>So I was working on a laptop that was giving a BSOD after installation of WXP SP2. I could install SP1 just fine, and everything worked correctly, but I would always get that BSOD after SP2 was installed. I replicated this problem 3 different times after reformatting and installing again.
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>So I thought I would check out the Dell Technical Support chatroom. I figured that maybe there was maybe a driver they provided that was incompatible, and they could tell me that. Nope... I was really surprised at the ineptness that the tech showed. He tried about 10 different things, some of which I knew had nothing at all to do with the problem. He ended up telling me the hard drive was bad and I needed a new one, and was oh-so-eager to give me the link to the Dell store where I could buy a new one.
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>Well, I didn't think that was the problem as the drive passed a few drive fitness tests. But I decided to try it anyway... so I went to the local Best Buy and bought a cheap one on sale, which I figured I could return if it didn't work.
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>Well, it didn't work. Same problem. I entered the support chat again, and this time the tech told me that "maybe I wanted to stay away from SP2" because of the problems it was causing. I told him I thought it had something to do with the display adapter drivers, and he disagreed. I ended the conversation with him and booted into safe mode, disabled the display adapter, and rebooted. Bingo.
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>It's always nice to waste a few hours talking to tech support just to figure out the problem myself...

I ran into an issue with a Dell Dimension 4400 desktop, when trying to install SP2. In that case it turned out that an IDE driver available from the Dell site for that model (essentially, the Intel Application Accelerator [http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/index.htm]) had to be installed prior to trying to install SP2.

If you're still running with a disabled, sub-optimal or incorrect display driver it might be worth looking at this fix, assuming it's applicable to your machine.