War does not determine who is right, but who is left.
SP2 - the hype was for nothing.
Published on January 31, 2005 By brendangenius In Personal Computing
Under a year, since the Computer giant, Microsoft released the Service Pack 2 for Windows XP; and many problems have been found.

The most recent, for example is "A Russian security firm has published a paper detailing a major security flaw in Microsoft Service Pack Two for Windows XP, over a month after alerting Redmond to the flaw

A Russian security company claims it found a way to beat a security measure in Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2.

The SP2 measure, known as Data Execution Protection, is intended to prevent would-be attackers from inserting rogue code into a PC's memory and tricking Windows into running the program. However, in a paper published on Friday, Moscow-based Positive Technologies said two minor mistakes in the implementation of the technology allow a knowledgeable programmer to sidestep the protection."


Well - this is certainly a suprise! Okay, well it was just a matter of time before problems where found - some include new Spyware that uses 'Holes' in the SP for its own uses.

SP2 - was a bad thing from the start, they tried to do too much, in such little time.


Comments (Page 1)
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on Feb 01, 2005
I found SP2 to worthwhile for the pop-up blocker alone. The firewall was a bonus. 2 more pieces of software I don't have to buy elsewhere. And before you go off on the firewall, firewalls were never intended to prevent outbound traffic and not necessary in a well maintained system.
on Feb 01, 2005
Yeah, I have SP2 and have had no problems. I've heard many people saying "It's so horrible" and "It ruined my computer". The majority of those claims came from people who didn't know what they were doing, and they didn't have the nececarry security updates for SP1 in the first place. But, yeah, I'm sure SP2 has some security issues, as will any OS that is so widely distributed.
on Feb 01, 2005
A well maintained system includes a good firewall,virus, and spyware program. I beg to differ with you about outbound traffic. My firewall (Zone Alarm Pro) does control outbound traffic as well as inbound. I have had a bug free system for years because I keep it well maintained with protective software. I do not use the SP2 firewall. I will agree with you about the pop up blocker. It is wonderful. But there are so many bugs in the SP2, sometimes it does'nt seem worth it. I do not mean to be rude, but I think your age might have something to do with your ignorance of what a well maintained system is. There is a whole lot more to it than pop up blockers and the SP2 firewall.
on Feb 01, 2005
And to Alienfast, I had all the SP1 updates, and I am very computer literate. Sp2 has got some problems. All new software has problems. Wait until you have a few more years experience on the computer before you make those kind of comments. I know what I am doing because I was taught by a Computer programmer who works for Nasa. He is married to my neice. Everyone has problems with new systems and such. Computers are used for alot more than communicating online and downloading.
on Feb 01, 2005
Good thing I never installed SP2 - well i did once but it slowed my computer down to a crawl. It was annoying.
on Feb 01, 2005
Good thing I never installed SP2 - well I did once but it slowed my computer down to a crawl. It was annoying.
on Feb 03, 2005
The IE popup blocker is nice, though the Google toolbar already took care of that. The firewall too is important as no version of any operating system should come without one. The nag about not having antivirus protection is good too for people who are computer neophytes or might not be as tech savvy as most people, though I don't remeber if it gets on you about keeping it up to date. I do know a lot of people who had trouble with it messing with their systems and programs. For example, I had to reinstall my DVD software for some reason, and someone else had the update crash their computer, only to work with no hitches a week later.
on Feb 03, 2005
It's still better to have Windows with SP2 than without. In any case, if you care for your computers security, get a virusprogram and firewall. In addition, run Adaware and Spybot once in a while.
on Feb 03, 2005
I have been verry pleased with SP2's perfomance. I have installed it on several of the machines in our office and haven't noticed any issues with the way it interacts with our custom software. We have a Cisco PIX firewall here so we are pretty secure. On the home front, it has all but stopped the regular reformating required on my wife's PC.

I have also found another usefull tool issued by Microsoft. Finally they have released active spware protection for Windows. It is still in Beta but it is available for public download at Link. I have been using this on several PCs for just over a month and am really impressed with its performance (for a Microsoft product). Best part is .. .It's Free! (Another thing Microsoft isn't known for)

on Feb 03, 2005
Um.... Windows XP always had a firewall - it just got turned on by default in SP2. Or to put it another way, if you didn't have the WIndows XP firewall on by default, or another firewall package in use, you were part of the problem. My "use" PC has SP2 off because it kills some programs I use. My Internet routing PC has everything ON. It's piss all good for anything else. It does the internet.

But, more concisely, XP SP2 wasn't a bad thing. It was good for those users smart enough to install it. Calling it a bad thing just makes you look stupid. What's stupid, patching problems or discouraging people from patching them? See? Stoopid. Incompetent opinions, like your's, really annoy me,
on Feb 03, 2005
They improved the firewall as well as turing it on by default. It's easier to configure now. Don't think it used to ask the user for action. It had to be set up in advance.

In most cases where programs broke after SP2 was installed it was due to poor and lazy programming from the programmers of them programs. It's just that when MS tightens up a little bit it makes everyone go "Oooh! M$ broke my program!" when it's really no M$ fault.
on Feb 03, 2005
SP2 works fine. The only thing which doesn't work fine is users
on Feb 03, 2005
SP2 works fine. The only thing which doesn't work fine is users


Truer words have never been spoken!
on Feb 03, 2005
Truer words have never been spoken!


Amen! I'm not the most computer literate person in the world, but I downloaded and installed SP2 on my old computer and never had a single problem. My new computer came with SP2 already preloaded, and again, everything is working just fine. No complaints from me.
on Feb 09, 2005
SP2 is usefull but there are holes and annoying problems...that have only just started to surface.
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