After installing SP2, browser use hangs PC

[Straton]

After installing SP2 on Windows XP, I have a new, debilitating problem: whenever I open an application window that contains HTML and/or images, my PC hangs, most often when scrolling the window but also sometimes when resizing it or when loading new content from the web. I have experienced this behavior with IE-6, Firefox, and even an Outlook mail message in HTML format with pictures. I have also had the system hang when scrolling in Excel and Word when there is an “inactive” browser window open in the background.

When I say “hang” I mean dead-stop: no cursor blink, no response to mouse or any keyboard keys, including things like Caps Lock. I have to hard-reset the PC to reboot.

If I reboot and never open a browser, the system works fine for as long as I am willing to test it (hours). But once I open a browser it seems to immediately become unstable. Though the problem appears to happen at random times, it is pretty frequent, usually within 5 or 10 minutes of the last reboot or browser open, sometimes within seconds of opening the first browser window after reboot.

I have scrubbed my machine for viruses and spy-ware (AVG, Ad-Aware, Spybot), and use Zone Alarm as my firewall.

All windows updates are in place and verified.

I have the latest BIOS loaded.

I have run memtest86+ for 9 hours and it has come up clean.

I have a relatively new disc (< 1 year old).

Any help out there would be MOST appreciated!

[-pops-]

Almost all problems with XP SP2 are not caused by SP2 itself but by the Windows installation that is being updated.

I'm surprised that you are installing SP2 only now as it seems that your system has been established for some time.

The disk you describe as being

Be that as it may, I think the only solution is to repair or (much more preferable) re-install Windows and install SP2 immediately afterwards.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I have scrubbed my machine for viruses and spy-ware (AVG, Ad-Aware, Spybot), and use Zone Alarm as my firewall.

I hope that you have done that before installing the SP2 update. SP2 is know to cause innumerable problems if the system was infected with malware at the time of the installation.

If you did have malware on your system when you installed SP2, then I recommend to roll back the update, clean the system thoroughly, and reinstall again.

[Straton]

Yes, the machine was scrubbed for malware before the SP2 upgrade.

No, the disc I referred to is my hard drive. (Showing my age, I guess. Back in the Pleistocene age, we called them "hard discs," as opposed to "floppy discs.")

And the answer is…Video Driver! Apparently SP2 is compatible with only the latest ATI driver for my laptop. Discovered a newer one, updated, problem gone!