Service Pack2

[ged]

When SP2 first came out, I read about its problems, bugs, crashes,
incompatibility with software, including some horror stories, plausible or
not, etc., etc., so I just decided to wait, then I pretty much forgot about
it, and kept downloading the updates for SP1. Now I think its probably time
to revisit the issue. I wonder if I could get some comments from you
knowledgeable folks out there about SP2. Does it still have problems? What
happens to those 92 files beginning with $NtUninstall, taking up untold
megabytes in the front of my Windows folder? Will downloading SP2 get rid of
them automatically? If not automatically, could I delete them as no longer
needed? Anything else I should be aware of? Your help is much appreciated.
Best regards, Gedeon

[Ted Zieglar]

SP 2 was only a problem for certain web sites and corporate intranets. The
average users' problems were, almost without exception, self-inflicted.

SP 2 is an easy install so long as you have correctly prepared for it. I've
said in many other posts that service packs are like judgement day for
computers that are misconfigured or compromised by malware.

Fortunately, there is a great deal of information on Microsoft's web site to
help prepare for a successful install. Service packs are really an upgrade
of your operating system, and with all upgrades there are two fundamental
rules to observe:

1. Work out whatever problems your system may have before upgrading.
2. Backup.

"How-to and Support for Windows XP Service Pack 2"
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/howto/default.mspx

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"ged" > wrote in message
...
> When SP2 first came out, I read about its problems, bugs, crashes,
> incompatibility with software, including some horror stories, plausible or
> not, etc., etc., so I just decided to wait, then I pretty much forgot
about
> it, and kept downloading the updates for SP1. Now I think its probably
time
> to revisit the issue. I wonder if I could get some comments from you
> knowledgeable folks out there about SP2. Does it still have problems? What
> happens to those 92 files beginning with $NtUninstall, taking up untold
> megabytes in the front of my Windows folder? Will downloading SP2 get rid
of
> them automatically? If not automatically, could I delete them as no longer
> needed? Anything else I should be aware of? Your help is much appreciated.
> Best regards, Gedeon
>
>

[Javi0084]

I think you should backup all your important files if you decide to install,
better safe than sorry.

[Sparda]

"" wrote:
> SP 2 was only a problem for certain web sites and corporate
> intranets. The
> average users' problems were, almost without exception,
> self-inflicted.
>
> SP 2 is an easy install so long as you have correctly prepared
> for it. I've
> said in many other posts that service packs are like judgement
> day for
> computers that are misconfigured or compromised by malware.
>
> Fortunately, there is a great deal of information on
> Microsoft's web site to
> help prepare for a successful install. Service packs are
> really an upgrade
> of your operating system, and with all upgrades there are two
> fundamental
> rules to observe:
>
> 1. Work out whatever problems your system may have before
> upgrading.
> 2. Backup.
>
> "How-to and Support for Windows XP Service Pack 2"
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/howto/default.mspx
>
> --
> Ted Zieglar
> "You can do it if you try."
>
> "ged" > wrote in message
> ...
> > When SP2 first came out, I read about its problems, bugs,
> crashes,
> > incompatibility with software, including some horror
> stories, plausible or
> > not, etc., etc., so I just decided to wait, then I pretty
> much forgot
> about
> > it, and kept downloading the updates for SP1. Now I think
> its probably
> time
> > to revisit the issue. I wonder if I could get some comments
> from you
> > knowledgeable folks out there about SP2. Does it still have
> problems? What
> > happens to those 92 files beginning with $NtUninstall,
> taking up untold
> > megabytes in the front of my Windows folder? Will
> downloading SP2 get rid
> of
> > them automatically? If not automatically, could I delete
> them as no longer
> > needed? Anything else I should be aware of? Your help is
> much appreciated.
> > Best regards, Gedeon
> >
> >

Actualy, SP2 was a part horror storie for me, I found two MAIN problms
with SP2. The two problems I had where as follows.

1. When I applied my custome security settings (for hardening windows
security and which are fine in SP1) I found they casued the RPC
service (a esential service) to fail to start. I found this was
becasue Microsoft had made a change which was that in SP1 and non-SP
RPC ran as LocalSystem, where as in SP2, it ran as NT Authrity, which
realy iratated me (it took me 5 hours to work out why it wouldn’t
run, and as I have alredy explained, it turned out to be down to
microsoft stupidity), I fixed it by changing it back to LocalSystem
(like it is in Service Pack 1).

2. The Windows File Sharing authentication method was changed, in SP1
and non-SP it was set to NTLM, where as in SP2 it was set to NTLMv2
which caused problems for me becasue this means authentication always
failed with Samba servers ( I suppose I could have enabled NTLMv2 on
the samba server, but why bother do that then go to all my other
windows PC’s and enable NTLMv2 when i can just switch the single PC
back to NTLM).

--
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[TaurArian [MVP]]

Windows XP Service Pack 2 - download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&displaylang=en

SP2 CD can be ordered online.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspx

Service Pack 2 information
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/xpsp2.htm
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spackins.htm
http://www.windowstalk.org/sp2.htm

Application Compatibility Testing and Mitigation Guide for Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9300becf-2dee-4772-add9-ad0eaf89c4a7&DisplayLang=en

How to successfully install Windows XP Service Pack 2.
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/winxpsp2install.htm

Are You Ready for WinXP SP2?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=windowsxpsp2

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx
What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2


http://jmfmvps.mvps.org/SP2.htm
http://aumha.org/win5/a/sp2faq.php#after
Tidying up after installing SP2
and/or
http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSP2.htm#Removing_the_uninstall_information
Removing the uninstall information

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
Save Space After Installing Updates

"ged" > wrote in message ...
> When SP2 first came out, I read about its problems, bugs, crashes,
> incompatibility with software, including some horror stories, plausible or
> not, etc., etc., so I just decided to wait, then I pretty much forgot about
> it, and kept downloading the updates for SP1. Now I think its probably time
> to revisit the issue. I wonder if I could get some comments from you
> knowledgeable folks out there about SP2. Does it still have problems? What
> happens to those 92 files beginning with $NtUninstall, taking up untold
> megabytes in the front of my Windows folder? Will downloading SP2 get rid of
> them automatically? If not automatically, could I delete them as no longer
> needed? Anything else I should be aware of? Your help is much appreciated.
> Best regards, Gedeon
>
>

[Bruce Chambers]

ged wrote:
> When SP2 first came out, I read about its problems, bugs, crashes,
> incompatibility with software, including some horror stories, plausible or
> not, etc., etc., so I just decided to wait, then I pretty much forgot about
> it, and kept downloading the updates for SP1. Now I think its probably time
> to revisit the issue. I wonder if I could get some comments from you
> knowledgeable folks out there about SP2. Does it still have problems?


That's like our asking you if you still beat your wife? The question
implies the type of answer that *you* want, but not necessarily one
that's correct. SP2 installed and performed flawlessly on many millions
of machines. There were a few computers that had problems (most of
which weren't actually caused by SP2 - the installation merely exposed
underlying problems), but the number was statistically insignificant.


> What
> happens to those 92 files beginning with $NtUninstall, taking up untold
> megabytes in the front of my Windows folder? Will downloading SP2 get rid of
> them automatically?


Installing SP2 will remove any pre-SP2 $Uninstall folders.



--

Bruce Chambers

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