Service Pack 2

Did Microsoft ever fix the problem with SP2?

I ask because I god a new HD and I need to update, but I dont want it screwing my comp over like when SP2 first came out. DO I dl it or do something else?

Ok what?  I'm the guy who posted the BigLBA support thread.  What "problem" do you speak of, and do the newer slipstreamed copies of XP have it?  Cause it looks like I'll be trying that soon...

Here you go matey:
http//www.microsoft.com/...

This is the standalone installer for SP2, Microsoft seem to hide this from the general public, it's the version for "IT professionals", which basically means it's all in that installer, no need to connect to microsoft's servers or any bullshit like that. Don't connect to the net at all until you install service pack 2. Your PC will get instantly raped by spyware and all sorts of shit. You don't need a net connection to install service pack 2 using this file.

Speaking of which, I'm due to re-install windows too, dual boot with Linux as well, woo!

If I'm running stock WinXP, are there any downsides to SP2 whatsoever?  I'm doing it for for the 48 Bit LBA support, but I'd like to know what problems >>1 was talking about and if they're fixed by now...

I installed all kinds of protection before I hooked up to the net, and I also use Firefox.

I jsut need to know if its ok for me to press 'install' when the update propt comes up again.

I know there were a bunch of bugs in the origninal release, and I know they fixed them when the oput it on the new OS disks, but I wanted to know if they fixed the version that your computer uses for auto updating.

There were problems with SP2 crashing part way through and screwing things up, but that was mostly with people whose computers had already been repeatedly raped by viruses and spyware and shit.

Some people also thought SP2 put in a restriction on TCP/IP, disallowing more than 10 simultaneous outbound connections, but that is not true: firstly, the restriction was on the number of pending connections (ie. between the connection being started and the peer acknowledging) per second, and secondly this restriction has been in Windows since the NT days (and was even lower at five pending connections in some versions of Windows). All SP2 did with the TCP/IP thing was break a particular registry tweak that 1337 h4xx0rs liked to do to pretend they were improving performance, and they were up in arms. The capacity for this tweak was apparently reinstated by a later patch anyway.

Some people also moan and bitch about Windows Firewall and Security Centre eating up system resources, but they aren't that heavyweight, Firewall was already there pre-SP2 to begin with (just usually disabled), and you can manually disable both services again anyway.