A good SP2 install

[Roger]

After seeing dozens and dozens of SP2 downloading and
install problems I was scared half to death of SP2. I
knew the update was needed so if the update was going to
fail it wasn't going to be my fault. I followed MS's
preinstallation recommendations and added a few steps of
my own to make it painless as possible.

1) Make sure all drivers, especially video drivers, are
up to date.
2) Insure that all previous Win XP updates are installed
by running the Windows Update application in Internet
Explorer.
3) Insure the FREE space for the hard drive AND partition
that XP is installed in is large enough (> 1.5 gig).
4) Defrag the hard drive.
5) Update the definitions for Spybot Search and Destroy,
AdAware, and Anti-Virus program and scan the hard drive
with each.
5)Before starting the download disable all
programs/applications that are running. I left only my
anti-virus program and firewall running. AVG 7.0 and Zone
Alarm.
6) If you have Norton's Anti-Virus you might want to
unload it and possibly install a different program or run
without one. A lot of problems are caused by
incompatabilities between SP2 and Norton.
7) Be patient.

The download (80 Mb) and installation took about one
hour. Everything started up fine. The new Security Center
saw my Zone Alarm and AVG 7.0 and said they were up to
date. I uninstalled AVG 7.0 (trial version) and installed
AVG 6.0. At first the Security Center didn't see the
change but after I turned my computer on then off
everything was O.K. A few of the protocol applications,
svchost in particular, changed in SP2 so I had to add
them to the Zona Alarm list. The start up screen loading
indicator changed from green before the install to blue
after the install.

My recommendations? Don't skip any steps and don't take
any short cuts. I believe if these steps are taken there
will be more good installs than problematic installs.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

2) Insure that all previous Win XP updates are installed
by running the Windows Update application in Internet
Explorer.

Roger,

this is good advice. Thanks!

In fact, most SP2 installations work just fine even without
following any advice, but following these rules certainly
decreases the remaining risk.

Point 2 is the only exception. It is not needed for the Service
Pack 2 installation at all. It would have been a good idea to
have all critical patches installed all the time before getting
SP2, but running the computer without them and then installing
them just before SP2 makes no sense. Shouldn't hurt either
though.

4) Defrag the hard drive.

I read this recommendation from time to time. Defragmenting only
affects performance and so is not necessary, but it certainly
doesn't hurt either. It could make SP2 install a bit faster.

All the other points are unquestionably valid.

I would add a fresh backup. Installations like a big service
pack always carry a residual risk of failure, and there are
certainly a few cases in which everything is lost.

Hans-Georg