SP2 full reboot

[James]

I'm worried about installing the new Service Pack 2 because it "strongly
suggests I back up my files." I have a LOT of files on my computer that are
important, and more that aren't mine but equally important (I share an XP.)
It would take several days and lots of floppy disks I don't have to put all
the vital things on there. Is it really going to erase my files? What should
I do?

[Paul Smith]

"James" > wrote in message
...
> I'm worried about installing the new Service Pack 2 because it "strongly
> suggests I back up my files." I have a LOT of files on my computer that
> are
> important, and more that aren't mine but equally important (I share an
> XP.)
> It would take several days and lots of floppy disks I don't have to put
> all
> the vital things on there. Is it really going to erase my files? What
> should
> I do?

It's a risk you take - you should always keep backups anyway, CD writers are
dead cheap now.

I've installed SP2 on dozens of machines, I spend several hours a day on
these newsgroup and have never heard of SP2 nuking someone's machine before,
so it's got a good track record. 8-)

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

[DILIP]

That's more a cautionary disclaimer than anything else. Even if Sp2 doesn't
work well, it won't wreck (or erase) your files, unless the file system
itself gets corrupted. Proceed with the installation and leave the defaults
as they are.

--
Replace the obvious with "hotmail"

"James" > wrote in message
...
> I'm worried about installing the new Service Pack 2 because it "strongly
> suggests I back up my files." I have a LOT of files on my computer that
> are
> important, and more that aren't mine but equally important (I share an
> XP.)
> It would take several days and lots of floppy disks I don't have to put
> all
> the vital things on there. Is it really going to erase my files? What
> should
> I do?

[BigJIm]

I installed xp sp2 and lost my print spooler so I had to do a reinstallation
of xp then sp2 and all is working fine.
I have been reading the newsgroups and I am not the only one that this
happened to.
I did backup all my important data so the reinstallation was no big deal.
I installed sp2 on my laptop with no problems at all, so go figure.


"James" > wrote in message
...
> I'm worried about installing the new Service Pack 2 because it "strongly
> suggests I back up my files." I have a LOT of files on my computer that
> are
> important, and more that aren't mine but equally important (I share an
> XP.)
> It would take several days and lots of floppy disks I don't have to put
> all
> the vital things on there. Is it really going to erase my files? What
> should
> I do?

[Ken Blake]

In ,
James > typed:

> I'm worried about installing the new Service Pack 2 because it
> "strongly suggests I back up my files." I have a LOT of files
> on my
> computer that are important, and more that aren't mine but
> equally
> important (I share an XP.) It would take several days and lots
> of
> floppy disks I don't have to put all the vital things on there.
> Is it
> really going to erase my files? What should I do?


No, it's not going to erase your files. The suggestion is made
because installing a service pack is a big step, and when you
take a big step, it's always possible, no matter how unlikely,
that something can go wrong. For that reason, it's prudent to
make a backup before beginning.

But more important than SP2 is your statement that you don't
presently back up. You should realize that your data is *always*
at risk. You can lose all your data for a variety of
reasons--head crashes, severe power glitches, nearby lightning
strikes, theft of your computer, virus attacks, your own error,
etc. Regular backup of anything you can't afford to lose is
essential.

With hard drives the size they are these days, floppy disks are
*not* a backup medium that can be considered for most people.


Here's my standard statement on backing up.


It is always possible that a hard drive crash, user error, nearby
lightning strike, virus attack, even theft of the computer, can
cause the loss of everything on your drive. As has often been
said, it's not a matter of whether you will have such a problem,
but when.



Essentially you should back up what you can't afford to
lose--what you can't readily recreate. What that is depends on
how you use your computer and what you use it for.



It takes time and effort to backup, but it also takes time and
effort to recreate lost data. If you back up daily, you should
never have to recreate more than one day's worth of last data. If
weekly, there's potentially a lot more to recreate. You should
assess how much pain and trouble you would have if you lost x
days of data, and then choose a backup frequency that doesn't
involve more pain and trouble than that you would have if you had
to recreate what was lost.



At one extreme is the professional user who would likely go out
of business if his data was lost. He probably needs to back up at
least daily. At the other extreme is the kid who doesn't use his
game except to play games. He probably needs no backup at all,
since worst case he can easily reinstall his games.



Most of us fall somewhere between those extremes, but nobody can
tell you where you fall; you need to determine that for yourself.



Should you back up Windows? Should you back up your applications?
Most people will tell you no, since you can always reinstall
these easily from the original media. But I don't think the
answer is so clear-cut. Many people have substantial time and
effort invested in customizing Windows and configuring their apps
to work the way they want to. Putting all of that back the way it
was can be a difficult, time-consuming effort. Whether you should
backup up Windows and apps depends, once again, on you.



How to backup? What software to use? There are many choices,
including the Windows-supplied backup program. Which choice is
best for you depends at least in part on the answers to some of
the questions above.



Finally what backup media should you choose, and how should it be
stored? There are many choices, including CDs, tape, zip drives,
and second hard drives.



I don't recommend backup to a second non-removable hard drive
because it leaves you susceptible to simultaneous loss of the
original and backup to many of the most common dangers: severe
power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus attacks, even
theft of the computer.



In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not
kept in the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for
example, if the life of your business depends on your data) you
should have multiple generations of backup, and at least one of
those generations should be stored off-site.



My computer isn't used for business, but my personal backup
scheme uses two identical removable hard drives, which fit into a
sleeve installed in the computer. I alternate between the two,
and use Drive Image to make a complete copy of the primary drive.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

[JAX]

Most likely, SP2 will install without hosing your files. So far as backup
goes, I use a second partition on my hard-drive, as well as an external USB
hard-drive. Hard-drives are enexpensive these days, you may want to consider
adding an extra HD to your system for file backups. The days of backing to
floppies is over! Backing to CD/DVD/External or internal drives is the route
to take.

LOL, JAX

"James" > wrote in message
...
> I'm worried about installing the new Service Pack 2 because it "strongly
> suggests I back up my files." I have a LOT of files on my computer that
> are
> important, and more that aren't mine but equally important (I share an
> XP.)
> It would take several days and lots of floppy disks I don't have to put
> all
> the vital things on there. Is it really going to erase my files? What
> should
> I do?

[D.Currie]

"James" > wrote in message
...
> I'm worried about installing the new Service Pack 2 because it "strongly
> suggests I back up my files." I have a LOT of files on my computer that
> are
> important, and more that aren't mine but equally important (I share an
> XP.)
> It would take several days and lots of floppy disks I don't have to put
> all
> the vital things on there. Is it really going to erase my files? What
> should
> I do?

it's not IF you're going to lose data, it's WHEN. If you don't have your
vital data backed up, you're running a risk every time you use the computer.
It could be a virus, a hardware error, or a moment of stupidity, but sooner
or later, everyone's going to lose data off of a drive. So whether you
install SP2 or not, you should have some way of backing up what you can't
afford to lose.

SP2 by itself isn't going to eat your data, but what's your plan if the
installation goes bad? The data is still there, but a lot of people aren't
prepared to retrieve it, and sooner or later, on purpose of by accident,
they format the drive and everything's gone. Then it's too late.

[Ken Blake]

In ,
D.Currie > typed:

> it's not IF you're going to lose data, it's WHEN. If you don't
> have
> your vital data backed up, you're running a risk every time you
> use
> the computer.


And even if the computer isn't in use, or even powered on. If
it's plugged in, it's still susceptible to things like nearby
lightning strikes. And people often forget that computers can be
stolen, along with all the data on them.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

[D.Currie]

"Ken Blake" > wrote in message
...
> In ,
> D.Currie > typed:
>
>> it's not IF you're going to lose data, it's WHEN. If you don't have
>> your vital data backed up, you're running a risk every time you use
>> the computer.
>
>
> And even if the computer isn't in use, or even powered on. If it's plugged
> in, it's still susceptible to things like nearby lightning strikes. And
> people often forget that computers can be stolen, along with all the data
> on them.
>

Or, as happened to one of my customers, he accidentally locked his dog in
the room with the computer. The case was off. The dog peed. The computer
died.

Seriously.

[Ken Blake]

In ,
D.Currie > typed:

> "Ken Blake" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In ,
>> D.Currie > typed:
>>
>>> it's not IF you're going to lose data, it's WHEN. If you
>>> don't have
>>> your vital data backed up, you're running a risk every time
>>> you use
>>> the computer.
>>
>>
>> And even if the computer isn't in use, or even powered on. If
>> it's
>> plugged in, it's still susceptible to things like nearby
>> lightning
>> strikes. And people often forget that computers can be stolen,
>> along
>> with all the data on them.
>>
>
> Or, as happened to one of my customers, he accidentally locked
> his
> dog in the room with the computer. The case was off. The dog
> peed.
> The computer died.


Ouch!

Yes, the point is that all sorts of things can happen, and you
can't anticipate them all.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup