Service Pack 2

[Zantar]

Whats the verdict? worth getting or is it just more trouble.

[MrVesham]

Well... I've heard more trouble than I have praise. I'm staying away for a little while.

[LT Garrix]

From Cnet.com last I looked it was a 25% total failure rate. Granted that's not a scientific survey, but the fact that they had that many people saying they had to do a total hard drive wipe and reinstall has scared me away. I just did it and don't want to do it again.

[B Sharp]

just installed it last night. just uninstalled this morning.

incompatibility problems with existing firewall, said MS firewall was off, but couldn't connect.... blah blah blah- bottom line, I'm in the 25% failure rate crew. My PC is less than a year old, and nothing special installed.

[scrape_medic]

no problems here yet.......*crosses fingers, touches wood......just going out to find a black cat...........

[Kathleen]

Well, we installed the service pack 2 days ago on my boss' computer, and I get to spend the weekend doing a complete system recovery on it. It wiped out the CD R/RW, and is messing with the virus protection. I'm really considering just leaving well enough alone once this is done until they work some of the bugs out of it, and get that failure rate down. I'm NOT happy about having to do this. :irate:

[LT Garrix]

((((((SP2 sufferers)))))) I think I'll hold off. I have tons of additional software on my PC and don't want to frell with it.

scrape, I found one for you ;)

http://www.craisie.com/pics/smokie.jpg

[grinner]

I probably won't get it. My bro's that work in IT told me to avoid it like the plague... so I am.

[scrape_medic]

scrape, I found one for you ;)

http://www.craisie.com/pics/smokie.jpg
:D nice one, though he don't look so lucky....looks like he is just about to fall off..

[TheBladeRoden]

I'd hate to cross-post but
http://www.spadeselite.com/forums/uploads/post-8-1093643814.jpg

[LT Garrix]

Then maybe this one:

http://www.craisie.com/pics/smokie2.jpg

What can I say about the last one, he's a cat and loves high places. The railing was his playground. :D

[faustus]

can someone please tell me what the cat is doing?

[LT Garrix]

He's lying on his back with his toy mouse on his tummy, just cause I could put it there. :D He loves to lie on his back with his legs spread out like that, typical male. ;)

[faustus]

oi no need to be ... well yeah your right

[BrowderChick]

Well Im glad I didnt install it.

[BillFrugge]

I installed it on my SETI server, and the install went well... No BSOD anyway.

The firewall built into SP2 isn't near as good as Sygate's free Personal Firewall. Now, Windows complains that I don't have a firewall when I do. It looks like Microsoft's firewall blocks traffic that you want to pass, and passes what you don't.

I have Norton Antivirus 2002 installed. Yeah, it's a bit out of date, but it still runs and I don't need to upgrade. Symantec is supposed to be offering patches so that Microsoft's 'Security Center' will understand that it is up to date.

Having Windows automatically downloading and installing patches is a bad move -- I don't want it installed unless I know what it will do. But Windows will now complain if you don't let it do just that.

Essentially, I don't see any reason to install SP2.

[scrape_medic]

oi no need to be ... well yeah your righttypical male huh? Like lying on your back do ya.......playing with.....uh huh, nevermind...

Lovely cat LT G, yeah and mine likes to do the same :)

[Boron]

I have that automatic download thing with XP. I noticed some minor changes after the last download and install a couple of weeks ago. Could this be the Service pack 2?? Anyone know??

[BillFrugge]

I have that automatic download thing with XP. I noticed some minor changes after the last download and install a couple of weeks ago. Could this be the Service pack 2?? Anyone know??

There are three ways to tell if SP2 is installed:

1. A red shield with an 'X' in the system tray. (Not always there.)

2. Go into Control Panel and look for 'Security Center.'

3. Right click 'My Computer' and select Properties, or select system from the Control Panel. (May be under "Performance and Maintenance.') On the tab labeled 'General' will be a listing for details of your system, including which service pack you are running.

A recent update changed the automatic download feature to automatically install once downloaded. This is probably what you've noticed. SP2 will be pushed down using this method. Unless you like surprises, I'd change this setting. (Follow method 3 above, and select the 'Automatic Updates' tab on the top of the dialog box.)

[Zantar]

yikes its worse than i thought. I dont think ill be installing it till they release a PATCH for service pack 2!

I do not do the auto windows updates simply because i like to be aware of what im downloading. The autoupdater didnt even work for me half of the time. I know alot of other people had set their auto updater to download and install all updates automatically. Only problem was it wasnt installing any updates. I checked about 10 computers in my dorm during the sasser virus scandal and nearly all of them had assumed auto updating would get them all the updates without any work. They were wrong. Basically each computer needed about 60 updates. It was very annoying...

[Boron]

Well, I am still on service pack 1, and the auto update feature is set to download, but install at my discretion. There are other options. What should I set it to??

[LT Garrix]

The problem with the auto updater is it only catches the critical ones. It doesn't poll the recommended ones. I check the Windows site every few weeks to see what's new that I've missed.

[Boron]

The problem with the auto updater is it only catches the critical ones. It doesn't poll the recommended ones. I check the Windows site every few weeks to see what's new that I've missed.

I used to do that with my older machine. It was (and still is) running win98.
I have been pretty much depending on them to notify me since I got the newer one. (XP).

[David Falkayn]

Haven't had any problems so far--but then the Missus and I haven't tried doing anything fancy on the machine that we installed it on as yet--so far it runs ok with Word and I've been able to run my antispyware and antiadware programs without any problems. I haven't tried running any games with it yet--usually that's the make or break. I run Trend's Firewall, so I turned off Window's firewall. Part of the problems might come from SP2 not working and playing well with antivirus and firewall programs not coming from the big boys.

I also have it set to notify but not install--I don't like anything being downloaded on my machine without my express permission--I don't care where it's from.