Ready or Not, Here Comes Service Pack 2

I_am_Rambi writes "On Tuesday, April 12, Microsoft will turn off the blocking feature that has made it possible for some enterprises to block Windows XP Service Pack 2 downloads by employees who use Automatic Update. That means in companies that used the blocking tool, SP2 will be downloaded automatically to desktop computers that use Windows' Automatic Update feature." An anonymous reader adds "Microsoft has published a list of known software that will not work with Service Pack 2. Most of the software will either not run or will display a blue screen of death during installation of the software or when you start up your computer." That may be why, as ErichTheWebGuy writes, "In a survey of PCs at 251 businesses in the U.S. and Canada, asset tracking company AssetMetrix of Ottawa found that only 24 percent of the systems running Windows XP had been upgraded to Service Pack 2."

Comments

use SUS

[Val314]

Every Enterprise that uses a Windows network should have their own SUS or something more sophisticated to manage the patches that are deployed.
with this you can control what patches are deployed and when

So use SUS

[JohnnyKlunk]

Thats why clever administrators will be using MS SUS Server. A free MS product that lets administrators choose when patches get pushed out.

Setup correctly with group policy you can prevent users from running windows update and installing updates themselves.
Which is essential with XP SP2 as I look after around a thousand desktops and SP2 has been NOTHING but trouble in all our testing so far.

Re:So use SUS

[Aphrika]

Agreed.

We use SUS to manage around 200-300 Windows 2K and XP machines across four sites and haven't had any major issues with pushing updates out. Ditto with SP2 - while we do use a few custom-built applications internally, most of them are web applications. Some careful planning and firewall configurations meant that come deployment, we had pretty much zero issues.

I have to say that SUS is great, although we do have some internal rules we adhere to. Firstly the IT department gets the patches a week before anyone else - just in case any issues arise. Secondly, we never run our servers under SUS. They have allocated downtime windows for patching and testing.

SUS is about to change into Windows Software Update Services (WSUS, not WUS as incorrectly mentioned somewhere here) which rolls Office, Windows and Server software updates into one management console. Hopefully that'll keep patching more centralised and easier to deploy in the long run.

Here comes the FUD.....

[RichMeatyTaste]

Come on people, you have had time to get ready for this.

/250 machines, all XP have been SP2 for months since I flipped the switch in WUS //99.5% spyware free ///Properly implemented and secured Windows network

Re:We have ways of making you do things.

[cpuh0g]

Photoshop CS runs just fine on my Windows XP SP2 box, I'm not sure exactly which features they are claiming are broken with SP2, but I haven't found any.

All of the negative noise about SP2 is alot of FUD (howz that for irony). I recommend it to all of my neighbors who are inundated with viruses and [mal|ad]-ware (no way they are switchng to Linux, so don't even go there).

Re:We have ways of making you do things.

[CDarklock]

> Photoshop CS runs just fine on
> my Windows XP SP2 box

Those who actually paid attention to the WHOLE list know that PhotoShop CS only fails to start under XP SP2 on 64-bit processors, and that Virtual PC simply runs XP SP2 virtual machines more *slowly* than XP SP1 virtual machines.

You know, if you want to do more than knee-jerk over the name in the left hand column.

It destroys th settings in favor of its new matrix

[the_skywise]

From my experience the Windows Firewall puts itself at the front of the line with the default of everything blocked (except some popular programs including Microsoft programs)

I was using Norton Internet Security and it continued to run and monitor program activity and port usage, but *behind* Windows' Firewall. After installation you have to shut off Windows Firewall and tell Windows that's okay and that you're running NIS.

(Or you could download the patch from Symantec that does that for you and notifies Windows that it's the Preferred Firewall vendor.)

I'm sorry, but 3rd party software should work now.

[wernst]

Look, I don't LOVE Microsoft, but SP2 has been out for, what, 3/4 of a year now? And betas were out even earlier. If you currently sell a product that doesn't work in SP2, then SHAME ON YOU!!!

Similarly, if you're using an older version of a product that fails to work in SP2, you should be seeking a solution (in the form of a patch or other workaround) from the software vendor, not Microsoft. If it is an internal program your company wrote itself for internal workflow, there should have been a project to make it work under SP2 all this time. Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on Microsoft's part.

The security benefits of SP2 to the average user are real, and worth having. It isn't Microsoft's fault that 3rd party developers are still dragging their feet after all this time.

That said, it is unfortunate when otherwsie perfectly good software stops working in SP2 and the poor user is forced to perform a non-free upgrade to a new version. But again, this is not Microsoft's fault.

And finally, please don't tell my copies of NAV 2003 and Photoshop CS to stop working on my computer because SP2 is installed. They both work fine now, so I guess they didn't get the memo.

I'm sure I'll be modded down, but keep in mind I'm writing this with Firefox under Ubuntu. ;-)

Re:We have ways of making you do things.

[NanoGator]

"Why aren't we all using Macs in the first place?"

Games.

Re:We have ways of making you do things.

[nacturation]

I have Windows XP SP2 running Windows XP SP2 in Virtual PC right now. I don't see the problem.

The "problem" you missed is listed right there in TFA:

"When you run a Windows XP SP2-based virtual machine, it will perform slowly compared to a Windows XP SP1-based virtual machine."

FUD

[mslinux]

Before this gets out of hand, let it be known that SP2 is only downloaded it is not installed.

In order to install the service pack, the user has to be an admin and aceept the EULA as well as click through several disclaimers before manually installing the service pack.

THERE IS NO AUTOMATIC INSTALL OF SP2

Re:FUD

[JSBiff]

And the download can *still* be blocked (if you are worried about a massive bandwidth hit as a lot of machines try to download it). Surprised no one else has mentioned this yet, but it isn't that difficult for a network administrator that knows what he/she's doing, to block connections to download.microsoft.com.

So, Microsoft's tool won't let you block the download. Big whoop. Block it yourself on your network router/firewall.

And in other Slashdot news. . . THE SKY IS FALLING OMGOMGOMGOMG

Re:We have ways of making you do things.

[LnxAddct]

Corporations have a lot of custom software. I know that even in a small law firm that I used to work for (about 25 people), we couldn't install Service Pack 2 simply because our core software wasn't compatible. MS only lists commercial software (obviously) but I've come across a ton of custom apps and older shareware and stuff that is less popular that breaks in many ways under SP2. It's not FUD, you jsut aren't in a situation to experience it. For home users, there really isn't any excuse not to install it (in most cases) and I highly recommend it, but for businesses its a different story.
Regards,
Steve

Re:We have ways of making you do things.

[TetryonX]

I have XP SP2 and an Athlon64.
It has never had any problems what so ever with any application I have ever used, with exception to windows itself.

However I will repeat myself on how to get rid of those things that cause SP2 to screw up applications.

First: Turn off NoExecute, easily done by altering your boot.ini to remove the /NoExecute=OptIn flag.
Method 1: Hit start and go to Run... Type cmd
- Type: attrib -s -h -r %SystemDrive%\boot.ini
- Type: notepad %SystemDrive%\boot.ini
- Remove all instances of /NoExecute=OptIn from any of the boot lines.
- Save, Exit, and Type: attrib +s +h +r %SystemDrive%\boot.ini
- Reboot and NoExecute is now gone.
Method 2: Right click on My Computer and go to Properties
- Click on the Advanced tab and hit the settings button located in the Startup and Recovery section.
- Hit the edit button undernear the first set of check marks.
- Remove all instances of /NoExecute=OptIn from any of the boot lines.
- Save, exit, reboot.

Turn off the windows firewall
Method 1: Install a 3rd party software firewall first before continuing.
- Hit Start -> Run... and type: services.msc
- Navigate down the list until you get to Windows Firewall, double click on it.
- Hit the stop button and change the Startup type combobox to Disabled.
- Hit ok and close this.
- If you wish to turn off nagging (if your firewall does not support telling windows about itself) continue to the following.

Get rid of those firewall/antivirus/update warnings
Method 1:
- Go to your control panel. In either classic view or category view, open Security Center
- On the Resources bar, click on "Change the way Security Center alerts me"
- Uncheck all that you want the security center to quit nagging about.
- Hit ok. You are done.

I do not condone usage of windows sp2 without these key features, designed to prevent virii and attacks on your computer, without actually knowing what the hell you are doing, or at least have a viable replacement for them. NoExecute, in my view, is a waste of cpu cycles and memory space because most devices out there do not support the NX bit flag properly. Even on my Athlon64 3000+ I can see a pretty heafty performance hit in applications such as Photoshop CS when NoExecute is enabled, and other applications such as WindowBlinds (other than their was-then beta for SP2 users) and DesktopX become extremely unstable. Clearly microsoft did not have application compatibility in mind when they added this feature, but at least with the new revision of windows firewall it had a little more (of much needed) power. I like it how it can configure my router's hardware firewall as well as provide an additional layer of security for my systems. It does lack the configurability of the much loved Linux Firewall, and there are alternative firewalls I can use, but they tend to cause other conflicts with my other applications. So the jury is out with the Windows Firewall, but damn. The security center was by far the most annoying thing I have seen microsoft implement. I hope these corporate users have fun if their admins forget to turn that annoying service off.