Windows XP SP2 released

[joltan 0]

Windows XP Service Pack 2 has been released today. It's already available as a 265mb download, but you'll soon be able to use the Windows online update, too.

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

Interesting. I have an oem version of windows, i wonder if sp2 will work ok on that? I'll download it and try it on the old one first (with a regular pro installation)

What changes does sp2 come with?

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

what are the big changes?

[joltan 0]

Here's the feature list - mainly improved security (bugfixes and new features) inkl. a better build-in firewall.

Edit: found another description - its also from M$ (so take it with a pack of salt) - but if someone has a link to an english language article by a third party that'd be nice!

Quote[/b] ]Introducing Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies.

Service Packs offer convenient, all-in-one access to the most up-to-date drivers, tools, security enhancements, and other critical updates.

The latest service pack for Windows XP—Service Pack 2—is all about security improvements, and it's one of the most important service packs ever released.

Top of pageTop of page

What makes Service Pack 2 so important?

Providing a comprehensive collection of updates, innovations, and advanced security technologies, Service Pack 2 offers:

•

Improved Internet Web browsing and communication with new technologies designed to reduce unwanted content and downloads.

•

New security tools engineered expressly for Windows XP, so the process of managing security settings and staying up to date is less confusing and time-consuming.

•

Support for the latest computing experiences—whether you're a gamer, mobile user, or digital media enthusiast.

Top of pageTop of page

Specifically, how does Service Pack 2 help secure my PC?

When you install Service Pack 2 on your Windows XP-based PC, you can feel confident that you're running the most secure Windows operating system available. You'll be supported by innovative features and default safeguards that will increase your overall security levels significantly. For example:

Take control with Windows Security Center. When it comes to managing your Windows XP security settings, the new Windows Security Center is your command central. At a glance, you can monitor your current level of PC protection, including: firewall status, automatic update settings, and virus protection.

Help protect your PC with Windows Firewall. Turned on by default, the new, built-in Windows Firewall helps defend your PC against viruses and intruders who try to access your computer over the Internet.

Block distracting pop-ups in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Now you can stop most browser windows that Web sites pop up without your permission, giving you more control and less interruption when you're browsing the Web.

Avoid harmful communications with improvements to Outlook Express. E-mail is a great way to share photos, links to interesting articles, and other attachments. But some attachments contain viruses that wreak havoc on your system. Outlook Express now supports a new Attachment Manager which isolates attachments as you open them. This prevents the opening of unsafe attachments which can infect your system with a virus or worm.

Go wireless more securely. If you have a wireless network, or if you connect to the Internet at coffee shops or airports, the improved wireless support offered in Service Pack 2 simplifies the process of discovering and connecting to wireless networks.

In addition to significant security-related enhancements, Service Pack 2 also offers Microsoft's latest hardware and software innovations. These new drivers and updates will help you use Windows Media Player, Microsoft DirectX, and emerging standards such as Bluetooth technologies more safely and effectively.

Top of pageTop of page

The sooner you install it, the safer you'll be.

Now is the time to strengthen your Windows XP operating system by installing Service Pack 2 for free. Just visit www.microsoft.com/protect to download Service Pack 2 to your PC. It's a smart way to make sure you're doing everything in your power to help protect your PC and the valuable personal information you have stored on it.

System Requirements: To install Service Pack 2, you need a PC running Microsoft Windows XP which has at minimum a CD-ROM drive, a 233-Mhz processor, 64MB RAM, and 900MB of available disk space during installation.

[bonko the sane 2]

just a quick reminder...this SP2 has a lot of WinXP fake ID's added to its database, so, some ppl might find convenient NOT to install SP2 or they will be left with a empty pc.

Not that im such a person, of course...

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

just a quick reminder...this SP2 has a lot of WinXP fake ID's added to its database, so, some ppl might find convenient NOT to install SP2 or they will be left with a empty pc.

Not that im such a person, of course...

Actually it is quite the opposite.

Quote[/b] ]Microsoft's Gary Schare answers:

"There have been a number of discussions on this newsgroup regarding whether SP2 will install on non-genuine (aka "pirated") versions of Windows. Here is the official Microsoft position on this topic:

We expect that nearly all Windows XP users, running genuine or pirated Windows, will have access to the security technologies in SP2. The same users that were blocked from installing SP1 - those that have used a small set of legacy pirated product keys - will be blocked from installing SP2. We believe that there are very few systems in use today that use these keys -- in other words, the pirates have moved on to other keys which we are not blocking.

So how do we charaterize our policy?

We want to make sure that the broadest number of people can install SP2. The nature of malicious attacks on computer users is constantly changing and we will continue to evaluate how we deal with security updates for pirated versions of Windows to best protect our genuine Windows customers.

Thanks,

Gary Schare

Microsoft"

[Badgerboy 0]

I'm quite impressed with this release. I'm testing it on a single rig, before I unleash it on the network.

Only problem I have come across is with WinFax Pro. Seems the new SP2 security settings prevent it from connecting to the server. I'll have to find a fix for that before I can roll the SP out on the other machines. Think it might be a DCOM problem.

[suma 8]

Did anyone test how OFP server / host works with this SP installed? I am sure this could be important for many users here.

[bn880 5]

What MS forgot to mention is

[*] Backdoor hooks added so that a government agency may get remote access/observation to your machine if you are deemed a security threat.

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

Personally i haven't tested this yet. I wonder if the english version works on a Swedish system? Or will there be a conflict?

[benu 1]

Did anyone test how OFP server / host works with this SP installed? I am sure this could be important for many users here.

That would be my question too. Not only OFP, but also TS, OFP Watch, UnPBO, etc. I just made a backup of my system partition and will install sp2 now.

[bn880 5]

I just installed SP2, it made my system much slower than before (like moving the mouse was choppy on XP2400), I decided to uninstall and wait. It may have a lot to do with CpuIdle Pro which I have running now and SP2 placed it in the background or something. (no taskbar icon)

This SP is definately screwy. It should never fail to run previously auto started applications or fail to put their icon in the taskbar as it was before.

[shadow 6]

Thanks, I'll wait

[denoir 0]

Meh. Not much use to me. I'm running Windows 2003 Server on my box. I wonder when/if they'll get around updating the 2k3 server. Well, I suppose I'll install it on my laptop when I can be bothered to do it.

[joltan 0]

I had the release candidates running before on my german WinXP Pro and just installed the final release over the RC2 - haven't encountered one problem yet. OFP client works fine (played a few hours mp this afternoon). No idea about servers, tho.

[benu 1]

So far i did not encounter any problem (or noticeable change) in any application. OFP, OFP Watch and TS work fine with sp2.

[bn880 5]

So... I think this SP2 just does not like CPUIdle Pro in system startup but shut down when SP2 is being installed... I guess I will have to try uninstalling CPU Idle, then installing SP2, then reinstalling CPU Idle, we'll see, I'll wait until I have time to deal with the headaches.

[joltan 0]

So... I think this SP2 just does not like CPUIdle Pro in system startup but shut down when SP2 is being installed... I guess I will have to try uninstalling CPU Idle, then installing SP2, then reinstalling CPU Idle, we'll see, I'll wait until I have time to deal with the headaches.

Some programms won't work with SP2 anymore - mostly because of stricter security settings. I'd check wether there's a new version of CPU Idle available.

[Badgerboy 0]

So... I think this SP2 just does not like CPUIdle Pro in system startup but shut down when SP2 is being installed... I guess I will have to try uninstalling CPU Idle, then installing SP2, then reinstalling CPU Idle, we'll see, I'll wait until I have time to deal with the headaches.  

Additionally, a nmasty old SP1 install might not help either.

Best thing to do is slipstream a Win XP cd with SP2 on it, and perform a fresh install. It actually runs al ittle faster on my machine than it did pre-sp2!

Edit - Errr, why are you using CPU idle? XP and 2k both idle the PC when not running tasks. It was the Win 9x systems that couldn't idle the CPU properley.

[Baphomet 0]

Any idea if this service pack will crank up the requirements of XP a notch? Will I notice things perform significantly worse if I update?

[Mister Frag 0]

I'm on XP Professional SP2 with CPU Idle Pro, and haven't run into any problems.

The reason why I use CPU Idle Pro is that I like the additional information it displays, as compared to Task Manager. I started using it under Windows 95, and it is still part of my normal system setup.

[Major Fubar 0]

Is improved spying on your personal info by M$ a feature?

[toadlife 3]

I've been running the public betas (RC1 & RC2) for about two months now. I've had no problems. I just installed the 'final' version, which is almost identical to RC2.

Here are the main things that it adds:

* Updated firewall which blocks by application as opposed to only ports.

* Firewall turned on by default

* "Security center" which interogates your AV/Auto Update/Firewall settings and bugs you if you don't have them all enabled/up to date. (the nagging can be turned off)

* Native Pop up blocking in IE that works properly

* Much stricter security settings in IE (this will end up breaking many activeX based apps)

* Better support for updating - future windowsXP patches should be much smaller in size.

* DEP (hardware based buffer overflow protection) support for Athlon64 chips and *future* Intel chips.

Those are the main things that I noticed when using it. I'm sure there are quite a few other internal changes. Lots of applications are sure to be broken by this service pack - but that's not neccesarily a bad thing. ;)

[benu 1]

From what i have read the most "troublesome" feature is that parts of the system are recompiled with security settings enabled that should prevent buffer overflows, similar to what this "dep" on amd64 is doing in hardware, and this is supposed to break some application with "bad coding". So far i have not yet encountered any of those applications and not even read about one that has been found by othered.

[Mister Frag 0]

Personally, I want those poorly-coded programs to break so I know that there is a problem, and keep the offending code from executing. But as mentioned before, the CPU needs support for a no-execute memory attribute to put an end to buffer overflow exploits.