SP2? Let's do it!

Just finished a new build of XP Pro with SP2. After installing AVG Antivirus, which SP2 recognizes, Spybot S & D version 1.3, Ad-aware SE, Spyblaster (all these sites have free editions) and all their respective upgrades I immediately went to Black Viper's site in order to print out the Windows XP services configuration which has been implemented. I highly recommend this site. Viper made several appearances on TechTV shows back in the pre-Comcast days when they were a plethora of computer information.

Spybot S&D version 1.3 has an advanced mode that offers some IE tweaks and system startup utilities. I always lock the host files, homepage and internet tools within the browser under tweaks and then use the system startup tab to remove any unwanted weirdness that tries to run in the background. Using this tool avoids altering msconfig and also gives one the option to delete that mess without having to do a registry edit. Then a massive session of defragmentation. Walk away and let it do its thing after turning off screensavers and power limitations.

Service Pack 2 (SP2) is getting good reviews from sites that are beach house trusted. Decided to use it in this build since the positives outweigh the negatives in overwhelming fashion. There was some issue during the beginning of this build, but that was corrected by simply uninstalling and reinstalling the graphics card drivers. Methinks the IRQs weren't happy. With 512 megs o de RAM it is quite stable and is tolerating Mozilla, Office, Nero Burn and a few other applications. So far so good. Annoyances.org is a super site and has a good write up on Microsmooze's latest greatest patchorama - Service Pack 2. Agree with them that it is best to download SP2 and then install versus doing a direct installation from the Windows Update page. The download can be found here.

Good luck with your install. Be sure and check out the popup killer in Internet Explorer that is included in this "upgrade" and set it to block all popups.

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
-Albert Einstein