Sp2 or Not Sp2 That is my Question?

nikiyoung

Hi to all
When Windows Sp2 first came out there were loads of problems with it as far as i remember. I have just had a pop up after downloading an Sp1 update telling me that "Support for Windows Sp1 ends October 2006".


So the question to everyone is do I update to Sp2, is it now problem free?

Sorry if this has been asked before but i did a quick search but nothing came up.
Thanks for reading
Niki
:beer:

Quincy_3

Their were not many problems with SP2 that was a bit of a rumour the only thing you may of had to do is get some additional drivers, you were given terrible advice.

Get SP2 now.

nikiyoung

Ta for that Quincy.

Astaroth

I dont think you will ever find any software which is totally problem free but SP2 has been out for a fair time now and there have been a lot of subsequent patches released for it so most known issues have now been fixed.

newfoundglory

Rubbish. SP2 was a nightmare for many people, including me - and as a computer scientist consider myself to be very computer literate.

To start with, its definitely worth upgrading to SP2.... its just how you go about doing it that matters. My laptop had SP1a on it, and i have never been able to get it to "upgrade" to SP2, and i know various people who spent hours on the phone to microsoft support, with them stopping each individual windows service one-by-one on windows trying to work out which one(s) were preventing upgrades.

The problems you are going to experience (if any), depend on what is on your system currently and what services you have running/programs you have installed. You see what happens is SP2 stops system services, installs SP, then tries to start the services back up again.

BACK UP before trying to install, either way.

For people who have an original windows CD, i always recommend when trying to get SP2 on the system - doing a complete format/reinstall of windows. This way, you can patch the windows CD with SP2 first by "slipstreaming", reinstall windows and then there is no need for additional service pack installs afterwards. Of course, the system will always perform better after a new install as well, and wont be as slugish after an "upgrade".

T4i

newfoundglory wrote:

BACK UP before trying to install, either way.

When installing SP2 it will make a backup for you automatically.

nikiyoung

Thanks to all.
Will back up all my photo's first, then I will have a go.
Niki

IvanOpinion

I would actually recommend taking the opportunity to rebuild your hard disk from scratch (assuming you are happy to do so). Backup, reformat, install XP, install SP2 then install all your other stuff (nice clean install).

Any time I have had problems with SP2 it has always been on a fully loaded computer. If you load it on a clean install then it seems to be fine.

Ivan

Quincy_3

T4i wrote:

When installing SP2 it will make a backup for you automatically.

Lol@ newfoundglory

You must be a computer professor then well spotted.