Windows XP SP2 (FINAL) **1st post updated**

odoe

odoe

[H]F Junkie
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Ok, to try and alleviate the crop of new threads that have popped up about the SP2 preview for Windows XP, I have decided to go ahead and throw up a thread for all you guys willing to test it out. MS can't figure for every configuration of hardware and software out there, so let's see what you guys can break. If I had an extra XP box, I'd do it, but I don't so I look to you for all the valuable info.

Here is the link.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/sp2preview.mspx

That's the page to go to for all your SP2 jonesing needs.

So, let's keep the discussion civil, let us know of it breaks anything, especially if doesn't work with some of your existing security software.

Go -> :D

edit: Oh yeah, and if you didn't know, this is just the preview, not the final and it is unsupported by MS.



FINAL RELEASE IS OUT
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

Seems to be causing some people some issues, so BYSU (Back Your Shit Up) just in case.
 
I just spent a good load of time formating, partitioning, and installing and configurein Xp... lets see how quickly i can get it screwed up :D (altho it is running windows!)

Il post my results in due time...
 
Ive been a member of the XP SP2 Beta test for some time now. I have SP2 running on my XP machine at work and on my windows partition of the computer I am using now. I havnt had to many problems with it thus far. Ive had a few issues with IE showing the code of the pages instead of displaying them correctly, as well as a few minor issues with explorer crashing when navigating to a webpage from regular explorer window. For the most part though it seems to be pretty good, fixes a few obvious things. Speeds a couple tasks up a bit.
The pop-up blocker in IE is a rather nice addition, and the new firewall is nice as well. It shouldnt crash your machine, they seem to have done a pretty good job with this one. They have kept it in development much longer than they planned because they are trying to not be hasty like they ususally are by releasing things early with a bunch of bugs.
 
Originally posted by Kev
I wish they would finalize it and release it.
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Keep in mind that this SP is more drastic than most. It requires releasing updates to many other components at the same time, like compilers and runtime libraries.

Because of the amount of changes it also requires more QA work than prior SPs.
 
I have been running for about a week on both my 600m notebook and my desktop without a single problem. The popup blocker is great, the firewall is much more useful, the security center in control panel is a nice addition, the wireless network selection screen is improved, and the new windows update site it takes you to is pretty cool.
 
If i download xpsp2 beta and they release the final pack will that final pack overwrite the beta?
 
Originally posted by lysergia
If i download xpsp2 beta and they release the final pack will that final pack overwrite the beta?
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As for the beta, I can't be sure. I didn't read the beta documentation.

As for the current RC1, I think it would have to be uninstalled before installing the final SP. I can only imagine that this is also the case for the beta.
 
Originally posted by CokeFiend
Ive had a few issues with IE showing the code of the pages instead of displaying them correctly,
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IE has ALWAYS done that;)
 
Originally posted by [MS]
Keep in mind that this SP is more drastic than most. It requires releasing updates to many other components at the same time, like compilers and runtime libraries.

Because of the amount of changes it also requires more QA work than prior SPs.
Click to expand...

I can see what you're talking about. Many applications and drivers no longer work after the drastic changes they've made. I can tell you that at the very least, my XP machine w/SP2 won't run some games, or will be unstable when running them. With SP1a, they run 100% stable. Also, my little bro's PC with an older ATI card had driver issues where the screen would appear 'blank' after installing SP2.
 
Originally posted by Syxx
I have been running for about a week on both my 600m notebook and my desktop without a single problem. The popup blocker is great, the firewall is much more useful, the security center in control panel is a nice addition, the wireless network selection screen is improved, and the new windows update site it takes you to is pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think forcing users to decide when the updates should be automatically installed is a good idea :D

You wouldn't believe how many people don't even realize that patches exist, or that they're REQUIRED, NOT OPTIONAL.

Also, the new layout for the Windows Update is rather cool. :)
 
Originally posted by Josh_B
I can see what you're talking about. Many applications and drivers no longer work after the drastic changes they've made. I can tell you that at the very least, my XP machine w/SP2 won't run some games, or will be unstable when running them. With SP1a, they run 100% stable. Also, my little bro's PC with an older ATI card had driver issues where the screen would appear 'blank' after installing SP2.
Click to expand...

Most of the issues I speak of are only going to show up on AMD64 (what we've just been calling x64). For the most part, if you're installing XPSP2 on an x86 machine with XP, there's going to be the few random issues due to the software being pre-release. On AMD64 systems though, NX comes into play and applications may simple cease to function, though NX can be disabled on a global or applicaiton basis.

Thus, most of the work comming from my division for XPSP2 is to make sure that all of the dev tools are updated and ready to go with the new memory protection scheme, even though it'll only come into play for those using system with NoeXecute memory protection bits.
 
Originally posted by CokeFiend
I havnt had to many problems with it thus far.
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but the question is...

are those problems the problems that windows XP always has?!!
brows.gif
 
Originally posted by Josh_B


You wouldn't believe how many people don't even realize that patches exist, or that they're REQUIRED, NOT OPTIONAL.
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some things optional, but security updates should be automatic, u should have seen the hell on my college network (University of Hartford) last semester, nice time to join IT there.
 
Ha. Georgia Tech had a pretty hellish time with that worm last August/September....Blaster. That thing owned everyone.
 
Originally posted by BobTheSlob
Ha. Georgia Tech had a pretty hellish time with that worm last August/September....Blaster. That thing owned everyone.
Click to expand...

The college I work for had a terrible time with blaster, too.

The image I created for the E-Commerce area didn't though ;)
 
THe buildint firewall got better... Myseflf, i use a hardware firewall. But For those using crappy Norton personal firewall, this is a mojor feature, as id rather use the built in firewall (sp2 version) ove norton crapolla.
 
If it is better than Zone Alarm I may use it because I cant stand Nortons version but Zone Alarm which I have been using for about a year now as done a great job.


Downloading now!:D
 
So was a new version of IE explorer with tabed browsing not really going to happen? I know this is still beta...but i was hopeing to see it in the beta version..
 
Microsoft has not given out any information on plans for tabbed browsing.
I don't think MS is too worried about browsers right now. When IE and Netscape used to be "going at it" all the time, there was pretty much constant improvement in IE. Now that Netscape is no longer big competition to IE, the innovation has kinda died.

link
Q: when / will there be the next version of IE?

A: As part of the OS, IE will continue to evolve, but there will be no future standalone installations. IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation.
Click to expand...

I checked out this link on the MS website.
The following are the "highlights of Internet Explorer 6":

- Some small additions to the Privacy settings
- Media Bar
- Image Toolbar (you know, that little bar that lets you choose print, save, email, etc)
- Automatic Image Resizing
- Print Preview (already in IE 5.5, but they've just added some more options to it)

So basicly, the only new things added to IE6 since IE5.5 are the Media Bar, Image Toolbar and Automatic Image Resizing. I don't use any of them, and have always find them more annoying then useful.
 
When in doubt, use VMWare to test shit.

Hell, I use VMWare to run my entire home-based office live environment.

In the office at work, I use VMWare to setup various test environments, for anything from MS Clustering, to service pack and update testing, to application deployment, etc.

Since VMWare machines are simply files, I can just back them up or take a snapshot before implementing changes. If the VM gets messed, I simply go back to the snapshot for that particular machine, or restore from a previous file backup. On a quality workstation with 2 GB of RAM, and 4 independent SATA hard drives, you can run 4 - 5 VMWare machines, not including your base machine (on which all of your VMWare machines run). I usually run XP Pro as the base, or 2K3 Server.


[EDIT]

For those of you not sure what VMWare is, I do not want to confuse you into thinking that you will require multiple hard drives to run multiple VMs. I use multiple hard drives for performance purposes so that each VMWare machine gets its own hard drive. However, if you have some fast disks, you can run all of your VMWare machines from a single hard drive. However, if you decide to boot them all at the same time, or some of them happens to be a disk-intensive VM, such as an SQL server or something of the sort, you will end up severely slowing down your entire environment.

Again, for those not familiar, VMWare is simply an emulator, such as MAME or any other emulation software that some of you are probably familiar with. If simply simulates a standard PC-based architecture including a standard BIOS in a virtual window. You can install any OS into a VMWare machine, including Linux, BSD, Windows, etc. Anything PC-compatible with work with VMWare.

For more information, check out www.vmware.com
 
I've been using SP2 for awhile now and the problem i'm having is I cannot connect to any computers on the network nor can any computers connect to that system. I cannot enable sharing on any drives or folders. Prior to SP2 it all worked fine. And I can connect to other computers on the network from other computers.
 
Been running it for a while without any problems a few programs went screwy but none that I use alot. I dont really see much new in execpt secerity features which is good for the general public but for people that know about computers it is preaty pointless :eek:
 
I was running a beta for a few days but got rid of it b/c it wasn't compatible with some of my programs (stylexp in paticular)
 
winxp sp2 beta can be downloaded on Shareaza ;) , i have the beta and it speeds up alot of stuff including booting up windows and it comes with directx 9.0c and alot of mini features like built popup blocker. :)
 
Conker said:
winxp sp2 beta can be downloaded on Shareaza ;) , i have the beta and it speeds up alot of stuff including booting up windows and it comes with directx 9.0c and alot of mini features like built popup blocker. :)
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I was wondering why this dx 9.0b patch thing was not working
:D kept saying I didnt have dx 9b.

PS you didnt have to dl it off shareaza it is avalable on the microsoft website ;)
 
Just curious if it can be uninstalled easily to revert back to SP1, or is it pretty much a "system restore point and pray" setup?
 
Conker said:
winxp sp2 beta can be downloaded on Shareaza ;) , i have the beta and it speeds up alot of stuff including booting up windows and it comes with directx 9.0c and alot of mini features like built popup blocker. :)
Click to expand...

Hmmm, really? I got mine off the microsoft website and I still only have DirectX 9b, I mean it's not a life or death feature, but still odd...
 
i have had no problems with it i have a install of xp that is over a year old and i have had sp2 for about 4-5 months now it is great not a single popup was seen it catches the ones that make it past googles blocker firewall was good too now if only they will make it finalized
 
I've got SP2 with DX9c, cats 4.4s were faster but 4.5s seem more stable, other then that I'm lovingit ,deffinately better then SP1 eve in beta form.
 
Anyone know when this is coming out? I've been searching on Microsoft's website and I'm coming up with nothing. :confused:
 
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