So, Microsoft is going to end support to Windows XP SP2?

[Doc]

An excerpt of a piece by Bryan Scheiber, from today's Worldstart newsletter



Q:
So, Microsoft is going to end support to Windows XP SP2? What does that mean?

A:
Earlier in the week, my news article mentioned that Microsoft would be ending support for Microsoft XP SP2 in July 2010. Before the day was over, my inbox was stuffed with emails from readers worried about what would happen to their computer: Will my computer stop working? Will I continue receive security updates? Should I upgrade to Windows XP SP3? What does "end all public support" truly mean?

(keep reading...)Windows XP SP2 Support to End? - WorldStart Computer Tips and Computer Help

I am still running SP2, having decided against the upgrade to SP3, because of problems encountered by others. I may reconsider that...

or not.

[Uncle Dog]

Thanks for the heeds up Docker. I chained to SP3 and haven ten counted an Ypre blooms sofa.

Seriously. They should be withdrawing Vista and making sure 7's stable before they start giving up on XP. Like a lot of WPWers I run several machines with a variety of OS's, I've only just dropped an Me machine (stable for a couple of years). I didn't hear many complaints when Me support ended, it was never popular. XP is widely regarded as the Vista upgrade: you got a new machine with Vista on, get pissed off with the 'are you sure you wanna' so XP'd it and suddenly you had a lightning fast and reliable PC.

[ian0031]

Doc, thanks for this update. I wonder why Microsoft will end up its support to the XP SP2 OS. In fact they must first pull out their support for all the Vista OS because we all know how Vista works compare to XP, XP is still the best and rely by most computer user.

[Doc]

Don't thank me, guys... thank the WPW newsletter.

[alphaomega]

I knew this long now. Originally the support should have stopped by now. Only an uproar from OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) moved Microsoft to prolong the support. Make no mistake, they will stop it. Windows 2000 was an excellent OS in its time, but to push Windows XP, they dropped all support quick. Microsoft is about making money. If they support OS for too long they sell no new one. Use Windows 7. I use it now for over a year and is good. All newer hardware is supported (drivers) and you find features which are very useful. Not trying to sell Microsoft's products, but there are only few alternatives. Actually really only one. Mac. The new 64 bit OS Snow Leopard is work of art. Runs very fast and will run 32 bit software with no problems. Linux is not an option for web design yet. Software available is too amateurish.

[deepsand]

Unlike SP2, I've encountered no problems with SP3.

The only quirk that I'm aware of is that, if you have IE7 or IE8 installed on SP2, and you want to maintain the ability to revert to IE6, you'll need to first roll-back to IE6, install SP3, and then re-install IE7/8.

[Clint1]

An excerpt of a piece by Bryan Scheiber, from today's Worldstart newsletter



Q:
So, Microsoft is going to end support to Windows XP SP2? What does that mean?

A:
Earlier in the week, my news article mentioned that Microsoft would be ending support for Microsoft XP SP2 in July 2010. Before the day was over, my inbox was stuffed with emails from readers worried about what would happen to their computer: Will my computer stop working? Will I continue receive security updates? Should I upgrade to Windows XP SP3? What does "end all public support" truly mean?

(keep reading...)Windows XP SP2 Support to End? - WorldStart Computer Tips and Computer Help

I am still running SP2, having decided against the upgrade to SP3, because of problems encountered by others. I may reconsider that...

or not.

It's 2014 for XP, but not necessarily for SP3. I had this saved from months ago, the first URL is (no surprise) no longer valid, but the 2nd one is valid.

"Support ends 24 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more information, please see the service pack policy at Please Verify your Location "

Wow that's a long time, 2014. There may be more SP's out between now and then, but "current rumor" is SP3 is the last. But the bottom line is 2014 for XP which is good news for XP users. Microsoft Support Lifecycle

I too was one of the many that had disastrous results with SP3 (spontaneous infinite reboot loop, wouldn't start). I got to do a bit of work with an M$ employee on the patch for that. It mostly affected AMD platform users, but I'm on a P4 and I had it. After we narrowed down the cause with a lot of input from a lot of others, it was fixed and I haven't had any problems with it since.

The other major issue that I believe actually affected more users, was the net connection disappearing, which if I recall seemed to affect those that used Norton. (Been about two years ago).

Like I always say, I'm flabbergasted at how these people unleash (obviously untested) software AND patches onto the public. And It's not just M$ & OS's, they all do it.

If you want to install it, just be sure you opt for the uninstall option. And if you happen to be one of the ones with the reboot loop, you can PM me and I can find the info on how to remove it from DOS. But I would think that "should" have been permanently fixed by now. Just be sure if you download it, it's b5512. Unfortunately the only way to know that is to download it, unpack it, and search the folder with the option: "A word or phrase in the file...", and if a bunch of .inf files show up, that's it.

The biggest functionality change in SP3, is a huge one, at least for those that use the address bar on the Desktop toolbar.....it's gone!!!! Yep, M$ decided they'd remove it. They claimed some "legal reason". I was never going to install it because that address bar (I have mine below the Quick Launch toolbar) is how you get to websites! You simply type in your URL, and you're there. But I found a hack for it to get it back, and only then I did install SP3 once I knew I'd still have the address bar. (There's a program that gets it back, but it has to be running all the time and the bar is not as it was before. There's also a hack that puts it back exactly the way it was previously). So if you use that toolbar and want to install SP3, I can tell you how to get it back.

[Doc]

Interesting, Clint. I'm still on SP2, and guardedly debating with myself as to whether or not I want to take the leap again. My first experience with SP3 was a friggin' nightmare, which I don't care to repeat. I lost a lot of files, having to reformat my drive, before I got it cleaned up again.

I may be taking you up on my offer, as the drop-dead date for SP2 approaches.

[Clint1]

Interesting, Clint. I'm still on SP2, and guardedly debating with myself as to whether or not I want to take the leap again. My first experience with SP3 was a friggin' nightmare, which I don't care to repeat. I lost a lot of files, having to reformat my drive, before I got it cleaned up again.

Oh my, how exactly did that happen?? Did you have that reboot loop?

Aside from the more involved HD image programs, there's something called ERUNT that's awesome. It's saves my butt on a regular basis. It's "similar" to XP's Restore, except that it: always works, is really fast, backs up ALL of the critical things you need, (the Registry, and 'security', 'software', 'system', sam files, and more), can be restored from DOS, and it can automatically create a backup every day when your PC starts. It does that instantly in the background and you never know it happened. There's command line switch you add to its shortcut in the Start Up folder to save X days of backups: "C:\Program Files\ERUNT\AUTOBACK.EXE" %SystemRoot%\ERDNT\AutoBackup\#Date# /noconfirmdelete /noprogresswindow /days:8 , which in that case will save 8 days worth and automatically delete the older ones. And, it's free.

You can have the backups saved to any location.

You can disable XP's Native restore after installing it. I click its icon I have on my QL toolbar before I install anything. For that the backups can be saved in the default location, or any other folder or HD you want.

[Clint1]

Hey I just noticed something, congrats to Deepsand and Doc, the newest in the rep rank 10 club.


(An elite group of only 3 I believe, Kgun being the other). ........