Anybody else HATE HATE HATE Windows XP SP2

[ulTRAX]

Anybody else hate Windows XP SP2?

It's a testament to what a defective piece of crap Internet Explorer is that Microsoft's attempt to fix security holes with SP2 was to sabotage the browser itself. I found the security bar insufferable. I'd load the page... the bar said it was blocking active content. So I'd let it though. That led to a prompt. Then the entire page had to reload. If it was a text page such as here.... reloading deleted all text. I once tried to sign up for a site and after 4 such reloads I gave up. Who ever created the security bar should be shot.
I had 4 calls into SP2 support and was never able to make the inconvenience manageable. When I finally figured out on my own that I could put some sites on the trusted list I was quite pleased until I began having problems with all sites on the trusted list... some links would not work. That was the final straw. I finally just uninstalled SP2. I was FREE!!!!!!

SP2 support was saying as long as I was running a firewall and AV... and had XP updated... SP2 was not needed. WTF!

For those of you who don't have the new MS anti-spyware beta tool... I highly recommend it.. it's currently free and available at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
though I caution against participating in MS's Genuine Advantage program.

Please don't tell me about other browsers. I have them and only use IE because I can't import my FAVs into Mozilla and can't get their archiving format to work. I hope to remedy that soon.

[Kitsune]

1. Firefox imported my favorites just fine... *nt*

[ulTRAX]

5. firefox did.... mozilla won't reimport

While the FF import wizard kept crashing on me I was able to import my FAVs into FF. But I wanted to update them in Mozilla. If I didn't delete the existing list they would be imported atop that old list. Once deleted I was not able to reimport. Someone at Mozilla forums suggested a fix that have not got to work yet. I also need Mozilla to save and read mht files and that plugin isn't working right yet.

[Arkana]

2. YES! IT IS VILE!

I work in computer services at school, and I can't TELL you how many machines I've fixed because of the accursed SP2. It's awful--it slows everything down, it makes crashes more frequent, etc...

I installed it on my computer about a month ago and it was so bad that I had to go back to SP1a.

[Tigress DEM]

20. Arkana - love the "bumper snickers" on your tag line

Frodo Failed
Bush has the Ring

PRICELESS!

[autorank]

3. Service Pack 2 caused other problems.

The minute I took it off, they stopped. And I was using Mozilla at the time so I didn't even know about the IE problems. This is no way to run a company, constantly invade your customer's machine with updates to software which was supposed to be complete in the first place.

[ashmanonar]

4. well, your problem is

your'e using windows!
:D

get a mac! then you won't ever have problems with anything.

[ulTRAX]

7. ya right

I won't have any problems except the lack of software, having to reinvest in a new system, and having to relearn everything.

My first PC back in 87 was an Amiga because Apples were way too expensive for what they did. Over the years I saw my selection of software dry up. Do you REALLY think I'm going to go that route again?

I also think that Apple only appears safer because there's so few of them around that hackers and spyware makers don't bother.

[ashmanonar]

12. lol

just your friendly neighborhood apple suggester.

i know they're expensive, but personally: i've never had a problem with software. never had a problem with viruses. never had spyware.

it's easier to use. it's secure at it's very core. many applications are available online, free; or come with teh computer. it'll last FOREVER.

but i know it's not a real suggestion, i'm just being the devil's advocate. :D

[Bigmack]

21. Yup! MS sucks bigtime. nt

nt

[frylock]

6. just disable the pop-up blocker..

Go to Tools>Privacy and check off the Pop-up Blocker. If you want a pop-up blocker, install the Google toolbar.

[ulTRAX]

8. what is THAT advice for?

I no longer have SP2. And anyway my pop-up blocker is in my ZoneAlarm firewall.

[frylock]

19. if you're ony problem with sp2 was the security bar..

then that's the advice that I offer. I would reinstall SP2, and deactivate the pop-up blocker along with the Windows firewall.

[ulTRAX]

22. I'm pretty sure the SP2 popup blocker was not on

Since I had one on Zone Alarm... and I never used the SP2 firewall.

[Broadslidin]

9. E-Mailed Your Comments To A Couple Of Friends.....!

*

[Horse with no Name]

10. One of my techie friends told me

He is a LAN administrator for a major US firm--under no circumstances to put SP2 on my computer. He said that if you run strictly microsoft on your computer--that you probably wouldn't have much trouble, but if you ran other software that eventually you would start having problems.
He even went so far as to say that even if you "remove" it-you can't really remove it because there are bits and pieces that stay behind.
IF you start having "glitchy" problems in the future--might be a good idea to contact someone how to remove those little bits and pieces that remained behind manually.
He had me install AVG (free), zone alarm firewall (free), and adaware (free).
I also run XP with SP1--I never have problems on my puter (looking around for wood to knock on).
I have been hearing alot about mozilla--I may have to give it a try.

[whyzayker]

11. I tried to uninstall it

Got this warning message that half the sh*t on my system wouldn't work or would be affected - so I ended up doing a system restore.

Can SP2 be uninstalled without trashing your system?

[Horse with no Name]

15. A friend of mine had installed it

And we simply had to end up reformatting her system.
It worked for about 3 months before the glitches started showing up.
This last week--we just wiped it all and started over.
Her computer is running fine now.:(

[ulTRAX]

38. I uninstalled it......

And so far the only glitch I have is that I can't save web pages. I just get an error saying the file can't be saved to whatever location.

[sweetheart]

13. Its a secret plot by apple computer

They've infiltrated microsoft and help them to release crap, so that
they lose market share.... brilliant work apple!! keep it up!! :-)

[thinkingwoman]

14. SP2 crashed my computer

it refused to boot at all. Had to do a system restore.

I refuse to install that trash on my machines. I run with zonealarm firewall and anti-virus, ad-aware, spybot, and I stay the hell away from IE. If you don't like mozilla firefox, try running netscape. ANYTHING is better than IE.

[idiosyncratic]

16. Opera imports IE favorites perfectly

How can you continue to use IE when compared to the alternative browsers, it is so antiquated?

The Opera browser is the best program I've ever downloaded from the Internet.

Windoze 2000 will by my OS as long as this old computer remains functioning and future hardware will support it. I wouldn't touch XP.

[oreocat]

17. Windows 2K

As a IT manager with 12 years in IT, I only use XP to test hardware and software. I will never use XP and have been using Windows 2000 without problems since it's release.

[phylny]

18. I don't know - I've refused to download it.

I heard so much negative stuff about it, that I decline to touch it.

Sorry you've had so many problems.

:hug:

[ulTRAX]

36. try this.....

Once SP2 was gone I activated auto update. I unchecked SP2 off the list. Then a new set of updates became available. I'm getting some SP2 updates... but getting them a la carte. If I get the security bar back I can just uninstall that hotfix. Previously I installed using the SP2 disk which lumped all SP1 and SP2 security fixes together... plus added the security center and security bar. When I uninstalled it, I lost most security fixes.

[Cuban_Liberal]

23. I uninstalled SP2.

It totally screwed up everything. Another 'quality' program from Microsloth.

:grr:

[oldlady]

24. sent our machine into perpetual reboot

installed it on only one machine on the network. it came up into the blue screen of death and rebooted itself perpetually. we watched it for amusement for a few days, then reinstalled to the original and refused sp2 on all other machine updates.

[bvar22]

25. WinXPsp2 OK on my box.

I didn't buy it until sp2 was included in the distro, which may account for the stability. The last time I bought a NEW MS release was Win95 (I stood in line at midnight). Since then, I've given MS a couple of years to get the BIG bugs out.

I use FireFox, ZoneAlarm, and a Hardware Firewall/Router.
I have turned OFF AutoUpdate and the MSFirewall, deleted MS Outlook, and only keep IE around for very rare occassions.

I have no pop ups or lock ups, very few cookies, and clean sweeps with AdAware and Spybot.

All of my peripherals work well (excellent) with XP.
XP is a great game platform (since most PC games are written for XP)
The graphics are superb.

My bitches:
Some of my old software won't work in XP.
XP doesn't have a Shell or any of the POWERFUL Command Line Tools.

My solution:
I have WinME (a terrible OS) in a small hidden partition that I can boot to when needed. WinME is a terrible OS, but it does have the latest versions of FDISK, deltree, xcopy, sys, that can be used in the Shell, or from a floppy. PartitionMagic 8.0 runs well in ME, but not in XP.

When I need to do maintenence behind the scenes, I boot to ME, or the ME boot floppy. I've used the ME boot floppy several times in the last couple of weeks to fix the MBR, or prepare partitions for Linux.

I AM migrating to Linux, and have downloaded and installed 5 different versions (dual boot with XP) in the last month. I currently have Ubuntu installed, and it is my favorite so far. But honestly, none of the Linux releases (Mandrake, Fedora, SuSE, Slackware, Lycoris) could match the graphics or hardware compatibility of XP. Eventually, Linux will, and some versions are already pretty good.

The reason I'm posting is to let some DUers know that some (most) people are NOT having problems with WinXPsp2. It does many things well. No competing OS(xcept maybe Win2000) can touch XP in gaming or graphics or hardware compatibility. ServicePak2 IS an upgrade, and improves performance and security in many areas.

That being said,I know some people have some problems with the sp2 install. Most can be worked out. XP can be difficult to work on because it ties the hands of the user by assuming the MS always knows best, and restricts the ability of the user to customize settings for particular machines.

IMHO, Linux is the OS of the future. Like I said above, I am migrating to Linux. Ubuntu (Linux) and XP (with a hidden ME) are cohabiting happily on my box. I am using Linux for most of my INet stuff, and XP for Games and to use my expensive Graphics Software (I haven't tried them in a Linux emulator yet). Eventually, I will happily say GOODBYE to MicroSoft, but until then I'm OK with WinXP.

[ulTRAX]

31. biggest problem I had with SP2 was the security bar

Fortunately I didn't have the problems others had. My beef was the security bar. It was infuriating to have to constantly reload pages and SP2 support suggested the way to kill it was to reduce all my security settings. Like hell I was. I tried all their advice and ever tried shutting security center off on the services.msc list but that made it more a pain... interfering with posting and spellchecking here. Putting sites on the trusted list created new problems where links would not work.

[frylock]

33. good post, and i agree with just about everything you've said..

I've had SP2 running on both of my XP boxes since it's release, and the only problem I had was with my USB 2 controller. After about ten minutes on Google I found the workaround, restored my system back to SP1, installed the VIA drivers, and was good to go.

I have a dual-booting 2000/ME box for some of my older racing sims that run better with my VooDoo card, but for gaming, XP is untouchable.

[Mr.Green93]

37. Same here

our new computer has a later version of XP and it has been great.

[WillowTree]

26. Try the Avant Browser

www.avantbrowser.com

Has quite a few nice features and will import your favorites automatically from IE (and will alphabetize them, too).

I don't use Firefox because my password manager doesn't work with it, but it works with Avant just fine.

That being said, I've never "upgraded" to XP and never hope to. I dread the day when I have to give up W2K Pro when they eventually decide to stop supporting it. It's very stable and has been virtually problem-free for me for the last four years.

[Mr.Green93]

39. Avant is great

and recommended by Widows as an add-on.

[ulTRAX]

45. thanks for that

I'd never heard of the Avant browser. I'm still experimenting with it. Nice features. I'm just wondering that since it runs on the IE engine whether it will have the same security problems.

[DS1]

27. Uninstalling SP2 led my computer to an almost complete HD corruption

during which I lost more stuff than ever before.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

40. That sucks.................

The uninstall went smoothly on my folk's machine. It was fucking with their network connection so I took it off. They haven't had a problem since. But I have heard that a bunch of folks have had similar experiences to yours.

I wish there was another "accessible" OS other than Windows. I realize linux may be an option for the compy savvy, but pretty much over the head of my 60yr old parents. But, if someone could put a idiot-proof distro together, linux could take off in a big way.

[miss_kitty]

28. Firefox 1.0 imports faves automatically

and you can reimport them too. You can also import your cookies and other stuff from IE.
I'll never do SP2 and no thanks on the MS beta bullshit-I tend to not go looking for trouble.

[ulTRAX]

30. the problem is with mozilla not FF

Mozilla doesn't have the same import wizard that FF does. Actually the FF import wizard crashed FF on several occasions. I had to break up my files and import them separately.

[miss_kitty]

34. i had some Firefox issues

I found uninstalling and doing a new install worked well and quickly to solve them. And it remembers what you had on the old install.

One day, I could not open Mozilla, so I deleted it. I wasn't using all that extra anyway. So I use Firefox and Thunderbird. Very happy with them. But I do know the principle of really liking something because we are accustomed to its ways...

[ulTRAX]

42. BTW... it's really not beta

MS bought out an existing company... Giant AntiSpyware and is using their tool with a few cosmetic changes. Giant was a subscription service. I actually love the tool. It both scans and actively protects the PC. There's a number of tools... one called System Explorer: System Explorers...

"System Explorers allow you to explore and manage key areas of your system and customize your computer experience. Using Explorers allows you to view detailed information about almost every aspect of your computer, such as what hidden applications you have installed, and what the settings are for various applications that are normally hidden. For example, you can view a list of all the browser helper objects that are installed in Internet Explorer, view applications that are currently connected to remote computers on the Internet, and find out what programs are set to automatically run when Windows starts.

More Information
Explorer: Browser Helper Objects (BHOs)
Explorer: Downloaded ActiveX Programs
Explorer: Internet Connected Applications
Explorer: Internet Explorer Settings
Explorer: Running Processes
Explorer: Startup Applications
Explorer: Windows Host File
Explorer: Windows Shell Execute Hooks
Explorer: Winsock Layered Service Providers"

[miss_kitty]

43. meh-since I don't use IE

nor have any plans to, it's a moot point.

I should've known-if they called it 'beta' it wouldn't REALLY be 'beta' :P

[LunaC]

29. This one's for you!

[Maestro]

32. This might help

Simply updating SP2 did cause problems for me, mainly blocking ports so that only IE could access the Net not Firefox (Thanks Bill), but XP is a good OS, at least for me. I have had very good stability and with my firewall plus anti-adware, virus programs, it is very secure. That being said, I am running SP2 without any problems whatsoever and I believe it is because I did a fresh install of everything after backing up everything of course. Here is a good article on how to do that if you so choose.

Slipstream SP2 and XP

[ulTRAX]

35. not going back

SP2... as a package deal is off my PC and good riddens. I don't object to the added security... only the sabotaging of IE with the security bar that made it unusable.

Now that I'm updating Windows a la carte instead of getting SP2 off the disk.. I can pick and choose what I want. I've noticed that lots of the updates are SP2.... but none so far is the security bar. If I happen to download it again, at least I should be able to isolate it to one fix and remove it while keeping the others. Installing it off the disk meant to get rid of the security bar I had to uninstall everything.

[madison2000]

41. My team will be in charge of upgrading to XP2 and I will be doing

a lot of the testing. We use IE6 and have a lot of spyware problems. My contract is for a year- maybe I'm in for something longer?!

[Renew Deal]

44. I won't even install it.

I don't want to deal with the firewall/security center bullshit. Besides that, it breaks some old programs.