The Horror of the New Windows XP SP3 and How to Escape it

April 29, 2008 at 7:32 am (Technology) (Bill Gates, c0000139 {Entry Point Not Found}, error, Gates, gdi32.dll, install error, microsoft, service pack, service pack 3, sp3, srvice pack 3, STOP: c0000139 {Entry Point Not Found}, The procedure entry point GdiGetBitmapBitsSize could no, windows, windows update, windows xp, wndows, xp3)

I would have liked to spend the last 7 or so hours doing something more enjoyable than cursing, hitting my head on the wall, praying that time would turn back itself, wishing there was an “undo” button for life, and being brought close to tears, but the good folks at Microsoft were determined that I should complete such actions here last night into this morning.

“The Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system. This white paper summarizes what is new in Windows XP SP3.”

“Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), the update scheduled to release next year, runs Microsoft Corp.’s Office suite 10% faster than XP SP2, a performance testing software developer reported Friday.”

I made the mistake of downloading this shit from DOWNLOAD.COM/CNET.COM, a site I consider reputable, as I’ve been experimenting with lots of software from that site since I got my first computer. The comment on the board there were also positive..when I scrolled down I saw some people saying negative things but I thought forget them, this is an official Service Pack from Microsoft, what could happen? They probably did something wrong. Had I googled about downloading it from before though I would have realized that its actually a serious problem with the SP3…

After rebooting to supposedly finish the installation of the SP3, my computer came to a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH which read :

STOP: c0000139 {Entry Point Not Found}
The procedure entry point GdiGetBitmapBitsSize could not be located in the dynamic link library GDI32.dll.

The only option is for you to reboot, where it will come right back to that screen, effectively stopping the user from accessing Windows, putting the PC in an endless loop of inoperability. It doesn’t stop there, you cannot boot up in Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking nor Safe Mode with Command Prompt. If you manage to get a boot cd to work, you won’t be able to access your C: drive, at one point I got the message access denied. So basically you can’t boot up, you can’t uninstall the service pack, you can’t use XP system restore from a saved point, my HP non-destructive system recovery didn’t work and you can’t access your files. Now that is one hell of a service pack. The only viable option seems to be to reformat your hard drive. But, seeing that over 50,000 people downloaded the SP3 at download.com alone, there just has to be someone who had the same problem, and managed to solve it harmlessly.

After hooking up my other PC, I found great help over at Tip and Trick which saved me a ton of trouble and headaches :

The solution is to restore the GDI32.dll from the service pack into Windows system folder with the following steps:

• Boot from aWindows CD or BartPE.
• At Welcome to Setup screen, press “R” to start repair option and open up a Recovery Console’s command prompt window.
• Select the Windows installation to use:
  Normally is C:\Windows and just one option. If so, press “1″ and hit Enter.
• If prompted for administrator password, enter the password (normally blank) and hit Enter.
  (If unsuccessful because you can’t remember your admin password, use this program to reset it to blank. Also mentioned at the end of this guide.

• Make a backup of existing GDI32.dll in system folder with following command:

REN C:\Windows\System32\GDI32.dll C:\Windows\System32\GDI32.dll.orig

(One line command, Replace “C” of the drive letter of your Windows installation drive if necessary.)

• Copy backup GDI32.dll from c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\gdi32.dll to the system folder with the following command:

copy C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386\GDI32.dll C:\Windows\System32\GDI32.dll

(One line command, Replace “C” with your own system drive letter if applicable.)

• Restart computer.

Problem here is you may not be able to access your C: drive because your access is denied for some reason so you may have to use this great program to clear out your admin password as mentioned before (usually is blank, but it may contain a password which you conveniently may not remember) and then repeat steps 1-7.

You will also need an original Windows XP cd from which you will boot from as stated in the guide. If you don’t have one, get a copy of a friend’s. The process doesn’t require any serial numbers so you won’t be into any kind of full blown piracy…but you might as well since this is what Microsoft does to legit customers! Another problem you may encounter is it may not detect the CD, especially if its a burnt copy. In that case keep trying, and it should detect it eventually, as it did with mine after about 15 tries. If that doesn’t work you’ll just have to source and use an original copy of Windows XP. Luckily I got mind working with a burnt copy. I had no choice as I lost my serial number and the original CD got shattered into pieces in a drawer.

Last but not least, I hope you have another internet connection on your phone or Wii or something in order to find guides such as these else you’re screwed on your own 😉

Voila. It will work from there on once you had the prerequisites and you’ve followed that guide, don’t worry it worked for me and SP3 is now installed on my system, and its also operational, after much ado. When the PC boots up and you see the Windows logo and the message “Thank you for installing service pack 3”, it feels like you’ve completed training or passed a test.

But what got me the whole while is….WHY THE FUCK IS THIS FILE AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD??? Its there, stated as being from MICROSOFT and legit and everything…but it totally FUCKS up your system! The amount of hell this thing caused me warrants an apology from Gates himself! Some people have reformatted their systems just because of this! Do I hear the words “class action lawsuit”?? I’m totally sick of Microsoft. I can’t wait to have a totally clean new system with absolutely no Microsoft software..

BTW direct all thanks to the people at tipandtrick.net, that is their guide which I slightly edited and I’m just spreading the gospel of it. Glad to see that I actually helped some of you guys.