Questions for the computer cerebral people on XP sp2

Have you downloaded microsoft XP sp2 (service pack 2) yet?

If you have, is it working well with your current antivirus, firewalls, and antispy software?

One of my friends downloaded XP sp2, and her printers quit working, even after she spent hours talking to theprinter tech support people the problem persisted.

Thanks

I don't have XP, but there have been a lot of problems reported with Service Pack 2. This letter was printed in the Tech Mailbag column in the local paper yesterday.

"Can I sue Microsoft? I installed Windows XP Service pack 2, and now my computer is hopelessly trashed."

Answer from the newspapers computer columnist Mike Wendland: Call any computer repair shop and you'll find you are not alone.

"This massive rewrite of the Windows XP operating system was supposed to improve security. Instead, a whole lot of people found the software they had been using no longer works with the upgrade or crashes their system."

Mathman

This massive rewrite of the Windows XP operating system was supposed to improve security. Instead, a whole lot of people found the software they had been using no longer works with the upgrade or crashes their system."

Mathman

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Thanks, I did not directly download SP2 from the windows update, I email them, and they sent me one on a disc. I have not used it yet. According to technical support from Dell, Microsoft will tweak the Sp2 and come up with a revised version soon. Lets see if anyone is brave enough to use this newer version

I asked my dorky man about this. He said the majority of people who are having problems are those serious computer geeks running servers or large businesses. His advice is that it should be fine for regular home use. good luck

Kara Bear said:

I asked my dorky man about this. He said the majority of people who are having problems are those serious computer geeks running servers or large businesses. His advice is that it should be fine for regular home use. good luck

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I've downloaded and installed SP2, and I'm not having any problems (knocks own head for luck ).

To be honest, whenI downloaded SP2, my Norton Security had a popup that asked if I wanted it to keep running as the main security. I immediately said yes.

OK, if you are an XP user, you have a utilty on the computer to back up the last know "good configuration" of XP. That would be, ideally, one where there are no glitches, viruses, etc. The problem a lot of people are having is in not maintaining good computer "hygiene". The don't have their registry files cleaned (this means letting a utility "clean" all the unneccessary files out of the main repository of program validating files. Think of it this way, your registry is like the path of a street grid, if you delete a program or file, it's just like tearing down a house that a street runs to...all of a sudden you have a street running into nowhere.

So the moral of the story is...clean out your cookies, temp files, clean your registry (there should be a utiliy...go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools...there you will find a "disk clean up" utility as well as a System restore. If you go into the system restore, it will go back to the configuration before XP SP2 if it hasn't already overwritten too many files. Usually, if it WON'T work, it will give you a dialouge box that tells you it won't.

I DO recommend ordering the free CD from Microsoft...anytime you download something from the internet, there is a possibility of it missing a file, or part of a file, or a file path, or ...you get the idea.

I fortunately did not experience the same problems that others did, but I have a cable modem where interuptions or "line noise" could possibly corrupt the download process. Waiting for the advanced update won't hurt you, especially if you have good virus protection and also since XP already has a "firewall" integrated.

Remember, you can go into your browser and got to Tool> Internet Options> General...from there you can delete offline internet files and cookies. You need to do this AT LEAST once a week for dial up, and every session for Broadband or DSL.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse too much.

good luck, your sk8m8....mark

sk8m8 said:

So the moral of the story is...clean out your cookies, temp files, clean your registry (there should be a utiliy...go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools...there you will find a "disk clean up"

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I clean the disk from time to time and get back some free GB.

utility as well as a System restore. If you go into the system restore, it will go back to the configuration before XP SP2 if it hasn't already overwritten too many files. Usually, if it WON'T work, it will give you a dialouge box that tells you it won't.

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I am not aware of the restore function, so thanks for letting me know. I have the original XP on a disc too (I bought my laptop in 7/04, and that disc came with the notebook)

Waiting for the advanced update won't hurt you, especially if you have good virus protection and also since XP already has a "firewall" integrated.

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I think I will wait, right tnow I have macafee, and zone alram.

Remember, you can go into your browser and got to Tool> Internet Options> General...from there you can delete offline internet files

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I delete internet files daily, I don't delete my cookies from there, but I practically run spybot at the end of the day daily to get rid of cookies / spy ware.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse too much.

good luck, your sk8m8....mark

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Yes, and thanks