As has been said, i wouldnt touch it with a barge pole, for a good 6 months, and the serial number issue is no problem, as above, there are hackz out already.
I always switch off auto updates and error reporting, never know what information is being sent from your pc 
thanks hollywood and gurner for the advice . you learn from your mistakes 
. i`ll print that out hollywood and try it tommorow
You can turn off your XP firewall. It will interfere with Norton and other firewalls.
Go start > control panel> network connections > properties (right click) > advanced tab > ā¦ then uncheck the box protect my puter and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from internet
then click āokā on the next connction to net XP firewall will not be active.
Disconnect from net. Clear out cookies folders and offline files, reboot puter. Then check for updates from Norton or firewall/virus scanner.
Oh yesā¦ and run a virus scan ASAP
I have got SP2ā¦ and so far have had very little problems with it 
I have Zone Alarm as a firewall and AVG anti virus, both work no problem with the XP Firewall
The main annoying thing with the service pack is its insistence on telling Bill everytime a programme freezes or crashes (I need to install some more memory 
)
LIke Jammy I usually use web based mail servers, and only occassionally open outlook express, just because I have a lot of mail that I may need to refer back to, and I trust the mail server not to dissolve in a heap of molten plastic more than my ability to treat this PC right to stop it going the same way
So is there any point in installing SP2 
Rikki, to switch off Error reporting :-
Open, Control Panel > System > āAdvancedā tab > Error Reporting (bottom right) > Disable Error Reporting.
In my humble opinion, I think that there IS a point to downloading SP2 (although the download is huge on dial up) some puter mags are offering installation disks (free) although I personally never use software that comes free in any magazine. If you have bought a new PC from a well known retalailer recently, SP2 should be on your puter already.
If on the other hand you have an older Operating System, and have upgraded over time, and if you have non MS software (ie:without a product key etc) best not to bother attempting an installation.
The main point of SP2 (as far as I can tell) is the security additions. SP2 has its own security centre, this includes a (basic) firewall, and has closed a number of security gaps in things such as messenger in networked computers & wireless connections. I think it also has made browsing and outlook a bit more secure (I wonāt go into the detail) SP2 also acknowledges your anti virus software, in the security centre although it does not provide any anti virus software itself. I use Symantec, and after installing SP2 I had to wait for a week before Windows security would recognise my software, as I had to wait for a download from Symantec, that prevented the windows security centre from over writing Symantecā¦ Symantec has an anti tamper deviceā¦ blah blahā¦
SP2 also has an anti spam\pop up feature, and it worksā¦ Iāve tried it.
There are lots of other features in SP2ā¦ some may be of use to you, and others may not, but it DOES address the issue regarding gaping vulnerabilities in Windows. I feel that it is worth installing if you have a relatively new puter and if you use your puter for anything more than home and leisure puposes. I found the Windows Security Centre to be an annoyance at times, but I have also found traffic lights to irritate me, both are there for my own safety!
I cannot reiterate this enough. If you donāt install SP2, please ensure that you have an up to date virus scanner installed, and a firewall!
For me, circa 2 weeks after installing SP2, no problems (apart from my anti virus software not being recognised at first) You should also try to ensure that you set a restore\backup point before downloading\installing just in case it goes pear shaped!
TY from a thick puter user 
I finally stuck it on to my machine last weekend and also on to my two sons machines as well and so far no problems. No problems with Norton and the router has itās own fiirewall and there were no conflicts with that either.
Running Win 2000 Pro here with OE6 (Outlook Express) and have never had any problems.
I run McAfee Security Centerās Personal Firewall (does a sterling job too) but donāt use the Virus Scan or Spam Killer - I had months of problems with it and in the end had to re-build the PC - even my ISP cancelled my account because of the [zb] that Spam Killer was bouncing out as mail (directly from Spam Killer, not through OE!). Re-installed everything with Virus Scan and Spam Killer disabled and it now works a treat.
I used to use Ad-Aware for deep scanning the registryās and keeping on top of the data miners but thereās a better one out now that does a sterling job, itās called SpyBot Search & Destroy ! Download it free off the interweb JONBOY and itāll keep on top of your ā ā ā ā DIALERS. Be aware that if you download a ā ā ā ā dialer without realising that, if you have broadband or a non dial-up connection, it canāt do anything. I use the free Norton AVG 6.0 for anti-virus software and although itās not brilliant, it does the job. If anything slips through the net and get onto the drive it will pick it up on a full system scan as long as you keep the āauto updatesā enabled. Sometimes it says it canāt clean/delete off the drive when it finds something but you can easily rectify that if you follow the path to the worm or virus and delete it yourself, remembering of course to empty the recycle bin on your desktop as well.
Cheers.
Service Pack 2 Will NOT stop virusā and spybot or adaware will not do so either. Chances are that these freeware programms will latch on to you registry and have access to the net each and every time that you dial up. Thus providing a port open or many ports open to be attacked or viewed remotely.
Your virus scanner is only as good as itsā last update. Having a virus scanner is good, but having a virus scanner that is updated each and every time that you connect is best practice.
Be careful about downloads. Do not open files from unknown sources. Even if it from someone that you know (family member for example) and even if the download looks attractiveā¦ better to delete than open.
Hackers and virus writers count on your curiosity!
SP2 Firewall does not block any outbound connections. That means that your puter is vulnerable to any programms that can access the net. This includes freeware, camera, printers, anti spyware etcā¦
Iāve writ enuffā¦
runaroundtel:
Service Pack 2 Will NOT stop virusā and spybot or adaware will not do so either. Chances are that these freeware programms will latch on to you registry and have access to the net each and every time that you dial up. Thus providing a port open or many ports open to be attacked or viewed remotely.Your virus scanner is only as good as itsā last update. Having a virus scanner is good, but having a virus scanner that is updated each and every time that you connect is best practice.
Be careful about downloads. Do not open files from unknown sources. Even if it from someone that you know (family member for example) and even if the download looks attractiveā¦ better to delete than open.
Hackers and virus writers count on your curiosity!SP2 Firewall does not block any outbound connections. That means that your puter is vulnerable to any programms that can access the net. This includes freeware, camera, printers, anti spyware etcā¦
Iāve writ enuffā¦
I never said it did block them .
Cheers.
runaroundtel
The programs that RobK mentions are good progams and they do their jobs well.They do ask for access to the net for updates, like nearly every other program. But if you run a good firewall which can control what goes out and comes in then youāve no worries. Yes Microsofts firewall only stops things trying to get in but not out
RobK
I would still continue to use Adaware as it catches things that SpyBot misses and visa versa. You must be careful with SpyBot as it can delete registry entries that some progams may need to function. Check what it finds before going ahead and clicking on āFixā. The Dialers still want removing even if people are on broadband just to keep the PC clean. Norton and AVG are two different companies both produce AV programs but Norton AV seems to be very resource hungry and costs beer tokens where as AVG isnāt so greedy with your memory and things and is FOC ( IMHO AVG is better and more reliable than a lot of bought ones). Firewalls, McAfeeās product is a lot like Nortons very bulky and resorce intensive, itās not bad but there are better, a good one is Sygateās offering itās free and doesnāt hog the CPU and RAM 
. If you are fully specād up with the latest CPU and Gigs of RAM then its not so noticable when programs are using up vauable resources but if your PC is chuffing along like a fully frieghted old DAF 3300 at 20mph up a hill then Iād look round for something a bit leaner.
hollywood:
runaroundtel
The programs that RobK mentions are good progams and they do their jobs well.They do ask for access to the net for updates, like nearly every other program. But if you run a good firewall which can control what goes out and comes in then youāve no worries. Yes Microsofts firewall only stops things trying to get in but not out
RobK
I would still continue to use Adaware as it catches things that SpyBot misses and visa versa. You must be careful with SpyBot as it can delete registry entries that some progams may need to function. Check what it finds before going ahead and clicking on āFixā. The Dialers still want removing even if people are on broadband just to keep the PC clean. Norton and AVG are two different companies both produce AV programs but Norton AV seems to be very resource hungry and costs beer tokens where as AVG isnāt so greedy with your memory and things and is FOC ( IMHO AVG is better and more reliable than a lot of bought ones). Firewalls, McAfeeās product is a lot like Nortons very bulky and resorce intensive, itās not bad but there are better, a good one is Sygateās offering itās free and doesnāt hog the CPU and RAM
Sorry, yes Norton and AVG are two separate jobbies. Mineās just the freebie AVG but does the job fine on the whole.
Never found Adaware to be much use as all it found were data miners and as soon as you delete them they pretty much come straight back. They donāt do any harm at the end of the day really. SpyBot on the other hand, is useful and finds all sorts of crud. I always look over what it finds before I āfixā them and itās always the usual stuff like DSExploit and Dialer6U etc. No big deal.
Cheers.
I told you all I was a āthickā puter user didnāt I? Wellā¦ may I just say thisā¦ I had hoped that when I posted something about service pack 2 I might learn somethingā¦ at least I hoped I would learn something more than what I already knewā¦ I understand terminology like RAM, but I have no idea whatsover about exploits etcā¦ I would really appreciate that people try to post back in a language that I can get me head around.
Most of what I know about puters is self taught or trial and error. Sometimes, I talk to someone else who has more of a clue than me, and I learn something.
Can I please ask, that you boffins that know lots about puters, simplify the terminology and explain it, so that I can keep up with you? That way I might at least learn something, and I wonāt beat myself up and feel afraid to ask another question in the future. I hope that when I come here, I find solutions ā¦ Itās only me neighbours that I have a beef wiv ([zb] loud misicā¦ ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā
TY from a thick puter user
Edited for language, mis-spelling words to beat the auto censor just makes for work. Coffeeholic
Sawwy for mispelling of swaer wosds I weel try to spell things lake ā ā ā ā and ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā beetter in the fruiture
I must agree that we are not all computer bods who know everything, so if it was explained in a better language we could all learn somethingā¦butā¦learn this lessonā¦i have an automatic update system from MS, and i got the flashing icon from them telling me to update which i didā¦it then crashed my computer and i couldnt get back in, even on the famous F10 button to get to safe modeā¦i lost everything and and had to re-format my hard driveā¦good job i had re-boot discs, my puter is still not 100% but i am slowly getting thereā¦SP2 will not download, and ive decided i dont want it anywayā¦i tried to download windows explorer, to use instead of MSN, and that wont download either, so i am very wary of M.soft applications nowā¦especially the updates and i have a nagging doubt that i will crash again if i update something that they recommendā¦
I took sp2 off this weekend as It stopped
me installing updates and changed my
screen resolution twice after installing.
also one application needed sorting as
it said it was not compatible so I went back to
sp1 after formatting hard drive.
SP2 crashed my mates computer so I am
takeing It off for him.
I think that you should always set a restore point before downloading a major bit of ākitā such as sp2. That way you can go back to how it was before (more or less) You should always set a regular restore point regardless, but I think that if you want to set a restore point, you should go to start > programs > accessories > system tools > restore point. Then when you click on that, you will be given and option to ācreate a restore pointā follow the directions in the windows given, then name the restore point (eg: restore point )
Thank you from a thick puter user
installed sp2 lastnight all went well no problems so far wireless is ok but i am getting ggi erors on some websites if anyone knows what the flip they are 
Iāve got a CD from the magazine Iāve been reading for years, called P.C.Answers. The CD has the Windows XP, service pack 2 security update on it. No long wait for a download. 
My virus suite will check it for viruses.
The mag has its own forums here PC Answers Forum Index. I find it an invaluable source of info, most of the posters on it are fairly clued up on the terminology thoā, so you will need to ask for your answer to be written in english on there as well. I find that reading a mag like that one is very useful for keeping me up to date on what is happening on the 'puter front and learning what the jargon means.