Thoughts on SP 2 2

[drummond]

I have got SP2 sitting waiting to install, but I am reading quite a few negative posts about people installing it, what is the general feelings should I install or wait a bit. thanks........................John

 

[drk1]

FWIW,

Make sure you turn-off any and all non-MS anti-virus, ad & pop-up stoppers, spyware programs etc.

Some of us with XP did a test. Some did the SP2 install without de-activating those programs and some de-activated.

Those that did de-activate first, appear to have less problems.
Also, the new security "panel" didn't recognize my grisoft AVG (Anti-virus), but it did see it on my co-workers home system.
Go Figure?

Good Luck,

drk1

 

[jessiem25]

Personally, I've been holding out because of some negative reviews as well. Since the programs I use daily are on the list of programs that have problems with SP2, I'm just planning on keeping all of my security stuff up-to-date, and then waiting for a little while.

Good luck!

 

[WayneMan]

I was also reluctant to install SP2. First I did an exact image with Acronis True Image before installing SP2. I use Zone Alarm for a software firewall and Norton for Anti Virus protection. I installed SP2 the first day it became available for auto update and the only thing I had to do was to download a patch for Nero software and that was fixed. Actually the popup blocker that is now included in IE is better than the one I was using on the google tool bar. Personally I have seen no problem with SP2 and have concluded it was a worthy update for XP with my hardware and software configurations.

 

[Nelviticus]

It's completely hit and miss - some people have had no problems at all and some, like me, have hit single major issues that have yet to be resolved.

I am very glad that I took a ghost image of my system drive before I installed SP2. I suggest that you do something similar. I'd rather not go back to the pre-SP2 system but if I can't fix my problem it may be my only option. If I hadn't taken that ghost image I'd be completely up a gum tree without a paddle.

Nelviticus

 

[pechenegs]

I was a bit cautious to about installing SP2 but did so yesterday with no problems. I didn't close any of my firewalls or shut down AVG, and it installed no problem, and it does show AVG in the security centre!

pech

 

[linney]

What's the worst that can happen? You might have to clean install Windows. Accept that and prepare your strategy accordingly.

There are plenty of people here willing to help with any problems you may encounter.

My recommendation is to install it in a small test environment before trying it on a large network.

In a home situation just install it.

 

[bjdobs]

Installed Sp2 now on 5 machines ... 3 Home and 2 Pro ... all running with NIS 2k3 or 2k4.

The Pro machines appear to be ok however all 3 Home machines experienced one or more issues.

Home 1 would not work with NIS 2k4 at all one of the NIS kernal processes somehow got clobbered so uninstalled NIS, installed SP2 then installed NIS 2k4 ... Big Mistake! (I guess thats why some of you are specifieng turning off Norton during the install) Sp2 security monitor now loads first and gives the user ugly warning messages on bootup indicating no firewall or antivirus ... anyone know how to change the bootup order? The options for not monitoring are not available once NIS starts up so I can't tell Sp2 monitor to take a hike. Any ideas?

Home 2 has NIS 2k3 ... needed to update Symantecs latest LiveUpdate (NIS won't update otherwise) ... plus SP2 monitor doesn't recognize NIS 2k3 so either have to update to 2k4 or Tell Sp2 to not monitor Firewall and Antivirus

Home 3 crashed on install attempt one ... attempt two involved downloading the entire SP2 install file then installing. Now works fine with NIS 2k4

 

[linney]

Security Center, Windows Firewall and Automatic Updates are all Services which can be Stopped and Disabled via Services.

SP2 and Norton Antivirus Error Message
thread779-912997

 

[drummond]

Wow just got home from work thanks for all the input guys, I think I am going to guost to a spare HD I have then at least I dont have to start all together, also good tips about turning off certain programs. again thanks.......John

 

[Wxguesser]

FWIW, I installed SP-2 both of my XP Home machines as soon as it was available. I cheated and used the network install version as they are LANd together. I had one minor video driver issue one computer but it was easily resolved by reverting to a driver from the manufacturer rather than the windows updated driver.
My #1 machine has Mcafee AV and firewall. SP-2 recognizes the AV and the FW. I turned off the windows FW. No problems so far and it's been almost a month.

Machine #2 has Mcafee AV but ZoneAlarm firewall. SP2 again sees the AV but doesn't recognize ZoneAlarm. I set it to ignore the FW and turned off SP2's FW. This is the machine that had the video driver problem. Since the video issue was fixed, I have had no problems with this machine either.

Both were updated with the AV disabled but the FW enabled.



Jim W.

 

[greyted]

Have dealt with quite a few systems that have an issue when installing SP2.
Most of these issues were resolved by follow the procedure here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx

Item number three (at the above link) resolved most of the problems I encountered.

One client had a defective cd, other than that I have followed the advice in the various threads here and at MS with no problems.



Ted

"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.

 

[Code666]

We have installed it here in the office on two production machines and have not seen any issues to date (knocking on wood). I agree, the pop-up blocker is doing a good job.

 

[ftechguy]

I did something even more daring, I upgraded my Win2K machine with a slipstreamed XP SP2. Everything went well and works great. I had to install new videocard drivers (a radeon 9500 pro, upgrading from a very old 3.x catalyst driver to the most recent) and also XP's security center doesn't detect my Norton AV 2002 but everything else works fine.