Windows XP
Service Pack 2 Beta Release
I'm pretty sure it was the day after Service Pack 1 for
XP was released that the speculation began about a release
date for Service Pack 2. Fifteen months later, it's getting
closer; the beta
of Windows Service Pack 2 has been released to the testers.
As far as I know there still hasn't been any confirmation of
when SP2 beta testing will end and the finished product will
be released. In the meantime I'll run through some
highlights of the beta on the assumption that it bears some
resemblance to the final release.
Installing Service Pack 2
Fig. 01
There really isn't anything new where the
installation of SP2 is concerned. As [Fig. 01] shows you get
the same warnings about backing up your system and closing
all open programs before proceeding. Users have been
ignoring these two warnings for years and will probably
continue to ignore them with SP2. Very foolish, but it's
hard to modify behavior. Be smart and don't install anything
without a current backup, especially something as
complicated as a service pack that will modify a significant
number of system files. At the very least, use the Archive
Files function [Fig. 02] so the option to uninstall SP2 is
available in case something does go wrong. The amount of
extra time it takes to archive the files is insignificant
when compared to a complete reinstall of operating system,
programs, and data.
Fig. 02
Once the installation completes you'll be
prompted to restart the system. After the system reboots
there will be no doubt that SP2 is security focused. I don't
think the focus on security will come as any surprise given
that this past year has been filled with report upon report
of security breaches allowing system exploits from virus and trojan writers to have a field day with Windows products.
Granted, a lot of headaches could have been prevented by
users applying Microsoft issued security updates and patches
in a timely manner. SP2 addresses the update issue just as
soon as installation completes and the system reboots.
Automatic Updates
Think back to when you first installed Windows XP. Before
the desktop appeared for the first time you had to go
through the activation and registration screens. After that
first startup, on subsequent boots you are either brought directly to the Welcome
screen or the XP desktop. SP2 is a bit of a departure from
previous service packs. Before you even get a chance to log
on, the screen shown in Fig. 03 appears asking you to turn
on the Automatic Updates feature. Two things strike me about
this screen.
First is the wording of two items; "Do you want to help
protect your PC by turning on Automatic Updates?" and "Yes,
help me protect my PC by automatically downloading and
installing updates (strongly recommended)." Both
statements seem to set up a partnership between the user and
Microsoft in protecting the PC against damage. Microsoft is
asking the user if they are willing to help in the process
and the second statement confirms that the user does indeed
need help to be able to adequately protect their system.
It's the word 'help' in both statements that gets me, sort
of like "We'll (Microsoft) try and help you if you help us
by turning on Automatic Updates."
The second thing that strikes me is the lack of an option
to permanently decline Automatic Updates. It's either
"Yes..." or "Ask me again later" at this point. You might
think that choosing to be asked again later would be the end
of it, but it's not. Instead you arrive at a screen [Fig.
04] that recommends even more strongly that Automatic
Updates be enabled. At least this screen lets you move on if
you don't want to enable Automatic Updates by clicking the
Next button. For some reason Microsoft doesn't include an
option here to enable the updates but makes you click the
Back button and return to the previous screen. Very strange
design. If you do go ahead and skip turning on the updates
you're taken to the regular Welcome screen for logon.
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Fig. 03 |
Fig. 04 |
The bottom line is that Microsoft really
wants XP users to turn on Automatic Updates, so much so in
fact they are willing to essentially freeze the system
momentarily after the SP2 installation until users at least
read about why they should be enabled. Time will tell if
this new tactic is effective. Whatever choice you make, the
Automatic Updates screen in System Properties has been
modified. The post SP1 screen is shown in Fig. 05 and the
post SP2 screen in Fig. 06 for comparison purposes. The
options are the same for pre and post SP2 systems but they
have been rearranged so the option to decline all updates is
now tucked away at the bottom of the screen.
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| Fig. 05 |
Fig. 06 |
Windows Update
Keep in mind that this is a beta release
of SP2, but after all the commotion about Automatic
Updates I decided to take a look at Windows Update since
these two modules are closely linked. Compare Fig. 07
and Fig. 08 and you'll see there are some changes being
implemented although they aren't all functional at this
point. The most notable changes right now are the left
pane tree structure containing some new items and the
"News from Microsoft" window in the right hand pane.
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| Fig. 07 |
Fig. 08 |
Internet Connection Firewall
At some point in the future, Internet
Connection Firewall is going to be renamed "Windows
Firewall" but for now it's still ICF. Prior to SP2, the
first exposure many users had to ICF was when they tried
to set up a home network because it was 'off' by
default. Using the Network Setup Wizard turned on the
firewall and left many users scratching their heads
trying to figure out why they were suddenly experiencing
connectivity issues.
Take a look at the new Internet
Connection Firewall screen [Fig. 09] and you'll see that
ICF is no longer taking a seat in the background like it
did pre-SP2. On (recommended) is now the default
setting, at least for this round of beta testing. I
suspect whether or not this default remains in effect
will depend heavily on the feedback Microsoft receives
from the testers regarding convenience of use. There is
also the Off option that kills any protection
afforded by the firewall as well as the On With No
Exceptions option that blocks all outside
connections to the computer.
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| Fig. 09 |
Control over ICF has also been expanded
in SP2 through the addition of the Exceptions (Fig. 10)
tab, Network Connections (Fig. 11) tab, Log Settings
(Fig. 12) tab, and the ICMP (Fig. 13) tab. Exceptions
makes it very easy to configure programs and services to
allow external connections and also contains the
property sheet where individual ports can be opened and
closed. Programs and services not included by default
are also configured from this location. The new Network
Connections tab automatically detects network
connections present on the machine and allows individual
configurations to be put in place for each individual
connection.
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| Fig. 10 |
Fig. 11 |
Fig. 12 |
Fig. 13 |
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A major complaint in the past were the hoops
you had to jump through to make changes to
ICF settings. By enabling the Network
Connections icon in the Notification Area of
the Taskbar, a simple right click now
provides ICF access.
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Windows Messenger
Two plus years after the release of XP
there is still confusion about the Messenger service
versus Windows Messenger.
Messenger service is the one that has allowed
uninvited advertising pop-ups to appear on user desktops
and has been a never ending source of user inquiries on
how it can be disabled. This should rapidly become a
non-issue after SP2 is released because the default
setting for Messenger Service will be changed to
disabled. Another positive benefit of this change is it
will hopefully put out of business some shady companies
that developed software programs to exploit the service
as well as others that were hawking exorbitantly priced,
single purpose utilities to disable the service when all
that's required is a
simple
modification to services that any user can perform
themselves.
Internet Explorer Pop-Up Blocking
I think it's pretty much agreed that a
sure fire way to get your message ignored on the
internet these days is to use a pop-up message. That's
too bad because if used intelligently a pop-up can be a
valuable asset, but abuse of the technology by
advertisers and webmasters has sullied their reputation
to the point I doubt they will ever recover. The problem
has become so bad that even Microsoft has included a
pop-up blocker in SP2 as an integral part of Internet
Explorer.
The pop-up blocker is dormant until the
first post SP2 installation visit to a website that
wants to display a pop-up. At that time a window [Fig.
14] will appear asking if you want to block pop-up
windows. Clicking the Yes button activates pop-up
blocker.
Fig. 14
On one of the systems I used for testing
SP2 the window in Fig. 14 never automatically appeared
so the pop-up blocker had to be started manually. If it
happens to you the pop-up blocker can be started one of
two ways.
Some sites use pop-ups to display
additional information that is pertinent to the current
site page being viewed. These are the 'good' pop-ups
that have nothing to do with spammers or advertising.
You obviously don't want to block the 'good' pop-ups
that can enhance a website and Pop-Up Blocker allows you
to make exceptions for those sites that use pop-ups
responsibly. Pop-Up Blocker can be customized using
either of the following methods. To open the window
shown in Fig. 15;
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Go to Internet Explorer > Tools > Pop-Up
Manager and select Pop-Up Window Options...
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Go to Internet Explorer > Tools >
Internet Options... > Privacy tab and select Options in
Pop-Up Window Management section.
It's a simple matter to add the URL of the
sites where pop-ups should be allowed to function or to
remove previously added sites if they go bad.
Fig. 15 Internet Explorer Add-on
Management and Crash Detection
When I was first reading about SP2 back
in December 2003 I thought this sounded like a pretty
neat feature and made a mental note to check it out once
SP2 was released. Then I promptly forget all about it
until I was browsing through the Programs tab of
Internet Options and spied the [Manage Add-Ons] button.
Clicking it opens the Manage Add-Ons window shown in
Fig. 16. Truthfully, I haven't had the time to fool
around with this yet to see if it's as useful as I hope,
but as more and more sites are using an ever widening
array of add-ons I do have high hopes for it in helping
to identify installed add-ons and aid in keeping them
updated.
Fig. 16
Uninstalling Service Pack 2
As important as it is for Service Packs
to install easily and with a minimum amount of hassle,
if you've ever had a service pack installation go bad or
break the system you know it's equally important for the
uninstall routine to work just as efficiently as the
install procedure. So far I have to say I'm impressed
with both the install and uninstall routines. Installing
and uninstalling were both quick and completed without
any glitches, very rare for the majority of beta builds
I've worked with over the years. The SP2 removal process
is started via Add/Remove Programs available in Control
Panel. Figures 17 - 19 show the steps the SP2 Removal
Wizard goes through until the prompt to restart the
system appears.
Conclusion
First of all, don't be misled into
thinking that this look at the beta of Service pack 2 is
in any way comprehensive or indicative of all the
changes you can expect to see in the final released
product. I've barely scratched the surface of what is
already contained in SP2 and you can be sure there will
be many more changes before the final release. For this
article I've simply picked out a few of the features
that will likely impact or be of interest to the
majority of users. That said, I'm both surprised and
pleased at what I've seen and experimented with to this
point. I've yet to experience a system crash, see any
system instability, or find anything that hasn't worked
as expected and that's quite unusual for a beta product
at this stage. I hope the trend continues and that SP2
will successfully address outstanding XP issues with a
minimum of headaches to end users.
Additional Reading About Windows XP
Service Pack 2
Page Last Edited
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 06:28:16 PM
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