WinXP - Service Pack 2 Upgrade and Problems?

After initial hiccup with SP2 cancelling installation because the laptop was not plugged... we did succeed -- but only after archiving an image of the harddrive.

The firewall/virus was not a big problem... the first time I booted it up McAfee asked if I wanted to MS or McAfee... I chose McAfee, and I have not been bothered by MS stuff. The MS pop-up blocker was very active (hold down "ctrl" if you wish to disable that... needed that to read a credit union online document).

BUT... BUT... (and I am really really glad I have a backup image)... this weekend the laptop went belly-up. It was taken to where we bought it and its extended warrenty, but since it is less than a year old they are shipping it off to HP for repair. The technician believes it is a motherboard failure.

sigh --- I can either blaim HP for a dodgy motherboard, or MS for there SP2 pack (and it was working so well).

I really hope that the backup image works... I will now remember: Backup, backup, backup (especially after spending so many hours scanning some documents and downloading video from camera).
 
Localized version released and applied to my XP Home laptop without problems. Its nice to see that MS has started to educate users about security.
 
Vitnir said:
... Its nice to see that MS has started to educate users about security.
Click to expand...

The trick is getting users to understand and act. My biggest problems are getting my in-laws to do basic cautions with email.

They were terribly offended when I told them that I will NOT open attachments of emails they send me unless they tell me exactly what it is and to address the body of the email specifically to me. They didn't seem to think that the chain emails they got from friends would be harmful. All I think I managed to do is to get them to stop sending me the email rumor or cute picture of the week (which is just fine with me).
 
I've done two of mine so far, including my Swell Swinspiron. Both XP Pro, with licenses, not OEM and pretty much patched up.

No probs so far, but then I operate a hardware firewall, separate virus scanner and keep a careful eye on the drivers and config that go on. I turned off the a lot of the MS Security stuff straight away.

I'm normally the first to be plagued by blue screens when something happens, so fingers crossed ...
 
Hydrogen Cyanide said:
The trick is getting users to understand and act. My biggest problems are getting my in-laws to do basic cautions with email.

They were terribly offended when I told them that I will NOT open attachments of emails they send me unless they tell me exactly what it is and to address the body of the email specifically to me. They didn't seem to think that the chain emails they got from friends would be harmful. All I think I managed to do is to get them to stop sending me the email rumor or cute picture of the week (which is just fine with me).
Click to expand...

They tend to be more interested once they have their first phonebill of 1000$ to the samoan islands since they installed that dialer.
 
I have been running sp2 for about a week now and everything is good. No problems installing and everything is running fine. The only game I have played is Call of Duty which is running perfectly.

My only problem is this dang security center. I have microsofts firewall turned off and have set the option to not remind me yet I keep getting the balloon. No matter how many times I uncheck the box to stop telling me it keeps right on checking it again after I boot again.
 
Just got my new XP computer last night. How do I check if SP2 was installed? Are there other options I should turn off right away before connecting to the internet?
 
alfaniner said:
Just got my new XP computer last night. How do I check if SP2 was installed?
Click to expand...
Start->Settings->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs

Look way down the bottom for an extry named "Windows XP Service Pack 2"

alfaniner said:
Are there other options I should turn off right away before connecting to the internet?
Click to expand...
If you don't have a router with a firewall, make sure the Windows firewall is switched on. Go to Start->Settings->Control Panel->Windows Firewall
 
Thanks --- I am somewhat computer savvy and may have eventually figured that out. Right now I'm having trouble connecting to the internet as I don't have the right drivers for my cable modem. Also need to get a driver for my speakers as it won't accept the ones I do have.

This is going to take me a while to get it the way I want it...
 
I downloaded Service Pack 2 and now I have a much better 1972 document forgery font... *

*I stole that joke
 
Well, I took the plunge on the home pc. No major problems so far, though the "Security Centre" does not recognise my VCOM antivirus software or firewall. Windows firewall is emphatically off.
 
Grrrr.....

Since I installed SP2 my printer has been dead, (although I fixed it today) and IE has gone completely insane. It freezes 4 out of 5 times I start it, and when it is "working" it displays webpages incorrectly. If I leave Winamp playing for more then 10 minutes without touching the computer, it freezes when I touch mouse or keyboard. Sometimes when I start a computergame, mostly BF 1942, something eats up all the memory, resulting in the computer using the HD to temp memory, you can guess how smoothly the game runs after that.....

Another thing is that it won´t leave my Zonealarm Firewall alone, constantly asking wether this program or that program is allowed to contact the Internet, even though I have turned the Win Firewall off......

I feel that the computer only turned worse after installing SP2, and when I re-install Windows, I don´t think I´ll upgrade.
 
Out of curiosity- before the install, did you actually stop all applications running? (including those, like Winamp, which are probably autostarted at switch on?). So far, the only person I know to have had problems such as you describe ran the install with at least six apps active in memory.
 
I always shut down any programs running while installing new progs, and the only programs that are in autostart are ZoneAlarm and NAV, so I don´t think that it is causing the problem.... but thanks for the hint. What I have found out so far is that something (not a virus, have run NAV) starts to use 100 % of the CPU after ca 1 hour, and the computer freezes up totally. It seems to be connected to IE somehow.

....time for a killer re-install, methinks.......
 
I have the same problem with ZoneAlarm, the free version. Since I installed SP2, I have to turn off ZA to get on the internet, and then turn it on after that. So I'm unprotected for a few seconds. It is a minor, but very annoying, glitch.

I have the latest ZoneAlarm upgrade which turns off the Windows firewall automatically.
 
abramis- this lockup happens online or offline, or both?
Can I suggest running Firefox for awhile instead of IE to see if it persists?
 
I guess I may be just lucky then. I must have installed SP2 on at least a dozen machines now, and had no problems that weren't cured by switching that firewall off. In work, we don't need it; for friends (and family and myself), ZoneAlarm does better. Apart from the firewall, still had no problems at all.

Cheers,
Rat.
 
Soapy sam - I´m already a Firefox addictive, and I have little trouble with that ohter than it is not showing some lettters correct (swedish ones, that is).

I think that Winamp causes the comp to freeze if I leave it on repeat, and let it play the playlist a couple of times. At least that has been the case the last few times I´ve used Winamp.

But now I have recieved messages while playing games, ex Diablo 2, that "explorer.exe" has caused a major problem, and then it shuts down everything, and I have to re-start Windows. I think that I need a re-install anyway, even if the f*ck-ups can´t be blamed on IE. But thanks for advice.
 
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