HEADS UP GUYS!! SP2 will install itself if you do not, in 8 months!!

[warcrow]

I'm not kidding. If you're like me, you've been dodging SP2 like a squirrel dodging cars on an 8 lane highway. after its retention of 240 days, it will automatically install on all WinXP/WinXP SP1 machines.

I just hope fix evertyhing (HA!) by then.

Please note that the mechanism to temporarily disable delivery of Windows XP SP2 will be available for a period of 240 days (8 months) from August 16. At the end of this period, Windows XP SP2 will be delivered to all Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1 systems.

Teh Lose!

 

[MrChad]

:roll:

Ok, first of all, the article you linked to relates to corporate customers who manage Windows updates using Software Update Services (SUS) and group policy. Because enterprise customers generally have a lot of compatibility testing to do before rolling out a major update such as SP2, Microsoft provided a way of disabling SP2 for SUS servers, giving businesses and government customers plenty of time to test things out before deploying. This method will no longer be valid after 8 months.

SP2 will not "install itself" magically unless a) you tell it to or b) your system administrator tells it to.

Second of all, why are people so paranoid about SP2? I believe that users who are having problems are in the minority, even though they may be the most vocal on internet message boards. If you read through all of the SP2 threads on these forums, you can easily determine what apps can cause issues, what drivers can cause issues, and solutions to both sets of problems. I just can't wait until the next major worm spreads like wildfire among unpatched systems because people are "dodging SP2."

 

[warcrow]

Once again....

Please note that the mechanism to temporarily disable delivery of Windows XP SP2 will be available for a period of 240 days (8 months) from August 16. At the end of this period, Windows XP SP2 will be delivered to all Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1 systems.

..thats taken directly from the page I linked. I dont see anything in that paragraph that says all systems "unless" or "except". Please prove me wrong, b/c I do want to agree with you.

There is an interesting article that says SP2 actually increase performance, which is good news, but I think most of these securty updates that SP2 installs can be optained via security patches, I could be wrong. My impression was that SP2 was SP1 + updates + new firewall, all rolled up into one.

As for your question about "dodging SP2", well if you played any of these games, wouldnt you be reluctant? Alot of people on this software forum are games, so thats probably why we're hesitant (risk vs reward).

 

[MrChad]

Let's read the entire paragraph:

What is the purpose of this mechanism?
While recognizing the security benefits of Windows XP SP2, some organizations have requested the ability to temporarily disable delivery of this update via AU and WU. These organizations have populations of PCs, upon which they have enabled AU. This is done to ensure that these PCs receive all critical security updates.

Since SP2 will start to be delivered to PCs running Windows XP or Windows XP with SP1 via AU starting on August 16, these customers would like to temporarily block the delivery of SP2 in order to provide additional time for validation and testing of the update. In response to these requests, Microsoft is providing the following guidance, resources, and communication vehicles to meet the needs of these customers.

Please note that the mechanism to temporarily disable delivery of Windows XP SP2 will be available for a period of 240 days (8 months) from August 16. At the end of this period, Windows XP SP2 will be delivered to all Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1 systems.

Again, the article only talks about the delivery of SP2, NOT the installation of it. As long as you do not have automatic installation of updates enabled in your Automatic Updates settings, SP2 will not be installed unless you tell it to. The article is targeted at network administrators who have implemented a specific block of SP2 from their local SUS servers so that they can have time to test before deploying.

I've seen that list of games you've posted, and I've also seen the knowledge base article that goes along with it. The main problem with the games is that they require specific ports in the Windows Firewall to be opened in order to operate correctly. Since the firewall is enabled by default, Microsoft decided to warn users ahead of time that issues may arise rather than let them discover for themselves. It's not an SP2 issue per se, but firewall configuration issues (Zone Alarm, Norton Internet Security and other products would likely cause the same issues). Once again, a little bit of research and some post-install configuration is usually all it takes to get rid of SP2 problems.

 

[warcrow]

Well done, I stand corrected. 🙂

 

[BFG10K]

SP2 will install itself if you do not, in 8 months!!

Doing that on a system with automatic updates disabled would be classed as a modern miracle. Ironically the firewall would be blocking any forceful entry.

 

[Bateluer]

Scared me for a second. I keep the Windows AutoUpdate feature turned off for a reason.

 

[CVSiN]

Sorry I was on the SP2 beta team and I never had any of the problems that peeps are soo scared about.. all my programs run great...
im still using the RC2 version becasue the beta was soo stable..
I get asked which programs i wish to allow to run and put them on my list.. after that it works great..
whats the problem?

 

[igowerf]

Originally posted by: warcrow
As for your question about "dodging SP2", well if you played any of these games, wouldnt you be reluctant? Alot of people on this software forum are games, so thats probably why we're hesitant (risk vs reward).

Warcraft III is listed but my brother, his friends, and I were lanning on it just the other day. 3 of the 4 computers had SP2 installed. I think those "compatibility" problems are mostly with the built in firewall. As long as you know how to disable it, you're fine.

 

[WobbleWobble]

The SP2 issues with those games are just because of the built-in firewall. Any firewall including your router's firewall would cause the same issues. Gamers have already learned how to create exceptions with other firewalls and they'll do the same with SP2.

I've personally only had issues with Macromedia Dreamweaver MX hanging on me. Asides from that, I haven't had any other problems.

 

[duragezic]

Basically, this shows that general public (or even the general AT user sadly) isn't even ready to handle a firewall yet. And who the hell actually has automatic updates on?? Even if it was somehow delivered in another way, it's not going to install itself on the system without at least the user clicking yes or something, unless like BFG said, it's a modern miracle. 🙂



So if anyone is hesitant to install SP2, DON'T! So it adds a firewall and all the latest patches. Anyone with decent computer knowledge would already have a firewall and most of the security updates. Everything running fine? GOOD, don't upgrade and we won't have to read the million sp2 threads.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: duragezic
Basically, this shows that general public (or even the general AT user sadly) isn't even ready to handle a firewall yet. And who the hell actually has automatic updates on?? Even if it was somehow delivered in another way, it's not going to install itself on the system without at least the user clicking yes or something, unless like BFG said, it's a modern miracle. 🙂



So if anyone is hesitant to install SP2, DON'T! So it adds a firewall and all the latest patches. Anyone with decent computer knowledge would already have a firewall and most of the security updates. Everything running fine? GOOD, don't upgrade and we won't have to read the million sp2 threads.

NO! SP2 > SP1 + post-SP1 updates + firewall. There are a number of key security features that have been updated that are not available separately and will help stop the spread of viruses, worms and spyware. Anyone who uses XP should be encouraged to install SP2. If you aren't knowledgeable enough to operate a basic software firewall, learn how.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Only reason to go past the security patches (have a firewall) would be for the updrade IE.

If that can be obtained without going to SP2, I have no need to go down that road for the next few months.

By that time, is SP2+ has no published compatability issues or concerns, I may move one system to it.

 

[BFG10K]

So if anyone is hesitant to install SP2, DON'T!

This is rather poor advice, especially from someone who is taking a dig at people who might not understand what a firewall is and how it works.

As for the "issues", there really are none but people are trying ot make something out of nothing. Certain games may be blocked by the firewall but that's no different to any other third party firewalls.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Have you all forgotten what "Service Packs" are for in the first place? To fix bugs! Over and above "security" patches... like the data-corruption issue that can happen when using hibernation and HDs larger than 128GiB, for example. Just one of many, really.

And as long as you have the "Automatic Update" service set to Disabled, and don't download the SP yourself, I don't see how it could magically end up on your machine. (*)

(*) Interesting tech footnote here: One of the new features in DirectX 8.1 or 9.x, somewhere along the line there, MS added support for something called the "Broadcast Data Architecture". Along with that, if you have capable hardware installed, MS installs a secret network adaptor, that is: 1) Unable to be deleted or disabled by the user, and is normally set to "super-hidden" in the device manager, and 2) silently enabled whenever you enable your TV/video-capture card. I've observed that it stays enabled for the entire windows session, even if you stop your video app.

So it is at least, theoretically, possible that MS could ship things like patches and auto-updates, to properly hardware-equipped systems, using data embedded into the Vblank signals recieved over-the-air, or over a cable connection. Don't forget about the existance of MSNBC, MS's television affiliate, either. I've pulled my tv-capture card from my machine for now, at least.

So really, it's not totally inconcievable that in the future, when we are all running our shiny-new PC '2006 WinXP/Longhorn Media Center Edition PCs on our nice $300 25" LCD HDTV screens, that MS might actually actively broadcast patches and security updates "live" over the air, and we won't be able to block them out, at least not without a lot of bother and possibly a soldering iron besides.

It certainly would reduce the "patch window", the time between when the patch gets released (and subsequently immediately reverse-engineered to discover the exploit), and when the exploits start spreading, relative to how fast the other users' PCs get patched. So that's also an important potentially-useful consideration.

 

[elkinm]

I have had the automatic updates service disabled since SP1 because of such fears, but I did the stupid thing and updated to the latest version of windows update which changes the automatic updates control and now does not work at all with the automatic updates service disabled.

I don't want to enable it as I don't trust it and I do not want to receive SP2 via download at all. I have the SP2 CD from Microsoft and will use it instead.

Anybody know how to use the new windows update with automatic updates disabled of revert to the old version and have it work like before?

Thanks

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

Quick question: Will future WindowsUpdate patches still be usable with non-SP2 XP systems?

Actually, I'm getting confused now. My current Windows version is:

Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp1.020828-1920: Service Pack 2)

My XP came in a CD, gotten long (I'm talking several months) before any of this (latest) SP2 controversy began.

Can someone care to clarify?

Thanks.