XP service pack 2 - any comments?

[happynewyear]

:hi:

Has anyone else installed this yet? Seems my laptop went and downloaded the whole thing (no wonder is has been running so very slow). So, being the whole thing was there, I decided to install it and am running it now.

It seems to take forever for the computer to reboot I've noticed and just now while trying to access the DU here, it was giving me a "bug" report.

Does anyone else have any thoughts/comments re: XP service pack 2? Is it really any better and I wonder what exactly this new security thing is about. I see it has created a folder of security options but none of them are news to me.

Cheers from baldearg :toast:

:dem:

[Sporadicus]

1. The 'Bug Report' is Related to a Problem With DU's Servers

My upgrade to SP2 went off without a hitch. I find the pop-up blocker somewhat intrusive, however, since it seems to have a mind of its own - coming on after having been disabled.

[happynewyear]

4. I don't notice a pop-up blocker

Hmmm .. where is it? I don't seem to have one here - :wtf:

[Sporadicus]

9. Pull Down the 'Tools' Menu; It Should Be the Second Item n/t

[happynewyear]

13. thanks I found it

but ... it is still blocking pop-ups!!!! :grr:

[Sporadicus]

15. Yes, I've Encountered That Problem Too

I've turned OFF the pop-up blocker, only to find it blocking them again at some random time in the future. :argh:

[happynewyear]

16. hmmm

Well I figured out how to uninstall it - control panel add/remove programs and service pack 2 is there but sheesh, it takes like FOREVER to even check you HD space and open the folders now. I am not liking this ONE bit!

[Dudley_DUright]

2. Took forever to install

but seems to be working fine (so far, I just installed it yesterday).

[happynewyear]

7. yes, it took about 1 hr. to install here

and the downloading was to be approx. 6 hrs. on a dial-up connection. I had no idea it was being downloaded until this thing popped up telling me that the update was now ready (it did not say what the update was but I assumed it was service pack 2).

[Ilsa]

3. I got a bug report a minute ago also,

and I downloaded SP2 a month or so ago with no problems.

I have another problem: I can't run any wallpaper or screensavers without my videocard producing a grid of lines and shades. Up until today, my dvd player was working fine, but I ran about 15 minutes of F-911 outtakes, and the videocard started acting up again, so I had to shut it down.

This happened last year a month after buying the gateway laptop, and I sent back the machine and all they could do was download new drivers and wipe my machine clean. It started doing it again after I got it back, but doesn't if I take it easy on the videocard. Big disappointment.

[frylock]

20. try and find the updated video drivers..

you can try the Windows Update site. If not, try going to the manufacturer's website, and download the latest video drivers. They may be the same version you are already running, but a reinstall could help.

[Philostopher]

5. There was a database crunch a few minutes ago on DU

that probably wasn't your SP2, in other words -- I'm running an old Win2K OS, and it was happening to me, too.

The biggest problem some folks have had is getting older programs that ran fine on the original XP build to run on the service pack. If you find that things like games or applications don't run right, go to Microsoft.com and look for information -- they're supposed to have released some patches and 'workarounds' for this stuff.

The only thing we noticed, on our laptop (Mr. Nownow and I both still use Win2K on our PCs, but the laptop was bought this year and has XP on it), is that sometimes the whole thing crashes when trying to access networked drives on the home network. I don't know if it's a SP2 issue or an XP issue, though -- it may not be the service pack at all, we just hadn't tried mapping network drives on it until the other day.

Anyway, long story short -- some folks don't have any trouble, some do. If you do, MS is supposed to have at least some resolutions on the website in the 'knowledge base' or 'tech support' or whatever that part of the site is called.

Good luck!

[madmom]

6. Was a pain in the butt.

We uninstalled it after a few days.Allso it took over 2 gig of the hard drive.

[happynewyear]

8. how do you uninstall it?

It sure is slow booting up and the security - ? and what is this about a pop-up blocker? Yikes ... thanks for the input.

:dem:

[madmom]

19. use the add/remove feature in "my computer" n/t

[wryter2000]

11. I'm thinking of getting rid of it, too.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Do you get constant, irritating reminders to download the upgrade?

[happynewyear]

12. nothing re: upgrade YET

but yikes I don't like it so far - I need some of those popups!

How do you get rid of it? How? Yikes!

:dem:

[wryter2000]

10. I installed it yesterday

The only problem I'm sure of so far is that it's overly aggressive at blocking pop-ups. I tried to get a statement from Share Builder, but it blocked the pop-up until I specifically told it not to. Also, I just voted at CNN.com, but it didn't show me the poll results until I exited and went back.

I think the DU thing is a DU problem because I've posted today. It's only in the last hour or so that my posts stopped going through. Which probably means I typed all this for no reason. Sigh.

[GoBlue]

14. Seems to be much slower than SP1 but....

I only have 128M of RAM.

[xray s]

17. do you really need it if you have a good anti-virus/firewall package?

it would seem to be redundant. I don't know if you can trust MS to get it right.

[happynewyear]

18. I don't believe so

from what I am seeing here (still running it) it takes a lot of RAM up (I have 256 on this laptop).

It is no doubt slow. I have ZoneAlarm and also Norton AV already. Unless you want the pop-up blocker ... but what a HUGE price to pay for little security!

:dem:

[mr blur]

21. And of course Firefox...

...has a popup blocker anyway.

I have installed the Service Pack 2 - a guy I know who builds PCs tells me that the advatages won't really be noticeable except to folks like him SP2 and it _will_ stop things working which worked before. So, if you have no problems with current configuration then don't bother.

[miss_kitty]

22. "XP service pack 2 - any comments?"

Sucks!

and I didn't even download it.

I just don't use IE. Problem? Problem Solved!

[WindRavenX]

23. IT FUCKING SUCKS

GODDAMN I HATE IT.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

24. Don't install the firewall...

It comes on every time you start up, even thought you've told it you've got your own firewall and you want to worry about it yourself. You have to tell it to go away EVERY TIME. IT sucks. Damned obnoxious Microsoft. The popup stopper thing and the built in virus protection isn't HORRIBLE....I haven't heard anything from either of them.
Duckie

[da_chimperor]

25. It's got a security 'crater' (LINK)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/25/xpsp2_security_crater/