Service Pack 2

wirm

For those of you that don't want to download this HUGE file you can order the cd here

LincsLad_3

It's also appearing free with a lot of PC magazines - mine came with PC Plus IIRC.

But it's only fair to warn people that there are many programs that have problems running once SP2 is installed.

Microsoft's own list of programs is here and here; no doubt there are many more programs that will also have problems.

it's a personal choice, but you might want to wait before installing this one!

::)

wirm

Yeah I think I read something about it changes a lot of your settings.

Click here for the Downloaders guide to SP2!

LincsLad_3

It goes a whole lot deeper than "it changes a lot of your settings" - ask those whose PC won't boot, or will not connect to the Internet, or will not download email, or will not allow them to visit certain websites or run certain programs.

If you have installed XP SP2 on your own PC and had not problems, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. I'm afraid that the "Downloaders guide to SP2" is a bit light on the cons of applying the Service Pack!!!

woo

i don't think it is a good idea to warn people off installing this.
Agreed that it is a major change and can cause problems, but what it fix's has got to be worth it.

It helps stop phishing email links working, closes a lot of the back doors used to turn pcs into spam spewing machines.

Gotta be worth it surely? The only issue i had was with Nero - but there was a patch to upgrade that. McAfee works fine, even though MS said it might not.

MisterT2

Let me take a neutral position. I like to think I have a fairly well managed PC, and I would always recommend that whether or not you decide to update, you take a backup of your windows partition before applying any software/patches.

It helps if you keep partitions separate:
C. Windows and programs
D. Data
E. Temp files/directories, swapfile and system backups

This means that you can trash all the temp files, and perform a quick system backup from C to E.

I have installed SP2 on my office machine, as have several of my colleagues. Between us, we use all sorts of software such as VMWare, Citrix, WTS. On the whole, it hasn't been found to be too problematic. The worst things I have found is incompatabilities with ZoneAlarm (just switched off the Windows option) and an issue with loopback (which most people would never hear of).

LincsLad_3

I am trying to take a more nearly neutral position too. As I said in my first post above: "it's a personal choice...".

I just wanted to let people be aware, especially those who admit that they are less technically inclined than others, that all is not necessarily sweetness and light when installing SP2.

By all means go ahead and install it if you want to folks, that's what it's for after all. Just be aware that you may have some more work to do afterwards. ::)

peter_the_piper

As all SP1 produced was 'the blue screen of death' I am more than reticent to install SP2. Up til now I have religously updated and will do again but without SP2. I believe a large portion refers to IE and Outlook Express so would not apply as I do not use these.Am I right in believing you do not get autoupdates if you use Firefox?

LincsLad_3

Autoupdates as in Windows Update? No, that still works with Firefox (though I do still have IE installed for the occasional site that malfunctions with Firefox).

Pat__3

Is it alright for the auto updates for SP2 from microsoft to take place??

BigAl94

I downloaded SP2 a few weeks ago when first available, burnt it to CD and so far have installed on 14 PC's without any problems whatsoever. The only slight issue on one was that an update to the installed version of Nero had to be downloaded.