Service pack 2

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has anyone had any problems with the new service pack 2 that was released?

Can I assume you mean Windows XP Service Pack 2?I haven't tried it yet. I installed the "blocker" patch to prevent it from being downloaded automatically but two nights ago it was telling me I wanted to download anyway.I am a freelance software engineer, so I can't take the risk of installing something that might mess up my computer and thus prevent me from doing my work, but I did download it onto CD (I have an MSDN subscription) and I think I'll try to install it on my Mom's computer tonight, since she only uses it for email anyway. If all goes well, I might try it on my machine, but only after making a backup of everything first.

It's suppose to take several hours on broadband. I pity those that have dialup. I think if you really need it you can request a CD-ROM from Microsoft.

In reply to:yeah, I tried downloading it last night, but it was sooooo slow, that i stopped the download. Every time i sign in MSN messenger, windows installer always pops up. I don't know what is going on w/ that. It slowed down my comp and froze everything up. Also, it intstalled itself on my computer after I cancelled the installation. In reply to:I went to the windows update site and they are telling me that my comp is up-to-date. Is it possible that the service pack 2 is already installed on my comp?Well, taking your two statements together, I would guess that you got a partial install where windows thinks it's installed service pack 2, when it reality it's not (if you did indeed prematurely cancel the installation). Either that or you have automatic update enabled in which case it may have downloaded in the backround and installed itself. Just a guess though; I am far from an expert on Microsoft's idiotic programming standards.

Okay, I installed it on a test machine: a 350 MHz Pentium II. I had the CD (which is 465 MB, so yeah it's going to be a long download). The install took almost an hour.I noticed two things: The startup screen is different; instead of saying "Windows XP Home Edition" or "Windows XP Professional" it just says "Windows XP" and the years on the copyright went away. Strange. It's almost like it was a release candidate but their website said it was the final release. Second odd thing was that the computer appears to be quite a bit faster. I thought I was hallucinating, but I messed around on it for about an hour after installing it and there is a definite improvement.In case you didn't know, IE now has a built-in pop-up blocker and the firewall now allows you to actually do more than just turn it on. There is also a security control panel applet that I didn't look to closely at, but it can determine if your anti-virus software is up to date, and successfully identified the one I was using (Panda Anti-Virus Platinum 7.0).I also got my monthly MSDN shipment, which included an official SP2 CD-ROM. I'll try that one and see if the startup screen is different.I guess I'll go ahead and install it on my workstation tomorrow, but to be safe, I'll make a full backup first. I'll post again saying how that went. If all is good, I'll install it at work.

Here's how to tell: Right-click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and select "Properties" from the menu and you will see which version on the "General" tab.

I still don't think you can download it directly from the Windows Update site yet; as far as I know, it can still only be downloaded via the automatic updates (unless you have an MSDN Subscription like I have).

I am a little miffed though that the Windows Update site takes a lot longer to determine which updates you need.

I try not to use MSN messenger; in fact I removed it. But I've seen in some cases where certain programs will think that they need to install something when they really don't. Perhaps you could uninstall it and reinstall it, but be sure to save your friends list first. You can do this through the "Add/Remove Windows Components" in the "Add/Remove Programs" control panel applet.The pre-SR-1 versions of Office 2000 were notorious for continually having the Windows Installer keep trying to run. It would take two hours to install or uninstall that program, but the later versions of that product don't appear to have that problem. I know Microsoft has made several updates to the Windows Installer, but if you've been installing all the updates from the Windows Update site, that probably isn't the cause of it.You might want to check for viruses and/or spyware. I know there are some security holes in Messenger, which I believe are supposed to be fixed with SP2.If you want to acquire SP2 on CD-ROM, you can go here:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspxThey'll send it to you free. If you have a slow internet connection, this is definitely the way to go.

Strange, service pack 2 for me was only 80meg. Could be that I've got all the update patches.Also you said that the computer appears to be faster. Mine is to an extent, but on shutting the puter down it has hard-crashed a few times. And on starting up seems to hang when initially opening programs.

I had access to two versions:Network Installation 266 MBFull Installation 475 MBDepending on whether you have been installing critical updates from the Windows Update site, your installation is likely to be smaller since it won't bother downloading the individual updates you already have installed.I just installed it on my main PC, but I haven't rebooted it yet. If for some reason it crashes, I can restore the image I created and be done with it.

The pop-up blocker is now part of IE. It's the second option under the tools menu.

Office XP and 2003 are a significant improvement but I think it has more to do with the Windows Installer. My mom's computer keeps trying to install the HP printer software, but I've already installed it. I removed it to get it to stop (a continual loop trying to install) and that look longer than applying SP2.

Microsoft has a reputation for releasing software that isn't quite ready yet. Basically you are buying beta software when you get anything from them, but what are you going to do?

just finished another reinstall from that bloody service pack that was really pissing me off BUT... when I went to just install the service pack instead of all the other patches, microsoft has temp suspended (due to traffic) downloads.http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/xpsp2.html is where I got it from (266meg) and no wait!Would really recomend to people doing a complete reinstall before installing it though as there is almost no conflicts!!!

my local paper, the washington post just did a huge front page story on the service pack 2 and it's problems, haven't read it yet though

I've had no problems yet...My computer is actually running faster now. I can't explain that!

I did a lot of beta testing on service pack 2 a few months before it was released and I don't even think it's worth upgrading to...... I miss my job.

Why do you think it isn't worth upgrading to? Any bug fixes or plugs of security holes is always a good thing.

Has anyone used Longhorn yet? Just curious. I have the beta versions but I haven't been inclined to test it.

Sorry if this is a stupid question... but do I have to reinstall my computer to have SP2?

yes, no

yes on the first part and no on the second

Sorry I'm not a computer expert like you.