Saturday, November 27, 2004

Definitive Installation guide to Windows XP SP2

Well at least that's what Charlie Russel says. He has written a column for Microsoft (he is a Microsoft MVP for Tablet PC) in which he says he is "pulling all the answers together in one place."

The obvious stuff is there like removing spyware, backing up data and turning off virus protection.

He reviews the basic system requirements, and then runs through the installation process.

For a network installation he provides the tip of copying the installation file to the local pc hard drive to run rather than running off a network share. He goes on to say you can copy the file to cd for your own use but you can't share it with anybody. You can order it from MS and you can share that one however.

The column is devoid of troubleshooting and support. It lists a number of forums from which you can maybe obtain help, but if you, like me, have ever tried to use these to gain assistance then you would probably prefer to repeatedly jam your finger in the car door then attempt to use them again. However he does offer a link to the Windows XP SP2 Support Center that purportedly provides no-charge support for SP2 related issues by e-mail, chat, or telephone.

I give this column a 2.5/10 for usefulness a 0/10 for technical assistance and a 1/10 for support and troubleshooting.

I am still not prepared to go through the pain of updating to SP2 on my 6 Windows PCs.


Posted by: Jethro | 3:57 PM |