Service Pack 2?

[Bill in Co.]

Are there any apps out there that require Service Pack 2? I had thought I
had heard there might be, but I'm not sure. However, that being said...

Some days there are times when I wish I could uninstall SP2 as (I believe)
it is problematic for some program installations. But alas, I apparently
can't uninstall it, as I just got this new Dell system as a relatively new
release (and I believe it is also integrated into the system CD, too).

BTW - Is there any way to go back to plain jane WinXP (i.e. without SP2) in
such a case, and without completely messing up the system, and requiring a
clean install (wiping out the existing stuff)? I'm guessing that is NOT
an option, if your system recently came preinstalled with SP2 (and uises one
of the newer CDs, in which it is apparently now integrated into WinXP)

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You are correct in your assumption that an XP SP2 cd cannot be
reverse-engineered back to XP Gold. It is more than SP2 having been applied
to a base in making the cd. It is that the files on the cd are at service
pack level two.

 

[Curt Christianson]

Hi Bill,

Even if you *were* able to revert back to "XP Gold", your computer would be
chock-full of vulnerabilities.

--
HTH,

Curt

http://dundats.mvps.org/
http://www.aumha.org/

 

[Bill in Co.]

I'm not worried about these so-called vulnerabilities (and I'm on dialup, so
it's much less of a threat), but what I really don't like is the increasing
lack of control over some things brought about by all these so-called
"updates"!

One classic example that I miss is the automatic message compacting in OE
(and yes, I know what the rationale for removing that was).

I also don't like these occasional pop up messages, like about how it's now
time to clean my desktop, or that "your virus scan is turned off", or that
"autoupdate is turned off and I'm gonna leave a yellow tray icon here to
permanently remind you of that fact", or what have you. (in this regard I
miss Win98SE). Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[Bill in Co.]

I guess even if I could find a new plain vanilla WinXP CD Gold (without any
service packs), I would have to do a completely new install. Well, that
sure sucks...

But were there SOME programs that require SP2? If so, maybe that makes
up for all of this (to me).

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You're right about the clean install. You cannot do a repair install across
service pack levels. The service pack level on the hard drive has to agree
with the one on the cd.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Just out of curiosity, how is being on dialup less vulnerable? The bits
coming over the wire are the same.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Because I can shut it down as soon as some of the crap comes in - as it
takes a "fair amount of time" to download anything (assuming I catch it,
that is).

And that HAS (on rare occasions) happened to me (you know, where a bunch of
windows start popping up uncontrollably, and your desktop starts "acquiring"
some mysterious icons, etc, and then I *immediately* did a C-A-D and that
stopped it dead in its tracks. (And then I worked on cleaning up the
system). (all of this cause I went to a bad site).

This was back on my Win98SE computer, back in the good old days when I was
almost completely in control of the system, and could easily restore the
registry, and ONLY the registry, if I needed to. With WinXP, trying to do
this seems kinda convoluted, but fortunately we have System Restore (which I
have to admit is pretty slick - but not foolproof.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Hmmm....

Because I can shut it down as soon as some of the crap comes in - as it
takes a "fair amount of time" to download anything (assuming I catch it,
that is).

And that HAS (on rare occasions) happened to me (you know, where a bunch
of windows start popping up uncontrollably, and your desktop starts
"acquiring" some mysterious icons, etc, and then I *immediately* did a
C-A-D and that stopped it dead in its tracks. (And then I worked on
cleaning up the system). (all of this cause I went to a bad site).

This was back on my Win98SE computer, back in the good old days when I was
almost completely in control of the system, and could easily restore the
registry, and ONLY the registry, if I needed to. With WinXP, trying to
do this seems kinda convoluted, but fortunately we have System Restore
(which I have to admit is pretty slick - but not foolproof.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Let's see, there's Windows Update, just about every "internet security"
suite and anti-virus application, iTunes,...

No, if WinXP SP2 came preinstalled on the machine, you can't "go back" to
WinXP SP1 or WinXP Gold (just like you couldn't "go back" to Win98 if
Win98SE came preinstalled on your old machine).

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Huh? Automatic Compacting is only present in WinXP SP2, Bill. Perhaps
you're thinking of the old Maintenance option called "background
compacting"?
--
~PA Bear

I'm not worried about these so-called vulnerabilities (and I'm on dialup,
so
it's much less of a threat), but what I really don't like is the
increasing
lack of control over some things brought about by all these so-called
"updates"!

One classic example that I miss is the automatic message compacting in OE
(and yes, I know what the rationale for removing that was).

<snip>

 

[Bill in Co.]

Yes, I'm talking about the (automatic) background compacting of the OE
stores (assuming you had that option checked), used to compress the OE
database files.
And it was removed in the OE version that comes with WinXP SP2.

But if I my way, I would like to have that *option* back again. I, for
one, appreciated it.

 

[Bill in Co.]

You don't get it? Trust me, it was painfully obvious when it happened
(on some few occasions where I went off into the hinterlands). Or maybe
you got it, and just thought I went to some sex site - but that wasn't it,
lol).

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I figure it must have been a shocker!

You don't get it? Trust me, it was painfully obvious when it happened
(on some few occasions where I went off into the hinterlands). Or
maybe you got it, and just thought I went to some sex site - but that
wasn't it, lol).

 

[Bill in Co.]

In a way, it sure was, cause it really pissed me off.

But I was able to clean up my system and restore an older registry backup,
to get rid of those pesky trojan files.

It could have been a LOT worse, LOL I'm glad some of the signs of
trouble were so obvious on the screen - otherwise it might have slipped on
by me, and at next bootup, who knows what would have happened.

 

[Alias]

I'm not worried about these so-called vulnerabilities (and I'm on dialup, so
it's much less of a threat), but what I really don't like is the increasing
lack of control over some things brought about by all these so-called
"updates"!

One classic example that I miss is the automatic message compacting in OE
(and yes, I know what the rationale for removing that was).

Don't use Outhouse Distress and your problem's solved. Try
www.mozilla.com/thunderbird.

I also don't like these occasional pop up messages, like about how it's now
time to clean my desktop,

Turn that off.

or that "your virus scan is turned off", or that
"autoupdate is turned off and I'm gonna leave a yellow tray icon here to
permanently remind you of that fact", or what have you.

Go to the Security Center and turn that off.

(in this regard I
miss Win98SE). Thanks, but no thanks.

You miss all the rebooting?

Alias

 

[Derail]

Are there any apps out there that require Service Pack 2? I had thought I
had heard there might be, but I'm not sure. However, that being said...

Some days there are times when I wish I could uninstall SP2 as (I believe)
it is problematic for some program installations. But alas, I apparently
can't uninstall it, as I just got this new Dell system as a relatively new
release (and I believe it is also integrated into the system CD, too).

BTW - Is there any way to go back to plain jane WinXP (i.e. without SP2) in
such a case, and without completely messing up the system, and requiring a
clean install (wiping out the existing stuff)? I'm guessing that is NOT
an option, if your system recently came preinstalled with SP2 (and uises one
of the newer CDs, in which it is apparently now integrated into WinXP)

Windows Defender does require SP2

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

This was back on my Win98SE computer, back in the good old days when I was
almost completely in control of the system, and could easily restore the
registry, and ONLY the registry, if I needed to.

You can still do that.

Google ERUNT

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Why? Background compacting was one of the /major/ sources of corruption
(i.e., loss of messages) in OE, Bill. (It still is for those not running
WinXP SP2 with OE fully patched.) OE MVPs loudly lobbied for years
(literally) to get it removed before the OE team acted on it.

See
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

In any event, if you adhere to my all-too-frequently posted list of OE
caveats [1], you'll never see Automatic Compacting in WinXP SP2...and you
won't need it either. <eg>
=============
[1]
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...n-US&q=oe+++caveats&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wg

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

[[Methinks someone's still suffering from the "XPradiation Blues". <eg>]]