Post by thread:[EE]: Avoid Windows XP Service Pack 1

Hi Folks, I just wanted to let Windows XP users know that XP Service Pack 1 (XPSP1), which became available for download over the weekend should not be downloaded. It took me four days to figure out why my mouse started working intermittently and why the system usage would jump to 20% after a few minutes. This was done with a lot of help from HP and Microsoft support people. The word I got this morning from HP is that they are getting swamped with people having trouble with their machines. If you already have installed XPSP1 and your PC is starting to act strangely, click on "Start" -> "Setting" -> "Control Panel" -> "Add/Remove Programs", scroll down until you find the service pack item and click on "Remove". The "Remove" takes a LONG TIME, on the order of an hour, so unless you have a book or something, you might want to do something while this is happening. After you "Remove" and you've rebooted, you'll notice that your system will take a very long time to start working properly again (also on the order of an hour). myke -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

Am I the only one who thinks a blanket statement like this is kind of irresponsible? Seems like you run an HP from the text, which would imply a certain model of HP, which would imply a certain problem with hardware/software compatibility with XPSP1. An issue I'm sure many, many people will not have. Mine and every system I admin have been running SP1 for several weeks now with no issues whatsoever. spam_OUTnickTakeThisOuTveys.com | http://www.veys.com > {Original Message removed}

I administer a medium scale network here and while I tend to take "blanket statements" with a grain of salt, I also have learned to use caution on "updates". One of the so-called security patches disabled something we were exploiting here. Another example is mdm.exe I have yet to identify what it is supposed to do, but it gradually slows the computer down further and further, till you think you need to upgrade. delete mdm.exe and the machine is back to its old self again. another one is WINMGMT.EXE, anyone knows management can slow productivity ;-) Lonnie - KF4HAZ - ----- From: "Nick Veys" <.....nickKILLspam@spam@VEYS.COM> > Am I the only one who thinks a blanket statement like this is kind of > irresponsible? Seems like you run an HP from the text, which would > imply a certain model of HP, which would imply a certain problem with > hardware/software compatibility with XPSP1. An issue I'm sure many, > many people will not have. Mine and every system I admin have been > running SP1 for several weeks now with no issues whatsoever. > > nickKILLspamveys.com | http://www.veys.com -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

Hi Nick, Sorry, I should have pointed out that *Microsoft* were the ones that admitted that XPSP1 "isn't as stable as they would like it to be" (direct quote from one of the emails) and recommending removing it. The reason why HP was mentioned is because Microsoft will not be the first line of support for OEM pre-installed O/Ses - all the conversations had to go through HP. This is the same if you had a Dell or any other OEM with pre-installed Windows XP. If your PC is working fine with it, then don't do anything. If it is acting strangely and you have it installed, then you might want to try removing it. The purpose of the email was to try and save people the grief that I went through this weekend along with the various experiments trying to identify the problem. myke ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick Veys" <.....nickKILLspam.....VEYS.COM> To: <EraseMEPICLISTspam_OUTTakeThisOuTMITVMA.MIT.EDU> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 2:31 PM Subject: Re: [EE]: Avoid Windows XP Service Pack 1 > Am I the only one who thinks a blanket statement like this is kind of > irresponsible? Seems like you run an HP from the text, which would > imply a certain model of HP, which would imply a certain problem with > hardware/software compatibility with XPSP1. An issue I'm sure many, > many people will not have. Mine and every system I admin have been > running SP1 for several weeks now with no issues whatsoever. > > nickspam_OUTveys.com | http://www.veys.com > > > {Original Message removed}

Brian Livingston wrote a "Window Manager" article in InfoWorld that mentions a few of the problems and also contains links to some Microsoft advisories. Here's a link to the InfoWorld article: http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/02/09/30/020930opwinman.xml?1001tugripe -Mike -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

Nick Veys wrote: >Am I the only one who thinks a blanket statement like this is kind of >irresponsible? > Agreed, however in this case I certainly did consider the source! I don't think Mike makes a habit of passing along inet gossip! Jim -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

One more warning: The service pack does detect if one has used one of the serial numbers circulating on the Net to install his/hers XP. The following is an excerpt from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/windowsxpsp1.asp): "With Service Pack 1 for Windows XP, Microsoft will introduce additional technological measures aimed at ensuring licensed customers receive full benefits and to make it more difficult for those who pirate software to steal these same benefits." I recommend reading this page. I am not condoning piracy but I feel this might be important to someone who inadvertently might be using a not-so-legal XP license. -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

No offence was taken - when I read Nick's email, I realized that I should have been more explicit about being (more or less) in direct contact with Microsoft. I should have also pointed out more emphatically that you should delete the files if only if you are having problems. myke ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick Veys" <RemoveMEnickTakeThisOuTVEYS.COM> To: <spamBeGonePICLISTspamBeGoneMITVMA.MIT.EDU> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 9:25 PM Subject: Re: [EE]: Avoid Windows XP Service Pack 1 > I wholly agree, I wasn't intending slander and I hope it wasn't felt > that I was. Hell I have one of his books right here. :) > > TakeThisOuTnickEraseMEspam_OUTveys.com | http://www.veys.com > > > {Original Message removed}

I get an XP newsletter every week and the headline on this weeks (tonight) is that there is a 20% chance that SP1 will kill your system. The newsletter can be viewed at http://www.winxpnews.com/?id=45 David V. Fansler RemoveMEDFanslerTakeThisOuTMindSpring.com http://www.DV-Fansler.com {Original Message removed}

Hello Lonnie, > Another example is mdm.exe I have yet to identify what it > is supposed to do, but it gradually slows the computer down further and > further, till you think you need to upgrade. delete mdm.exe and the machine > is back to its old self again. another one is WINMGMT.EXE, anyone knows > management can slow productivity ;-) I'm using WinME and I have a WINMGMT.EXE on my machine. Can I just delete it? What does it do? Also, do you know where can I find information about: C:\WINDOWS\System\Restore\StateMgr.exe Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme mstask.exe C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\Support\PCHSchd.exe -s C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun SysTray.Exe C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe I want to know what those executables do, why they are called at each startup and if I can delete it or delete those lines from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Thanks, Brusque ----------------------------------------------------------------- Edson Brusque C.I.Tronics Lighting Designers Ltda Research and Development Blumenau - SC - Brazil Say NO to HTML mail http://www.citronics.com.br ----------------------------------------------------------------- -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads

You can use msconfig (start->run->msconfig) to temporarily disable automatically loaded programs. It doesn't tell you what the program do, but you can at least check how your system reacts before you remove it permanently. Ruben {Quote hidden}> > I'm using WinME and I have a WINMGMT.EXE on my machine. Can I just > delete it? What does it do? > > Also, do you know where can I find information about: > > C:\WINDOWS\System\Restore\StateMgr.exe > Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme > mstask.exe > C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\Support\PCHSchd.exe -s > C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun > SysTray.Exe > C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe > > I want to know what those executables do, why they are called at > each > startup and if I can delete it or delete those lines from > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. > > Thanks, > > Brusque > ============================== Ruben Jönsson AB Liros Electronic Box 9124, 200 39 Malmö, Sweden TEL INT +46 40142078 FAX INT +46 40947388 rubenEraseME.....pp.sbbs.se ============================== -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics

>> You can use msconfig (start->run->msconfig) to temporarily disable automatically loaded programs. It doesn't tell you what the program do, but you can at least check how your system reacts before you remove it permanently. />> It is a very very good idea to regularly take a quick scan down the startup column in MSCONFIG. All sorts of interesting things tend to creep in there. Also the WIN.INI/Windows tab in the same program which shows what loads from WIN.INI at startup. RM -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics