Computer Networking Solutions: Don't let XP Service Pack 3 hose your system

Computer Networking Solutions.

Scott Dunn from windowssecrets.com writes about problem with Windows XP Service Pack 3. He says “from the moment Microsoft released it, Service Pack 3 for Windows XP has been the subject of almost daily reports of bugs, incompatibilities, and general headaches.

You can install SP3 with confidence — providing you take certain precautions — or, if you prefer, use Windows' Automatic Update settings to keep the service pack off your system.”

Read the full story at http://windowssecrets.com/comp/080911

He also explains about making an upgrade decision that works for us. He says, In light of these and other problems, you may wonder whether you ever want SP3 at all, especially given that many of its enhancements focus on networking and IT-level administration. He advice us to consider about think security, consider support and be prepared. For full story at http://windowssecrets.com/comp/080911

Lastly he gives step on how to remove SP3 from your automatic updates.
This is the step:

If you decide you don't want SP3, Microsoft offers a tool for suppressing the automatic installation of the service pack. The Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit won't prevent you from downloading SP3 manually from the company's site, nor will it stop you from installing the patches from a CD or DVD. All it does is stop the service pack from being installed via Windows' Automatic Updates.

In addition, the Service Pack Blocker postpones the installation for only a year from SP3's release date last April.

Surf over to Microsoft's Service Pack Blocker download page and click the Download button for SPBlockerTools.exe. Click Yes to accept the license agreement and type in the path to the folder where the files will be stored (click the Browse button and navigate to the folder if you want to avoid typing).

Now open the folder containing the extracted files and double-click SPBlockingTool.exe. A command prompt window appears for a few moments and displays the statement "Action successfully completed." Unfortunately, that doesn't tell you very much. The action the message refers to is the addition of a Registry entry instructing Windows Update not to send you SP3. (The same setting on Vista blocks SP1.)

If you want to see the code that is added, do the following:

Step 1. Choose Start, Run. Type regedit and press Enter.

Step 2. In the Registry Editor, navigate in the left pane to this entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ WindowsUpdate

Step 3. With the WindowsUpdate icon selected in the left pane, look in the right pane for a key named DoNotAllowSP.

If you later decide you want Automatic Updates to offer you Service Pack 3, simply select the DoNotAllowSP key and press Delete (or click Edit, Delete).

If you're concerned about editing the Registry (which involves risks of its own), the Service Pack Blocker can also undo the block:

Step 1. Choose Start, Run. Type cmd and press Enter.

Step 2. At the command prompt, either type the path to the SPBlockingTool.exe file, or drag the file into the command prompt window and let Windows do the typing for you.

Step 3. At the end of this command, type a space followed by /U and press Enter.

Once again, you'll see the "Action successfully completed" message and Windows Automatic Update will no longer be blocked from installing the service pack on your system.

The other tool included with the download, SPreg.cmd, is a batch file useful for administrators who want to block the service pack on remote computers; this utility requires that the machine name be specified in the command line.

Even though most of SP3's problems should now be in the past, these precautions can help ensure that you aren't one of the service pack's installation victims.


Computer Networking Solutions.

Computer Networking Solution: Does Restore function restore everything?

Computer Networking Solution: Does Restore function restore everything?

All of us know that Windows has RESTORE function. But does it really restore everything. Read below for some info.

To give a simple answer to the question,
Yes, Microsoft system restore sometimes do not "fix" everything.

OK, now a little more detail...
It is designed to only make "restore points" at certain specific times "it thinks" are important AND it then it only protects a VERY limited sub-set of MS stuff that MS uses inside the OS...
Note that making or storing an "MS Restore Point" can be done manually at any time, up to the limitations of "allowed space" it was assigned (or set to...) At that point, it starts to
"get rid of" older restore points.

It is NOT (and was not designed to be) an Image Program that would take a snapshot of the entire computer "as of" a certain point in time and restore the entire HD contents to the condition at that time.

Someone else will likely give good links to WEB sites that can explain this in much greater detail, but for now, if you are "sure" you used a MS Restore Point before the problem first
"happened", I believe you need to "fix" the original problem instead. As John has said, someone on the list will be happy to help with that if we can.

Restore does not always fix a problem. Even worse, sometimes you fix a problem only to have it re-develop from a restore file. A lot of anti-virus and anti-malware programs ask you to disable system restore during the fix process so that you will not become re-infected...

Computer Networking Solution