Xp Sp2

**Beirut** · 08-14-2006, 23:06

What da dillio with SP2? Some say it's a horrid virus-like thing that will mess up your entire system and others say it's not only safe, but required?

I just DL the MS FlightsimX demo and it needs SP2 to run. If anyone has an informed opinion I'd appreciate hearing it.

**tibilicus** · 08-14-2006, 23:24

Well normaly it doesn't cause any problem and it is recomended you upgrade to sp2 eventually but then again on some peoples pc it does funny things. It basicly introduces quite a few new pointless features like windows security centre and so on. But it's up to you really. I oonyl upgraded as I was told it made your pc mroe secure.

Tib

**Geezer57** · 08-14-2006, 23:42

Well, if you want to try out that flight sim, you'll have to take the plunge and upgrade to SP2. Before doing that, back up any essential files that you just can't live without, because SP2 (on rare occasions) has been known to mess things up - especially when dealing with older software.

SP2, along with a bunch of later patches, does make WinXP more secure than plain XP or SP1. It's still not perfect, but it's stable and far better than what we had to live with in the past.

**drone** · 08-15-2006, 00:13

At the end of October, Micro$oft will only be supplying updates for SP2, so you will probably want to upgrade soon. There have been some problems with the switch, having enough disk space is one of them. I haven't upgraded yet, since I know I will hit a disk problem (my C: drive partition is for OS-only stuff, and is not big enough to handle the WindowsUpdate method). You can download/save the update manually, I've got it sitting on my E: drive now.

I have done the update on other PCs (mainly gaming PCs), and haven't had any problems. It does turn on a lot of security features, these can affect online gaming until they are modified to suit.

**LeftEyeNine** · 08-15-2006, 08:14

The newest build of a program is most of the time the best build of it.

SP2 is a must -I'm using it for around 2 years without any real problems. It even reduced the blue-screen problems to an unnoticable degree. And that rocks indeed

**caravel** · 08-15-2006, 10:50

Stability definitely improves after SP2, though it can cause problems with some systems as stated above. I've heard of some peoples systems getting slower after an SP2 installation. The best way to install it is to slipstream it into your XP/XP SP1 CD and do a clean install.

There is an SP2 bug with the USB root hub drivers not being updated but you do this quickly from the device manager by clicking 'update driver'.

**DukeofSerbia** · 08-15-2006, 12:19

The best instalation of SP2 is when is integrated into WinXP and instaled on clear machine.

Instaling SP2 on already used WinXP with/out SP1 is not recomended.

I use WinXP with SP2 but it was instaled when I bought computer. And work perfect so far.

**LeftEyeNine** · 08-15-2006, 12:55

Oh yes, Caravel and DukeSerb mentioned what I forgot. When SP2 was out, I had integrated it into XP Setup CD that was build SP1, through instructions of a PC mag. Then I had installed it for a resh system.

If you don't have an XP SP2 CD already, you may try integrating it on your setup CD and have your very own XP SP2 CD. I'll see if I can find some source from which you can try doing yourself. Since it will be theoretically an image backup of your XP CD that you'll be working with, I don't think there is a risk that you may be losing something valuable. What's more, learning such stuff makes you feel great.

**caravel** · 08-15-2006, 13:24

The very easiest way to do it, is to download a program called 'nlite'. This makes it very easy to slipstream service packs. I made myself a Win2k + SP4 some time ago with this, my XP + SP2 I had made before I knew about this program.

**Xiahou** · 08-16-2006, 04:43

Originally Posted by LeftEyeNine

The newest build of a program is most of the time the best build of it.

SP2 is a must -I'm using it for around 2 years without any real problems. It even reduced the blue-screen problems to an unnoticable degree. And that rocks indeed

I agree- I think SP2 is essential for XP. I've already ridiculed relatives for not having upgraded already when I work on their PCs.

**BDC** · 08-16-2006, 18:10

Originally Posted by Xiahou

I agree- I think SP2 is essential for XP. I've already ridiculed relatives for not having upgraded already when I work on their PCs.

I agree. Finally made XP how it should have been from the outset (just in time for Vista!).

**Beirut** · 08-16-2006, 23:20

Well, I guess I have no choice. If I want to fly Microsoft's Flight Simulator X, which UI do, I have to have it.

Therefore, I will have it.

**fatsheep** · 08-16-2006, 23:32

Service pack2 is definately a must but I hate those service center pop ups. I always turn that off in services.msc...

**caravel** · 08-17-2006, 13:27

Originally Posted by fatsheep

Service pack2 is definately a must but I hate those service center pop ups. I always turn that off in services.msc...

The security centre is always first on my hit list, along with themes. I will then go through and disable all other unecessary services as required.

he security centre is basically a program that tells you if the firewall is off, anti-virus is off/not present, or automatic updates are off. Though I hate this service I can see the point in it but it doesn't achieve it's objective by a mile. This because most of your average pc users just don't bother with such things as updating and firewalls, and unless they're made aware of the lack or non operation of these progams they won't take any action.

The problem with programs such as the security centre, or e.g. norton personal firewall, anti virus or zonealarm is that alot of people tend to just ignore those irritating alerts and automatically click the close button, seeing them as a mere annoyance. There is a sales rep that I work with that has the annoying habit of instantly closing any crash error message before I can even read it! Warnings alerts and errors messages just tend to pop up annoy the user and then get closed and forgotten, because MS does not make them obvious or urgent enough. The whole modern approach to warnings, alerts and crash reports is poor.