Any Problems with SP2

[dl65]

Thought it a good idea to start a new thread on SP2 ......
any comments ......good , bad ........or whatever.

let us know

dl65  

[Raptor]

Have not yet downloaded SP2. Microsoft advised to have Automatic Updates on and just wait. I can live with that.

[2k dummy]

Some people seem to be happy with it, but for many others it is causing problems. It breaks a lot of apps (more than 100 listed on MS site). It does not play nice with with Norton - Norton will cease to function. It turns on the built in firewall by default, but nothing is configured. It does not block out bound traffic from trojans, etc. It will change your settings in IE. Images will no longer load automatically (search for drag and drop vulnerability) and IE remains vulnerable even with SP2. It would be wise to wait until all the bugs have been worked out and then read up on what to expect. It (theoretically) prevents buffer over run vulnerabilities. Incidentally, there is no way to uninstall SP2 if you do have problems.

[dl65]

I have 2 pcs......SP2 downloaded ok on the one machine.
and seems to work well so far. That pc has Norton on it and was recognised by sp2 and Norton works with it just fine . Haven't had any problems with it ...yet.
Now the other machine .....I received the notice to be sure and turn on auto updates .....bla....bla ...bla.....
it was always on and yet never received sp2 ....so went to the updatepage went through all the hoops and it said that my machine was current with all necessary updates. I checked to see and there were 4 sp2 updates received some time ago. Any way I went back to updates page and tried some differant links and got to a page that let me d/l sp2 ( it said I only needed 75 mgs of the update ) I installed it and when the system rebooted to complete the install. The pc started to boot but when it got to the welcome to windows ......it started to loop. So I rebooted went into safe mode and it came up ok ...them I used system restore to set it back to yesterday. Now I have SP1 back with the 4 previuos SP2 updates and things are back to normal.
So I attemped to phone MS .......no luck , tried on line chat .......again no luck , E mailed them .......no reply......
I will post any info I get from MS if I get any ....LOL
cheers
dl65  

[Raptor]

Did you both download the full SP2 file or update by update as Microsoft recommends?

[dl65]

On the pc that did not have any SP2 updates on it .....it downloaded automaticaly and seems to work fine.
On the other one that had the 4 SP2 hotfixes on ....I d/l what it said I needed. ( thats when the trouble started)
So I did the ststem restore to get back up and running .....am waiting for a reply from MS.......but I'm not holding my breath .

cheers
dl65  

[Joleen]

At home I do too much file sharing to want to try it.  At work we don't know yet how it will affect the network or certain apps so we're not letting people install.  My thought is.. wait a month or 2 before updating from MS as by then they may have fixed the bugs they've created by trying to fix previous bugs.

[merlin_2]

http://www.iamnotageek.com/a/45-p1.php  unistall sp2 i can not comment on sp2 iam still using the steam powered version of windows..more info on sp2 problems here>http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Microsoft_Lists_XP_SP__Problems&story_id=26344

[dl65]

Just a update.....MS responded to my query......I have sent them info on what I have installed on that pc .....
sounds like it may be software conflict , but will wait and see what they come back with.
Will keep you all posted.

Cheers
dl65  

[dl65]

2k dummy.....Symantec have already come out with a update to correct whatever the issue was that was causing problems. As far as removing SP2 ......yes it can be removed.......there are 3 ways as far as I can see.
I did it yesterday so I know you can remove it.
Re ....the firewall .....yes it tries to set as default but you can simply turn it off ( you will see a message saying that your pc is at risk ) ....so use whatever firewall you wish. When you set this option it says the firewall is being monitored.  You will get a little red shield in your tray with a red X in it but just ignore it .......your own firewall is still working.

cheers

dl65  

[Joleen]

Still not installed at home.

Some ppl have chosen to disregard our policy at work and have installed anyway.  There have been no reported issues so far *fingers X'd*

[don_smith]

set my system for automatic sp2 update.did nothing as instructed.
Got an E-mail today-- said it was from microsoft and that sp2 was ready to be installed and I should open the attachment to install it. The file contained a worm (swen.A) my virus scanner (AVG) picked it up so I guess the Email wasn't from MS at all. I have deleted the file.

[Raptor]

Before you open E-mails like that - ask yourself - why would Micro$oft E-mail me and how did they obtain my E-mail?

[dl65]

don_smith......MicroSoft NEVER send out E mails telling you to D/L updates......NEVER , NEVER , NEVER.
By any chance do you have any MS ....XP hotfixes SP2 already installed .....have a look ( one of my pcs had them and I had problems getting sp2 ) the other one didnt and had no problems at all.
If you go to the update page
http://v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/v5consumer/default.aspx?ln=en-us        
click on express install and your pc should be scanned and then you should see the link to click to get SP2

hope this helps

dl65  

[dl65]

SP2...update.......still havent heard back from Microsoft re my second E mail to them.......Out of frustration , I began removing unused or seldom used programs to try and home in on where the conflict was......I finally decided this was taking too long .....so I formatted the drive .....reloaded XP .......then Norton.......( and all its updates as there is a compatibility fix for SP2 ) ....Went to MS update site and had to D/L a few updates to allow SP2 to be D/l ......SP2 is now installed. It interacts ok with Norton so far. You must disable the firewall feature in sp2 if you have either a hardware or software firewall installed. Also I found it necessary to disable the built in pop up feature as it stopped entry ro some sites ......( not porn .....lol) .
I have noticed it must have issues with software ie WINRAR and Flashget........Had to update to latest versions for them to work properly. I suspect that there are a number of issues . Third party drivers are another potential issue....I should mention that I did not install any drivers for my periphials SP2 seemed to have them all .This applied to my video and sound card drivers. I still haven't reinstalled my scanner.....it may be a problem ...but we will see .
It took me about 6 hours to do the re and re
hope this info helps.

dl65  

[Sean]

I downloaded and installed SP2 about a week ago and, well it didnt play nice with my computer, so I did a system restore to about 4 days before having it downloaded/installed. ( I have XP, obviously). Now that I no longer run with SP2, what exactly happened to all 76-200 mbs (or so microsoft says) of it and how can I re-install/download it later when bugs have been worked out? Also, I use to have the automatic update icon in my quicklaunch constantly, its not there anymore, is this a side effect, or better yet, what happened to it?

[dl65]

Sean.....What did you mean ....."it didn't play nice" exactly what happened when sp2 was installed?
By any chance ....did you have any XP hotfixes ( SP2 )installed before you d/l SP2?  The reason I ask is that I had 4 of the sp2 hotfixes before  sp2 installed .....and I also had problems .

Let us know

dl65  

[Sean]

Some programs stopped working and everything slowed down, horribly. By SP2 hotfixes do you mean the automatic updates...?, Yes.

Besides that though, what happened to it?

[dl65]

Sean......SP2 has issue with some 3rd party software and real issues with 3rd party drivers.....I had 4 updates that were called hotfixes for sp2 ...that was several months before sp2 came out....But I suspect they conflicted with the current sp2 release .......anyway ,my solution was to format ....reinstall XP.......and then update to sp2 ........had no problems...... ( I have 2 pcs with sp2 on them ) Both run fine .
I have a cousin back east who had a similar problem with sp2 .....format was the solution .......nothing else seemed to solve the issue.

dl65  

[Sean]

Yea, I have about 12 of those hotfixes....instead of formating and re-installing could I just remove the hotfixes....(I think I remember seeing them in the add/remove menu), and then update to SP2?

Either way, I'm going to end up doing it, but heres the real problem, my automatic update quicklaunch is gone and I have no idea where my download of SP2 went....any ideas!?!?

[dl65]

Sean.....The only hotfix's that are in issue I believe were  that specificaly refered to SP2 ........and you had on your machine prior to attemtping to d/l and install SP2...
when you used system restore ....the SP2 that you downloaded and didnt function was removed so you would have to go into control panel and click on folder options.....then view and scroll down untill you see show all hidden files ( tick it ) then go down lower until you see show hidden system files ......not recomended....tick it . Now you should be able to find what you are looking for.
But as Ihave just been through all this .....I would suggest ....just save all your important stuff ....format your drive and do a clean install of XP......then reinstall your anti virus .......then go to MS update site and get the few update files needed to allow the D/L of SP2 and then D/L and install SP2 ....now things should work as they should....

let us know how you make out
dl65  

[Sean]

Just to throw it out there:
      Hotfixes on my computer, SP2 and non-SP2:

SP2:
Q817606
Q817287
Q815021
Q814995
Q814033
Q811493
Q810833
Q810577

There were 12 more SP2 hotfixes, I just don't feel like typing the exact names.

I also installed 24 Windows XP hotfixes. (non-SP2 hotfixes)

Also, when I was looking through the add/remove programs list, I came across Service Pack 2, but it didnt have a size listed beside it, as all the other programs do...hmmm?

But just to get it straight, it would be much better to just reformat my drive and reinstall windows?

If I do this, I'll lose ALL of my files, correct?......Anyway I can prevent this from happening besides burning everything important to a cd?

[dl65]

Sean.......Based on my experience with XP2......If your machine was doing funny things after installing XP2.....and it sounds like it was.....I would definately format it and reinstall XP and then get the SP2 upgrade.
I cant tell you which SP2 hotfixes to remove as I dont know which ones were possibly causing the problem ....(when I was talking to MS .....they couldnt either )
I can tell you that after formatting and reinstalling XP and SP2 .....and then reinstalling the programs I had installed before ....that things seem to be running good.
Now as far as will you lose everthing ...yes you will ...but if you have a 2nd hard drive or even if you can borrow one from a friend and copy whatever files you need to it ....do the format and then copy them back.
Dont worry about any XP files ( because they will be all replaced and SP2 contains all the previous fixes etc. ) The other thing I found interesting was that I didnt have to reinstall any drivers for any of my periphials.....even my scanner and graphics card. I was impressed.  Oh yes .......be sure and copy the WAB file (windows address book ) .....I forgot to do that and am still rebuilding it , but other than that all went well.
And yes you can copy to a cd if you wish .

Hope this helps you.....
Let us know how you make out .
dl65