Do you recommend Windows XP Service Pack 2?

[Mr. Boy]

I installed it once, but I found that it was somewhat inconvenient, so I uninstalled it. I'm considering re-installing it. Is it worth it?

 

[emad]

For the holes it patches, definately

 

[VIPFREAK]

It won't patch the hole it burned in Sony laptop mobos. j/k (I'm still about it)

 

[Crash]

It's definintely worth it becuase it patches so many holes. I hated SP2 when I first installed it, but by now, it's grown enough on me that I can ignore it.

 

[Carlos]

Install it.. Just make the setup right, then you hav no problems..

 

[Shannon]

"Yes."

 

[Jondot]

My laptop came preinstalled with it, so i didn't get a choice. Would have downloaded it anyway.

 

[G.T]

I'm not sure whether it is suppose to make a performance difference to a PC or not, but it did to mine.

A few weeks back I decided to do a disc cleanup, and left the PC over night to sort itself out. The next day, it was still working it out . I tried again, left it about an hour and was still working. I decided there and then I'd install SP2. And guess what? It did the clean up in 5 mins. 👍

 

[chinko]

im still on SP1. if SP2 makes everything a bit faster then i'll consider it. i remember refusing to install it at first because it had loads of holes itself!

 

[Mr. Boy]

Thanks. I'll install it sometime in the future.

 

[Shannon]

im still on SP1. if SP2 makes everything a bit faster then i'll consider it. i remember refusing to install it at first because it had loads of holes itself!

That's pretty ironic. Because SP2 patches heaps of holes in SP1.

 

[Solid Fro]

Hackers must love this Chinko guy.

Install SP2, do it and do it now.

 

[Arwin]

That's pretty ironic. Because SP2 patches heaps of holes in SP1.

Yes, but not necessarily ones that you couldn't already close up with individual patches and autoupdate. So basically, he is right - when SP2 was first released they discovered a gaping hole in the new Firewall for instance. It's generally not a bad idea to wait a little while with big updates, as they always introduce new bugs, and you had that whole application incompatibility issue, that you could save a lot of stress on by waiting a while to see what software was going to cause problems.

That said, I am using SP2 and have no complaints. But I don't do all that many weird things with my PC - primarily I don't play games, for instance, though of course most games are tested with SP2.

 

[Shannon]

Yes, but not necessarily ones that you couldn't already close up with individual patches and autoupdate. So basically, he is right - when SP2 was first released they discovered a gaping hole in the new Firewall for instance. It's generally not a bad idea to wait a little while with big updates, as they always introduce new bugs, and you had that whole application incompatibility issue, that you could save a lot of stress on by waiting a while to see what software was going to cause problems.

That said, I am using SP2 and have no complaints. But I don't do all that many weird things with my PC - primarily I don't play games, for instance, though of course most games are tested with SP2.

Well, SP2 rolled up all the previous hotfixes between SP1 and SP2 anyway. Individually installing patches to plug the holes that SP2 plugged, just to avoid installing SP2, is pointless IMO.

 

[VIPFREAK]

Ok... so since I formatted not to long ago I have SP2 installed now. WTF is this firewall crap because now I can't use my Zone Alarm pro firewall.

 

[xAkirax2004]

Well, It does have it's own fire wall. SP2, that is.

 

[VIPFREAK]

so is it bad to have two firewalls? I got ZA working.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

so is it bad to have two firewalls? I got ZA working.

Go to Control Panel>Windows Firewall and turn it off

 

[Matrixhasu77]

The only problem I've had with SP2 is that it caused my Windows Installer 3.1 to malfunction twice whilst doing a clean install of XP from a XP Pro disc that predates SP1. It was a fluke really. I can't even explain what caused it in the first place.

 

[the_undrtaker89]

Yes, i do recommend it.

 

[crazyazn7412]

dont install if you're big on p2p...

 

[Shannon]

dont install if you're big on p2p...

Uh, why?

If you're talking about the TCP/IP connections limit, it can be patched.

 

[VIPFREAK]

Go to Control Panel>Windows Firewall and turn it off

How do I turn off the Virus Scanner?

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Did you try Security Center under control panel?

 

[emad]

dont install if you're big on p2p...

Why? SP2 offers better security than SP1 thanks to some of the holes filled up. If anything, you'd want to keep my patches up to date for illicit activities just to make sure you don't get hit by a hacker

 

[VIPFREAK]

Did you try Security Center under control panel?

Yeah like always they just tell you what the crap does... and says "on".

 

[crazyazn7412]

but the patch doesnt work on many pc's.

 

[Mr. Boy]

Now I have SP2 installed. So far, I like it. However, there are two problems. First of all, the Pop-Up blocker blocks any window I open when I click a link. 👎 So I always have to turn the blocker off before I click a link. The second problem however is more important. After I installed SP2, the computer started taking a long time to start up. How do I fix this?
Also, are there any security holes in SP2 that aren't obvious?

 

[Omnis]

Oh my goooddddd. I just got SP2 and my laptop is in SLOW MOTION.

Wtf is going on and how can I fix this? My toolbar is stuck looking like windows 2000. Damn you, Microscro!

 

[Shannon]

It's recommended to install SP2 (or any service pack for that matter) on a fresh install of XP. Doing that might solve your problem.

Format, install XP and then install SP2 before anything else. Or better yet, slipstream SP2 into an XP install disc. If you do that, SP2 will be installed with XP whenever you format your system.