I'm a little confused... got a general email from the IT dept recently saying that XP-SP2 was out and they were testing it before rolling it out to the uni network, but not to update our machines ourselves and to be careful backing up at home etc. Thing is, ...I can't see SP2 as an option on the windows update site yet... :rolleyes: I'm guessing that registered network-admin types might get advance copies or something?
Anyway, I'm thinking it must be time for SP2 to arrive to whack our remaining working systems... :ph34r:
SP2 is available to people who are members of MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network). It will not be available to the general public until later this month.
Please be advised to exercise caution when installing it. It contains many new features (popup blockers etc) not the least of which is an overhauled firewall which may well stop lots of your favourite apps from working properly.
I'm not saying don't install just think about what you are doing and that this might be one of the times to actually read the release notes prior to installing it ;)
... and IBM have told all their employees (400 0000) not to install SP2. :unsure:
It's also rumoured to use Automatic Update to install. If you have Windows Automatic Update switched on, you might want to switch it off and do manual updates for a while? Until you decide to install it at least.
If you have automatic update enabled then on your own head be it. Yeuch!!!
service pack 2 is available for mass consumption (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&DisplayLang=en) now.
also lots of mirrors at filemirrors.com (http://www.filemirrors.com/search.src?file=WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe&size=278927592).
md5 checksum is: 59a98f181fe383907e520a391d75b5a7
THATS THE FIRST THING U SWITCH OFF (ITS A PAIN IN THE AR** ANYWAYS) :woot2:
BBs word of caution.
Downloading it is OK but as with all things new don't be too tempted to install until we see if there are any issues coming to light from around the bazaars.
If you have no backups of your current installation may I suggest that you hold tight until others have "boldly gone" as it were.
Maybe it will be fine but MS have released kak SPs in the past :eyebrow:
Any of you seen the RC size? 267MB when last I looked. I feel for the dialuppers :(
I went back to skim, but didnt see the RC download link this time (in a hurry), but here are some reads:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...y/relsprc2.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/relsprc2.mspx)
One of the products we deal with uses FTP and TCP/IP transfers to get work to transcriptionists that work from home. I'm dreading the flood of calls when SP2 is installed and the firewall gets activated (by default as last told by MS).
:blink:
Anybody planning to install it should look here (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/winxpsp2.mspx) before they do. It will give you a heads up on what to expect and possible implications. In particular check out the security area to bottom left of page. HTH?
Me waits for floods of posts asking how to play CS/CZ with SP2 installed :D (Assuming of course you can post through the firewall :devil: )
From the Steam Forums before anyone asks:
QuoteIf you're sure that your 'Net connectivity is functioning but you are still unable to log in to Steam, it may be because the required ports are blocked by a device on your network (such as a router).
The following ports must be "open":
UDP 1200
UDP 27000 to 27015 inclusive
TCP 27030 to 27039 inclusive
Persoannly I think that is a bit too much (especially as the MS Firewall is meant to support SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection - like how much drag is that going to put on the CPU) so you may not need as many ports as that open.
My recommendation? Try as few ports as poss and see how it goes :)
Microsoft SP2 Support Tools (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=49ae8576-9bb9-4126-9761-ba8011fabf38&displaylang=en) - recommended for advanced users only.
Some brief info on what's in SP2 - link (http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39121942,00.htm)
How to create a bootable Installation CD with SP2 pre-installed (http://www.neowin.net/articles.php?action=more&id=94)
QuoteOriginally posted by BlueBall@Aug 10 2004, 02:28 PM
How to create a bootable Installation CD with SP2 pre-installed (http://www.neowin.net/articles.php?action=more&id=94)
now
that is the sort of thing I like to see :D
QuoteThe final preparation I always make is adding my WPA.DBL file to the CD. The WPA.DBL is the activated file for your PC & Hardware. It is unique to your machine so you don't have to worry about it being stolen or used anywhere else, It will only work on the machine you activated it on.
The benefit of backing this up to CD is that you can "activate" windows without actually needing to connect to or telephone Microsoft. This means you can re-install without having to worry about the limited times you can activate before calling a Microsoft representative.
I had no idea... that is so nice to know!
Dumb ass question, but does SP2 include SP1 too?
Lets see, SP2 provides a pop up blocker (got one) add on manager to control add ons (mine are perfectly well behaved). It's got an adware/spyware thingy (got Adaware(paid for)) and it's got a firewall (got a router/firewall and I turn off the windows jobbie) what else does it have that would make me jeopordise my nice stable pooter? :unsure: I don't like the sounds of this. :(
QuoteOriginally posted by FoCA|Bob_Barley@Aug 10 2004, 05:41 PM
Dumb ass question, but does SP2 include SP1 too?
Yup
QuoteOriginally posted by Doorman@Aug 10 2004, 07:00 PM
Lets see, SP2 provides a pop up blocker (got one) add on manager to control add ons (mine are perfectly well behaved). It's got an adware/spyware thingy (got Adaware(paid for)) and it's got a firewall (got a router/firewall and I turn off the windows jobbie) what else does it have that would make me jeopordise my nice stable pooter? :unsure: I don't like the sounds of this. :(
That's just the new functionality. It has all of the security fixes rolled into it too in case you missed any. It is worth downloading and burning to CD (or even creating a bootable SP2 Installation CD as per my post above) for that day when you gotta start again :)
However, your words are wise oh elder one and "if it ain't broke don't fix it" is an extremely sensible approach if you have all the security patches.
I'm patched up to the very eyeballs! I suppose I will go the SP2 route only because........................I don't know why 'because'! :dummy:
QuoteOriginally posted by BlueBall@Aug 9 2004, 07:09 PM
Anybody planning to install it should look here (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/winxpsp2.mspx) before they do. It will give you a heads up on what to expect and possible implications. In particular check out the security area to bottom left of page. HTH?
Me waits for floods of posts asking how to play CS/CZ with SP2 installed :D (Assuming of course you can post through the firewall :devil: )
OK I've installed it on my three home PC's including one tablet and can confirm the world didn't stop, I can still connect to the forums and CS/CZ does work through the firewall (just select unblock when prompted). :D
No problems so far but only been running a couple of hours....
Doorman, I think downloading SP2 is a fantastic idea. You should do it right away mate.
QuoteSomewhere, deep in the heart of the mountain, a miner carries a small wooden cage like a beacon. In the cage sits something more precious than the mountain’s yield, something that may save the miner’s life by sacrificing its own. I am referring, of course, to the canary, the little garden-variety songbird that used to serve as a sentinel for 19th century miners, warning them â€" largely by dying â€" when toxic fumes were in the mine shaft.
QuoteOriginally posted by smilodon@Aug 10 2004, 07:49 PM
Somewhere, deep in the heart of the mountain, a miner carries a small wooden cage like a beacon. In the cage sits something more precious than the mountain’s yield, something that may save the miner’s life by sacrificing its own. I am referring, of course, to the canary, the little garden-variety songbird that used to serve as a sentinel for 19th century miners, warning them â€" largely by dying â€" when toxic fumes were in the mine shaft.
Bit like me on a match night then <_<
QuoteOriginally posted by smilodon@Aug 10 2004, 07:49 PM
Doorman, I think downloading SP2 is a fantastic idea. You should do it right away mate.
QuoteSomewhere, deep in the heart of the mountain, a miner carries a small wooden cage like a beacon. In the cage sits something more precious than the mountain’s yield, something that may save the miner’s life by sacrificing its own. I am referring, of course, to the canary, the little garden-variety songbird that used to serve as a sentinel for 19th century miners, warning them â€" largely by dying â€" when toxic fumes were in the mine shaft.
[/b]
Do I detect a note of sarcasm there? /lamb to slaughter=1
Don't stand for his cheek Ron. You don't have to download it if you don't want to. Just install it anyway and don't tell anyone ;)
Geez I'm good at problem solving :D
...but not spelling which is why this got edited <_<
If you use BlueTooth in XP have a look here (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,31068) BEFORE installing SP2
Well I went ahead and installed it anyway. Don't know why you're all making such a fuss!
QuoteOriginally posted by Doorman@Aug 11 2004, 04:37 PM
Well I went ahead and installed it anyway. Don't know why you're all making such a fuss!
Who's computer did you borrow to post that then :devil:
:narnar: There was one small hiccup that may be of interest. Ati's vpu recovery system was called into action a couple of times which required a restart. But reinstalling the ati drivers cured it. I now feel completely safe in the knowledge that Microsoft© is caring for me. As if Bill would do anything to harm me.
Sorry, can't leave this alone. All three computers have now been upgraded with no ill effects. You bunch of Jessies!
I'm hanging on until I find out more about the BlueTooth issue. I use BlueTootth a lot and there is a risk I could end up with a non-working BT stack
I'll post back with results :)
I'll install it on one of the daughters computers first. :lol: :devil: :devil:
Sorry Doorman you're obviously trying to send us messages but all we are seeing is korean text and Ladyboy pictures. Have you done something to your PC recently?
Having installed SP2 on a few boxes at work with no problems, I've just bitten the bullet and installed on my machine. Again, the install was painless with the only issue being the fact that after re-booting I had to disable the Windows firewall and re-enable my BitDefender firewall and anti-virus.
Looking good. :)
I took the plunge (having done a bit more research on the bluetooth front). Seemingly there is a compatability list for Bluetooth. My devices run using WIDCOMM drivers so are the preferred ones seemingly. You don't need to uninstall anything and it all keeps working. Not bad for an £11 BT dongle from Scan (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=82671) :)
We've been checking it out at work and it seems SP2 is more like a complete new version of windows as the percentage of code re-written is nearer the difference between 2000 and XP than a simple service pack upgrade.
It will come out as a critical update but you can get a group policy addon to stop it being installed on Auto Update.
It's 266MB fills of CAB files so likely over 1GB of update files and major major major. Active X is a big worry as some developers implementations of A-X may not work too well with SP2.
I extracted the service pack to a CD and run update.exe (in the i386/update folder) rather than running the service pack file itself. I updated 2 PCs in under 35 minutes and one was a 1GHz PIII
They're crawling out of the woodwork now. Bravehearts!
We had been PMing each other for weeks Ron. The plan was to use you as a Guinea Pig and then follow on if you didn't explode :whistle:
Anybody used windows update since installing SP2? You get the new V5 of the windows update site. Very snazzy.
if you want to download sp2 dl it from fileplanet here
sp2 (http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=144129)
QuoteOriginally posted by GhostMjr@Aug 15 2004, 07:29 PM
if you want to download sp2 dl it from fileplanet here
sp2 (http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=144129)
Why make it difficult for yourself. Get it straight from Microsoft: SP2 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&DisplayLang=en)
No adverts, no bandwidth capping, no need to register :D
hehe! its not on the automatic windows update page yet! Well done bb ;)
Even easier use the automatic update tool that comes with windows and it does it all for you.
Not the way i'd do it personally but if you feel daunted by the prospect its the easiest way.
Never register for fileplanet they have some nasty rules about using your infomation/email. can't find them atm but it has been mentioned before on the forums.
Here (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=842242) is a list of known conflicts with SP2 issued at the MS Knowledgebase. It's quite a long list with some well known programs on there - we'd never have guessed that now would we? :rolleyes:
TL.
and they are all down to the firewall. TBH no matter which firewall you had you would have these issues so I don't understand what all the hooha is about. It is typical BBC style technology reporting as written by Kyle aged 5 - lets paint the picture really black :)
The way to avoid the problems that TL has highlighted above is to disable the windows firewall and to continue to use the one you already use.
And of course watch out for the security vunerabilities in the patch designed to deal with security vunerabilities. And it's not even fully released yet. Microsoft you are fabulous <_<
HERE (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/20/sp2_scripting_vuln/)
But to be fair it is apretty convoluted sequence to actually end up with the problem IMHO.
True, but it's proof we're living with Microsoft critical vunerabilities post SP2.
I too have grabbed a copy of SP2 and loaded it up. Can anyone see any point to the Security Centre feature? I can't so I've disabled the service.
Microsoft are now offering SP2 free on CD if you cannot face the download. Get it here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspx)
QuoteChess Advantage III: Lego Chess
Its in the list, damn them. No more online lego chess ownage :( :dummy:
QuoteOriginally posted by smilodon@Aug 24 2004, 01:21 AM
I too have grabbed a copy of SP2 and loaded it up. Can anyone see any point to the Security Centre feature? I can't so I've disabled the service.
Sheesh, what a grouch!
Educate me then matey. What good is it?
Its about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Do they really think we trust them with our security when their products are so full of holes anyway? Sheesh!
As I see it Security Centre does four things.
1. Puts another icon on your taskbar.
2. Pesters you to activate Automatic Update - Not allowing Microsoft to download stuff onto your PC as it sees fit, seems to me to be a basic security rule in it's own right. Several past patches have caused more problems than they are worth. I can decide for myself when I want to check Windows update and decide what I want to add to my PC.
3. Tells you that your anti-virus isn't upto date. If a person is stupid enough to let their anti-virus get more thana few days out of date deserves what they get.
4. It has an inbound only firewall that buggers up a long and varied list of applications. On it's own it doesn't provide anywhere near enough protection and a proper full firewall should be on everyones PC. All good firewalls offer the inbound protection making Microsofts firewall redundant.
So if you have no firewall, never patch your copy of Windows with Critical Updates and let your anti-virus get weeks out of date then I guess it's for you.
That being said SP2 does plenty more than the above and is a sensible update. And at least Microsoft are doing something about security. So bless'em
:)