windows service pack

[kwrs]

hey guys, i've read numerous complaints about windows service pack 2. how abt service pack 1? is it as bad? will it slow my laptop (p3 800mhz, 192mb ram) down? i'm running winxp home edition which came with the laptop. Or should i get winxp pro with the service pack 1 inculded? btw, does the home edition loads faster than the pro edition? thanks!!!

[jmichna]

I've had no problems with either SP1 or SP2. You can order an SP2 CD at no cost direct from MS at their website... delivery has been very fast (less than 5 business days in my case).

The service packs are predominantly security/patch related... you should see no change in performance (though I imagine with your hardware, XP doesn't run very fast... 192mb ram is not a lot). If XP Home works for your situation, why would you consider spending money to upgrade to XP Pro? IMO, you would be better off taking that money and adding more ram to your laptop... then you'd see a performance increase.

[PresterJohn]

sp1 should be definitely be installed...sp2 is more of a judgement call at this point. we still have not rolled out sp2 to the users at work.

for the machines that i set up for people on my own time, i do install SP2 for the sake of 'completeness' (because most of them are not technically savvy), but i prefer to leave what few XP machines i personally run, on sp1. installing sp2 forces you to tweak the system again if you want a really smooth running machine. for example, that stupid auto-update wizard continually pops up once sp2 is installed. the only way to get rid of it is to modify the service settings.

thank god i still run w2k on my production machines. w2k is rock solid and i don't have all these xp-related support issues to deal with.

[Elburn]

Yeah, I would suggest keeping the home edition for now. I don't think XP pro will be that helpful to you.

Service pack 1 is not bad, as long as you are up to date with the patches windows puts out. I have seen problems with service pack 2, so I've been waiting to install it.

[Theophylact]

And SP1 is available on a free CD from Microsoft; no mailing charges, either.