Welcome to
the first edition, year 4, of Presidio Computer's Newsletter.
Vol 4. No.
1
Disclaimer: The text contained in this newsletter is
provided for informational purposes only. No guarantees nor warranties are
expressly given nor implied.
Before installing
any software program or patch, or any piece of hardware, be sure to backup all
of the important information on your computer.
The following
are the professional opinions of Presidio Computers. They are neither
supported nor sponsored by Microsoft.
To determine
which version of Windows your computer is using, open “system properties”. Here are 2 ways you can do this:
1. open the
“control panel”, with it set to “classic” view, open “system”;
2. right
click on “my computer”, left click on “properties”.
Across the
top, you will see “system properties”.
Beneath that, you will see some tabs.
By default, “system properties” opens to the “general” tab. On the “general” tab, in the upper right
quadrant, you will see “System”. In that
area, you will see information about the version of Windows that is on your
computer. If you see Windows XP [ Home
OR Pro OR Media Center ] Service Pack 2, you are using Windows XP Service Pack
2.
If you see
Windows XP version 2002, you have the initial version of Windows XP. If you see “Windows XP Version 2002 Service
Pack 1”, you have Service Pack 1 [ SP1 ].
Upgrading the
operating system [ OS ] of one’s computer is important. The upgrade often provides improved strength
[ closes some of the holes / defects that occurred when the OS
was
created.
This site
contains a list of the features associated with Windows XP SP2. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/features.mspx .
Microsoft’s
official Windows XP support center can be found at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=winxp .
Microsoft has
established free tech support for issues associated with Windows XP SP2. The toll-free phone # is: 1 888 772 4357
The existence
of problems associated with the release of an SP is not new. When Microsoft released SP1, some computer
users experienced a real slowdown in performance.
For a report
of some of the problems encountered after upgrading from Windows XP to Windows
XP SP1, please see: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110031,00.asp
I
think:
August 2004,
Microsoft released an upgrade to Windows XP [ Home, Professional or Media
Center ]. The intent is positive, but the results may be
disastrous. Until now, Windows XP has been like a host at a party,
wanting to please everyone, making sure everyone is having a good time,
introducing strangers, settling disagreements. With computing, this
causes security problems. Programs are able to do almost everything they
want to do. The program works, but computer security suffers.
Microsoft is
aware of these security issues. In an effort to strengthen Windows XP,
Microsoft released, for free, "service pack 2".
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/08/06/microsoft.update.ap/index.html
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_sp2.asp
Unfortunately,
the strengthened security will cause some [ 1%? , 99%? ] of your programs
to malfunction.
According to
a recent study I read, http://yahoo.pcworld.com/yahoo/article/0,aid,117990,00.asp
76% of upgraders had no problems. That
means 24% had problems, 1 out of 4. If
you are 1 of the 24%, you are 100% & probably in deep doo doo.
Here are some
web pages that can provide examples of the problems you may experience.
********** potentially too much bad
news / reports of failed attempts to install SP2
In this
survey, http://isc.sans.org/xpsp2.php , > 60% of users had problems.
http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=23905071
http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/58.htm
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=22103525
Before you
install Window XP SP2, contact the tech support department of every program on
your computer. Find out what recommendations they have for dealing with
Windows XP SP2. Contact the manufacturer of each piece of hardware [ motherboard,
video card, modem, network card, etc ], and ask them what recommendations they
have for dealing with Windows XP SP2.
My basic
advice regarding service packs is to wait a while [ 6 months may be reasonable
] until you upgrade to Windows XP SP2. When Microsoft released Windows XP
SP2, I thought that by March 2005, most
of the serious bugs should be discovered and resolved. Well, it is now
March 2005 and problems persist for some users.
For example,
after upgrading to SP2, one of my customers lost the sound on his
computer. We updated the software [
device drivers ] used by his sound card, but that didn’t help. We uninstalled SP2 and his sound returned. Thus, my advice continues: contact the tech support departments of every
program and hardware manufacturer. These
companies usually have email support, so you won’t have to spend a lot of your
time on terminal hold.
Until
then: install a firewall; install a popup blocker; be sure your antivirus
software is up to date and constantly monitoring your system; don't open any
suspicious email; don't visit any questionable [ you will need to define this
term ] web sites, stop using Internet Explorer as your default browser. Consider using Firefox [ http://www.getfirefox.com/ ] or Opera
[ http://www.opera.com/ ]. You will still need to use Internet Explorer
to access some web sites, such as Microsoft’s Update site.
Please
note: if you are an AOL user, when you
use AOL to view web pages, you are using Internet Explorer with a different
appearance. Thus, you are susceptible to
all the vulnerabilities that threaten Internet Explorer users.
Microsoft has
advised computer users to remove spyware and viruses before upgrading to SP
2.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/09/06/windowsupdate.ap/index.html
If you want
to temporarily avoid SP2, open “system properties”. Left click the “Automatic Updates” tab. Left click the circle to the left of “turn
off automatic updates”. This will stop
your computer from obtaining ALL of the security updates
associated with Windows XP.
Turning off
the acquisition of other security updates is potentially dangerous. If you choose this option, I suggest that you
manually obtain critical updates regularly.
End of my
opinion.
Disclaimer: The text contained in this newsletter is
provided for informational purposes only. No guarantees nor warranties are
expressly given nor implied.
Before
installing any software program or patch, or any piece of hardware, be sure to
backup all of the important information on your computer.
Sincerely,
Ed Sloup
Presidio Computers, LLC
[520] 731 6446
www.presidiocomputers.com
**Disclaimer** This Memo and any attachments, may be confidential and legally
privileged. If you are not the intended recipient and have received this in
error, kindly destroy this message and notify the sender. Thank you for your
assistance.