General Chat

Windows XP SP2 was installed when it came out no problems at all but it did take time. Works ok with Trend Micro PC-cillin and other programs. John

We have a new PC with service pack 2 already on it, no problems. Didnt have any problems with our old PC either when I downloaded it onto that. BUT My daughter and I have the same Dell laptop, running XP. Mine has service pack 2 downloaded no problem. Hers, wont have it. It grinds to a halt, takes 10 mins to boot up. Knocked out Norton security completely. I had to uninstall it. Note: all computers have the same version of Norton on, so its not that. Margaret

Hi Karen, I installed SP2 to our PC and it made the whole thing crash. We ended up reloading XP and losing a shed load of stuff. It was an absolute nightmare! My neighbour works in IT and told me not to touch it with a bargepole. However, reading these posts it does seem to work for quite a few people. I keep my AV and firewall updated and that works for me. Estelle

I downloaded Service Pack 2 and had no end of problems. I ended up ditching Norton for AVG and moving my Browser to Firefox.

I wouldnt touch SP2 with a barge pole had it in once had to take it out nothing but trouble after installation. But saying that every system is different and yours could accept the update and run fine mine didnt so at the end of the day its down to you. If you do install SP2 and find that your havin probs you can always go to add remove progs and take it out . good luck on whatever you decide Paul

Nudging for Joan's info.

just installed windows sp2 through windows update all working well so far pc now faster

I installed this package last night and it took a couple of hours. If you do install it and I would recommend you do, make sure that you switch off your antivirus first. I had to uninstall and reinstall my Norton AV and all is well. Computer Active has a complete rundown on the proceedure this week and they highly endorse its use. It offers very high protection for your PC. Good luck; Ernest

Bob Installed XP SP2 on PC, so far so good - Norton working OK, AOL working OK and Hubbys games OK. He'd have killed me if they didnt work. Margaret

Cheers Bob Will let you know how PC is after install. Is about halfway at the mo ( on broadband) Hope it doesnt do anything it shouldnt as hubby uses PC more than me, I tend to use my laptop, he'll blame me of course!!!!!!! Margaret

Margaret I tried system restore at a point before installation and it stayed on. I think you should remove it in control panel/add remove. Bob

According to the Symantec (Norton) website, this does not conflict with Norton at all and they recommend to install it. Am doing so on the PC now, laptop will have to wait. If it doesnt work properly will system restore get rid of it? Margaret

I've had customers ringing me up at work to say they cannot view any Internet web pages, and this has been due to the firewall that comes with SP2, blocking them out. I can only conclude that not everyone has been affected otherwise I would have been inundated with calls.

Hi Thanks everyone for your comments. I decided not to install it in the end, my Norton works fine and after my pc dying once before from a horrible virus I dont take any chances. Karen

I dowloaded Windows XP SP2 as ive got 'updates' and when i read about it, it said 3hours 58mins as im not on broadband. HOWEVER, i downloaded at 4pm and it had just finished at 9pm! upto now ive had no problems although it took off the avg i had, which i expected. It seems a little slower, but no major problems as yet. Ive got Mc Afee on too. My husband brought an article home out of the Daily Mail about 2 weeks ago, relating to microsoft causing meltdown on computer systems over the next few weeks. It relates to 'updates' that people have, that are on their computer and when people are downloading them the problem lies with microsofts firewall thus causing the systems to crash. Having read that, i've still downloaded the SP2 through 'updates' though, as i've not long since bought the comp, and I personally, don't know what microsoft 'software' is absolutely necessary for it. Just trial and error.

When you download sp2 you will know it because it takes about an hour to download and an hour to load. Thats when on broadband. I dont know what its like any other way. So if you havent been through that I would say that its not on your PC. Mary in Sydney

hi karen, my hubby installed it and we haven't had any problems at all, even works with zone alarm too. best wishes melinda

Thanks Mandy Diane

Hi Diane, I can't really be helpful in your query, only to say that as far as I know it won't just instal itself. You have to follow instructions etc. Hopefully someone will be able to help with what appeared on your pc. Mandy :)

How can I tell if it has been installed. I only ask as I had a couple of updates popping up and couldn't see what it was for so left it .When it appeared again clicked on it to see what it was and nothing came up. When I put the mouse over it it said 30%. assumed this meant 30% installed. I was concerned as I had heard people saying they had had updates coming up that weren't from microsoft in the past. This box that came up was a different appearance and didn't tell me what the updates were until I pressed on manually install. One of them was a large file but I'm sure it didn't say sp2, it also said it couldn't be uninstalled once there. I've looked on the add remove programme list and it isn't there Help Diane