Windows XP forum: Don't Load Windows XP SP2

that the advice was ill-conceived and mis-leading.

Many times in these forums, members have stated that SP2 does not cause problems, it only highlights existing problems.

If a problem exists on a computer, whether it be a PC or laptop, eg malware, drivers or software incompatability, it is important to prepare the machine prior to installing SP2, because the upgrade will find them out. There has been much advice in these forums about what is needed to prepare a machine for SP2.

In addition, SP2 is "the next step". As well as including important security features to protect the many unprotected systems that exist, SP2 is the continuing line in the evolution of Windows and therefore driver and sofware updates will be preseneted with SP2 in mind. Support for non SP2 machines will eventually tail off. Not quickly, as we can see that Microsoft support for Win ME still exists, but nevertheless, support will stop at some stage. Windows updates including critical updates will always concentrate on the latest version of Windows, and that latest version is SP2.

No, I think that was bad advice. If you have a machine that cannot take SP2 then it is a machine that has problems, and these should be investigated more, rather than ditching SP2 completely.

Mark

When I asked a friend who worked for Microsoft UK about SP1 and 2 and he said there was still bugs within XP that can't be fixed even with the SP. He was on the team that worked on XP and SP1 ... apparently M/soft were told by the UK team that XP needed more work and that SP1 should not have been released .. it wasn't ready ... He looked at the specs for my machine and said XP wouldn't work 100% on it and that I would have problems putting SP1 on ... he told me to stay with 98se if it gave me no problems.

Cheers

I just don't understand ,I guess..A freind loaded SP2 had nothing but trouble.Another freind downloaded it soon as it was available ,has had NO problems at all..I run windows XP home edition.. do i really need SP2???

Hi,
I have had installed SP2 after creating a restore point on my PC. I felt lucky I did, becasue I removed SP2 again. I really get pissed off the blocking behaviour. Every flash animation, Active-X ,etc. is blocked. I think it is better to have an updated anti-virus tool and run a spyware scanning deletion tool (like Lavasoft Adware) every day.

I agree: spammers are like terrorists who spoil honest open communications, but SP2 spoils you joy working on the PC.

I'm running Windows XP Media Edition which has Norton antivirus,firewall,etc and when I downloaded SP2 I could no longer access the internet/email.I tried several options but was forced to remove and my computer is still not running correctly.Up to loading SP2 I had no problems and I run the spyware,antivirus checks periodically so I know there were no other issues with the computer.Can you suggest other areas that I should check?

Spent days with MicroSoft (phone) raindances removing all the spyware, ad-ware, and viruses (there were none) & XP SP2 continued to crash unrecoverably.

dial-up Automatic updates took 8 hrs to download the latest . . . unrecoverable crash.

Some say it's an ATI video driver problem.

If all the 8600s cannot take SP2, they should all be recalled by the manufacturer for a fix. That agent should have helped you load SP2, instead of telling you not to. If that is a new machine or is still in warranty, ask for your $ back, or a different make or model.

that dell tech support person was just getting you off his back cause he or she didnt want to deal with it. SP2 is needed if you want to continue to get security updates. too many people blame SP2 for their problems when it is not the source of the problem. it just amplifies problems that already existed. SP2 will install fine so long as you have a healthy pc. people bash SP2 when its their own internet habits that get them into the condition that they are in.

many folks dont realize that sp2 is not a little update.. Its the actual completion of the xp operating system.. as a whole.. if we buy a product in the store that says "windows xp can be used with this software or hardware." well guess what ... this means windows xp with sp2 ..its mandatory its the xp operating system not just a little update.. more like an upgrade.. people must get that into their heads if they want xp.. they must have the entirety of it

Subscribing to the adage:"better to be safe than sorry", I decided to approach the subject by asking myself 2 critical questions before installing the SP2:

1. Does it include anything I really need?
2. Is it safe to install?

In my case the answer was a resounding NO to both questions:
1. SP2's main purpose is to enhance security of the W_XP OS and the resulting effort was gargantuan. They might have blocked most of the holes but at what price? How may new S/W bugs had infiltrated during the process?
I use Norton AV, Spybot and AdAware, in addition to being connected via a router to the WEB.Security-wise these measures seem to provide satisfactory results so far.

2. Nearly all the articles I read indicated problems of variuos severity.

So I went according to another age-old adage: "If it ain't broke - don't fix it".

>>I have to agree with those above, SP2 is a huge update to XP and you won't be able to get any security updates in the future unless you install it.<<

This is absolutely not true. I administer a number of computers that I have not upgraded to sp2 (after an incidence of having to uninstall sp2) and I continue to do security updates WITHOUT having the sp2. MS is continuing to offer critical security updates for those who are not jumping on the bandwagon.

I've loaded SP2 successfully into 30 or 40 PC's. The only problems I had were with older AMD Athlon MOBO's and one newer 478 board. The secret is to make sure that your MOBO BIOS is up to date. Check with the board manufacturer's site to see if they know of any issues.
Most of my installations were of the reformat and reinstall a slipstreamed WXP SP2 method, although I have upgraded 3 P4 machines.

A lot of people have IE6, or similar, and use Yahoo or BT Yahoo. Before SP2 came out, there was a notice on the BT Yahoo homepage, telling people to download the SP2 update for the BT Yahoo site - have yours been affected that way?

Two or three days afterwards, I got the SP2 from Microsoft, and everythings OK. I've had no problems with it, and feel a lot of people are making a mountain out of a molehill. I agree though about that Dell Tech.

Regards

There was a warning that some models had incompatible graphic cards, new drivers weren't available and updating to SP2 was not advised. I don't remember which computers were on the list. I'd suggest you check Dell's web site and find out if any driver updates are required for your model so SP2 will work properly.

This is a recurring theme in these forums and one which many members attempt to put right.

Service Pack 2 does not bring computers down. What SP2 does is to identify and highlight existing problems with computers, whether it be malware based, software, hardware or driver based.

You said that the Dell tech said you had a virus. If that is the case, and you seem to accept it was, then your computer was infected and was not functioning normally. In such cases SP2 is going to find out a poorly machine and this is where your problems start.

I don't know what preparations you made before upgrading to SP2, but there are many threads in these forums where suggestions on what to do beforehand are given. In the link below is my own suggestions, but there are others.

If you can do all this preparatory work, upgrading to SP2 will proceed much better.

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6142-0.html?forumID=5&threadID=46283&messageID=550557

Good luck. I hope you're able to up-grade to SP2. It is well worth it.

Mark