WinXP Service Pack 1.. do i need it?

[AntiProxy]

hi everyone..

i just installed Windows XP on a new machine..
i have XP service pack 1 on a CD, which i was planning to install on the first boot, but i forgot!

well, i went to windows Update site, which found 20 critical updates that apply to my system..
i downloaded and installed all of them..
now Windows Update does not have any applicable critical updates for my system, and "Add Remove Programs" shows all the patches as (SP2) which i'm guessing are parts of Service Pack 2(?).

the question is.. do i still need to install Service Pack 1 even after i installed all those patches?

thanks in advance..

 

[bcastner]

I strongly recommend doing so.

Do not worry about the SP2 level of the other patches.

 

[AntiProxy]

how come Windows Update doesn't show anymore critical updates applicable to my system?! doesn't that mean that my system is up to date?

 

[linney]

There was about 260MB of files in Service Pack 1. Have you downloaded that much?

Many of them are for improved performance of XP. From a security point of view you may be up to date but might be missing out on other enhancements to XP.

Running SP1 now wont overwrite your updated files it will just update any older files.

Also when you run system programs like the System file checker you will be repairing files using the latest available Dll files if you have SP1 installed.

 

[AntiProxy]

hey linney..

yes the SP1 files are well over 185MBs (packed).

the reason i'm being extra cautious about this, is cuz windows update does not show SP1 (SP1a) as an applicable errata to my system..
in fact, it never did.. cuz i ran it right after the first boot.. and it found 20 applicable updates which i installed all together..

and i believe that Windows Update is the only official site to download that service pack from..

should i go with Microsoft? or with the common sense?

 

[linney]

How recent is your XP CD? SP1 might already be incorporated into the CD, the newer CD's are like this.

 

[dakota81]

SP1 is included as one of the critical updates off of Windows Update, where you download only the components that apply to your system. If you went and grabbed all the critical downloads, SP1 should already be on your system.

Is it not?

 

[craigey]

your best bet now is just to wait for SP2 to be released. It will include any SP1 updates that you may need to install as well as the newer sp2 updates.

 

[AntiProxy]

the system properties tab says the operating system is Windows XP (2002) 5.1.2600 Service pack 1 build 2600..

Add Remove Programs has nothing to say about SP1 being installed..

yes i did install all applicable updates, but they were only about 28MBs in total..

what's really confusing is.. last time i installed XP using this very same CD, i installed SP1 on top of it afterwards, which i believe shouldn't have worked if SP1 was already integrated in the OS..

 

[bcastner]

"the system properties tab says the operating system is Windows XP (2002) 5.1.2600 Service pack 1"

If so, you have service pack 1 (SP1) installed alredy.