computer crashes with new service pack?

[Guest]

the following message was forwarded to me a couple weeks back:

Dear ,

Microsoft just announced that they are releasing Windows XP Service Pack 2
(XPSP2) tomorrow, August 4th. Though Microsoft is marketing XPSP2 as
providing an enhanced security infrastructure that defends against viruses,
worms, and hackers, it is a significant change to the XP Operating System.
During IT’s limited evaluation of XPSP2, it has shown problematic and crashed
several test systems.

Who does this affect?
XYZ-managed systems are not configured to automatically update. However, if
you visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/, you could inadvertently update
your system with XPSP2. Non-XYZ-managed systems (i.e., home systems) may
prompt you that there is an update available on the Microsoft site or may
install automatically depending on how your system is configured.

To verify if your system is configured for automatic updates or to turn off
automatic updates:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;306525

IT Recommendations:
IT recommends that you do NOT download/ install XPSP2 until controlled
testing has been completed for the following reasons:

· Microsoft does not have a way to “uninstall†the Service Pack
· Systems that crash due to the patch will most likely need to be
reformatted and rebuilt. If data is not backed up, it will be lost.
· No controlled testing has been done against XYZ productivity
applications

For more information about SP2 visit the Microsoft site below:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx

Note: IT does recommend that you continue to apply other Microsoft Critical
Updates as appropriate.


any comments on this? were these issues addressed and corrected?

 

[Colin Nash [MVP]]

the following message was forwarded to me a couple weeks back:

Dear ,

Microsoft just announced that they are releasing Windows XP Service Pack 2
(XPSP2) tomorrow, August 4th. Though Microsoft is marketing XPSP2 as
providing an enhanced security infrastructure that defends against
viruses,
worms, and hackers, it is a significant change to the XP Operating System.
During IT's limited evaluation of XPSP2, it has shown problematic and
crashed
several test systems.

Who does this affect?
XYZ-managed systems are not configured to automatically update. However,
if
you visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/, you could inadvertently
update
your system with XPSP2. Non-XYZ-managed systems (i.e., home systems) may
prompt you that there is an update available on the Microsoft site or may
install automatically depending on how your system is configured.

To verify if your system is configured for automatic updates or to turn
off
automatic updates:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;306525

IT Recommendations:
IT recommends that you do NOT download/ install XPSP2 until controlled
testing has been completed for the following reasons:

· Microsoft does not have a way to "uninstall" the Service Pack
· Systems that crash due to the patch will most likely need to be
reformatted and rebuilt. If data is not backed up, it will be lost.
· No controlled testing has been done against XYZ productivity
applications

For more information about SP2 visit the Microsoft site below:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx

Note: IT does recommend that you continue to apply other Microsoft
Critical
Updates as appropriate.


any comments on this? were these issues addressed and corrected?

This is really an issue for your IT department and the companies that make
the software your company uses to resolve. Microsoft knew this was going to
happen, and has been warning software developers to start working on making
their apps work with XP's new security features. Microsoft is saying that
yes, it's painful but it's necessary in the long run.