I was running Vista, but had some problems with stuff dd had downloaded (and me too, probably). So I restored the system, which is something I've done lots of times on many machines. All well and good.
When I booted up this morning Updates told me to install Service Pack 1, so I did. I've done it before on that machine, too.
Today, it got halfway through installing SP1 when I was presented with a black screen and a very scary error message. I googled it and found I would almost certainly have to reinstall from the disk. I tried rebooting, just in case, but no luck, dug out the disk, inserted it, rebooted the m/c and NOTHING HAPPENED.
My laptop is now an expensive ornament. DH has lost my XP disk.
I am so pissed off with Microsoft; it seems this problem has been common for years. MS are not helpful.
Does anyone have any ideas of what more I can try?
Failing that, how about Linux? I'm reading tons of stuff about it atm, but have no idea whether it is a sensible alternative.
Advice, help, scourging; anything would be appreciated!