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TOP STORY — info you need to make Windows work Problems mount with Windows XP Service Pack 2 Since first alerting you to the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) in the Aug. 19 issue of the Windows Secrets Newsletter, a number of glitches with the upgrade have surfaced. This isn't surprising. As we've noted repeatedly, people are going to have some problems with SP2, one of Microsoft's most intrusive and potentially disruptive updates ever. In today's issue, we'll examine some of these concerns. Problems in XP SP2 — by the numbers An Information Week story quotes an interesting statistic. According to asset-monitoring firm AssetMatrix, about 10 percent of the PCs upgraded from Windows XP to SP2 in their test universe experienced some problems. That figure comes from a study of over 44,000 upgrades at over 340 companies. However, AssetMatrix qualifies those findings significantly. "10.3 percent of Windows XP-based machines will ... have the 'opportunity' for an issue to arise ... with SP2," says Steve O'Halloran, the managing director of AssetMetrix Research Labs. Most of those issues are small. And O'Halloran says two facts uncovered by the study were unexpected. First, the company thought the figure would be much higher than 10 percent. Second, the rate of success varies widely between large and small companies. Small businesses — those with fewer than 100 Windows XP PCs — experienced problems with 11.9 percent of their SP2 upgrades. Meanwhile, larger companies — those with more than 100 XP-based PCs &38212; experienced problems with just 6.2 percent of upgrades. Statistically, 10 percent might not sound like a particularly high number. But that will be of little comfort if you're among those who will experience these difficulties. For complete details, read the company's press release about its test. SANS compiles self-reported numbers A study by the SANS Institute is a little less positive. The company's Windows XP Service Pack 2 experiences page has at this writing received over 1500 responses. More than 28% of the respondents have experienced "big problems" with SP2. About one-third of those respondents had to actually rebuild some systems. However, 8 percent of the "big-problems" group described the problems as "solvable." Meanwhile, 23 percent reported just "small problems" and 43 percent reported "no problems." This is, of course, an unscientific sample and reflects only those participants who chose to send in their findings. The survey updates in real time, so look at the latest figures if you like, and you're invited to report your own experience. |
WINDOWS SECRETS NEWSLETTER (formerly Woody's Windows Watch and Brian's Buzz on Windows)  ISSUE 37 — 2004.09.09 • Top Story: Problems mount with XP SP2 • Recommended Reading • Special Report: Windows digital media secrets • Index of Reviews • The best-rated PDAs with Bluetooth • Which laptop is the best buy? • Wireless access points finally grow up • How does iPod stack up against iRiver and iAudio? • Make your own paper plane that flaps its wings • Useful Links NEWSLETTER CONTROL PANEL • Windows Secrets home page • How to subscribe • Change your delivery address • Change your preferences • Access past free issues • Access past paid issues • Submit a Windows tip • Get subscription help • How to unsubscribe CIRCULATION: over 145,000 |
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Anecdotal evidence pours in Fred Langa of Information Week has brought together a collection of user experiences with XP SP2. After wading through hundreds of e-mails from pioneers who wrote to him, Langa says, "readers reported more SP2 successes than failures by about a two to one margin. But a number of the reports of successes with SP2 involved multiple machine installations (in some cases, hundreds of PCs), so the actual success/failure ratio is even higher." The SP2 update can be uninstalled, but in some cases this is difficult to do. So Langa recommends that companies not roll out SP2 until they've conducted a pilot program on the upgrade and backed up the machines that will be upgraded. His full report (which begins with several negative stories and progresses to the more positive experiences) was posted by Information Week on Sept. 6. Pop-up blocker interferes with Windows Update Microsoft acknowledged on Aug. 31 that the browser's pop-up blocker in SP2 can cause the Windows Update site to halt with "HTTP error 500." (Other pop-up blockers can cause this, as well.) The solution is to add the Windows Update site to the browser's list of sites that are allowed to use pop-up windows. This is explained in Knowledge Base article 883820. Command-line files run without warning in SP2 According to a Heise Security report, there's a flaw in a new SP2 security feature. This feature is designed to protect users from executing programs they've downloaded from the Internet. In SP2, the security zones in Internet Explorer are configured a bit more securely than in the original XP release. Users are generally warned if they're about to run a program that was downloaded from an untrusted source on the Internet. But if you download a file and then execute it from a command line, that file will execute in SP2 as if it were created locally. That means it enjoys the full privileges of the current user and XP will not display a warning, as it would if you tried to execute the file in Windows. Microsoft says in its defense that this issue is not particularly problematic. The company states that the exploit would require a convoluted series of steps to accomplish, and a malicious sender of such a program would need to convince the user to run the file in precisely that way. SP2 installs IIS? We've seen some reports claiming that SP2 installs Microsoft's Web server, Internet Information Services (IIS), by default. This could be a problem because IIS is an obvious attack point for hackers. However, Microsoft claims this isn't the case, saying: "IIS 5.1 is one of the optional components in Windows XP with SP2 and by default is not installed." We'd be interesting in hearing whether anyone has seen IIS installed during an SP2 upgrade. Slow SP2 uptake Last week, Microsoft revealed that between 15 and 17 million people have updated to SP2. This is far short of the more than 300 million Windows XP users in the world and the 100 million people Microsoft hopes will upgrade by the end of October. At least two publications are investigating why companies are taking the slow track to SP2. eWeek reports that many IT managers are delaying the installation of SP2 for months because it may break too many applications. Meanwhile, a survey of 32 IT managers published in Computerworld on Aug. 30 reveals that none have yet installed SP2, except for two who were part of Microsoft's early-adopter program. The reason for the delay is the requirement for application-compatibility testing. This shouldn't be surprising, as application compatibility was known to be needed prior to SP2's release. Businesses interested in testing their own applications against SP2 should check out the Application Compatibility Testing and Mitigation Guide for Windows XP Service Pack 2. Final thoughts As the weeks wear on, hackers will no doubt discover vulnerabilities in XP SP2 and other problems will emerge. But nothing we've seen so far changes our initial assessment of SP2. For individuals, the security improvements in SP2 outweigh the small probability of problems. That's still true now, several weeks after SP2 started shipping. Companies running proprietary code should definitely test SP2 to make sure it will work properly on your systems. The bottom line is that we believe SP2 should be added to your systems as soon as possible, rather than waiting as long as possible. To send us more information about this, or to send us a tip on any other subject, visit WindowsSecrets.com/contact. You'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of your choice if you send us a comment that we print. ^ RECOMMENDED READING — our book reviews of tech topics 
The Microsoft Platform AheadThis volume from (who else?) Microsoft Press deals with the future of the Microsoft .Net Framework and where the next version of this technology will take us. Author David Platt, a contributor to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and the author of "Understanding COM+", feels that big changes are in store. More info: United States / Canada / Elsewhere 
PDF HacksEveryone uses PDF files, but does anyone really understand them? Sid Steward, the author of "PDF Hacks," does. He says there's no reason PDF files have to be painfully slow to open, and no reason why they need to be restricted only to on-screen copies of paper documents. Like the other books in O'Reilly's Hacks series, 100 specific tricks are included, many of which will be useful to anyone who wishes to create PDF output. More info: United States / Canada / Elsewhere 
Webvertising: The Ultimate Internet Advertising GuideThe second coming of online advertising is upon us. After losing much of its credibility in the crash of the Internet bubble in 2000, Web-based marketing is now showing incredible growth again, with Google's AdWords being just the most successful case. "Webvertising" brings together a collection of examples, which can be a bit dry but still revealing if your company wants to make the most of today's online opportunities. More info: United States / Canada / Elsewhere ^ FORWARDING INSTRUCTIONS — news gains value when it's shared Please share this information with your friends You're encouraged to refer your friends and colleagues to this free newsletter. Because most e-mail programs don't correctly display a formatted message that's been forwarded, simply call people's attention to the permanent Web address of this issue: WindowsSecrets.com/040909. HERE'S A TIP — you'll get a better newsletter if you choose the paid version You're reading the free version of the Windows Secrets Newsletter Subscribers to the paid version receive additional information in each issue. Some of the extras this week are:
Download a bonus e-book if you upgrade nowReaders who upgrade by Sept. 16 are eligible to download a special, 70-page excerpt from Hacking Windows XP (photo, left) — a new Extreme Tech book from Wiley Publishing. Two complete chapters are included in the bonus e-book. They're entitled "Customizing the Look of Your Startup," from the book's Customizing Your System section, and "Analyzing Your System," from the section on Increasing Your System's Performance. Paid subscribers also gain access to all past paid newsletter content Make a contribution to support our research into Windows and you'll immediately be able to read and search through scores of valuable articles. In addition, paid subscribers are entitled to valuable content, such as the e-book shown above, which we license for you to download at least once every calendar quarter. To upgrade, simply make a contribution of any amount that you choose If you do this by Sept. 22, 2004, you'll instantly be sent the full, paid version of today's newsletter. To upgrade to the paid version of Windows Secrets, please visit WindowsSecrets.com/upgrade. Thanks in advance. ^ WACKY WEB WEEK — playing for you the Internet's greatest bits 
Make your own paper plane that flaps its wingsExperimenter Keith Greenstein has created what he calls the Flapper: "the only paper airplane that flaps its wings when it flies" (picture, left). The design requires only a square piece of paper, a penny, and a piece of tape. Beyond that, we'll let Greenstein's site explain how it works. When you get to the page, click the illustration marked Instructions, then click the resulting window to enlarge the diagram. Have fun! See the instructions ^ USEFUL LINKS — more stuff that's good to know Preventing attacks from subverting your network The market for software that prevents attackers from gaining access to corporate networks has just become a lot more interesting with the introduction of Blink, a new defensive suite from eEye Digital Security. The makers of Blink say it takes a new approach to intrusion prevention, but competitors disagree. Who can you believe? (By Brian Livingston, Datamation) More info Security vendors defend themselves against Blink What happens when a major computer security firm issues a report showing that its latest software is vastly superior to other, competing products? The subjects of that attack rise to their own defense, as though fighting off a new Internet virus. (By Brian Livingston, Datamation) More info The Internet ate my e-mail A new study shows that 1.5% of all e-mail never reaches the intended recipients, completely aside from the effect of spam filters and organizational e-mail rules. This finding is purely based on the flaky nature of Internet servers, clients, and routers. (By Brian Livingston, Datamation) More info ^ ABOUT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION — we're here to serve you The Windows Secrets Newsletter (formerly Woody's Windows Watch and Brian's Buzz on Windows) is published twice a month, except for breaks in August and December. The newsletter is published on the Thursday one week before and one week after Microsoft releases its new Windows patches on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Publisher: The newsletter publisher is WindowsSecrets.com LLC, 300 Queen Anne Ave. N. #456, Seattle, WA 98109 USA. Vendors, please send no unsolicited packages to this address (readers' letters are fine). Editor: Brian Livingston is the co-author of Windows 2000 Secrets, Windows Me Secrets, and eight other books. Associate Editor: Paul Thurrott is the author of Windows XP Home Networking and Great Digital Media with Windows XP and the author or co-author of several other books. Research Director: Vickie Stevens. Program Consultant: Ben Livingston (no relation to Brian). Trademarks: "Windows" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. The "Windows Secrets" series of books is published by Wiley Publishing Inc. "The Windows Secrets Newsletter," "WindowsSecrets.com," "WinFind," "Windows Gizmos," "Index of Reviews," and "Wacky Web Week" are trademarks and service marks of WindowsSecrets.com LLC. All other marks are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. How to subscribe: Anyone may subscribe to this newsletter by visiting WindowsSecrets.com/signup. How to change your delivery address: To change your delivery address, log in at WindowsSecrets.com/prefs/?a=cP. How to change your other preferences: To change from HTML format to a plain-text notification and to set other preferences, log in at WindowsSecrets.com/prefs. How to get subscription help by e-mail (fastest method): Visit WindowsSecrets.com/contact. Subscription help by facsimile: 206-282-6312 (fax). Emergency subscription help by phone: 206-282-2536 (24 hours). How to unsubscribe: To unsubscribe from the Windows Secrets Newsletter, • Use this Unsubscribe link; or • Visit WindowsSecrets.com/unsubscribe. All subscribers are covered by our Ironclad Privacy Guarantee: (1) We will never sell, rent, or give away your address to any outside party, ever; (2) We will never send you any unrequested e-mail, besides newsletter updates; and (3) All unsubscribe requests are always honored immediately, period. Privacy policy Copyright © 2004 by WindowsSecrets.com LLC. All rights reserved. ^ |