Well, I managed to get my desktop PC at home running again after my disaster installing Windows 2000 Service Pack 2. That supposed collection of bug fixes caused the computer to boot only into a Blue Screen of Death, which I’d seen only once since installing the original OS.
I hooked up an external SCSI CD-ROM drive and booted from the Windows 2000 CD. It offered a “recovery” option, which I used. This apparently restores original OS files, but it didn’t completely solve the problem.
The computer now boots. I’ve backed up critical files. But the system is extremely flaky, and some programs — such as Outlook Express — no longer run at all, giving me messages about missing files.
Microsoft’s PR folks spotted my previous item on this situation, and sent e-mail offering assistance. The PR person who contacted me said the company hasn’t seen any such reports from anyone else. Sure.
Looks like I’ll be spending part of the weekend reinstalling everything on a clean disk. Thanks for the bug fixes, Microsoft.