Posted on 04/06/2005 6:57:37 AM PDT by bedolido
On Tuesday, April 12, Microsoft will turn off the blocking feature that has made it possible for some enterprises to block Windows XP Service Pack 2 downloads by employees who use Automatic Update. That means in companies that used the blocking tool, SP2 will be downloaded automatically to desktop computers that use Windows' Automatic Update feature.
In its April 4 report on business adoption of Windows XP SP2, AssetMetrix warned that a surge of SP2 downloads on April 12 could stress IT help desks and cause "productivity brownouts" among employees. But a Microsoft spokesman downplayed that scenario, saying fewer than 1% of Microsoft's enterprise customers ever used the blocking tool anyway. Small businesses and consumers will be unaffected by the change, he says, because the blocking tool was not available to them.
AssetMetrix advises companies that did use the blocking tool, yet now want employees to upgrade to SP2, to do so gradually before April 12 in order to avoid a big-bang support problem. It's worth noting that April 12, as the second Tuesday of the month, is the same day that Microsoft is scheduled to release its monthly software patches, if any are forthcoming.
How can a home user stop Microsoft Update from downloading SP2? I have dialup and it would take hours to download. I don't want it and so far have been able to select "Custom Update" to bypass it. I have friends who have had their PCs crash because of it. Help!
If the firewall is the only problem you can turn it off and use something else.
I personally love Zonealarm and think it has the best user interface of any program in existence. I can't think of any program of any kind that takes such an esoteric problem and makes sense of it. The only thing missing is an easy way to see beneath the covers, so to speak.
But if you have reason not to trust some of the programs installed on your machine, it's great.
However, the XP SP2 firewall is pretty bulletproof, and combined with the MS spyware blocker, it solves a bunch of problems. Add AVG and you have a clean system for not much money.
No, I didn't have to tweak anything. I didn't notice any difference (for better or for worse).
I'm not on a network.
What is Zonealarm?
I'm no computer whiz, but I've restored my system a few times. All I did was go to "Start" then "Accessories" then "System Tools" and finally "System Restore." I clicked on that and it walked me through it. This was already on my PC, nothing I added to it.
How do you know that XP AntiSpy turns off all of the methods by which Windows communicates, or phones home, with Microsoft? It's sort of like ordering decaf coffee at a restaurant: how can you know?
To those who are having problems installing SP2
1. Download SP2
2. Turn off all of the junk in your system tray that you don't need.
3. Turn off IM applications.
4. Turn off the virus checker
5. Install SP2.
6. Restart the computer.
7. Turn the virus checker back on.
It's a good idea to run your virus checker and Ad-aware before installing SP2 as well. The main reason for problems installing SP2 is all of the crap running in the background.
I have installed SP2 on over 100 computers and have had no problems yet. My students have had all sorts of difficulties and in each case, we found adware/malware and virus programs plus IM applications running. After turning that stuff off, we had no problems.
You Never know for sure, but it stops a lot of stuff. I've seen machines with spyware blaster, spybot and adaware get zapped.
The real reason spyware happens is that people authorize its installation. Mostly kids using Kaaza or something, say yes to installation. No program can protect you from suicide.
XP has become pretty tight in requiring you to authorize program installation, but it can't protect you from stupidity.
The BEST firewall around!
Thanks for the info! That must be it, my kids have IM (drives me crazy!)
Since you seem to know a lot (at least you know a lot more than I do!), maybe you can help me.
I have everything on my computer: Symantec anti-virus, firewall, ad-aware, Microsoft anti-spyware, Spydoc (I forget the name, and I'm not on my computer), and even more. I actually run them from time to time.
A few times each week I get an email that informs me that my message to someone (always random strangers -- once it was someone whose name was familiar to me) was not accepted because it contained a virus.
Is this really being sent from my computer, or does someone use my email address to shoot off viruses from another location?
Thanks. I took the test on my daughter's computer (which I'm using now), and it found 14 pieces of spyware.
Email viruses are an interesting problem.
The most likely reason for having emails rejected is that you are sending Office documents or zip files as attachments. Some email systems reject all attachments ans some reject attachments with certain filename extensions.
The latest trick is embedding viruses in images, particularly jpgs. I suspect that some virus scanners are incorrectly tagging some images as viruses, because I have seen this happen when I'm pretty sure the image is clean.
I anyone is buying a new machine, I'd recommend giving a look at the AMD 64 CPU. The price is down to really low levels, and these chips are immune to many common virus exploits.
I just tested it with Microsoft's spyware remover, and it found ZERO pieces of spyware. I'm doing ad-aware now.
All your 'puters are belong to us.
Yes, but...
I'm not sending email to these people, to my knowledge. The first I know of their existence (if they really do exist) is when I get an email purporting to return to me an email that I supposedly sent.
Oh, well, it doesn't seem to slow down my computer, anyway, and my systems can't find it. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
Thanks for the link - I'll be checking this out later!
Yikes. Ad-aware found 14 pieces of spyware (the same number as the Zone thing). I wonder why Microsoft found zero. I'm removing them now.
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