The OneMinute Geek:

To SP2 or not to SP2?

The Problem:

To SP2 or not to SP2? In last week's column we took a look at Microsoft's long-awaited free security updates to the XP operating system.

In spite of the expected bugs in Service Pack 2, I recommended installing it. How can you decide if it is a good idea to install SP2 at this time?

The Solution:

Both business and home users will ultimately benefit from SP2 and, in order to benefit, you have to use it. Now, as the roll-out of SP2 continues, there will undoubtedly be a lot of horror stories. The following details a few problems that have shown up so far.

For starters, the German Internet security portal Heise Security found two software flaws in the new update. Though the researchers at Heise do not consider the flaws to be serious, they do concede that these two security flaws could allow virus writers to circumvent the new security features and write worms to infect XP SP2 systems. Microsoft is investigating.

In the meantime, Microsoft has identified most applications that require some tweaking after SP2 is installed. Some of those applications are Microsoft's. Some are from third parties. Among the types of programs affected are file-sharing applications, email clients, remote desktop applications, and multi-player games. A list of programs that are known to have problems with SP2 can be found at www.microsoft.com (search for “Hot topics about using programs and hardware with SP2”).

For those of you into games, expect to have problems with: Unreal II, Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Star Wars: Knights: of the Old Republic, and SimCity 4. Check with your game vendor if you are experiencing problems after installing SP2.

For home users, the new Security Center of SP2 will probably not be able to detect whether Symantec's Norton Antivirus is on or off. As a result, expect SP2 to warn you that your PC may not be protected against viruses whether or not your antivirus software may indeed be on and functioning properly. Symantec provides answers to a number of FAQs about SP2 and your Norton antivirus and firewall products at www.symantec.com .

You will need to use a third party firewall such as ZoneAlarm until the outbound communication to unauthorized computers glitch is fixed in the built-in Windows Firewall. Depending on the version of ZoneAlarm you are using, you may encounter problems between it and SP2. Check out www.forum.zonelabs.org/zonelabs for helpful information.

Still not fully addressed in SP2 are those pesky spyware programs. As I have suggested in past articles, go to www.download.com to get free versions of Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy to help rid yourself of pop-ups and scan your hard drive for security threats. You can also get a subscription-based anti-spyware program, called Pest Patrol, at www.supergeeks.net or at www.pestpatrol.com. Use all three software programs to completely eliminate spyware that may be lurking on your machine.

Business users will obviously need to test SP2 before green lighting a company-wide update. IBM is urging caution and holding off on installing it on their 400,000 desktops because of "compatibility issues" with their web applications.

Overall, SP2 is still worth installing primarily because it offers much needed security improvements over earlier operating system versions. However, if you're operating a business with several machines, be sure to test the update first before embarking on a massive upgrade. And keep in mind you will still need to look for superior solutions from other vendors for antivirus, spyware and spam management.

James Kerr is President/CEO of SuperGeeks, a Hawaii-based computer service and repair company (www.supergeeks.net). Please feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to Mr. Kerr. He can be reached at kerr@supergeeks.net and 942-0773.