XP Service Pack 2

[Peachy]

The internet is abuzz with world + dog eagerly anticipating the release of XP Service Pack 2 to manufacturing. The RTM date is supposed to be today! http://www.winnetmag.com/windowspaulthurro...rott_43510.htmlI've got my SUS server primed and ready to snatch it as soon as I hear word of it. So I may be able to get it before August 25, the day it's supposed to debut on Windows Update servers.

[Ozidave]

I've got my SUS server primed and ready to snatch it as soon as I hear word of it.

Hi Peachy,Why do I have this gut-feeling that M$ XP-SP2 is going to be dissected very shortly. I've been using SP2 beta for nearly a month and haven't had any problems, But! I'm no expert as to what else could have been improved. Ozi.

[Guest Paracelsus]

Personally, I'm going hang back a week or tw...Oops!... Sorry...I've already said this elsewhere.Sorry Dave

[Guitar Man]

I going to hang at least a month...and wait for the posts (positive or otherwise) to pour out...But I must admit one thing: it's like waiting for that first dollop of Heinz ketchup to ruin your plate of fries !(But haven't they fixed that bug too ?)

[Ozidave]

But I must admit one thing: it's like waiting for that first dollop of Heinz ketchup to ruin your plate of fries !

Hi Phil,Thanks for this line, I nearly laughed myself into a fit. ;) It reminded me of: "we're never gonna make it!...........we're doomed!.......it won't work!........I told you so!"Glum.

[Jeber]

I just got this email today from a fellow member of WebSanDiego, and thought you all might get a kick out of some of the figures quoted:

Apparently  Windows XP SP2 is ready andMicrosoft will begin distributing the update via staggered AutomaticUpdates and eventually make it available for general download viaWindows Update on August 25.From Yahoo! ""Our hope and goal is that a 100 million people will get WindowsSP2 (through Automatic Update)," Kaplan said.Service Pack 2 for Windows XP Home Edition will be about 70megabytes and the update for Windows XP Professional will be about92 megabytes."On the high end that ss 8.57 petabytes, on the low end it is 6.52petabytes. That's quite a lot of data. Kind of makes DouglasBowman's estimated "0.32 terabytes per year" in savings calculatedin his excellent article "Throwing Tables Out the Window"http://www.stopdesign.com/articles/throwing_tables/ seem like a dropin the bucket when you figure this 8.57 terabytes is just for aservice pack for one of MS's operating systems.From http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com"What can you do now to ensure you get Windows XP Service Pack 2?The best way to get Windows XP Service Pack 2 is by using theAutomatic Updates feature in Windows XP. Visit the Protect Your PCsite to let us turn it on for you or follow three manual steps,either way you'll get Service Pack 2 automatically as Microsoftreleases it. Turning on Automatic Updates today allows your PC tobegin downloading important updates automatically, including thelatest version of Windows Update. It also ensures you will receivefuture updates, such as Service Pack 2."Tinfoil hat time: My theory on why XP SP 2 was delayed... MS neededmore time to break Firefox when they realized how Firefox wascatching on.

[epp_b]

I going to hang at least a month...and wait for the posts (positive or otherwise) to pour out...But I must admit one thing: it's like waiting for that first dollop of Heinz ketchup to ruin your plate of fries !(But haven't they fixed that bug too ?)

Yup! The worlds only maker of real Ketchup as solved the problem http://www.heinz.com/jsp/world.jsp#1

[Peachy]

And we keep waiting, and waiting...

[Ozidave]

It's a pity Bill Gates wasn't a May-Fly. Then XP could have been, hatched, dispatched, and all over in a very short time.. Maybe he's got elephant blood in him? Thick hide, and a long period of gestation before the birthing of SP2. Other than that, they are probably still working on the extra patches it will require 'after' release to give the impression they are on top of any new problems that come along. Ozi.

[Guitar Man]

Yup! The worlds only maker of real Ketchup as solved the problem

As it's the only one I'll buy, I DID notice it was smoother than the original recipe... :">

Peachy Posted on Aug 5 2004, 05:47 PM   And we keep waiting, and waiting...

"Anticipation"...

[Ed_P]

Another delay. :">

[epp_b]

If I were you guys, I wouldn't be compaining about waiting. The way I see it, the longer you have to wait for something from Microsoft, the more time they have to check for bugs and holes.

[Guitar Man]

epp_b Posted on Aug 6 2004, 08:56 AM   If I were you guys, I wouldn't be compaining about waiting.

I'm not complaining. My system just purrs nicely, and has been for quite some time now..."If it ain't broke, why try to fix it ?"

[Peachy]

Well it looks like XP Service Pack 2 went to manufacturing this morning. If you are a Windows beta tester you may not be able to download it just yet, despite the email message you received: the windowsbeta.microsoft.com site is presently down as world+dog launches a coordinated feeding frenzy (er, uhm, DDOS attack!) trying to download it. :'(

[James M. Fisher]

It's back up. It was overloaded initially, now things are going nicely (for now).

[jar92380]

I heard that sp2 just went gold. That means more bugs and crashes in the next few weeks.. yipppeeeeJames

[Ozidave]

I wonder how many of them will be the result of faulty or under-rated operating Hardware configurations. Ozi.

[jar92380]

who knows, but the computer forums everywhere are going to get really busy with lots of ppl having major computer issuesJames

[Ozidave]

In all fairness to Microsoft, Linux and all of the other operating systems. How many people have sufficient Harware Resources to run 'all' of the applications that they desire at the same time? It wasn't that long ago when you had an XT, you couldn't run anything as simple as Apogee multi-graphic games because of the 640k physical memory, not very BIG games either just a matter of Kb's, speed was the biggest problem in delivering the data fast enough, and also not delivering enough of it at once.Then the AT was next... WOW! 4Mb's of memory, (Super Power!!) But if you wanted to run this or that extra you had to upgrade to 8Mb at least. And it goes on today........... XP has around 20 base processes running, add WIN PLUS, all the TSR's that people use, your email go-getter, the AV watchdog and your graphical Mp3/Wma player, Modem drivers, surf the web and download files and you are pushing the envelope.... so something has to give way, and it surprises me that it's always the software that is at fault. Add the state of the electronic MoBo components, the fact that many of them have drifted off-frequency, developed high-resistance and some are fatigued. This all goes to disrupt the timing of the processes and data is not delivered at the correct speed to blend in with all of the other processes to produce an optimum result.Overload this with insufficient memory or slow processor and / or BUS frequency and the data arrives / blends to far out of syncronization to be of any use....... the results are unpredictable. But! it's the software......My computer is only 6 months old?, that means nothing in electronics, new components can be faulty too! Why does a light-bulb blow? 99% of the time it's just fatigue that creates high-resistance and weakness through use, and 1% through power surge. Components suffer the same, throw in electrolysis, corrosion and dry-connections, humidity and ambience and what have you got ....... software problems and it's all M$ or Linux's fault. Ozi.

[Guest Paracelsus]

AGREED, Ozi!!!I actively participate in another BB that's specific to a particular companies Software apps... And over the 3+ years that Forum has been going, I'd say that at least 75% of the "Problems" and "Software Bugs" that people post about are individual "SysConfig" issues.If many users report the same or similar problem?? OK... It could well be a bug.If only one or two people have a problem?? System!User: "I made a Flash screensaver with the Screensaver Maker program and when it runs, it slows to a halt on my computer. This isn't what I paid for!! HELP!!"Me: "Ah... Some details on your system, please?"User: "500MHz PII; 128RAM; 8GB HD with 500MB free"Me: "What about your Video Card"User: "My what??"Me: "Never mind. It ain't the software"User: "What?? But it's not doing what I want!!!"Me: "It ain't the software"User: "What should I do???"Me: "Two options. Stop making Flash Screensavers... Or get a new PC"

[James M. Fisher]

who knows, but the computer forums everywhere are going to get really busy with lots of ppl having major computer issues.

...and that differs from the status quo in what way, James?

[Ozidave]

who knows, but the computer forums everywhere are going to get really busy with lots of ppl having major computer issuesJames

Makes you wonder how many will be about auto-update?. MS did say months ago that they were going to disable this service for pirated copies, hence the new v.5 auto-download. Ozi.

[James M. Fisher]

The Service Pack will be offered by various means. Since MS considers it 'critical' it will appear on that list in WU and will be offered by AU; a good reason to set your AU to "notify" instead of "auto-download and install".Scot mentions this in his latest SFNL:http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/59.htm#winreport1andhttp://www.scotsnewsletter.com/60.htm

[Ozidave]

If only one or two people have a problem??  System!

Ain't it the truth! I'm surprised at some of the responses to some of the questions when there is absolutely no reference to the system specs. :'( Reminds me of the 19yr old who would not turn the computer on until the Michelangelo virus had been quashed. Didn't even have or own a modem of any description? Some people have no idea, Then again, that's why we give our time and what advice we can to try to help. Ozi.

[al92lt1]

I fell for a bogus post at another forum today. It gave a link to the official release of SP2. I downloaded and installed it and then saw that it was build 2158. It seems fine and only 1 application quit working, STYLE XP. Do you think the final build 2180 will install over it? Do you think automatic Windows Update will detect that I need the newer version? Or should I uninstall it and wait?Thanks

[Ozidave]

I fell for a bogus post at another forum today. It gave a link to the official release of SP2. I downloaded and installed it and then saw that it was build 2158. It seems fine and only 1 application quit working, STYLE XP. Do you think the final build 2180 will install over it? Do you think automatic Windows Update will detect that I need the newer version? Or should I uninstall it and wait?Thanks

Hi,Even our resident MS experts agree that installing one version over another is not the best way to go. Me! I would un-install it and go for the latest, especially if you're not on dial-up. The reason being that it will help to prevent any 'possible' errors of mis-match because of the different versions of upgrades.Ozi.

[GolfProRM]

I fell for a bogus post at another forum today. It gave a link to the official release of SP2. I downloaded and installed it and then saw that it was build 2158. It seems fine and only 1 application quit working, STYLE XP. Do you think the final build 2180 will install over it? Do you think automatic Windows Update will detect that I need the newer version? Or should I uninstall it and wait?Thanks

According to MS, it will work without uninstalling, but I'm not sure I'd try it.As far as Style XP goes, there's a new version on their website that works with SP2.

[James M. Fisher]

Do you think the final build 2180 will install over it?

If WINVER reports 040803-2158, then you have the final build. The 2158 is not the build number.040803-2158 translates into the following:04 = 2004, 08 = August, 03 = the 3rd day, and 2158 = 9:58pm. Thus RTM build was made on August 3, 2004 at 9:58pm.

[-ct-]

heads up!10 mirrors posted on www.neowin.net for downloading the 266+mb file

[imranj]

Their are many ppl who are clueless about computers even with Windows ease of use they get just frozen by using it, they would faint if they had to use linux.....;)if Gentoo then direct to coma............. So like i do for my friends and dad's friend to help them out with their problems and give them free tech support.......and charge from few..they insist .....so in a way we have being given something that we could use for some goodness.And as for SP2 i already have it, got it from a friend who has access to MSDN, installed it , everything is fine stable as mentioned else where........and okie dokie..........lets the Sp2 feista begin.