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WinXP SP1: To install or not to install...

Jeff7181

Jeff7181

Lifer
... that is my question. 😀

I've read a lot of places about SP1 as well as a couple addition patches, specifically Q815411 and Q811493, slow Windows down. Microsoft's response to these alligations is, "We've not received broad general feedback about performance issues with SP1. Therefore, we're not currently developing a widely applicable patch." (PCWorld August 2003)

I recently did a fresh install of XP, and it felt pretty snappy at first, which I thought was probably due to the registry being so much smaller than I was use to with 100+ programs installed. So I downloaded and installed all the patches, including SP1 and the two patches I mentioned. And it felt slightly sluggish immediately when first booting up, and also when closing a program. It would take about a full second for the icons on the desktop to refresh.

So my question is this... assuming there are performance issues with SP1 and these patches, what harm would it do to remove them? Some of the stuff is for security, but how concerned should a normal home user be about those security issues the patches fix? I am behind a NAT Firewall, so amateur hackers are thwarted by that... but what is the REAL risk that these patches address?
 
A couple of updates that had performance issues have been fixed and re-released. Just install the SP1 & the rest. You should be ok.
 
IMO the best thing to do is install Windows, test, Install SP1, test again, etc. Test after each update as it is probably just one that may be causeing problems. You can't just install them all, find a problem, and want to remove them all. That's a little ham fisted IMO. It is probably only one update giving you trouble, why open yourself up for even more trouble by running no updates instead of just not installing the one that causes the problem?

\Dan
 
I agree with these statements. Also, have you made sure that you made sure your drivers are up to date? I know that this can be caused by applying a service pack.
 
the performance issues with XP SP1 were blown quite a bit out of proportion, as I remember it was a single poorly written application that had problems (and it wasnt even very common at that). Even if you do have issues you should be able to go back to the way it was before SP1 if you use system restore. It should be worth your while to do it.

-Spy
 
And, if you don't install SP1, you don't get USB 2.0 except by the addition of hardware specific drivers. The slow down is mainly with a couple of security patch updates, but they have been fixed. The best bet is to always stay current with criticals.
 
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