for you.

[Mistyfog]

Doris I did as you said and the only thing I see in task manger that might be Norton is StmWSC.exe. I have tried to enable the firewall but it won't let me do that. I downloaded it from the internet but had paid for it. I was waiting for my year to be up before I replaced it. I had just tried replacing my Norton 360 is how I got in all this mess. I had used AVG free for a month. Then it said I had to buy the program so I bought it and that is when my problems began. I am open to any freeware you suggest.

[patndoris]

Is that StmWSC.exe or SymWSC.exe? The latter is definitely related to Norton AntiVirus.

If you paid for Norton, you should be able to login to the website and re-download the product. You may need to remove the existing version but you should be able to re-download from the web if you have a paid subscription. I would login and check to be sure this is the case before removing anything if you want to try and salvage it but it sounds like something has become corrupted with all the system changes recently. You could also try going to add/remove programs and see if there is a Repair option for your Norton product. I remove Norton as soon as I get a machine so I cannot say if they offer Repair or not. If they do - give it a shot before changing anything else.

My suggestion for free programs would be Comodo Firewall and AVG Free (which is really free and will not prompt you to pay. If you try the full version it will after the trial period.)

If you decide you want to replace Norton you will need to go to the Symantec site and run the Norton Removal Tool as Norton is extremely difficult to fully remove from your system and that is the easiest way to do it.

Let me know how the repair/re-download looks or if you want to replace Norton. Then we can talk about your email situation.

[Mistyfog]

Doris what you told me to do yesterday is gone from this message board. I don't know if you replied last evening as I couldn't get back into this web site. Misty

[patndoris]

My last post back starts with:

Is that StmWSC.exe or SymWSC.exe?

If you can't see it we need to take a step back and reconsider the possible situation here. There may be more going on than originally anticipated.