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Win XP SP2, is it worth it?

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  • Nov 9th, 2004 9:51 am
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Member
Nov 7, 2003
252 posts
1 upvote

Win XP SP2, is it worth it?

Hello,

I have been wary about installing the service pack 2 software for XP. I have already heard of confirmed issues where SP2 would make North Antivirus Corp. Ed's scheduled tasks, such as auto scan and auto definition updates, unfunctional.

I am currently running Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition 7.x, Symantic has already predicted a SP2 patch for the 7.x edition, to be released in January 2005! In the meantime, windows update refuses to let me have any patch or security updates until I have installed SP2. That is quite a problem.

Also, it has taken me a while to resolve the NAT issues for BT. I have over 100kB/sec tranfers now, and it's "B" with the capital! :P... I don't want SP2 to stop me. If SP2 is just window's way to closing up internet access, then downloading is going to be a problem with SP2.

I am still not sure whether to install SP2 or not..., SP2 sounds like MS' attempt to cover up their OS's security issues.

I have a hardware firewall (router), a Sygate Firewall, running on Firefox, and I do weekly Lavasoft scans and registry cleanups. Is there really any use for SP2 for me?
Trying is the first step towards failure
--Homer Simpson
31 replies
Deal Addict
Oct 2, 2003
1655 posts
230 upvotes
North West Ontario
There really was never a reason not to do the SP2 update. If you do a Norton Live Update you will get SP2 compatable updates (at least I did and I have the corp edition) Bittorent will run just fine..

Big Companies like IBM recommended people avoid SP2 because thier software was not overly secure itself (my interpatation of it)..

Sp2 is Microsofts attempt at plugging security issues, not covering them up..
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Nov 30, 2003
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Toronto
I just grabbed all the individual fixes; don't trust SP's.
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Nov 7, 2003
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Headhunter wrote:I just grabbed all the individual fixes; don't trust SP's.

How did you do that? when I used win update, all I got was the SP2 choice.
Trying is the first step towards failure
--Homer Simpson
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
38395 posts
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East Gwillimbury
I agree, I installed Service Pack 2 as soon as it was made public. If Microsoft says this is necessary, why doubt them? Why would they care about your internet access?

If you are refering to the restriction imposed for outbout TCP, that should not affect your torrents. If you are concerned, there is a patch to reset it.

Although I have had some minor problems with printing because of SP2. Overall the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages
Deal Addict
Sep 15, 2004
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MS spent a half billion and about 1.5 years making SP2, it more or less is a king sized bug fix, and seems stable enough. Why be left behind when all the updates from all sides are being configured for SP2? Sooner or later you'll be on the otherside with a lot of software not working right because you failed to update...
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Jan 25, 2004
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SP2 is a useless piece of crap. Tried it twice, once without a full reinstall, once with. What I didn't like:

-integrated firewall kept on turning itself on. I have a router w/built in firewall that I absolutely don't need
-could *not* get rid of Windows Media Player 9. Didn't install it, but whenever I tried to load up a mp3/avi the first thing it would do is try to install it, even when I associated these files with other programs.
-severe compatibility problems with some customised third party apps
-bloated - took longer to start up & shut down
-privacy issues - new EULA is much more draconian than old, not to mention re-activation problems. Only workaround for me & my legal copy of XP was to *download* a copy of XP along with crack.

When you look for updates in SP1, at the bottom of the screen there's a button that lets you get "other" bug fixes - i.e. without actually getting SP2. SP1 is fantastic, IMHO, akin to Windows 98 SE (as opposed to Windows 98). SP2, on the other hand, is a waste of time and effort.

Don't get me wrong - I absolutely adore Microsoft products. I'm comfortable with macs and with various linux distros, but Microsoft's products (IMHO) are more polished, run cleaner & faster, and have more third party programs available.
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Sep 18, 2003
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Any1 have links to useful progs / patches for sp2? I know there was 1 for connections case u did have trouble with BT, what else is there if u have probs? I'd like to also get sp2..but ahvnt..
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
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East Gwillimbury
Sounds like you have other problems with your computer. I have never experience any of these problems and I have installed SP2 on lots of machines
Txiasaeia wrote:SP2 is a useless piece of crap. Tried it twice, once without a full reinstall, once with. What I didn't like:

-integrated firewall kept on turning itself on. I have a router w/built in firewall that I absolutely don't need
-could *not* get rid of Windows Media Player 9. Didn't install it, but whenever I tried to load up a mp3/avi the first thing it would do is try to install it, even when I associated these files with other programs.
-severe compatibility problems with some customised third party apps
-bloated - took longer to start up & shut down
-privacy issues - new EULA is much more draconian than old, not to mention re-activation problems. Only workaround for me & my legal copy of XP was to *download* a copy of XP along with crack.

When you look for updates in SP1, at the bottom of the screen there's a button that lets you get "other" bug fixes - i.e. without actually getting SP2. SP1 is fantastic, IMHO, akin to Windows 98 SE (as opposed to Windows 98). SP2, on the other hand, is a waste of time and effort.

Don't get me wrong - I absolutely adore Microsoft products. I'm comfortable with macs and with various linux distros, but Microsoft's products (IMHO) are more polished, run cleaner & faster, and have more third party programs available.
Deal Expert
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Oct 15, 2002
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I haven't had problems with SP2 either. The pop-up blocker and built-in firewall is great!
Deal Guru
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Mar 12, 2004
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it went awesome for me, installed it on 3 pcs, all fine,
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Txiasaeia wrote:SP2 is a useless piece of crap. Tried it twice, once without a full reinstall, once with. What I didn't like:

-integrated firewall kept on turning itself on. I have a router w/built in firewall that I absolutely don't need
-could *not* get rid of Windows Media Player 9. Didn't install it, but whenever I tried to load up a mp3/avi the first thing it would do is try to install it, even when I associated these files with other programs.
-severe compatibility problems with some customised third party apps
-bloated - took longer to start up & shut down
-privacy issues - new EULA is much more draconian than old, not to mention re-activation problems. Only workaround for me & my legal copy of XP was to *download* a copy of XP along with crack.
I think Txiasaeia is right. You guys do not have the 'problems' because you probably have a vanilla XP instead of adding other programs on top of it. If SP2 can't work with a generic configuration, somebody in Microsoft would be fired.

Do you have any "customised third party apps"? You probably don't.

Let me give you an example? Our office bought a Toshiba laptop "pre-install" with XP SP1 (2 months old). Everything works okay. However, the user set the system to automatic update and it got SP2 on its own. That's fine but the networking was slow down to something like 1/1000 as before SP2. i.e. a web page comes out after 15 minutes instead of 0.1 second.

I was called in to check that out. I don't know what went wrong other than installing SP2. Anyway, I find that the firewire network has a firewall and the network bridge has a firewall. Since the user does not use firewire, I disable the firewire network and everything back to normal. I don't know why the firewire is related but somehow it does.

In the other XP SP1, after installing SP2, there is VPN network slowness problem.

What I am trying to say is you don't have the problem, great. But, it does not mean others won't. IMO, you have to install SP2 eventually. I personally will delay that until Microsoft patches up SP2 better, 3rd party software companies patch up their program to deal with SP2 and I have all the FAQ in my hand.
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Jul 21, 2003
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I've heard far too many negative stories about SP2, and when I had a pc problem, with my HP PC, I had to call the tech. support line; he asked if I had SP2, and I thought, 'Oh boy, he's gonna' tell me I need to get that now' and I replied, 'No, I'm just not comfortable with installing it; I've heard too many negative comments about it.' He said 'Good! You're smart to leave that one out; ever since SP2 came out, we've had a huge amount of problems from customers with their pc's, linked to such a buggy SP2.' I just can't bring myself to do it, I hate when programs suddenly don't work the same way, etc., and don't want to use my time to try to 'fix' such things, when I could be surfing RFD instead. ;)
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Jul 21, 2003
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gman wrote:IMO, you have to install SP2 eventually. I personally will delay that until Microsoft patches up SP2 better, 3rd party software companies patch up their program to deal with SP2 and I have all the FAQ in my hand.
I agree; eventually it will come down to needing to install it. But I'd rather wait, like gman, until it seems to be less 'buggy' when I do install it.
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Jan 25, 2004
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Gee wrote:Sounds like you have other problems with your computer. I have never experience any of these problems and I have installed SP2 on lots of machines
OS44 wrote:dont listen to him, sp2 is great, i mean, why would you not install it? fresh install of xp and then installing sp2, it would make your new install of windows xp have a lot less "bugs"

and new programs will be built around sp2 as well. for ati, they recommend sp2 to be installed for thier win XP drivers, and soon it will become a requirement as well, just like how the drivers version for windows 2000 require sp4 installed to install http://ati.com/support/driver.html

and the problems this guy is having with SP2 is not normal. i never had any of the problems he listed and im sure a lot of people dont either.
Like I said, I did both an upgrade to SP2 and a fresh install w/SP2. I'm sure if all you're installing is Windows XP and Microsoft Office that it would work fine, but I use a lot of specific software (some made years & years ago for Win95 & DOS) that are completely broken by SP2. Other problems with my computers with SP1? Absolutely none.

"fresh install of xp and then installing sp2, it would make your new install of windows xp have a lot less "bugs""

I love this comment. Start menu -> Windows Update -> Custom Install -> Review Other Updates will update your SP1 computer with all hotfixes, patches etc. that SP2 has.

I'm not saying that my setup is typical at all, but while all of my current programs work without fail on SP1, several of them do not work at all with SP2. This is what I don't get - if a DOS program works perfectly with SP1, why wouldn't it with SP2?

One more problem I forgot to mention earlier: the network manager that SP2 uses is simply atrocious. Yes, it looks pretty, but I had nothing but problems moving my thinkpad between access points. SP1? If I'm at home, it picks up my wireless router. School? Automatically switches over. Work? Automatically switches over.

For my specific setup, there's no way I'd use SP2. If all you want to use is internet, email & games (made later than 2001), then hey, knock yourself out ;)
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Apr 17, 2003
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I'm keeping my TP away from SP2...for now.
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Sep 4, 2003
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I installed SP2 w/o isntalling SP1.. does it make a difference? or does Sp2 cover everything from Sp1?
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Sep 4, 2003
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OS44 wrote:the latest service covers everything before, including sp1
thx... got that off my chest... been wondering if i had been missing something
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Apr 17, 2002
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I've got SP2, and the only complaint I have is with the problems with sites that use web bugs etc..

For example, going to ebay is now a pain, with all the red 'x' marks everywhere, which I'm guessing is the web cgi 'bugs'.

Also, I'm not using zonealarm anymore, and still have these problems.

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