Hi,

I have Windows XP Home Edition. I use the computer for business. I am
contemplating finally downloading XP Service Pack 2 as I have Service
Pack 1.

1) Is the download now safe as I heard lots of negative feedback.
2) Should I backup my pc ? If so what files do you suggest and/or software?

Thanks,

Angel

---

Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 01 Feb 2006 15:07 PST

Hi Angel...

Funny you should ask this question,
I was "forced" to take the plunge
just yesterday. 

My network got completely screwed
up and I had to do something, and
a reinstall was out of the question,
so I did an upgrade to XP SP2 and
except for the security features
and spending about 4 hours to get
my trackpad working again... it all
seems to work flawlessly.

On the flip side of the coin, and
the reason I hadn't upgraded til 
now... a good friend of mine and
a person as computer savvy as I,
upgraded a lil over a year ago
and he completely lost his IE.

Internet Explorer is no longer
functioning for him. He lost a
few other things, but IE was the
most traumatic part.

I have heard of many different 
problems associated with upgrading
to SP2, and if you Google it
[ ://www.google.com/search?&q=%22win+xp%22+OR+winxp+OR+%22windows+XP%22+SP2+problems+OR+trouble
]
you will see there is a sea
of problems.

I liken it to the growth of an
organism. All organisms of a 
certain genetic makeup start
relatively the same but thru
environmental pressures they
grow differently.

This would be like all the 
different software that you
install and drivers, etc.

So, is SP2 safe to install?
Yes... will it be safe for
YOU to install... nobody can
say for sure.

Now, this leads me to the next
part. Backing your computer up.

I would suggest if you are handy
at all with the insides of your
computer, to get an exact match
to your hard drive that holds your
operating system and make a bit
level backup (that's what I did
before I took the plunge). 

It wasn't that easy on a laptop, 
but thanks to a MadDog brand external 
drive holder I was able to make an
exact clone of my working drive.
This gave me the confidence to
proceed without worries.

Once you have installed the new
Hard Drive, the program to use
is an oldie but goodie... WinHex.
It has an option of copying the
Hard Drive over to the new one
at a sector level.
[ http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/allfeatures.html ]

With that type of drive clone 
available you won't have any fear 
taking the plunge. Your max possible
downtime will be equivalent to the
amount of time it takes to swap your
drive cables.

For that matter... if you rely on
your computer for work and you're
still at SP1... that means your
drive is probably a couple years
old? It really wouldn't be a bad
idea to make a clone anyway of
your drive to protect important
information.

Hope this helps...
-AI

---

Request for Question Clarification by cynthia-ga on 04 Feb 2006 18:11 PST

This is an excellent article on Service Pack 2:

How to Install Windows XP Service Pack 2 - By Sandy Berger
http://www.aarp.org/learntech/computers/howto/a2004-08-27-howtoinstallXP.html

I can find the "before you install" articles from your PC
manufacturers web site, would that suffice as an Answer?

If so, please describe your PC..

~~Cynthia

1. As far as I know it is completely safe. I, too, run XP Home. At
first I was skeptical because of all the bug reports, but I downloaded
and installed it a few weeks after the release and have never had any
problems. Unless you have some software that I haven't come across
that would conflict with SP2, it should be safe. In addition, it comes
with an uninstaller in case you encounter a conflict and wish to
revert.
2. You should ALWAYS keep a backup of important files. The only folder
that is essential to backup (assuming you use the default
configuration of XP) is the C:\Documents and Settings folder. This
folder contains all of your documents and settings for individual
users. If you have My Documents or any other system folder stored
elsewhere on your hard drive, I'd advise you to back that up as well.

Good luck!

You said you use the computer for business.  I wouldn't upgrade.  How
long can you afford to be without the computer?  You're rolling the
dice with SP2.  Get Winpatrol and a good antivirus if you're concerned
about security.

Backup
--Aconis is a great easy interface for creating clone images.  It
always runs providing you incremental clones.
--If you want a remote backup service for files: Peak Backup,
http//www.peakbackup.com, provides good pricing for online backup. 
They use Ahsay software which is very stable.