The following is an excerpt from Fred Langa's Latest Newsletter (30 Sep 2004)
A free subscription of his newsletter can be obtained at: http://www.langalist.com
If done with care, SP2 can actually be part of the solution, rather than another problem.
That's because it's a roll-up of a *huge* number of separate fixes, tweaks, and updates,
all in one. (See the list here: Here<> )
It also includes a new "Data Execution Prevention" (DEP) feature that tries to address the general
problem of "buffer overruns" that have caused so many security problems in the past.
It's so big and far-reaching that, back in the days when Microsoft's arrogance knew no bounds,
SP2 probably would have come out as a "new" version of XP--- XP2004, or some such--- and Microsoft
would have charged for it. After all, that's exactly what they did with "Windows Millennium Edition",
which was really just a glorified update of Win98SE.
And had it gone that way--- if SP2 were a $99 upgrade--- I'd advise against it, just as I once
advised against Windows ME as not being worth the cost. But to its credit, MS didn't play games with SP2.
It's offered free, and isn't renamed to make it look like a new version of Windows. (A curious aside:
SP2 does strip off the word "Professional" or "Home" from the opening start-up screen: All SP2 installs
simply say "Windows XP" at startup, regardless of which version they really are. Hmmm.)
As for the time required to install it, remember that Microsoft will mail you a free SP2 CD, and even
pay the postage for you. A CD install eliminates the long download (especially for dial-up users);
CD-based SP2 installation time is measured in tens of minutes, not hours or days. And for that investment
of time, you're getting a major refresh and update of your OS.
NOTE: BCC members can obtain a copy of the free SP2 CD by sending an email message to
the next meeting.
My original reservations about SP2 were, in fact, due to that very size and complexity: It was bound to
cause trouble on some systems. But SP2 has been out long enough now so that the worst problems have been
identified and can be known in advance of an installation. That's hard-won information that some SP2 pioneers
paid dearly for. But now, you don't have to:
Read through the resources (web sites) below and, if everything checks out, make a backup of your system,
and then go ahead and install SP2 via download, or by free CD. My guess is that it will be a very
worthwhile update in the long run.
Free SP2 CD:
Known hardware, software problems with SP2; troubleshooting; step-by-step how-tos; more:
Windows XP SP2 Info for IT Professionals
Additional technical info:
Non-technical (consumer) info:
Real-Life Experiences With XP's SP2
in top right corner,
or Click Here