Microsoft has attempted to make the Win XP SP2 installation as painless as possible, and provides quite a lot of help for anticipated problems. A good starting point for those who have not installed yet, and possibly helpful to those who have, is at:

What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2, Published: August 4, 2004, Updated: September 17, 2004

Note that at the bottom of the above page there is a link to:

Windows XP SP2 Support Center where you are directed if you have problems.

My POTS connection is too slow for them to have downloaded SP2 to me, so I haven't consulted the support site in detail, but it appears that Microsoft is offering telephone support for problems with SP2, even if your "free support" period for WinXP has expired. There are sidebar links on the Support Center page to several FAQ Knowledge Base articles, and the link to "What to do after installing Service Pack 2" shows some recommended setup (including turning off the XP firewall if you have another firewall installed).

If you intend to download SP2, you do need to follow the instruction in "Quick Tips for Successful Installation" with respect to downloading all prior Security Updates. The downloadable SP2 version should refuse to install if you are not current.

The downloadable SP2 is reportedly about 40 to 80 MB after prior updates have been installed, which is not too large for those with fast connections to get in a single connection, but for those with dialup it may take several hours (or days). If you are set up for automatic updates, it will (eventually) be dribbled onto your machine, for installation when the download is complete.

Microsoft is very serious about getting this update installed on all WinXP machines and it will eventually be downloaded to every user who has authorized automatic updating. The implication is that you will NOT be able to use automatic updating in the future if you do not get it installed. There is a "blocker utility" that can be used to delay the download for 60 days, but after that any connection to automatic updating will send it to you. Even if you go directly to the update site for manual download of future updates, it is likely that installation of SP2 will be required for installation of future fixes.

The "blocker utility" is intended to allow system administrators to determine what programs they have that may have problems, and to prepare before installing; but will not permit delays beyond the 60 day period built into the utility.

At the Win XP SP2 download site you are offered the option of requesting the free SP2 CD, which they will send by "snail mail." Their estimated shipping time is 4 to 6 weeks, but the CD is implied to include all earlier security fixes (close to 800 MB). Since it has been shown that reinstallation of "original WinXP" (or any other Windows version) and connection to the web for download of security updates will probably result in your system being infected before the download can be accomplished, having the ability to reinstall WinXP AND the CD version of SP2, with security fixes, before going to the web seems almost mandatory. Microsoft urges that those who receive the CD should share it with other users, although it's not clear whether you can make copies to share. At present (a few days ago) the CD is/was available only for users of the English version. The SP2 CD is language specific, and must match the "language version" of WinXP that you use. Other language versions are promised "soon."

Not specifically mentioned in the SP2 sites is that there have been a couple of Office fixes to prepare for SP2. If you use Microsoft Office or component programs, you can go to the Office update site and download the fixes at any time. Prudence suggests that you do it before installing SP2, if possible.

John