OT Windows XP SP2

[Horace Greeley]

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Hi, Cy,

Overall, really good advice; especially the link to checking vendor support 
sites.  Sometimes per-machine updates have changed by just a few serial 
numbers.

A few additional notes from the trenches:

  - If your download/install of Win XP SP2 is only 50 MB, you have been 
lucky.  The "corporate" download (for XP Pro) is right at 276MB.  Further, 
there have been several versions of this SP put out (so far) by MS; at 
least three have been counted.  Yes, ordering the CD from MS is probably 
the most reasonable approach for anyone with dialup connectivity.

  - Yes, it has some cool features; and yes, some of them are really 
improvements.  At the same time, it is, under the hood, a pretty serious 
rewrite of the entire OS code; replacing many original files right along 
with many that have come out in various hotfixes/etc.

  - In light of this, before installing this (or, for that matter, any 
other major service pack), it would be really prudent to back up your 
entire machine, especially all your data files.

  - Be sure to check the list of programs with known SP2 conflicts.  It is 
not a small list, nor limited to older software.  Here is the link:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=842242&product=windowsxpsp2

  - Allow plenty of time for this upgrade to take place.  It can take as 
long as a new OS install.

Be careful out there!

Best.

Horace

At 02:47 PM 10/4/2004, you wrote:
>I've just installed XP SP2. Its focus is on improving security, and it has 
>some nice features. However, it's a huge update (around 50 Meg to 
>download), and overall takes a couple of hours to install (downloading is 
>just the beginning!). Pick a time when you don't need the computer for 
>anything urgent, as there's a chance that you may have to fiddle with it 
>to get some particular program working again (TuneLab Pro's fine).
>
>If you only have dialup access, you will definitely want to order the CD 
>from Microsoft, rather than attempt downloading. If you have Automatic 
>Updates turned on, you might want to turn them off this month, so 
>Microsoft doesn't download them for you (it's on Control Panel).
>
>Here's an overview of the new features:
><http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx
>
>Before installing SP2, check your hardware vendor's site for any 
>SP2-specific updates which you may need to apply first:
><http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/oemlinks.mspx>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/oemlinks.mspx
>If your PC isn't on this list, go to Control Panel | System and click the 
>"Support Information" button.
>
>Also before installing, check this list of software for programs which may 
>be affected (notably old versions of ZoneAlarm). Update them first:
>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];xpsp2swhw
>
>Lastly, make sure you have lots of free disk space, and check your file 
>system for errors first (click Start, Help, and search for "repairing disk 
>errors"). After installing SP2, run the error check again, and then 
>defragment your C: drive (because of all the updates).
>
>Good luck!
>
>--Cy--
>

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