windows XP SP2

[joatmon]

downloaded and installed XP SP2 today, took about an hour and a half to pull the 260 MB fullinstall file, another 40 minutes to install it. So far, it doesn't seem to have broken anything. I haven't noticed any changes,, aside from a new "Windows Security Alerts" icon in the sys tray and a firewall (that hasn't complained about anything yet)

[Mr. Poopypants]

I am about to do the same thing. Let's hope it works well on all computers!

[Kazig]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »downloaded and installed XP SP2 today, took about an hour and a half to pull the 260 MB fullinstall file, another 40 minutes to install it. Call me a coward, but I am going to waiting another month.

[Raven]

Quote, originally posted by Kazig »Call me a coward, but I am going to waiting another month.Me too, if there is a major glitch, I don't want to be the guinea pig.

[MrRich]

I know sound is going to be dumb,but what is SP2?

[Jahntassa]

Not dumb. SP2 is Windows XP Service Pack 2. It's the "major" minor upgrade which is mostly a security fix. It adds a new firewall, some better wireless stuff (works pretty well on my Fujitsu), and other fixes.Microsoft is rolling it out over the next month or so..I've been running it for a few days with no stability issues, but the firewall did need some configuring to let my internal network stuff (some non-standard settings, so it shouldn't affect others)

[MrRich]

Ahh!Ok!Thanks!Now I'm smarter a lot!

[meathead333]

i have a question for those of you who have installed it. can you custom install it? i dont want the wireless stuff and my hard drive is olny 10gs on my laptop. id like to conserve the space.

[rasermon]

Order your FREE XP SP2 Update CD Even if your just going to download it, this will be nice to have around if your going to do a clean install or if you don't have DSL, Cable internet.http://www.microsoft.com/windo....mspx

[ebslopp]

FYI...I installed the SP2 last night. After it finished installing, I could no longer boot to windows. Lucky for me, I was smart enought to make a back up right before installing SP2. Be prepared for problems, back up your system!

[Raven]

I've been using the SP2 for a few days now and it seems to work quite well. My daughter, on the other hand has a few complaints. Kazaa, Windows Media Player and various Image Editing Programs don't seem to work. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Stang2Vibe]

I know that Kazaa has just released a new version that they are claiming is SP2 compliant so have her go to Kazaa.com and d/l the newest version. Should solve that one.I received a notification to d/l SP2 through my automatic Windows Update and clicked yes to start the d/l, but so far it hasn't began the d/l. Went to the Microsoft website and it said that it was currently in like a prerelease state where it could only be d/l'd through Windows Update. Well, duh, I already tried that! So now what?

[scherry2]

I went to the windows update web site and downloaded it from there it took mabye an hour to download and install. no problems yet.

[ArcsVibe]

Thanks for the link Rich! I ordered my CD since I want to wait a little bit before installing it.

[rasermon]

Your welcome Sam. I have updated my pc and two laptops at home with no problems.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Quote, originally posted by rasermon »Your welcome Sam. I have updated my pc and two laptops at home with no problems. Yeah, I tried the Beta version and it sucked. The final release is great. You can barely tell it's there, the beta version was VERY "in your face" as is windows itself. But SP2 is running great on my pc and laptop.

[Pablo1669]

Quote, originally posted by Sunny » Anyone have any suggestions?Stop using Kaaza, it's the source of so many problems, virus infected files, and spyware good luck with that.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Agreed! If you use Kazaa, you had better have Kazaa Lite and still be VERY CAREFUL. K-Lite isn't packed with Spyware, but you still have to watch out for Viruses. Most people don't realize that even if you have McAfee or Norton on your computer, you have to update the virus definition files AT LEAST once a week. They release DAT files weekly. And sometimes they will release them 2 or 3 times a week depending on new virus discoveries. Just having a virus program does not protect you. Most programs allow you to set it to auto update, you should do this. ALSO you should have a good firewall on your computer. The one that is included on SP2 is decent but a third party program like ZoneAlarm is excellent. You can get it for free, or buy the PRO version. For everyday users, your best bet is the free version. You should also run WindowsUpdate at least monthly or even set the computer to autoupdate. OK, now that I'm done with my rant. Be careful!

[Stang2Vibe]

I can attest to that! Some a-hole created viruses that plague my computer and I think have damaged the hard drive. This crap seems to have gone into full swing about last fall. I never had problems from Kazaa before that. I guess copyright holders have hired hackers/virus writers to infect files traded and shared on Kazaa to discourage people from using it? Guess I'll have to go back to MIRC. Archaic, but useful.

[Raven]

We do use some good spyware and virus programs, updated daily and also have Kazaa Lite. We use AVG, Adaware 6.0, NAI Stinger and have the firewalls for windows set up well. I always check for new updates each time I run the programs listed above. As for Kazaa, for a long time there has been files of dead air, horrid scratching noises and half-songs. My daughter also suspected that people were hired to send out mass-sabotage to our P2P friends. What is MIRC, and does it work well? Or are there any suggested programs like Kazaa but cleaner (and free?)?

[AJ_'04 Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by MrRich »Ahh!Ok!Thanks!Now I'm smarter a lot! Wrong It's "Now I'm more smarter."

[rasermon]

Stang, Kazaa is pure evil.Give WinMX a try. http://www.winmx.com

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by rasermon »Stang, Kazaa is pure evil.Give WinMX a try. http://www.winmx.comIs the program and all music file downloads free? If I was going to pay for this stuff, I'd just go to the music store and buy it (which I sometimes do). I like to d/l stuff for free here and there to see if I like it, then if I do, I go buy it. The problem is that rarely do I want to listen to 50% or more of an artist's cd. They put a few good songs on the album, then fill it up with crap. I could do without the crap.

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by Sunny »We do use some good spyware and virus programs, updated daily and also have Kazaa Lite. We use AVG, Adaware 6.0, NAI Stinger and have the firewalls for windows set up well.I'm a cheapo, and an empoverished college student so I'm limited to free spyware and virus programs, which so far have done little to nothing. Some of them even included their own spyware/malware with their free trials! I guess they were thinking that they could infect my computer, then try to sell me the antidote. That doesn't fly with me. I've been in my registry umpteen times deleting out stuff that looks bad. Problem is, I'm no Windows expert and have most likely deleted some good stuff. I'm at the point where I'm so frustrated with this that I don't care anymore. As soon as my computer connects to the internet (even before I open IE or anything) I'm getting bombarded with popups. Programs add themselves to my program list all the time, then I can't delete some of them because I get the "access denied" warning that the file is in use, which tells me that there is probably a link in the registry that is using it. For others, you have to follow links to their websites to d/l an uninstaller file, then they make you fill out a survey about why you want to remove their program. Boy, do I rip into them on those. Lots of f-bombs and the like. Makes me feel a little bit better, anyway! Quote, originally posted by Sunny »What is MIRC, and does it work well?MIRC is just a form of IRC (internet relay chat). I used to open the MIRC program and log into the DalNet network. I'm not sure of the specifics of how it works, but I think that it works but forming a network of users through hubs. DalNet was a really big one, and the only one that I ever got to use. It is basically just a peer to peer network where you can chat (what I think it was originally created for) and share files (what it pretty much became). You would enter into a chat room and the system had it's own series of commands. You'd enter a command with a particular username and if they were sharing files, you could request them. There was also a search feature that would look for a particular artist or song name for you. Most of the chat rooms had moderators and if you couldn't remember a song title or artist's name, either a mod or other users in the room were usually very helpful with giving you that info. LOL, I can remember times when I'd go on there and type some of the lyrics to a song and someone would be able to help me figure it out! I remember that the most fun part of it was that often someone in the room would have a trivia bot on their computer and you could start or join in a game of trivia questions while you were waiting on your downloads. It kept score and people would be arguing over things and comparing scores, sometimes it got really competitive. My one roommate and I would sit at the computer and really have a blast with these people. Between the two of us, there was rarely a trivia question that we couldn't answer. Ok, I'll stop my MIRC reminiscing. But the big pain in the rear of the whole thing was the commands system. Different rooms could have different commands, and when you went to look at a user's filelist to see what they have available for d/l, they could have a completely different command system themselves. And that system could even vary from user to user, so there was no kind of standardize file sharing system. Add to that the fact that the whole MIRC program reminded me of using a Commodore 64 from the mid 1980's, and things could be frustrating at times. That's why I said that it was really archaic. I probably haven't used it for about 3 years now, I don't even have it on my computer. It was on my roomate's computer and he was much better at using it than I was.

[rasermon]

Just got it in the mail today.