Is Service Pack 2 really necessary?

Hi everyone!

I've run Microsoft Windows XP with & without it. I keep up to date antivirus, firewall, spam control. Do I really need it?

Much thanks in advance!
Gina

 

I don't know all the details of SP2, but I don't use it personally. I do the same and haven't had any troubles. What I do know is that they've disable raw socket support, and that can make it a pain to use port scanners. (window Nmap binary comes to mind)

 

Short answer, YES.

SP2 for Windows XP fixes many security vulnerabilities. To run Windows XP without all current Service Packs & Hotfixes represents a major security risk.

 

Yes.

 

i'd install it... easiest way to do that, send away for the SP2 CD, it comes in like 2 days...

 

Absolutely! You really do need it. Your AV, FW and spam control are great but they don't plug up the actual security holes within the OS. If you've not had problems thus far, I'd say you are one lucky lady!

Good to see you popping in Gina!

 

And it comes in handy if you ever have to reload your or a friends PC down the road.

 

I also have that the xp sp2 copied on a cd, along with a few other service packs for other OS's.

Halo's link is nice on what gets changed in Service Pack 2 for xp.

But, a more enjoyably read is this:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx

About 8 pages worth of fun!

 

In the time it takes to read that, you could download and install SP2.

 

Thanks everyone.

My primary desktop PC "died" (it was very old, lol) and my new Dell laptop needs another hard drive (I'm having bad luck with computers lately huh?) so I'm stuck with this little Dell Latitude Notebook for now and it's pretty slow, compared to what I'm used to. I installed sp2 when it first came out but it seemed to make all the computers run so slowly (and was incompatible with some of my existing software) so I took it off and stopped using it. I guess I was waiting for a few improvements.

I've had to deal with so much craziness in the last year that I haven't had the time to research any new developements in sp2, but I do worry that I'm exposing my computer to vulnerabilities. I appreciate everyone's opinions, and if anyone else has anything to add, please do.

Hiya AbbySue! How are you?? As I mentioned, I've had so many crazy things happen in the past year that I never have time to visit much anymore, so I've missed out on everything. But, this too shall pass... I hope all is well with you!

Much appreciation and warm regards,
Gina

 

Quick question:

Are security updates not available w/o service pack 2? Can you get them individually, outside of the sp2 bundle? I mean, MS usually does have cumulative updates for a given date. Do these include the updates contained in SP2?

 

SP2 incudes all the updates before it's release and additional fixes. There are culmative updates after SP2, but none that will bring your system to SP2 level. You have to install SP2.

 

I'm sorry, but what do you mean by SP2 level? What does SP2 entail besides the security fixes? Are there bugfixes/patches included in SP2 that are unavailable elsewhere?

 

There are fixes in SP2, that were not released as individual updates/hotfixes. OS level fixes you won't get otherwise.

Previous posted links:
Changes implemented in SP2
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pr...n/sp2chngs.mspx