Microsoft had released a special registry key for large customers that delays Windows XP SP2’s automatic download and installation for 120 days, to give companies time to prepare for the update. They have decided to extend that timeframe to 240 days, due to pressure from customers.
i have two friends who installed sp2. one could no longer boot into windows, the other had all kinds of system processes start going out of control, and lost the ability to view webpages (in any browser).
needless to say, im more then a little hesitent in installing it myself.
“the other had all kinds of system processes start going out of control, and lost the ability to view webpages (in any browser). ”
i had a friend who recently went from 56k to ADSL, and he’s using the same ISP as me, well his ADSL wasnt working not sure if its anything to do with Sp2, but a windows process called “Localsrv.exe” was preventing webpages loading, so i terminated that and the webpages worked again, rebooted system saw if the same happened, same happened again, so i blocked “localsrv.exe” in the Firewall list on his copy of McAfee.
note: again not sure if this is an sp2 issue as my ADSL works fine with sp2
is this
—//—
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdate]
“DoNotAllowXPSP2″=dword:00000001
—//—
or something different?
A registry key to prevent SP2?. thats a bad idea. users shouldnt be medelling with the registry. give them a more usable setup MS
I’ve just told Auto Update to not remind me about sp2 again. Just before that I downloaded and installed over 50! security fixes.
>A registry key to prevent SP2?. thats a bad idea. users >shouldnt be medelling with the registry. give them a more >usable setup MS
This is not supposed to be used by end users, but rather by system administrators. Deploy a registry key is a lot easier than deploy a setup program.
My company has been on SP2 now for 2 weeks and we have had nothing but smooth sailing. I havent had problems with it myself and everything seems to be working better.
This is not supposed to be used by end users, but rather by system administrators. Deploy a registry key is a lot easier than deploy a setup program.
—-
really. is there a way to propogate registry changes. a msi setup program can do this
I’ve installed SP2 on every one of our 25 workstations without a single problem. Then again, I backup all our PCs with drive imaging software, so if something goes wrong they can be back up and running within 10 or 15 minutes.
A friend of mine installed SP2 and all of his EA games quit working, so he uninstalled it and now everything works fine. I think I will reformat my box and slipstream SP2 and then start clean.
EA Games stopped working? Microsoft just gave you a big favor!
I let a friend of mine play some games on my computer and I left him alone. When I got back, windows update was installing something huge. I approached and I was just thinking to myself, and saying to him, “Please. Don’t let this be SP2…”
It was. But since then (about one day) it hasn’t been too bad. There has only been one strange side-effect. Half-Life crashes almost instantly. Doom3 runs peachy, but Half-Life crashes. I underclocked the card to experiment with the cause and it started running reliably again…
//not totally sure it’s a SP2 issue, but it only started afterword
If you have problems installing sp2 just give Microsoft a ring -they are providing free phone support for sp2 issues.
As for the webpage issues – there have been cases of it messing up DNS server settings (easily rectified by reentering them) or sometimes corrupting the winsock (a little tricker but again fixable) – usually though it is down to 3rd party software (eg often uninstalling zonealarm and reinstalling it will fix the issue).
Just install sensibly eg make sure your bios,drivers and 2rd party software (especially firewalls and AV software are up to date -some eg Norton products must be updated manually -check the vendors website) befor installing. When installing download the full installer or install from cd and make sure all external devices are disconnected.
Oh and running an AV and anti-spyware scan beforhand is a good idea.
Doing a clean boot to install should also help to ensure no problems.
There are some issue with Prescott/Celeron processors with certain bioses and some issues with AMD64 chips – just check the tech websites if you think you may be affected.
Finally if you do have problems ring ~Microsoft before you start messing about and reinstalling – they can probably sort it out for you!
I have installed SP2 on Windows Professional on 3 home
machines and a Compaq Laptop AMD Processors in all of
them.
People who state they installed SP2 and it broke their
machines are not even installing it.
SP2 is so easy to install, a child can install it.
Microsoft will most likely release small patches for it
but what software company doesn’t release patches.
Overall, SP2 has plenty of security features, firewall,
options to lock your box down.
MS did an excellent job on SP2, wished they would have
incorporated this into Windows XP HOME and Professional
to begin with….
mac
I have installed SP2 on Windows Professional on 3 home
machines and a Compaq Laptop AMD Processors in all of
them.
People who state they installed SP2 and it broke their
machines are not even installing it.
Just because it worked for your 4 machines doesn’t mean that it will work on every single hardware/software combination. When you have literally billions if not trillions of different combinations of software and hardware, not everything is going to work perfectly. Heck, I could have two identical hardware machines, with the same software have different problems because some hardware was installed in different order. Your test of four machines doesn’t mean that SP2 is 100% foolproof. Heck, I wouldn’t even say that it is 1% foolproof unless there were only 400 SP2 installations out there.
i had a friend who recently went from 56k to ADSL, and he’s using the same ISP as me, well his ADSL wasnt working not sure if its anything to do with Sp2, but a windows process called “Localsrv.exe” was preventing webpages loading, so i terminated that and the webpages worked again, rebooted system saw if the same happened, same happened again, so i blocked “localsrv.exe” in the Firewall list on his copy of McAfee.
The localsrv.exe is a virus. (http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=WOR…)
SP2 works absolutely perfectly and brought a small speed boost. But as always, YMMV. You need more data than four machines to say anything about success / failure rate.
I’m currently in school for networking/security/ yada yada yada…We discussed SP2 in class today. One guy’s brand new laptop is doing things I’ve never seen, and as part of my name implies, I am a geek. Our class, which includes guys that know waaaaaay more than me said “Screw SP2”. I currently have SP1, have auto update disabled, and will not install SP2 until it comes with a hot little blonde genie in a fancy bottle, and she calls me ‘Master’.
My motto: If it ain’t broke dont’t fix it.
I’ll wait awhile for Micro$oft to admit the flaws in SP2.
Peace, out.
ps- I’ll relay the info that MS is offering free tech help with it-thanks for that morsel..!
It seems with a few PCs I’ve installed SP2 onto I have found there to be issues. This usually tends to be PCs gunked up with lots of software. A clean install seems to have always resulted in a perfectly working install.
It took me a while to enable my necessary services. Otherwise, yesterday’s SP2 upgrade was entirely uneventful. This from someone who reluctantly uses Windows only when absolutely necessary.
Just because it worked for your 4 machines doesn’t mean that it will work on every single hardware/software combination.
Doesn’t mean it won’t work either. All the posters statement said was that it worked for him.
When you have literally billions if not trillions of different combinations of software and hardware, not everything is going to work perfectly.
Really? Trillions? Wow, Windows has a larger installed base than I thought.
Heck, I could have two identical hardware machines, with the same software have different problems because some hardware was installed in different order.
Yeah, it’s called a hardware problem. That’s not Windows’ fault, or SP2’s or any OS’s fault that people don’t install hardware properly.
Your test of four machines doesn’t mean that SP2 is 100% foolproof.
Apparently it is for him.
Heck, I wouldn’t even say that it is 1% foolproof unless there were only 400 SP2 installations out there.
And your evidence for this assertion is…? At least the poster has a factual basis for his claim. Where’s yours? Must be one of those trillion computers out there.
I would seriously consider giving every system you install it on a spring clean and defrag before loading it.
Haven’t had any problems on any machine I’ve installed it on but then I also service them and make sure there isn’t any crap running.
I don’t mean to prove you wrong on any of your points, but you made your case by misinterpreting every point you responded to.
“Doesn’t mean it won’t work either. All the posters statement said was that it worked for him.”
Actually, what he said was, “People who state they installed SP2 and it broke their machines are not even installing it.”
“Really? Trillions? Wow, Windows has a larger installed base than I thought.”
Possible hardware combinations. Same number (pretty much) for Linux on x86. More if you go to more architectures.
“Yeah, it’s called a hardware problem. That’s not Windows’ fault, or SP2’s or any OS’s fault that people don’t install hardware properly.”
It’s a hardware and software problem. And this is about properly installed hardware; installed in regular but different orders causing different behaviors. This is an old problem was PCs.
“Apparently it is for him.”
Foolproof doesn’t have qualifiers “for him” or “for me”. It’s all or nothing.
–subject change–
I’ve had some time to play with SP2 and I’ve found one more thing it broke on my machine–I can’t browse my network. Someone said SP2 might have issues with AMD64… this is an Opteron, so I’ll be looking into it.
“I’ll wait awhile for Micro$oft to admit the flaws in SP2. Peace, out.”
“Although the company says that some of these changes will cause problems with around one in 10 existing applications, it is not planning a certification programme and is not maintaining a public list of troublesome software.” — http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39154269,00.htm
I don’t know if they’ve spoken on security problems or SP2 breaking Windows itself. But holes were found in what seemed like no time at all. I almost got whiplash from it.
> They have decided to extend that timeframe to 240 days, due to pressure from customers.
Why thank you MSFT!
Now tell me – What business is it of theirs what I or anybody else installs or choose not to?
My motto: If it ain’t broke dont’t fix it.
So I assume you’ll be installing the service pack right away then? you can’t honestly tell me you think windows isnt broken
Stop the madness!
Scan your system for viruses (avast! is free for home use, you have no excuse). Scan your system for spyware (AdAware and Spybot are both free you have no excuse).
Fix your broken ActiveX controls before they kill us all! Better yet, stop using that hideous bitch-goddess and write proper web services and web pages.
I’ve installed SP2 on four different computers without a single glitch because none of them were infected with viruses, worms, or Bonzi Buddy.
– chrish
i agree. for an apparently tech oriented group of people there sure do seem to be a lot of pussies here, scared that software will break their PCs. I’ve yet to hear of anyone competent installing SP2 and having problems. its always newbs with loads of malware on their computer having problems, then paranoid “geeks” (imposters really, no real geek fears software) who run around claiming the service pack is the spawn of satan without even trying it for themselves.
“Foolproof doesn’t have qualifiers “for him” or “for me”. It’s all or nothing.”
It does have a qualifier – there are certain people who are less than fools (let’s call them “zealots” – people who will refuse to believe something despite the evidence.)
I’d include in that category people who believe turning off automatic updates (AU) is a good idea. For a few years now, it’s been obvious that those with AU on have been at an advantage – they’ve been less likely to get worms/viruses than those without AU. Unfortunately, a few AU zealots have promoted turning AU off. Ordinary, trusting users have been disadvantaged by that. AU has caused less application failures and downtime than “no AU.” MS haven’t used AU to invade privacy either. (Malware is a bigger concern in that respect – and SP2 actively guards against most of it.)
For most home users, leaving AU on is the best policy (even with the SP2 controversy.) I’m not speaking out my ass here, I’ve updated approx 300 computers at work, home and for friends and family. I’ve only seen negative effects on one computer. They were cosmetic effects at shutdown, and I suspect were caused by a VERY out of date ACPI configuration.
IMO, the article is a bit misleading. MS have provided a means for companies to control their Windows updates for years now. AU is independent of that, and any administrator worth his while should have implemented one of those solutions before now.
Your comments are quite right. I should have stated that XP seems to be a zillion times more stable than 9x. I run for 4 or 5 months at a time without powering down, whereas 9x would have given me many many BSOD’s. I guess that’s what I considered ‘not broken’….an up time in the 99.999% of the time range. Not perfect, but MUCH improved over MS’s previous OS’s…..
later y’all !