Windows XP service pack 2 - anyone had any problems or success ?

Gerry · April 16th, 2008, 06:23 AM

Hey Gang,

I need to update my XP to service pack 2 or above if I wish to update my Norton package to 2008.

Does anyone have anything good, bad or ugly to say about the service pack 2 ???
(I ask because I have one person teling me it screwed up some of his software.......)

Any comments/experience/recommendations either way would be welcomed, thanks very much.

saltedm8 · April 16th, 2008, 06:31 AM

you should have upgraded to service pack 2 ages ago, it fixes a hell of allot of problems that xp used to have

i would not recommend Norton though, if anything is going to screw up your system its that

Aso · April 16th, 2008, 08:23 AM

^Don't waste another moment - get SP2 now!

Personally, I would do a clean Windows install then upgrade before you do anything else.

Of course, this isn't exactly practical, but you should at least fully remove Norton before you upgrade (make you sure you use the Norton removal tool).

Bocaj · April 16th, 2008, 09:00 AM

Service pack two did wonders for my constantly crashing system... so did removing nortan but that's a different story.

Service pack 2 does have alot of bug and security loopholes fixed, but bear in mind there are some minor alterations (you probably won't notice) such as a further restriction on the number of open connections to 10.

There are a few more that will probably remain invisible to most users... but if you do notice any differences, be sure to have a google

nuideas · April 17th, 2008, 12:28 PM

i would upgrade to sp2 mate for sure as it sorts out lots of issues... the question should be why are you using norton 2008?

Its big bloated and not that great as its more of a jack of all rather than mater of one.

I can makes some suggestions of cheep (and they even do free home versions of some great software) all u need to do is google it mate.

first off virus : got to be avast been using the free one for years and i hit torrent sites alot!
second off spyware : super anti spyware is my wepon of choice
third off firewall : (i dont use this personally as i have windows firewall and site behind a router but i have used it in the past) comodo free personal firewall

just my ten pence worth tho buddy but make the break stop the bloat and get xp working quick again

i even went a step further and reinstalled xp from fresh to make sure all aspects of norton had gone - but thats just me

Ed · April 17th, 2008, 04:18 PM

You are really behind, aren't you? I upgraded to SP2 in like 2004!

Ed.

Gerry · April 17th, 2008, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed

You are really behind, aren't you? I upgraded to SP2 in like 2004!

Ed.

Its all relative.
If something isnt causing any difficulty I am not interested in whether it is the newest or fastest.
But as long as you feel better for contributing such a helpful response, I'm happy for you.

PS my thanks to everyone else for making the effort. cheers

saltedm8 · April 17th, 2008, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Its all relative.
If something isnt causing any difficulty I am not interested in whether it is the newest or fastest.

how about the most secure ?

the reason for most of these updates is to block most malicious events happening on or in your computer, if you don't keep it up to date, then your computer is like an open book, everything you do can be watched without your knowledge, that includes personal information too...

that is the point of updates, to fix open security holes in your computer, not to make it better or run faster ( although sometimes it is, just because maybe an installed hardware needs something fixed to stop a potential problem )

updating is recommended for your security and ease of use between you and your computer...

nuideas · April 18th, 2008, 04:58 AM

i agree saltedm8 as the whole purpose of SP2 is security - following taken from M$ website:

Quote:

Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) is a free update for Windows XP. It offers enhancements and better protection against viruses, hackers, and worms.

With features like Windows Firewall, Pop-up Blocker for Internet Explorer, and Windows Security Center, you can be confident that your computer has the right tools to stay more secure and up to date.

Ed · April 18th, 2008, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerry

Its all relative.
If something isnt causing any difficulty I am not interested in whether it is the newest or fastest.
But as long as you feel better for contributing such a helpful response, I'm happy for you.

PS my thanks to everyone else for making the effort. cheers

SP2 wasn't one of those game consoles that you buy and within six months, they've announced a new one. It wasn't one of those newest and latest gimmicks that you see every day of the week! You sound slightly clueless when talking like this.

And then you make an assumption that I intended my post to be helpful. Not so. I intended for my post to get the point across that it's ludicrous that you still have not updated to Service Pack 2, and that you were wondering if it was good.

SP2 increased XP's reliability and security by so much. Before SP2, XP was considered a quite unstable system.

Ed.

saltedm8 · April 18th, 2008, 05:47 PM

aside from the fact that windows is not the most secure operating system to being with anyway

Tazerteam · April 23rd, 2008, 02:09 PM

sp2. I believe king Arthur had his knights bring that to me several years back...

don't use Norton. Its like a weed and hard to get rid of. Kill it, kill it now!

bigtester · May 6th, 2008, 06:51 AM

I thought that without SP2 you were more likely to get problems, not less. I have been running SP2 since July 2005 without any issues. I heard a few days ago that SP3 is about to be released, and there is something about that on the Microsoft website.

Edit: There's information on Service Pack 3 here.

Monie · May 6th, 2008, 08:18 AM

SP2 closes all the loophole in SP1.
So you better get your SP2 now... just update from the Microsoft website will do just fine

CloudedVision · May 6th, 2008, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed

You are really behind, aren't you? I upgraded to SP2 in like 2004!

Ed.

All of you are really behind. SP3 was released today.

I just upgraded.

Monie · May 7th, 2008, 01:18 AM

Hahaha...
Can we upgrade to SP3 through the update online page? I did try recently updating my XP Pro from the website, but my system still SP2!
Or do we need to download the SP3 file and install them manually?

Ed · May 7th, 2008, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CloudedVision

All of you are really behind. SP3 was released today.

I just upgraded.

Well, I'm on Vista now hahha!

Guys, Gerry obviously saw no need to upgrade - and I think we've been a bit harsh!

Ed.

CloudedVision · May 7th, 2008, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed

Well, I'm on Vista now hahha!

Isn't vista more of a downgrade.

Our family computer has vista on it. I absolutely hate it.

Monie · May 7th, 2008, 07:50 PM

I hate VISTA as well... It took ages for me to search the "Folder Option" menu to view the hidden file.

Marc · May 8th, 2008, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltedm8

aside from the fact that windows is not the most secure operating system to being with anyway

You will actually get quite a present surprise: XP is one of the more secure operating systems out there!

Here is how long it took for people to hack operating systems:

<1 Day - Mac
~2 Days - Vista
Unhacked - Linux
Unhacked - XP