Windows XP Service Pack 2 Arrives

Okay.... who's willing to be the first to update?

[msr986]

According to PCworld, the long awaited SP2 will be on the MS download site early next week:

PCworld Story [story.news.yahoo.com]

At 80meg, this one's a whopper!

If there was ever a time to backup your system before an update, this is it.

What do you think? Download soon, or wait until there is some feedback?

After all, how bad could MS mess up this update? :)

[grandpa]

story [seattlepi.nwsource.com]

Microsoft didn't release a specific schedule for the distribution of the service pack through those online services, beyond saying that it will happen "in the coming days and weeks."

You might have to hurry up and wait, especially with dial-up.

Microsoft's Sullivan said. "We closed a whole bunch of doors, and we dead bolted the windows, so they're probably going to have to dig a tunnel now. We'll figure out that they're digging a tunnel, and then we'll go do the next thing."

I just love it.

[percentages]

>What do you think? Download soon, or wait until there is some feedback?

I'll be waiting a few weeks to see the feedback first.

All OS's are string vests, MS's probably have less holes than the others. But, just incase they screw-up bigtime I think it is wise to hang back a week or three and see how the other lab rats fair first :)

[Leosghost]

an 80meg patch! ..:o

[encyclo]

My first thought was: 80 meg - is that all?! I mean, Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (I think) weighed in at over 120 meg.

There is a lot riding on this Service Pack - let's hope it lives up to expectations.

[BReflection]

In addition to what I posted in this thread [webmasterworld.com], Service Pack 2 automatically installs Windows Messenger if you have it uninstalled and adds this VERY VERY ANNOYING string to your startup:

"C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background

Bastards!

[vkaryl]

I'll have to get it on cd. There's no way I can download 80 mb of stuff.

Nice to know about the messenger piece of crap. I'll make sure I fix it immediately....

[skippy]

I would not touch that thing with a ten meter cattle prod right now.

Note to self double check that autoupdate is turned off.

[Leosghost]

"C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background

Cute ..!
The urge to "hijack" your box is just stronger than they can do anything about..

[henry0]

One - Never be the guinea pig- wait and see -
Two - Beware: if you run XP pro and Office 2000 pro or Other office 2000

The updates will try to update Outlook and Office
But it will look for the XP version; so far I have not seen provision made for office 2000
So better choose for a custom install

[rogerd]

I have one PC with that exact configuration, Henry0, thanks for the suggestion.

[ogletree]

Will it be in automatic update?

[encyclo]

Slashdot is reporting that the released pack is not 80 megs, but a whopping 250 megs, and is now available on MSDN. That sounds more like it!

If you're on dialup, Microsoft is offering free CDs - although I'm not sure that the offer is valid outside the US.

Microsoft has also confirmed that most pirate copies of Windows XP can also be patched with this service pack - if Service Pack 1 installed, then SP2 will do also.

[SEOMike]

I tried one of their beta releases and it blew up on me. It was supposedly the final beta before deployment. I'm a little leary and will take my chances waiting a while to see how it works for other people.

Definately make a backup of your files. After un-installing the SP, there were still traces of it messing up my machine. Took a full restore to resolve the issues.

[lgn1]

The only reason I would install this is on a machine,
that you are willing to blow away the OS after.

XP SP2 is supposed to fix a mulitude of security concerns with the policy of 'the HE double L with backward compatibility'.

In other words SP2 is designed to break many ecomm sites, and you may want to install this on a non-production machine, to gauge the impact/and compatibility with your ecomm site.