Community Newsletter: Q&A: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no?
- 9/1/05 4:38 PM
Hardware conflict - no sound
by llamabb - 9/2/05 12:41 PM In reply to: XP SP2 a hassle by GRainoneWhen I installed SP2 on my 5 month old computer with an ASUS P4P800 Deluxe motherboard, I lost my on-board sound. I tried everything I could think of and a lot of things I gleaned from online boards, etc. Uninstalling old drivers and installing new drivers did not work. I even brought home a new soundcard to install. That didn't work either. Finally, I "uninstalled" SP2 which screwed up my Outlook email somewhat, but I got my sound back. I am limping along until I have the time to wipe my hard drive and start over. I am thinking about Firefox.
Miguel K.
by ttmar - 9/2/05 10:09 AM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I can see why Miguel has won 4 times. Kudos to you Miguel for your very complete and understanding response.
For most home users, go for SP2
by ackmondual - 9/2/05 10:13 AM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The first post by our poster with the honorable mentions (or the best post, whatever) explained the pros of SP2 and it's key features.
There are some reasons *NOT* to upgrade, but these won't apply to most ppl. If these were alr covered, my apologies, as i too don't alwasy havethe time to go through all the posts.
For home users, there is a relatively small list of games, applications, and utilities that's known to have either minor or major conflicts with SP2. Check out a ZDnet article and the list here
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5311280.html
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=842242
For those in corporate/enterprise environments and those in IT, some of them have reported holding off the SP2 upgrade to first ensure compatibility and lack of conflicts beforehand. As you can see from the list linked above, many apps that may have issues are development and business productiviy tools, so again, for home computers, not likely to be an issue.
I myself upgraded my home PC to SP2 and have found everything working just as smoothly as before. I have a fast PC tho (P4 3GHz, 512MB RAM, winXP Pro) for whatever difference that makes
ALSO....
by ackmondual - 9/2/05 10:16 AM In reply to: For most home users, go for SP2 by ackmondualSorry for double post. Can't seem to edit msgs on this forum.
THere's a decent chance that certain apps may require SP2. Several apps alr require SP1. Altho only several apps AFAIK only require SP2 (e.g. M$ version of a Photoshop app still in beta), i'm certain that list will grow as time goes on.
Miguel K
by jimcoryat2 - 9/2/05 10:39 AM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Since Miguel has seven awards for solutions, is it possible to see all the questions and the related answers?
jimcoryat@hotmail.com
Here are the Community Help & How-to newsletters archives...
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 9/2/05 8:05 PM
In reply to: Miguel K by jimcoryat2
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7600_7-5534360-1.html?tag=dir
Enjoy!
-Lee
CNET Community
Firewall in SP2 per Miguel K.
by jmygrant - 9/2/05 11:29 AM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Miguel's note that the new SP2 Firewall turns on/off automatically with other firewall use has not been my experience---though I would like it to do so. The help info still says to only run ONE and to turn OFF Win Firewall if using another firewall product. I run SP2 and am fully up-to-date yet can't find a way to make it do what Miguel says it should. SP 2 seems to work fine otherwise. John M.
What happened to Paint?
by BeachBum24x7 - 9/2/05 3:22 PM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hoorah for all the positive pushers of SP2, but am i the only person experiencing the destruction of the Paint program over the past few years? Or is Paint a program of enough priority for Microsoft to even bother with? But, then again, if one doesn't use the program for graphics work, he/she wouldn't have a clue what I'm talking about. So, I'll say ahead of time, if you're reading this and don't use the program, I'll be polite enough to suggest not to waste your time reading any further.
Please bear with me and allow me to present a little history of the gradual destuction of Paint and then I'll get to the point about SP2.
Up to Windows 98SE Paint was cool. Then XP enters the scene and thus the beginning of Paint destruction. The specific problem I am referring to happens when for example one begins editing a picture by using whatever tools of their choosing to basically trim/erase the backgound around an object in the picture, leaving the background around the object white, with plans of copying and pasting the said object onto another picture. All goes well if one has time to trim the object, copy and paste the object onto another background before the final work is saved. But, heaven forbid one spends quite a bit of time trimming an object but doesn't have time to finish by copying and pasting to another background before the original trim job is saved. If one has to save the "trimmed" file (with white or "erased" background around the object) before copying and pasting to another background XP has a marvelous (said with cynical tone) way of detroying one's laborious and tedious work. If the file is saved so one can come back to it later, when opened to continue the original project, one will find varied amounts of "new" and distorted pixels added to the once white background, thus basically having to retrim from scratch.
OK, that's problem enough in XP itself, now the SP2 issue. SP1 seems safe enough to install (with regards to the Paint program). Not saying it fixes the aforementioned Paint problem, just doesn't make it any worse than it already is. But, OK, here it is...the moment everyone has been waiting on (for me to finally get to the point). Once SP2 has been installed...Paint totally loses it's mind. It's hard for me to remember the exact details of what occurred when i first attemted to install SP2. It's been quite a while. I'll say this...it was so traumatic on the Paint program I have NEVER bothered to use SP2 again...EVER. After doing quite a bit of tedious work on several pictures, then saving them...the trouble began. I would go to the folder where the completed work had "supposedly" been saved and it wouldn't show it there. I could go to the original pictures (which were "supposedly" not changed after the trim work etc., because (yes) I saved the completed work under a different file name) and guess what?...the original picture was gone and was saved as the edited file. Ouch!!!
OK...that's my testimonial...so those of you who are fond of SP2...who probably haven't experienced what I did...install it all you want...lol...
Tim Stallings
Windows SP2 Disk
by DACarey - 9/2/05 8:07 PM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Several people have noted that they ordered and received the SP2 disk from Microsoft.
Is this still available?
I have looked at the Microsoft site and as far as I can tell, Microsoft no longer offers a SP2 disk - you must download the update.
SP2 killed a major utility
by PKlammer - 9/2/05 9:03 PM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Vcom's CDanywhere was a major utility in my book.
After SP2, CDanywhere could no longer mount my CD images. Pleas for help to Vcom and to Microsoft were unsympathetically dissed.
I had to start over my virtual CD library from scratch with new, different software. So maybe SP2 cost me as much as it might have saved.
Per www.V-Com.com :::
After initial testing, we have found that XP SP2 is having compatibility issues with CD Anywhere 2.60. SP2 is somehow interfering with CD Anywhere from accessing the images in the virtual drive. Were not sure if it is directly affecting the virtual drive or the image at this time. The only thing we have found that works are audio images, but these audio images need to have been created after the install of SP2. If the image was created before SP2's install, they will need to be re-created.
We do not currently know if Microsoft will create a fix for XP SP2 to resolve the issue, or if CD Anywhere can be modified to address the new limitations in XP SP2. Because of these issues, we have reluctantly decide to stop sales of CD Anywhere. We will update this page if we find a solution to the XP SP2 problems
Another Major Utility?
by BeachBum24x7 - 9/4/05 12:55 PM In reply to: SP2 killed a major utility by PKlammerI would like to respond to this post by adding my original response to the SP2 issue, then add that possibly SP2 is affecting more than one "image" utility.
I originally offered a response to the Windows XP SP2 issue:
What happened to Paint?
Hoorah for all the positive pushers of SP2, but am i the only person experiencing the destruction of the Paint program over the past few years? Or is Paint a program of enough priority for Microsoft to even bother with? But, then again, if one doesn't use the program for graphics work, he/she wouldn't have a clue what I'm talking about. So, I'll say ahead of time, if you're reading this and don't use the program, I'll be polite enough to suggest not to waste your time reading any further.
Please bear with me and allow me to present a little history of the gradual destuction of Paint and then I'll get to the point about SP2.
Up to Windows 98SE Paint was cool. Then XP enters the scene and thus the beginning of Paint destruction. The specific problem I am referring to happens when for example one begins editing a picture by using whatever tools of their choosing to basically trim/erase the backgound around an object in the picture, leaving the background around the object white, with plans of copying and pasting the said object onto another picture. All goes well if one has time to trim the object, copy and paste the object onto another background before the final work is saved. But, heaven forbid one spends quite a bit of time trimming an object but doesn't have time to finish by copying and pasting to another background before the original trim job is saved. If one has to save the "trimmed" file (with white or "erased" background around the object) before copying and pasting to another background XP has a marvelous (said with cynical tone) way of destroying one's laborious and tedious work. If the file is saved so one can come back to it later, when opened to continue the original project, one will find varied amounts of "new" and distorted pixels added to the once white background, thus basically having to retrim from scratch.
OK, that's problem enough in XP itself, now the SP2 issue. SP1 seems safe enough to install (with regards to the Paint program). Not saying it fixes the aforementioned Paint problem, just doesn't make it any worse than it already is. But, OK, here it is...the moment everyone has been waiting on (for me to finally get to the point). Once SP2 has been installed...Paint totally loses it's mind. It's hard for me to remember the exact details of what occurred when i first attempted to install SP2. It's been quite a while. I'll say this...it was so traumatic on the Paint program I have NEVER bothered to use SP2 again...EVER. After doing quite a bit of tedious work on several pictures, then saving them...the trouble began. I would go to the folder where the completed work had "supposedly" been saved and it wouldn't show it there. I could go to the original pictures (which were "supposedly" not changed after the trim work etc., because (yes) I saved the completed work under a different file name) and guess what?...the original picture was gone and was saved as the edited file. Ouch!!!...which would mean if I had edited every picture I had, I would have lost EVERY original!!!
OK...that's my testimonial...so those of you who are fond of SP2...who probably haven't experienced what I did...install it all you want...lol...
Tim Stallings
But, now I pose it as a question. And if someone's answer is "Try installing Paint from 98SE or use a 3rd party program", that is merely like swapping parts, not "root cause analysis", which is getting to the source (root cause) of the real problem. I am fairly certain I'm not the only person that has run into this problem. Seems it would have been resolved by now because I feel Paint is a fairly major utility of Windows (some may not agree, but then again they probably don't do graphics work).
My system works better with SP2 that being said.....
by Marv99 - 9/2/05 11:39 PM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My system works better with SP2 that being said...
I had a huge hard time getting it installed. Or more correctly getting online after I did the update.
Everytime I tried it I could never get online after loading it. Most of this issue had to with the custom browser my ISP dial up uses. (Yeah I'm on dial up go ahead an laugh)I have access to broadband but really can't justify it here at the house.
Anyway I finally ended up reinstalling XP before I could get everything to work with the update.
Big warning on that. If you have a large drive hooked up. The orginal windows XP doesn't support a drive larger than... OK I forget the size. Be sure and back everything up you might loose. Or if the large drive is a second drive you might want to disconect it till you have the SP2 installed.
Certainly never let XP do Scandisk till you have large disk enabled again. At least without backing the stuff up. Scandisk will report the drive side wrong and basiclly eat at random what's on the drive and move around some of the rest. I felt stupid to not see this coming BTW.
I Installed SP2 Months Ago, No Probs!
by muther_trucker - 9/3/05 1:18 AM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Unfortunatly, my computer stopped responding to me after 20 seconds after i switched it on! In the end i had to take the HDD out, and then insert it as the 'slave drive' into my older PC. I then backed up all my important infromation. And then installed the HDD back into my normal PC.
I then formatted the HDD, then installed SP2, after i sorted out Norton Anti-Virus, and my Internet Connection.
- I think that if you are thinking about installing SP2, then you need to consider backing up your HDD important information, then formatting it.
Since i installed SP2, with a formatted HDD, my PC performance hasnt slowed, in fact, i think it has become faster. (Obviously it all depends on your hardware.).
If you seriously cant decide weither to install it or not. Check microsofts site bout compatability, and usage of software.
I wated to install ZoneAlarm, but later found that the version i wanted didnt work properly under the conditions of SP2.
Now that it is installed, and has been running for at least the last 3 months. It has certainly performaed better than SP1! (It didnt freeze as much!)
The added security features are good, but can be annoying when you have a program that needds permission to access a server/internet - but im sure you can stop these pop-up windows, i just haven tried too.
Well, thats my story, everyone is welcome to a say.
UG Win XP SP2 Reply
by papajohnsmith - 9/3/05 8:35 AM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
While I agree with the review and believe that the easiest way to improve security on the average Win XP users machine is SP2, I still choose to control my own security and hesitate to do the upgrade. I have heard horror stories as I know you have about total system failure due to SP2. I have done all the critical upgrades and use a multi-layer of other spyware, firewall and pop-up products. I have found this method works best when finding conflict with games or other software issues. I have been able isolate and shut down conflicting program. I don't think that would be able with permanant upgrade of SP2. I have yet, "knock on wood", to have a security issue using this method. But you must remember to scan after each online activity and keep programs updated to catch all. I recommend a combination of ZoneAlarm Pro, CounterSpy, Ad-Watch Pro, VCom SystemSuite and FilterGate. Works for me.
Upgrade To Widows XP
by wouldhe - 9/3/05 9:58 AM In reply to: 9/2/05 Upgrading to Windows XP SP2: yes or no? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
With the question of installing XP SP2, I asked myself what are the advantages of upgrading from WIN2K to XP. I am still running 2K on all my computers and haven't found a reason to upgrade to XP. What would I gain?
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