Column: Resolving Windows XP SP2 application compatibility issues

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hoi how are you? i want ask you can you tell me how can i order a service
pack 2 from microsoft. i realy need it pleas tell me i want it on cd.
thank you very much
 
Asked here/Answered here.

You may be able to order WinXP SP2 on CD via MS Order Desk:

In the United States, contact the Microsoft Order Desk at the following
phone number:

(800) 360-7561, Monday through Friday, 5:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M., Pacific
Time

In Canada, contact the Canadian Microsoft Order Desk at the following phone
number:

(800) 933-4750, Monday through Friday, 5:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M., Pacific
Time
 
When are the experts at Microsoft going to release SP3 to cleanup the SP2
mess so we can get back to our computing instead of doing Microsoft's or any
other venders work?
 
Hi, what sort of problems are you referring to? AFAIK there are workarounds
now for any application compatibility issues that arose from SP2, and the
inclusion of Windows Firewall has IMO significantly enhanced the security of
the XP platform. Could you be specific about the problems you're still
having? Thanks :-)

Cheers,
Mitch Tulloch
http://www.mtit.com/mitch/
 
=?Utf-8?B?TWl0Y2ggVHVsbG9jaA==?= said:
Hi, what sort of problems are you referring to? AFAIK there are workarounds
now for any application compatibility issues that arose from SP2, and the
inclusion of Windows Firewall has IMO significantly enhanced the security of
the XP platform. Could you be specific about the problems you're still
having? Thanks :-)
Click to expand...

1: The ongoing string of people who report Windows Explorer errors.
This is usually blamed on "bad applications" or "bad extensions."
These are where Windows Explorer crashes or takes LONG periods of
time to respond. But there seems to be no tool that scans your
system to identify these known "bad" items and point them out.
There is almost never any event log information to help diagnose
the cause of these failures.

2: The Windows Explorer crashes where the screen "flickers" and
Windows Explorer just restarts itself, never leaving any hint of
what went wrong in the event logs.

I wrestled with a more serious case of this with SP2 support for
months before they just gave up on the problem. In that case Windows
Explorer would simply lock up. I shipped config data, the whole
registry, the user profile, you name it, repeatedly to them. Never
found a solution. Somehow after many months and re-installation
several times the problem did go away.

But it has resurfaced recently with Windows Explorer crashing,
usually each time I close the window. I notice the screen flicker
and hear the floppy seek each time. Trying to track this down has
not found anything yet.

I have firewalls and virus scanning and spyware scanning and and and.
All come up squeaky clean. I Haven't had a virus since 2000 when I
tried to help some poor slob in the office with his Excel sheet and
he gave me a macro virus, but it was not clear that I actually opened
the sheet before other people discovered this and it was sterilized.

Thank you
 
Mitch

i am having a compatibility problem with my cd burner that worked before my
computor crashed and i had to re-install windows xp again. now my cd burner
program will not work even thought it clearly states on the cd program jacket
that it is xp compatable. I went to the vendor of the software for the
update that they provide and downloaded it, but the computor will not accept
it. could this be that i downloaded sp-2 after the program was installed.

and can i un-install sp-2. correct my cd-burner program and than re-install
the sp-2 patch

many thanks, and have a good evening

Ted Humin
 
=?Utf-8?B?VGVkIEh1bWlu?= said:
I
Now
Could
And

i am having a compatibility problem with my cd burner that worked before my
computor crashed and i had to re-install windows xp again. now my cd burner
program will not work even thought it clearly states on the cd program jacket
that it is xp compatable. I went to the vendor of the software for the
update that they provide and downloaded it, but the computor will not accept
it. could this be that i downloaded sp-2 after the program was installed.

and can i un-install sp-2. correct my cd-burner program and than re-install
the sp-2 patch

many thanks, and have a good evening
Click to expand...
 
SP2 Destroyed My Connectivity To Aol: Had To Restore My Computer To Factory
Condition Because There Was No Other Way To Get My Computer Working Again.
Since Doing That My Computer Is Running Perfectly And SP2 Is Not An Option
Unless Someone Of Authority Can Assure Me Of A Way To Solve This Huge
Problem.
 
alan said:
SP2 Destroyed My Connectivity To Aol: Had To Restore My Computer To Factory
Condition Because There Was No Other Way To Get My Computer Working Again.
Since Doing That My Computer Is Running Perfectly And SP2 Is Not An Option
Unless Someone Of Authority Can Assure Me Of A Way To Solve This Huge
Problem.
Click to expand...

Don't use AOL. That problem and many others solved.
 
Hi Don, I wasn't aware of problems like that with Windows Explorer after SP2
is installed and certainly haven't experienced them. Do you know a few other
people who have experienced similar problems? If so please email me off-list
so I can try and research this further, but offhand I would suspect it's
either hardware-related or incompatibility with some third-party application,
possibly even your antivirus app. Just a guess though, and I'd like to
collect more facts to track this down. My email addres is
(e-mail address removed)_NOSPAMPLEASE thanks.

Cheers,
Mitch Tulloch
MVP [Windows Server]
 
Mitch said:
Hi Don, I wasn't aware of problems like that with Windows Explorer after SP2
is installed and certainly haven't experienced them. Do you know a few other
people who have experienced similar problems? If so please email me off-list
so I can try and research this further, but offhand I would suspect it's
either hardware-related or incompatibility with some third-party application,
possibly even your antivirus app. Just a guess though, and I'd like to
collect more facts to track this down. My email addres is
(e-mail address removed)_NOSPAMPLEASE thanks.

Cheers,
Mitch Tulloch
MVP [Windows Server]

:

1: The ongoing string of people who report Windows Explorer errors.
This is usually blamed on "bad applications" or "bad extensions."
These are where Windows Explorer crashes or takes LONG periods of
time to respond. But there seems to be no tool that scans your
system to identify these known "bad" items and point them out.
There is almost never any event log information to help diagnose
the cause of these failures.

2: The Windows Explorer crashes where the screen "flickers" and
Windows Explorer just restarts itself, never leaving any hint of
what went wrong in the event logs.

I wrestled with a more serious case of this with SP2 support for
months before they just gave up on the problem. In that case Windows
Explorer would simply lock up. I shipped config data, the whole
registry, the user profile, you name it, repeatedly to them. Never
found a solution. Somehow after many months and re-installation
several times the problem did go away.

But it has resurfaced recently with Windows Explorer crashing,
usually each time I close the window. I notice the screen flicker
and hear the floppy seek each time. Trying to track this down has
not found anything yet.

I have firewalls and virus scanning and spyware scanning and and and.
All come up squeaky clean. I Haven't had a virus since 2000 when I
tried to help some poor slob in the office with his Excel sheet and
he gave me a macro virus, but it was not clear that I actually opened
the sheet before other people discovered this and it was sterilized.

Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I've never seen any situation where a hardware problem caused the shell
to puke/restart. Is this really possible?
 
capitan said:
....
I've never seen any situation where a hardware problem caused the shell
to puke/restart. Is this really possible?
Click to expand...

People have blamed Windows Explorer problems and crashes on everything.
There is almost no evidence that most of these claims are really true.
I believe that it is carefully and intentionally engineered in that most
of the Windows Explorer crashes leave nothing in the event logs to let
you be able to figure out what really actually happened.
 
Don said:
People have blamed Windows Explorer problems and crashes on everything.
There is almost no evidence that most of these claims are really true.
I believe that it is carefully and intentionally engineered in that most
of the Windows Explorer crashes leave nothing in the event logs to let
you be able to figure out what really actually happened.
Click to expand...


Hi Don. I think you are right. The only time I have ever been able to
explain explorer crashing is if it was obviously caused by a nasty or
some kind of malware.
 
Hi Don. I think you are right. The only time I have ever been able to
explain explorer crashing is if it was obviously caused by a nasty or
some kind of malware.
Click to expand...

How did you really confirm it was "obviously caused"?
I'm searching for ways to actually diagnose real causes.

thanks
 
Don said:
How did you really confirm it was "obviously caused"?
I'm searching for ways to actually diagnose real causes.

thanks
Click to expand...

Sorry Don, I really have no concrete evidence for you except I've seen
the event log entries that say something to the effect of Winlogon 1002
"the shell stopped and explorer.exe was restarted" occasionally. You
are lucky when you get this message, unfortunately even though it does
tell you the shell stopped and restarted, it doesn't actually tell you
anything else useful about the situation.

I was referring mainly to circumstancial evidence where a friend or
family member brings me a infested PC so I can clean it for them, and
the shell keeps puking/restarting, seemingly due to the 12 or more
different malware I find on it. The shell stops puking usually after I
clean the malware off.

Best of luck in your quest. I think everyone who uses windows could
benefit from the info you seek. :)
 
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