Major Flaw SP2

[mcardlej]

Hi,

We currently have hundreds of machines running the latest version (and previous versions) of MATLAB and LaTex. We have been doing some extensive testing on SP2RC2 and have struck upon a very disturing run of events;

Everytime we Service Pack a machine Running XPSP1 with SP2RC2 that already has MATLAB installed an error is displayed.

The Error States;

"Windows NT User Migration Tool has encountered an error"

Note this error is during the service pack installation, it then causes the Service Pack to halt, and reboot. The computer then states that it is trying to recover from a serious error by restoring the last known good configuration. It boots into Safe Mode and doesn't successfully complete this step. We are then unable to boot into any level Safe Mode or otherwise to recover the OS. It seems as though the machine needs to be rebuilt. We have reproduced this error consistently without exception.

Note: If we install MATLAB post SP2RC2 installation the software installs fine and the SP2 works fine, the error only occurs if MATLAB and/or LaTex is already installed. The MATLAB suppliers in AUS had never heard of the issue, however i dont think they've actually done any testing...

Has anyone come across this problem, has anyone ever heard of this error? Any ideas as to what may be causing this problem, any ideas as to where to go from here?????

[MCT]

hi

It seems as though the machine needs to be rebuilt.

u dont need 2 rebuild it.. @ extreme cases i would just format the hdd & start again..

also.. i wouldnt upgrade service packs, better 2 just install from the latest 1 right off, avoids much problems

[magicfly]

i also use matlab with a xpsp1 preinstalled.

when i'll get sp2 italian version and i'll go to install that, i'll post the results about this fault

[mcardlej]

We still haven't had much success with this, My first post still stands and is really starting to frustrate us!! as you can imagine!!

@MCT

when i say rebuild, what you say is exactly what i mean. Format the HDD and re-install OS. However this also means incredible down time for the user's computers. And if we had to re-install OS on every machine that upgrades to SP2 with this problem, we'd be here until next christmas!!

@magicfly

Thanks, I'll be incredibly interested in the results.

[MCT]

@mcardlej

keep in mind sp2 is still beta.. so it may not be 100% completly stable

when u said rebuild i thought u meant take the computer apart

regards

[mcardlej]

@MCT

Yep Thats cool.

We realise that it is still Beta, however we're trying to be Proactive and minimise the impact of the SP2, when it actually does get released!!

Around 20% of our users install their own updates (via windowsupdate), with 80% using the corporate SUS server. We wont be approving SP2 immediately via SUS, however we want to eliminate/minimise the possibility of Helpdesk calls when users install SP2 themselves.

We're also thinking of blocking browsing to windowsupdate.microsoft.com and maybe blocking downloads of the actual filename for SP2 when it gets released, until we can find a way to rectify this problem...or at least get a better handle on ways to workaround it.

[neosapience]

Have you tried uninstalling MATLAB/LaTex and then installing SP2? I suspect that it wouldn't be to much trouble to just reinstall the software afterwards.

[mcardlej]

@neosapience

Thanks for the response.

Yes, we've definately tried this, and it works just fine. The problem with uninstalling MATLAB prior to SP2 install and then re-installing MATLAB post SP2 are;

The MATLAB install/uninstall takes quiet sometime especially over the network.

We cant control when the users install SP2, thus created helpdesk calls when they do it themselves.

We are talking about hundreds of machine probably 300-400 with MATLAB.

But we may have to script up a solution similar to what you say above (as a workaround), seems as though we're not getting anywhere with a solution.

The actual error during the SP2 install reads

"Windows NT User Data Migration Tool has encountered a problem and needs to close"

[IceBlackIce]

Hi...you stated that some users have some updates installed...

quote from microsoft.com:

We recommend that you not install the RC2 version of SP2 on computers that are running the latest security updates. Instead, install the final version of Windows XP SP2 when it becomes available. Installing the RC2 version of SP2 on computers that already have the latest security updates installed can cause incompatibilities. The final release of SP2 will be compatible with all previously installed security updates.

More can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...n/winxpsp2.mspx

Hope this helps.

[gabriel_buc]

@mcardlej:

You mentioned that you have both Matlab and LaTeX installed. How do you what causes the error ? It might be either Matlab or LaTeX.

You also didn't mentioned the version of the programmes you use.Anyway have you tried to install the latest versions of the software ?Matlab reached version 7 (release 14) which was shipped 1 or 2 months ago. It may have resolved compatibility issues with SP2.

[neosapience]

Perhaps there's a middle ground you can work towards. If you can figure out exactly what it is about Matlab that's causing the migration error, maybe you can find a temporary workaround while you install SP2.

The problem could be caused by something as simple as a service running in the background or an incompatable DLL file. You could make a smiple script that could disable/remove the problem services/files. People could then run it before and after the SP2 install. You'd still get a lot of help desk calls, but it would decrease user downtime considerably.

Or maybe the final release of SP2 will work without any trouble.

[mcardlej]

Thanks for all the help guys/girls.

@neosapience

Thanks for the help, this is probably what we're going to have to do, i just need to work out exactly what is causing the problems.

@gabriel_buc

We've been Installing base OS plus Matlab or Latex, we separated each installation with only one application installed over the Base OS, this way we can eliminate/minimise other applications affecting the testing.

@IceBlackIce

Thanks for this information it is extremely helpful. I guess we just keep plodding along.