Whats the consensus on xp SP 2?

  • Thread starter Thread starter M
  • Start date Start date
M said:
I read a scary article from July about CRN test center testing with 5
machines and 3 of them BSOD afterwards.

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=23905071

I don't think my machine needs any more reasons to behave badly but
was wondering what you guys thought.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Suggest you read an article properly before jumping to (incorrect)
conclusions.

1) The article was written at the beginning of July. SP2 was released at
the end of September.

2) As the article was written nearly three months before SP2 was
released. How on *EARTH* can it be based on the finished article?! Exactly.
It isn't. 'RC2' means 'Release Candidate 2' which means it was the second
*BETA* version to be released to public testing.

3) Based on the two responses above, please tell me how you can base an
opinion of the released version on an article about a beta?!
 
I had to reenter serial numbers on a few programs and Norton needed to
connect to the server for an update, but other than that everything is
fine.
 
I've installed SP2 on 6 different machines at this point since August with
no problems on any of them. One machine is a Pentium II/550 mhz machine.
I'd suggest going for it.
 
Suggest you read an article properly before jumping to (incorrect)
conclusions.

1) The article was written at the beginning of July. SP2 was released at
the end of September.

2) As the article was written nearly three months before SP2 was
released. How on *EARTH* can it be based on the finished article?! Exactly.
It isn't. 'RC2' means 'Release Candidate 2' which means it was the second
*BETA* version to be released to public testing.

3) Based on the two responses above, please tell me how you can base an
opinion of the released version on an article about a beta?!
Click to expand...

The following page shows the release date to be near the
beginning of August, not September, but otherwise I'd agree
that no conclusion can be based on beta patches.

Even so, the advice the article gave is VERY solid, to make
an image of the partition prior to installing SP2, IF SP2 is
to be installed at all.
 
M said:
I read a scary article from July about CRN test center testing with 5
machines and 3 of them BSOD afterwards.

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=23905071

I don't think my machine needs any more reasons to behave badly but was
wondering what you guys thought.

Thanks
Click to expand...
1) It didn't recognise Norton AV so I had to disable the AV monitor.

2) It stopped Windows Internet Connection Sharing from working so I had
to disable the firewall. I have taken this up with Microsoft's help
line and they have gone very quiet.

3) That just leaves the automatic Windows update, but I have disabled
that and switched back to automatic flagging of new updates (which I had
before) because I did not want it dumping updates in my computer without
me knowing about them.

I kinda think I wasted a lot of time installing it in the first place.
 
kony said:
The following page shows the release date to be near the
beginning of August, not September, but otherwise I'd agree
that no conclusion can be based on beta patches.

Even so, the advice the article gave is VERY solid, to make
an image of the partition prior to installing SP2, IF SP2 is
to be installed at all.
Click to expand...

For what it is worth, I posted a question on a Microsoft news group
wondering what percentage of SP2 upgrades caused a problem. The general
consensus was 10%. Although the odds are you will not have a problem,
the best approach is to image your drive as you suggested unless you are
a real gambler.
 
M said:
I read a scary article from July about CRN test center testing with 5
machines and 3 of them BSOD afterwards.

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=23905071

I don't think my machine needs any more reasons to behave badly but
was
wondering what you guys thought.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Save a drive image of, at least, the OS partition before applying super
major changes. Should be common sense but since it evades most users
than it becomes uncommon sense.
 
I think I'll pass on this SP for a little while longer.Who knows,maybe
they'll release SP2a like they did with SP1 and I'm sure that would
settle a lot of things.
 
M said:
I read a scary article from July about CRN test center testing with 5
machines and 3 of them BSOD afterwards.

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=23905071

I don't think my machine needs any more reasons to behave badly but was
wondering what you guys thought.
Click to expand...

I would NOT install SP2 on any machine in production. The chances that
something is already installed that would blow up with SP2 are just too
great! Microsoft security updates WITHOUT SP2 should be enough with a good
AV program and hardware firewall (aka router).

If I was building a new machine then I would consider installing SP2, but
even then I'd have to think about it and disable a lot of it before putting
into use.
 
I have installed SP2 on six machines each with different MB,s; Asus A7A,
w/Duron 1200, Linksys 100N, GF3; MSI Delta-L, w/Athon XP 2000+ pal, Turtle
Beach Sound Card, Linksys 100N, GF4200; Asus A7N-X, w/Althon XP 2100+ pal,
SBL card, 3COM 509, GF3 500TI; Abit NF7-S, w/Athlon XP 1700+ TB, GF5900SE;
Asus P5A. w/AMD K6-2+ 550, Linksys 100N, ISA SB Card, GF2-400MX; Dell
Dimision 2100 standard package; with no problems except Norton (required
upgrade) and Direct CD (had to be removed).
 
M said:
I read a scary article from July about CRN test center testing with 5
machines and 3 of them BSOD afterwards.

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=23905071

I don't think my machine needs any more reasons to behave badly but was
wondering what you guys thought.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Blue screens are normally hardware issues, SP2 runs fine, it is alot better
than SP1, it provides you with more information and is easier for novice
users to secure (although still not as secure as having personal ad-ware
tools and firewalls and anti virus it helps)
 
Chicken Little cried...
The chances that something is already installed that would blow up
with SP2 are just too great!
Click to expand...

Ahhhhhh, the sky is falling! The sky is falling!
 
Chicken Little cried...

Ahhhhhh, the sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Click to expand...


.... or the other way of looking at it is, if your PC wasn't
already secure you dont' know what you're doing to begin
with and are even more liable to !@#$ something up royally.
A catch-22, those who are best equipped to deal with SP2,
don't need it, and those that do, cross their fingers.
 
Glitch said:
I think I'll pass on this SP for a little while longer.Who knows,maybe
they'll release SP2a like they did with SP1 and I'm sure that would
settle a lot of things.
Click to expand...


Er the only difference between SP1a and SP1 was that the former had Java
removed because MS lost that court case to Sun. The rest of it was
absolutely identical.
 
M said:
I read a scary article from July about CRN test center testing with 5
machines and 3 of them BSOD afterwards.

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=23905071

I don't think my machine needs any more reasons to behave badly but was
wondering what you guys thought.
Click to expand...

A small snippet of anecodotal information for three XP machines after
installing SP2:

Parents:
No problems

Nephew:
Machine is stable, but the software that writes to his MP3 player has
stopped working.

Neighbor:
Machine occassionally does not boot because it cannot find a system disk.

I have had other experiences with SP2 on machines with problems, but the
three above are the only ones I feel confident in correlating the
emergence of the problem with the application of the patch.
 
I think I'll pass on this SP for a little while longer.Who knows,maybe
they'll release SP2a like they did with SP1 and I'm sure that would
settle a lot of things.
Click to expand...

I thought I heard rumors that there will be a far larger
update than SP2, more like a Win98->98SE type of change to
core OS components instead of just security patches for two
clients (IE & OE).
 
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