Thursday, August 26, 2004
Do NOT install Win Xp SP2
I repeat - do NOT install the service pack 2 for Windows XP if you use any of the following progams and want them to work afterwards.
A real firewall - eg Zonealarm, Norman, EZ Armor, Outpost etc
Antivirus software such as Norton Antivirus 2003, Norton Systemworks, Kaspersy etc
Word Perfect Office, Yahoo instant messenger, AOL Toolbar etc. The list goes on and on.
The more I read (and typical Microsoft fashion it took me more than 30 web pages of uselss marketing trash before I found the deeply embedded technical articles I needed) the worse it got.
There is even a toolkit that you can deploy to stop Windows update from running the update. Why? unless it was demanded by scared system administrators.
Some of the things Microscum does wrong or badly.
Assume all users know lots about internet security, installing programs, and blindly trust Microsoft.
Write all their web pages in marketing speak. Eg "While recognizing the security benefits of Windows XP SP2, some organizations have requested the ability to temporarily disable delivery of this update via Automatic Updates (AU) and Windows Update (WU)."
Make it difficult if impossible for the novice user to understand the impact of what they are doing when upgrading with a service pack like this.
Write such crap software that requries major upgrades like this in the first place.
Expect users to download a 262 Mb download file.
Assume everybody using Windows XP is also using internet explorer.
Expect people to understand how to perform an automated system recovery backup - and then use it if the upgrade does not perform correctly!
Click comments and answer this statement.
"I know how to find and run the automated system recovery backup wizard and could use it to recover a failed installation of windows XP SP2." TRUE or FALSE
We will not be installing this update. I already have a better firewall than the windows one, better antivirus software, do not trust windows automatic update, and don't use internet explorer.
I would advise users of Windows XP to think carefully and ask a professional they trust before installing.
A real firewall - eg Zonealarm, Norman, EZ Armor, Outpost etc
Antivirus software such as Norton Antivirus 2003, Norton Systemworks, Kaspersy etc
Word Perfect Office, Yahoo instant messenger, AOL Toolbar etc. The list goes on and on.
The more I read (and typical Microsoft fashion it took me more than 30 web pages of uselss marketing trash before I found the deeply embedded technical articles I needed) the worse it got.
There is even a toolkit that you can deploy to stop Windows update from running the update. Why? unless it was demanded by scared system administrators.
Some of the things Microscum does wrong or badly.
Assume all users know lots about internet security, installing programs, and blindly trust Microsoft.
Write all their web pages in marketing speak. Eg "While recognizing the security benefits of Windows XP SP2, some organizations have requested the ability to temporarily disable delivery of this update via Automatic Updates (AU) and Windows Update (WU)."
Make it difficult if impossible for the novice user to understand the impact of what they are doing when upgrading with a service pack like this.
Write such crap software that requries major upgrades like this in the first place.
Expect users to download a 262 Mb download file.
Assume everybody using Windows XP is also using internet explorer.
Expect people to understand how to perform an automated system recovery backup - and then use it if the upgrade does not perform correctly!
Click comments and answer this statement.
"I know how to find and run the automated system recovery backup wizard and could use it to recover a failed installation of windows XP SP2." TRUE or FALSE
We will not be installing this update. I already have a better firewall than the windows one, better antivirus software, do not trust windows automatic update, and don't use internet explorer.
I would advise users of Windows XP to think carefully and ask a professional they trust before installing.
