SP2 vs. SP1 with patches - what do I lose?

[John Smith]

I have a number of systems running XP sp1 with patches.

I have resisted installing SP2 so far due to all the reported issues with it
and also due to the fact than my XP machines currently work ok and I don't
want any instability or incompatibilites with our currently installed
software.

We already use a hardware firewall + ZoneAlarm on each machine. All machines
have AV and spyware protection .

My questions are these:
How much am I trading off in security using SP1 (with patches) vs.
installing SP2?

Is there any compelling reason to install SP2?

Thanks.

 

[C A Upsdell]

Is there any compelling reason to install SP2?

XP SP1 support ends in Sept of 2006. You'll have to update eventually,
but you do have a lot of time to choose when you do it.

 

[Guest]

There are some advantages to SP2 besides the firewall that make it worth the
trouble. Surprisingly, the new popup blocker added to IE in SP2 is remarkably
effective and easy to manage.

As for problems, although we've seen some here as well, out of about 120
upgrades to SP2, we've only had 3 or 4 systems with issues and only one had
to be wiped and reloaded from scratch to solve it. Before you install SP2
have a good backup of your critical data and then follow the procedure in
this article.

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spackins.htm

 

[Guest]

you may also want to read this page before installing sp2..
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885626 to see if you need patch (kb885626)
i ran into a problem with a computer that had the mentioned needed
patch..had to do a recovery then download the patch.