Anyone For WINDOWS SP2 Yet?

[crazeybt1]

hmm..so yeah service pack 2 is out... are you enthusiastic about it.. well i'm not.. i'm soo afraid of installing it it's not funny.. but i'm just there reading around what the experts advise seeing i don't have that much trust in "some" of microsoft products especially their handicapped OSs

[Meryl Arbing]

I installed the pre-release CD that they sent me and the full update came through last night. There have been no problems but since I already was using Norton for Firewall, Anti-Virus and anti-SPAM I didn't need to have the Microsoft security features. I knew that, while a hardware and software Firewalls can coexist happily, two software firewalls can conflict. I found that the Microsoft Firewall opened a port that Norton had stealthed. Turning off the MS Firewall in favour of Norton solved the problem in a few minutes and now all my ports are stealthed again. I wasn't upset by this because I knew it was a beta release.

There have been no problems with the full release.

I haven't had many problems with Microsoft products since I have been using them since DOS 2.0 and through all the version of Windows up to the present. The security issues, that prompted this Service Pack has little to do with any inherent flaws in MS products. What we have to remember is that Microsoft is a 'Big target' and there are legions of little creeps who want to make a name for themselves by bringing MS down. When you have that many people looking for ways to break in, it is no surprise that they uncover ingenious ways to cause trouble. It is like an elephant being swarmed by ants...there are always a few that can bite a vulnerable part! If Linux was given the same unfriendly attention as Windows gets, there would be thousands of 'security' issues uncovered by people wanting to cause trouble and they would take a lot longer to fix.

It doesn't take any real brains to poke a stick at the big targets...there are lots of them. Microsoft, of course, but, if you look at the digital camera sites you will see that there is a generalized prejudice against Sony... NOT because Sony produces a bad product but because it is a 'Big target'...easy to hit for those with minimal skills.

[Christopher]

I've been using the final version for about 4 days now, and it's pretty solid. I won't go over all the changes [this info is readily available at most major related websites], but I will dispense my perspective as a cable ISP tech support - it's an absolute godsend. The amount of people in this world who do not have some sort of proprietary firewall or anti-virus setup on their computer far outweighs those who do. SP2 comes with a basic "security center" that overviews firewall, anti-virus and windowsupdate(s) - three key things that are the prime annoyance [as seemingly no one adheres to any of it] in my job each and every day. If Microsoft had made the features within SP2 standard when XP initally debuted, billions of dollars lost because of sasser, msblaster, etc wouldn't have been, and I'm sure the economy would've taken a lesser hit. I lost alot of sanity troubleshooting incessant aforementioned virus-related woes, and I think this is going to be a great step in the right direction for a company that has more than 90% market share.

It may cause issues with Sonicstage II, but this hasn't been defined yet. I'd like to get some feedback on that if possible.

[skyther]

No difference for me. :rasp:

Well, the popup blocker is nice, but I don't use IE anyway. Firewall is my router's job, and I don't like Windows update eating my bandwidth. Disable, disable, disable. The only thing left are the patches, so SP2's 'new' features does nothing for me. Nice to see Microsoft's putting more interest into security, but often 'Microsoft' and 'security' don't go together very well. :laugh:

[crazeybt1]

hmm... ok well it seems as if you all have good things to say about sp2 as for this moment i still haven't gotten it yet which i'm gonna attempt to do now hopefully i won't be dissapointed, seeing already i'm very comfortable with the sp1 altho it's lacking.. i find my self blocking ports adding patches constantly etc.. and i still can't find windows messenger which is still runing on my system but it's hidden.. the only place any trace of it can be found is in the system processes.

i installed this software "security task manager" and it's giving me the idea that having windows messenger running is a threat to some degree.

but i'll get the sp2 and take the risk see how i feel about it and add my 2 cent after all...

i guess i've been spending too much time on zdnet.. :smile: they're very skeptical about it..

[aeriyn]

If Microsoft had made the features within SP2 standard when XP initally debuted, billions of dollars lost because of sasser, msblaster, etc wouldn't have been, and I'm sure the economy would've taken a lesser hit.

MSBlaster and the other worms of the same derivative caused me unending stress for a few hours. I seriously hated that RPCSS would die every fifteen minutes. I had to go into Services and disable the force-restart when the Remote Procedure Call service croaked, so I could get NAI VirusScan up and running long enough to murder the little bastard. xP

Which reminds me, I need to get the newest SuperDAT from NAI. >.>;

Edit: NOOOO!!! DAMN THEM! >.<

VirusScan NT 4.5 is no longer supported. T.T

Well... time to shell out some more cash. >.>;

[crazeybt1]

well what do you know.. i installed sp2 and for some unknown reason it seem to have a problem with norton's antivirus and firewall .. stating something like "Norton internet security is installed, but its status is unknown" hmm... and "Norton Antivirus reports that its installed, BUT it's status is unknown" where as Norton is saying hey buddy everything is fine with me...

the firewall status changed as soon as i turned off windows firewall which might be a joke.. and as for windows security services loading before Norton not soo cool.. because it wants to control those processes it seems.. or wait.. are these reports due to norton not being synced with sp2 yet.. have any one experienced the same?

and altho i tweeked some settings to have microsoft not monitor those processes i.e firwall and antivirus i'd like to know if any one left it as it is and MS is ok with it

[crazeybt1]

Windows Service Pack 2 Review on Zdnet @ http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Microsoft_Win...-2.html?tag=top

[Christopher]

So do you like it, crazey?

[crazeybt1]

:smile: well to be honest .. there isn't much to like about it , it's not like i was using windows 95 and upgraded to win xp pro with sp2 but it's ok i guess haven't found any problems yet nor have i been to security sites to test it's vulnerability yet. but it's ok :smile:

and in my situation i have to be careful with worms and the like lurking on my system because where i'm from we use wireless internet and it seems that the structure of their network is set up something similar to how cable internet networks are set up in the US (or something like that) now if there's a bug on your system. they can detect that and they simply disconnect your access so as to prevent your infection from spreading to others on the network (kinna strict won't you say)

[Christopher]

Isn't there enhanced wireless functionality with SP2? I didn't really mess with it, but I saw a few new options in the Control Panel that weren't there before.

[crazeybt1]

well yeah i saw the options in control panel but those seem to be for wireless networking where as wireless internet is just broad band but wireless i.e. a network cable (cat5) runs to a box (or converter aka axcellara) then there's another cat5 wire runing from that box but with a much harder skin which runs to an antenna out side my house which receives and send packets etc etc etc... *that's my set up*

i've noticed tho that in my connection properties there's this feature which states that window can give me a warning if my signal is weak or disfunctional..well that haven't worked yet..

Altho i must say my connection is via a network card so .. no big deal.

but my friend's connection is via USB and that seems to work completely different in windows :smile: not to mention very very unsecure i mean you could live a few houses away from each other and you can just browse your local area network and find someone else's system as part of your network.. ...crazy

[jadeclaw]

Before installing Service Pack 2, check, if your Software is included here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=884130

If software, you depend on is included, expect configuration work or even the necessity of an update.

However, most problems are firewall related.

SonicStage is not in the list.

[skyther]

I have quite a lot of apps on that list and I haven't had much of a problem. Office, WC3, Kazaa, etc. all work fine. NOD32 doesn't seem to be recognised by XP as an anti-viral app but it's doing it's job fine as well.

[jadeclaw]

One point to remember: SP2 doesn't fix Internet Explorer completely.

A new hole: http://secunia.com/advisories/12321/

And it is a critical one...