45 Downloads!!!

[its_my_dime]

Friday, I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP (home). In
addition to the program plus SP 2 (on disk), there were some 45 downloades
from the Microsoft web site including 43 upgrades.

Even though I have high speed internet access, the download and installation
process was time consuming. I cannot imagine how long it would take with
dialup.

Given that the next version of Windows is the better part of a year away and
XP will probably be supported for some period ofter that, I can easily
envision another dozen XP downloads before the new introduction and at least
an equal amount afterwords. Accordingly, shouldn't Microsoft be considering
a new service pack to include both SP2 and all of the subsequent upgrades?

 

[GHalleck]

Friday, I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP (home). In
addition to the program plus SP 2 (on disk), there were some 45 downloades
from the Microsoft web site including 43 upgrades.

Even though I have high speed internet access, the download and installation
process was time consuming. I cannot imagine how long it would take with
dialup.

Given that the next version of Windows is the better part of a year away and
XP will probably be supported for some period ofter that, I can easily
envision another dozen XP downloads before the new introduction and at least
an equal amount afterwords. Accordingly, shouldn't Microsoft be considering
a new service pack to include both SP2 and all of the subsequent upgrades?

Yes, that would be nice. But the next Service Pack already has a
name --- Vista.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

It's not known when, but a service pack 3 can be expected. Time frame unknown.

Are you making images of your system on removable media like DVD / CD? Are you using utilities such as Drive Image, BootitNG, or Ghost?
Those would provide a baseline snapshot at SP2 (or whatever) level -- so you don't have to wipe & reload.

Also, do you have a slipstream CD containing SP2?
Providing you have a regular XP CD that has your XP ( as opposed to just having a "recovery CD" from a manufacturer or pc vendor), then you can "merge" your original XP with the latest service pack ( at this stardate, it is SP 2) into a *slipstream* CD.

Here is one good reference
Windows 2000/XP SP Slipstreaming by Daniel Petri
http://www.petri.co.il/windows_2000_xp_sp_slipstreaming.htm

The examples are for Win2000, as well as Win XP.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Friday, I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP
(home). In addition to the program plus SP 2 (on disk), there were
some 45 downloades from the Microsoft web site including 43
upgrades.
Even though I have high speed internet access, the download and
installation process was time consuming. I cannot imagine how long
it would take with dialup.

Given that the next version of Windows is the better part of a year
away and XP will probably be supported for some period ofter that,
I can easily envision another dozen XP downloads before the new
introduction and at least an equal amount afterwords. Accordingly,
shouldn't Microsoft be considering a new service pack to include
both SP2 and all of the subsequent upgrades?

A dozen? That's thinking light.
And it is over 60 actual updates since SP2.
And long ago Microsoft announced that there was no plans for SP2 for Windows
XP until AFTER Vista's release.
That's just another reason I integrate all the patches into my installation
media as they come out. =)

Windows Service Pack Road Map
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/servicepacks.mspx

 

[paulmd]

Friday, I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP (home). In
addition to the program plus SP 2 (on disk), there were some 45 downloades
from the Microsoft web site including 43 upgrades.

Even though I have high speed internet access, the download and installation
process was time consuming. I cannot imagine how long it would take with
dialup.

I've done more than 100Meg downloads on dialup. If you have a reliable
ISP that doesn't dicsonnect you, it's an overnight deal. If you Don't,
you're pretty much SOL. Though Windows updates are pretty good at
resuming interrupted downloads.

Given that the next version of Windows is the better part of a year away and
XP will probably be supported for some period ofter that, I can easily
envision another dozen XP downloads before the new introduction and at least
an equal amount afterwords. Accordingly, shouldn't Microsoft be considering
a new service pack to include both SP2 and all of the subsequent upgrades?

Yes, they should. They should also do SP5 for Win2k, but they haven't.
I suspect there are serious issues happening at MS that explains this
failure.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I've done more than 100Meg downloads on dialup. If you have a
reliable ISP that doesn't dicsonnect you, it's an overnight deal.
If you Don't, you're pretty much SOL. Though Windows updates are
pretty good at resuming interrupted downloads.

Yes, they should. They should also do SP5 for Win2k, but they
haven't. I suspect there are serious issues happening at MS that
explains this failure.

Windows Service Pack Road Map
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/servicepacks.mspx

 

[Alias]

Yes, that would be nice. But the next Service Pack already has a
name --- Vista.

The next service pack for XP will be SP3. Vista has nothing to do with it.

Alias

 

[kurttrail]

Friday, I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP
(home). In addition to the program plus SP 2 (on disk), there were
some 45 downloades from the Microsoft web site including 43 upgrades.

Even though I have high speed internet access, the download and
installation process was time consuming. I cannot imagine how long
it would take with dialup.

Given that the next version of Windows is the better part of a year
away and XP will probably be supported for some period ofter that, I
can easily envision another dozen XP downloads before the new
introduction and at least an equal amount afterwords. Accordingly,
shouldn't Microsoft be considering a new service pack to include both
SP2 and all of the subsequent upgrades?

Sorry, but MS would rather spend time making it harder to use Windows XP
than making it easier.

And now that it is the largest spyware distributor in the world (WGA
Notifications), don't expect that their security updates are really
security updates.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Alias]

Sorry, but MS would rather spend time making it harder to use Windows XP
than making it easier.

And now that it is the largest spyware distributor in the world (WGA
Notifications), don't expect that their security updates are really
security updates.

I downloaded the WGA Notifications because, like the previous ones, I
mistakenly thought I would need it for future updates, and my firewall
is set for it to ask for permission to "call home". It hasn't asked once
since I downloaded it a few weeks ago. My computer hasn't suffered any
performance issues either.

Alias

 

[Leythos]

Sorry, but MS would rather spend time making it harder to use Windows XP
than making it easier.

What do you base this on? Another hysterical cry from the anti-MS team?
Not one computer we manage has any issues with any download in the last
two weeks, and only one has had any problems with the automatic or
manual downloads in the last year.

And now that it is the largest spyware distributor in the world (WGA
Notifications), don't expect that their security updates are really
security updates.

Since you're speaking out your rear-end again, you're not gaining any
ground. If you're talking about WGA, there is nothing in it that fits
the bill of Spyware.

If you diverted your anti-MS energy to solving world peace, I would
wager that the world would be peaceful in under 30 days.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

On the subject of downloads via dial-up internet service:

In the event it becomes very necessary, you may look into using a utility to help downloading process....if you only have dialup service.
Internet Download Manager is a utility that is very helpful if you have a "must do" download and you need to overcome any possible "disconnect" due to timeout. I've used it with great success in the past. But I did not have it on all the time. Do not configure it to always be on; but rather use it "on demand".

Internet Download Manager home page.
www.internetdownloadmanager.com

IDM is ideal for downloading big files, whether you are on dialup or on broadband.
It will actually manage to resume a disconnect by doing a redial & resuming from where it was.

 

[Davy]

Yikes...
I only use SP1 but I don't use Exploder or Outlook, even the dreade
Messenger is a bug bearer...... I use Firefox and Thunderbird an
never had any problems ever since switching yonks ago

I can prove, being on Exploder for just 10 minutes I can get aroun
120 cookies...! I can be on Firefox all day long and only get
dozen, it's the same with Outlook, ever thought why they are so slo
to load..

It's rather odd that there is so many up date patches going up th
spout which all seems to stem from the updates themselves, is it no
a case of "should we try this one out and see wha
happens"...? Using me and you as 'test beds', why so man
problems, certainly ain't an 'improvement' is it..

Xp seems it was an OS that was designed on a Friday night an hou
before clocking off for the week end...

You ought to be in charge of what goes on 'your' computer not MS,
always updated manually and 'not' automatically. The more update
there are the more RAM that is used at 'boot up'

If Bill Gates could make patchwork quilts like patches for hi
Os..."MI Granny would b
proud"

Dav

 

[kurttrail]

On the subject of downloads via dial-up internet service:

In the event it becomes very necessary, you may look into using a
utility to help downloading process....if you only have dialup
service.
Internet Download Manager is a utility that is very helpful if you
have a "must do" download and you need to overcome any possible
"disconnect" due to timeout. I've used it with great success in the
past. But I did not have it on all the time. Do not configure it to
always be on; but rather use it "on demand".

Internet Download Manager home page.
www.internetdownloadmanager.com

IDM is ideal for downloading big files, whether you are on dialup or
on broadband.
It will actually manage to resume a disconnect by doing a redial &
resuming from where it was.

MS needs at the very least to put out a free CD to bundle all the post
SP2 updates together, like they did over two years ago. Version 2 of
the Microsoft Windows Security Update CD, since who knows when MS will
actually put out SP3.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Plato]

Friday, I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP (home). In
addition to the program plus SP 2 (on disk), there were some 45 downloades
from the Microsoft web site including 43 upgrades.

Only choose the ones you need.

 

[kurttrail]

Windows Service Pack Road Map
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/servicepacks.mspx

MS needs at the very least to put out a free CD to bundle all the post
SP2 updates together, like they did over two years ago. Version 2 of
the Microsoft Windows Security Update CD, since who knows when MS will
actually put out SP3.


--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Windows Service Pack Road Map
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/servicepacks.mspx

MS needs at the very least to put out a free CD to bundle all the
post SP2 updates together, like they did over two years ago. Version 2 of
the Microsoft Windows Security Update CD, since who
knows when MS will actually put out SP3.

Agreed. I would say that and they should have an ISO image for each
language or something.