Just giving a heads up folks.
It is interesting that some people update their OS religiously , some shy away because it will be more trouble in the long run , and some have problems updating anything, which results in re-installing the entire program .
I personally haven't had any problems with WinXP, SP1 or 2. I disabled auto update, turned off the SP2 firewall , and let Norton run security .

Here is a tip for the people that crash their PC's whenever installing new program updates ;

when updating any programs,operating systems (windows included), any utilities, or media gadgets,...
1.clean your harddrive of pests. Remove all viruses, worms ,malware, spyware, etc. that stuff screws up important code in your registry,and other internal processes and it will attack the new update as soon as you get it.
You may have to disable the "system restore" and clean the HD while in "safe mode to get rid of pests that were actually saved by the system restore software.
2. update your BIOS/processor software, update your mouse, gamepad, printer, display drivers,etc.etc. so the new update will see all the correct drivers when it arrives.
3. kill security/and all other background tasks. For instance, my two year old Dell needed an update for the BIOS, I did that before downloading SP2.

Those are some of the basic tasks that Microsoft recommended to do before installing SP2. It really pays to follow instructions when downloading updates .

 

XP Pro SP2 will give no problems on a clean install. Yes, I do mean backup data, format HD, install the version of xp you have, install update, and install any other updates before installing ANY and I do mean any other software. SP2 needs a good baseline to start from or the end will be nasty.

 

Just in case anyone wants to download SP2 without all the Windows Update hubbub; Here is a link for direct download

 

I have XP Home on this laptop. . . XP Pro on two other PCs. One is a Dell, the other I built. No problems (so far) on any of 'em. (Where's my rabbit's foot?)

I was in "Staples" last week. Right by the check-out, I saw a display that said "Take One". It was full of CDs from Microsoft that was the SP2 update.

I downloaded my updates, but, IF I need to re-format, etc., etc., etc., I have the CD ready to go.

Isn't it amazing how Microsoft gets the customer to do a lot of their Beta Testing???

 

I installed SP2 on two desktops that I built which are running XP Pro, on my desktop at work which is running XP Pro, and my laptop which is running XP Home. The install went flawlessly on all four machines.

However, I have a friend that installed it on her XP Home machine and promptly recieved the Blue Screen of Death on reboot. She could not even boot into safe mode. So I managed to backup her files and did a fresh install of XP Home after formatting her hard drive. Then, sure enough, after installing SP2 I got the BSOD again, but I was able to boot into safe mode. So I just did a system restore to get rid of SP2 and told her not to install it.

I tried searching the web for a solution, but could find none. She tried calling her computer manufacturer, but they said it's Microsoft's problem, not theirs. So she tried calling Microsoft and they told her they'd charge her $1.99 (iirc) per minute to help. That's crap!

So, my advice to anyone is make sure you backup any files that can't be replaced easily. Then try to install SP2, if it doesn't work out for you, you've lost nothing. If it does, then you don't have to worry about the security holes that it patched, just all the new ones it opened up, and hope Microsoft will patch them sometime soon.

 

I called microsoft for help with sp2 before I figured it out and didnt get charged anything, spent 40 mins talking with them and on hold and it still didnt work right I have XP home aswell.

 

I have a vieuse called javabyteverify and I can't get rid of it any ideas?

 

Check the spelling and puncuation and check here:

http://securityresponse.symantec.com...r/vinfodb.html

you may need to start your computer in safe mode to get rid of the virus.

 

Symantec calls it Trojan.ByteVerify

More information and removal instructions are here: http://securityresponse.symantec.com...yteverify.html

Basically, disable system restore (XP/ME), update your virus definitions, reboot into safe mode, do a full system scan, delete the infected files.

 

Ever since I downloaded SP2, internet explorer was giving me fits.....often get "internet explorer has encountered a error and needs to close" it was driving me crazy.....get to a page the message would appear and the browser would close.....so I downloaded FIREFOX 1.0 from mozzila and have not had a problem since......it imports all of your IE settings and has greater security than IE and the browser looks and operates very similar to IE.

 

Firefox is an excellent browser, and sure to keep getting better with new releases. I recommend it to everyone.

It has far fewer security holes, and the ones it does have aren't nearly as severe as the ones in IE. You can compare the two here:
http://secunia.com/product/11/
http://secunia.com/product/4227/

Firefox also has what they call Extensions, which are third party add-ons that add functionality to the browser. More are being developed all the time.

The drawback of using Firefox, or rather, not using IE, is that some websites require you to use IE to access them. In those cases, if I really want to visit the site, I just start IE and use it for only that website.

Hopefully web developers will start to pay more attention to alternate browsers now that IE seems to be losing its dominance in the market share. It's down to 90.3% (Jan 14th) from its peak of 95.5% last June. That's not a huge drop in terms of percentages, but if you take a look at how many people have downloaded Firefox it's significant. As of today, Firefox 1.0 downloads have topped 20 million since November 9th.

Maybe this will convince a few of you to protect your computer, and personal information by using Firefox.

 

I agree sp2 stinks I can not stand it.

 

I've had XP Home since I bought my current computer. Have never had an error that made IE close...even with SP2. I think something else is in your computer that is corrupting some files. I've never had a blue screen with XP either. I'll never understand how it is that so many people get so many errors and have so much problems.

The only XP I've seen that was bad, is on a computer a lady I know just bought from Dell. She ordered it through some off the wall computer repair place here in town and had them install the OLD CD ROM driver out of an OLD E Machine. I went over to her house to see if I could help her install some spyware protection and man ... I got one blue screen after another ... a hardware issue ... installed wrong. I told her to take it out and have them remove that CD ROM drive...but I think it had already corrupted the system...or something. What a mess. I finally told her to call Dell, tell them all about what was going on. She did and they tried towalk her through a reformat, but it couldn't be done without getting a blue screen. She's getting another new computer. I told her I'd help her set it up and to make sure she has Dell install the CD ROM drive and a burner at the factory.

 

A timely thread if there ever was one, this weekend I bit my lip and dropped the SP2 CD in the drive.

And spent over six hours undoing the hose job it did on my system, as it hung up halfway through the installation process. And I mean a hard stop, eventually the only choice I had was to actually flip the main power switch on the back of my box.
I had to.

Uninstall SP2,
Reconfigure all my settings.
Reload a lot of my drivers
Dig through a few hundreds lines of Registry code to fix a number of fubared entries.
And a few other assorted tweaks and fidgets to get it back to where it was. SP2's “system settings saved” my boohind!

I am planning to do the annual reformat/reload in a week or so, let’s see how it does on a clean install.

And yes, my copy of XP Home is authentic, I coughed up a hundred bucks for an 'upgrade' from 98SE. Neat trick BTW if you're still running 98, and if you have the 98 Disc, and I mean any 98 disc, buy the upgrade and do a clean install. Reformat your drives and drop that sucker right in on a clean HDD. All it will ask you to do is put the 98 disc in to show you actually have it. That's the only difference between a 'Full Version" and an "Upgrade".

 

SP2 needs a clean install. Re-format, Install XP SP1a/b, Install SP2, Run any updates, then install programs. You can't have any programs installed when installing SP2. (Most of the time)