Posted on 02/02/2009 9:29:54 AM PST by smokingfrog
The software maker is warning customers that tools designed to prevent automatic installation of service packs are nearing expiration.
Microsoft wants users of its Windows operating systems to move to upgraded versions of the software, so it's killing a tool that prevents upgrades from automatically self-installing.
"I have some important information for those of you who have installed the Service Pack Blocker Tool for Windows XP or Windows Vista," wrote Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft's in-house Windows blogger, in a Friday post. "The Service Pack Blocker Tool temporarily prevents the installation of a service pack through Windows Update, typically for one year after general availability of the service pack. We are announcing the upcoming expiration dates for the Service Pack Blocker Tool for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3," LeBlanc wrote.
LeBlanc said the blocker for Vista SP1 will expire on April 28, while the blocker for XP SP3 will expire on May 19.
Despite the tools' expiration, LeBlanc noted that companies that don't want to upgrade to the Windows service packs won't be forced to do so. Users that have the Automatic Updates feature turned on will receive an alert from Windows Updates indicating that an important update is available for installation. Users can then elect to install the service packs or ignore the update.
Users that don't have Automatic Updates turned on will receive the alert only after manually checking for updates in Windows Update.
(Excerpt) Read more at informationweek.com ...
Haven’t had any issues with XP SP3. Not planning on upgrading to vista or 7 until I get a new machine. And even then, I might pick another OS. If Apple didn’t cost three times as much, they would be in the running for sure.
bfl
I've heard of this happening to other people also, which is one of the reasons I've never installed it. I usually have better luck installing from the Windows Update site instead of using the Automatic Updates (set to notify, but not automatically download and install). For the big updates, I like to go to MS downloads and download the update. That way I have it if I need to re-install or to put on another computer.
Bookmark
Almost every time I give in and finally load updates I spend hours, even days, trying to get things to work halfway correctly again. The one feature I do commend Microsoft for is RESTORE, without which many users would never get their PC’s to run properly after loading updates.
Even without updates its like digital Russian Roulette.
I try not to shut my PC off unless absolutely necessary because I never know what surprise awaits when I reboot.
Totally white screen with no desktop icons, blue screen of death, mouse not working, Internet Explorer lock up, total PC lock up, all file configurations reset from my laborious, time consuming settings, etc.
Got Root?
Well, if it's Word or something that has no godly reason to be talking to or serving to the internet, set your firewall not to allow them access.
Obviously this means you need to be running a firewall other than the Windows one. I like Zone Alarm. I can't believe the guys at Microsoft are such a bunch of yutzes that they think a firewall from Microsoft would even be a desirable thing. If Microsoft's garden variety incompetence wrt security issues isn't enough disincentive, Microsoft products are probably 60% of the reason I run a firewall in the first place. Why oh why would I ever run a firewall FROM Microsoft??? I'd probably be safer with no firewall at all.
XP SP3 broke my laptop’s ability to communicate with my wireless router. It was a known issue with many routers. I un-installed it and haven’t tried it again. I don’t have time to mess with it.
I waited until it had been out 6 months, then installed SP3 on our 3 WinXP machines. They all work fine — zip, zero, nada problems.
However, I always have automatic updates turned off, and pick and choose what and when to download. We still use Windows Media Player 10 (much better than 11, which is a piece of crap), and IE6 (IE6 works fine, so no thanks to IE7).
Indeed they can, in XP. Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Security Center and you'll find the controls to shut off automatic updates.
This follows the general rule of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Most of the "updates" are to patch security holes, but if your antivirus software is worth a damn, and you don't click on stupid stuff, you don't need them.
Some are actually counterproductive. MS released an "update" to Office 2003 that made it so it would no longer read Office 97 files. And their release notes said nothing about that great improvement.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The .Net Framework is an application hosting “runtime” environment that gets loaded on top of the Windows operating system.
It is a programming language independent framework for development of MS-based applications. If you do not run programs that were designed for .Net, then you likely don’t “need” the update. In that sense it is somewhat analogous to Java - if you don’t run Java apps, you don’t need Java runtime.
If you ever install a .Net app, it will either include the .Net runtime or will tell you that you need it. It comes standard with current operating systems.
By the way, don’t let all the anti-MS talk scare you away from MS products if they happen to fit your needs. I’ve been programming various OS’s since the 70’s. They all have bugs, of course, but XP has been one of the more stable ones and v7 looks promising.
Many love to bash MS for whatever anecdotal reasons. But history will note that it was Billy Gates and his folks who brought the power of the computer into most homes and nearly every business. To think that competitors would not be coming along in our great (still somewhat) free market and, maybe, someday take over the MS market share would be naive. But I’ve heard predictions of their doom for two decades now.
I run MS operating systems on several machines at work and home. I’ve not had any major OS or update caused problems for a long time. I even remotely updated (including one service pack) a mission critical machine in another state WHILE WATCHING THE SUPERBOWL! No problems whatsoever. No IIS problems, no driver problems, no settings unset...nothing to whine about, I feel left out.
Me too. I have a Server 2003 installation that hasn't had any manual intervention in two years.
$ uptime
5:25pm up 3012 day(s), 7:07, 1 user, load average: 3.23, 3.19, 3.23
Yes
Urgh!
Yes.
Service Pack 3 works quite nicely.
Thank you.
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