XP SP 2: Is it worth it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Thane of Lochaber
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T

Thane of Lochaber

You have to keep in mind that only the people that are having problems post
complaints. Those that have no trouble at all with it don't post anything;
no praise posts. I'd wager that there are a LOT more people that have no
trouble than those who do. Personally I have installed it on several other
computers besides my own and I've had no problems with it at all. In any
case I think the benefits far outweigh any little inconveniences (most of
which will probably be patched before long anyway). That's my opinion
anyway. :)
 
I'm seeing lots of complaints about SP 2. Is it worth getting? I have what I
think is a standard system set up (XP home, IE, etc. - nothing that's listed
on MS Update's list of troublesome programs.) What are the chances that SP
will cause problems? Is it worth updating?

Tim

--
 
Tim--

Things are a lot more stable than some of these reports would indicate.
The caveat that people who are having little or no problem don't post is
well worth considering. Its definitely worth updating, because it contains a
lot of fixes since SP1. There is also an excellent change that it's the last
major change to XP and last major Service Pack until Longhorn releases.
There may or may not be another SP and there may or may not be an XP
Reloaded. The ladies and gentleman from Microsoft are a lot better readers
of tea leaves than I am in that area.

If you are having a problem with a 3rd party app, go to their site and see
what the say. It's running in 3 categories--most are compatible by far;
some have patches for SP2 compatibility; and for somejust adding the port
to the firewall exceptions tab is the issue (for example Raxco Perfect Disk
which has a batch file that automatically does this). A few have chosen to
do nothing and say nothing and that's unfortunate and hardly MSFT's
responsibility.

People I know well who have installed it--not a multicentered trial, but
average and advanced users who are willing to go to a 3rd party site if they
have a problem or search engine for an answer are having little or no
problem. Many of them went after it the day the public beta was released
in early June and have been using it with little or no problem since then
(RC2).

I have had next to no problems with it and I'd definitely install it.
Having read much of what's written about it , and used different builds for
months, I find it very stable.

Top 10 Reasons to Install SP2
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2top.mspx

A Little More SP2 Info and Slipstream Directions for SP2
http://www.theeldergeek.com/

Changes to Functionality in SP2
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx

List of Fixes in SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;811113

Release Notes For SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=835935&product=windowsxpsp2

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/winxpsp2.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/technologiesoverview.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0204.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/winxp/windowsxpspfs.asp


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=884130&product=windowsxpsp2

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=842242&product=windowsxpsp2

Best,

Chad Harris
_____________________________

I'm seeing lots of complaints about SP 2. Is it worth getting? I have what I
think is a standard system set up (XP home, IE, etc. - nothing that's listed
on MS Update's list of troublesome programs.) What are the chances that SP
will cause problems? Is it worth updating?

Tim

--
 
There are some programs that will not work without either tweaking or
patches.. there are some functions that may or may not work without tweaking
or reinstalling.. most will not adversely affect the average home user..
other than that, SP2 works ok.. many problems come from those who expect SP2
to fix existing problems that they may have..
 
| Tim--
|
| Things are a lot more stable than some of these reports
would indicate.
| The caveat that people who are having little or no problem
don't post is
| well worth considering. Its definitely worth updating,
because it contains a
| lot of fixes since SP1. There is also an excellent change
that it's the last
| major change to XP and last major Service Pack until
Longhorn releases.
| There may or may not be another SP and there may or may not
be an XP
| Reloaded. The ladies and gentleman from Microsoft are a
lot better readers
| of tea leaves than I am in that area.
|
| If you are having a problem with a 3rd party app, go to
their site and see
| what the say. It's running in 3 categories--most are
compatible by far;
| some have patches for SP2 compatibility; and for somejust
adding the port
| to the firewall exceptions tab is the issue (for example
Raxco Perfect Disk
| which has a batch file that automatically does this). A few
have chosen to
| do nothing and say nothing and that's unfortunate and hardly
MSFT's
| responsibility.
|
| People I know well who have installed it--not a
multicentered trial, but
| average and advanced users who are willing to go to a 3rd
party site if they
| have a problem or search engine for an answer are having
little or no
| problem. Many of them went after it the day the public beta
was released
| in early June and have been using it with little or no
problem since then
| (RC2).
|
| I have had next to no problems with it and I'd definitely
install it.
| Having read much of what's written about it , and used
different builds for
| months, I find it very stable.
|
| Top 10 Reasons to Install SP2
|
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2top.mspx
|
| A Little More SP2 Info and Slipstream Directions for SP2
| http://www.theeldergeek.com/
|
| Changes to Functionality in SP2
|
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx
|
| List of Fixes in SP2
|
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;811113
|
| Release Notes For SP2
|
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=835935&product=windowsxpsp2
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/winxpsp2.mspx
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/technologiesoverview.mspx
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0204.mspx
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/winxp/windowsxpspfs.asp
|
|
|
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=884130&product=windowsxpsp2
|
|
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=842242&product=windowsxpsp2
|
| Best,
|
| Chad Harris

Chad: I agree with you that a lot of people who aren't having
problems with SP2 are not posting, but there are a quite a lot
who are. I'm one of those posters who has mentioned several
times that I had No trouble with the download or install, but
I got it from the MS download site not Auto Update.

I've had no problems with any programs, didn't loose any
files, and had no trouble setting it up with my existing
NAV/NIS 2003, existing pop-up blocker, and firewall. There is
a minor thing that Symantec is working on and that is Security
Center can see I have an antivirus program (NAV) but "status
is unknown". This doesn't present a problem for me since I
update my antiviral daily so I don't need to know the status.

To prepare my computer for download, I did follow most of
Jupiter Jones MVP recomendations at
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spackins.htm

I too wish more people, who have had successful results would
post, but if you look around especially in MS Windows Update
Newsgroup you'll find quite a lot over the last 2 weeks.

I do have a concern with SP2 but I don't considered it a
problem and have yet to get a answer from someone who really
knows the answer, and that is when the Windows firewall is
turned off, why does it show it running in "task manager" and
"msconfig/services". I just want to make sure it really is
off, not on and I have rec'd some good input from several
posters, but none from anyone who knows for sure why this
programs runs in these two places even when it's turned off.
My only concern is that it doesn't interfere with NIS
firewall. If you know anything about this let me know,
because it doesn't seem like disabling Windows firewall in
services.msc is the answer, but who knows, it only seems to
make the Firewall settings unaccessable once you do this.

Pam



| _____________________________
|
| | I'm seeing lots of complaints about SP 2. Is it worth
getting? I have what I
| think is a standard system set up (XP home, IE, etc. -
nothing that's listed
| on MS Update's list of troublesome programs.) What are the
chances that SP
| will cause problems? Is it worth updating?
|
| Tim
|
| --
|
|
 
I'll also add that I have installed SP2 on all 4 of my computers, and each
install went flawlessly and I have no issues on any of the computers. I
have Norton Antivirus Pro installed on each machine, and ran LiveUpdate on
each after SP2 to make it compatible with SP2. That is the extent of what I
had to do to make SP2 happy on each of my machines. Very painless. I
believe that those who are having problems with SP2 are those who had
underlying problems BEFORE installing SP2. These are the folks who most
likely never update their drivers, update their BIOS and chipset drivers,
etc. I just think it funny when I read some of the posts and the posters
want to blame Microsoft for it all.

Bobby
 
yea... of course people who don't hav any trouble don't post it... but
people who have (and there are many whatever u say) get their computer
screwed up, when it can be absolutely necessary for them to use it (for work
for example, which is my case). so, comparing the number of people who do
have trouble and people who don't have is NOT a good way of putting the
issue. the thing is, when a company like microsoft comes with a new SP, it
HAS to work for everybody.
 
maybe u should ask those people before saying it's their own fault...and
even if that is true, why should people have to get their computer
permanently updated to be able to install SP2 ?? some people just don't have
time to keep their drivers / firmware updated because it simply is neither
their job nor their leisure.
 
I challenge you, David, to write nearly 5 million lines of code (which is
what SP2 updates) and have it execute on every machine in the world without
a problem. You cannot do it. No one can do it. Why would you expect that
it would, when the majority of people do not perform even basic level
maintenance on their computers?

You cannot blame it on MS if you have issues on your computer. If you have
driver conflicts, version conflicts for installed .dll's, or a "flaky"
install of windows to begin with, you can expect more problems with a major
upgrade like SP2.

Bobby
 
Then they shouldn't have time to install SP2 either. Your logic is flawed.
Laziness is not an excuse for not keeping a computer maintained. If most
people maintained their cars the way they maintained their computers, then
there would be one hell of a lot less cars on the road.

Just stop whining and realize that you are not special. SP2 did not
integrated well for you. I am sorry that it didn't but if you put as much
energy into keeping your system "clean" as you do whining, you would not
have a problem.

Bobby
 
I have to agree with you on this, it would be an impossible task to know
what every configuration there is out there. I installed yesterday with no
problems and so far nothing appears to be broken but of course haven't had
chance to try out all my apps.
Joan
 
I'll also add that I have installed SP2 on all 4 of my computers, and each
install went flawlessly and I have no issues on any of the computers. I
have Norton Antivirus Pro installed on each machine, and ran LiveUpdate on
each after SP2 to make it compatible with SP2. That is the extent of what I
had to do to make SP2 happy on each of my machines. Very painless. I
believe that those who are having problems with SP2 are those who had
underlying problems BEFORE installing SP2. These are the folks who most
likely never update their drivers, update their BIOS and chipset drivers,
etc. I just think it funny when I read some of the posts and the posters
want to blame Microsoft for it all.
Click to expand...

We've installed SP2 from a download on two Dell PCs, without having
any problems. We've done all the MS updates in the 2 years we have
owned the PCs. We've never updated drivers, bios or chip sets.
 
i must admit i can't really see the flaw in my logic; u know as well as me
that is far more difficult to keep all hardware components of a computer up
to date than to click on "windows update". many people don't even know what
are their hardware specifications or what is a driver (i don't even speak of
firmware), when maintaining hardware up to date implies to know exactly the
brand and type of the components and to have time to look (regularly) on
each constructor's site if an update is available.
 
did i ever pretend to ba able to do it ? and have i to be able to do it to
criticize ? when you go to the cinema, do you refuse to criticize the movie
just because you would be unable to do the same ?
and, i on't have thousands of people working on it right now.
finally, i must admit i can't see the use of certificating most hardware
drivers fully compatible with windows if it can't help SP compatibility.
 
NoNoBadDog! said:
I'll also add that I have installed SP2 on all 4 of my computers, and each
install went flawlessly and I have no issues on any of the computers. I
have Norton Antivirus Pro installed on each machine, and ran LiveUpdate on
each after SP2 to make it compatible with SP2. That is the extent of what I
had to do to make SP2 happy on each of my machines. Very painless. I
believe that those who are having problems with SP2 are those who had
underlying problems BEFORE installing SP2. These are the folks who most
likely never update their drivers, update their BIOS and chipset drivers,
etc. I just think it funny when I read some of the posts and the posters
want to blame Microsoft for it all.
Click to expand...

A BIOS update should not be a prerequisite to install any OS service
pack. "Common" users don't even know how to update a BIOS, let alone
even know what it is or that it can be updated.
 
A BIOS update should not be a prerequisite to install any OS service
pack. "Common" users don't even know how to update a BIOS, let alone
even know what it is or that it can be updated.
Click to expand...

A BIOS update is not a prerequisite to install WinXP SP2.
 
Martin said:
A BIOS update is not a prerequisite to install WinXP SP2.
Click to expand...

I know it isn't. The post I replied to noted that as one of the
updates that a system should have. That is not true, a BIOS should
not, as a rule of thumb, be updated unless there is a problem.
 
I know it isn't. The post I replied to noted that as one of the
updates that a system should have. That is not true, a BIOS should
not, as a rule of thumb, be updated unless there is a problem.
Click to expand...

I was agreeing with you :-)
 
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