Do I need XP Service Pack 2 on a non-networked PC?

[John Britt]

I finally built a new PC dedicated to video editing. This machine will not be networked/connected to any other computer. Should I still install XP Service Pack 2?

I've not had any problems with SP2 on my main computer (used for editing, but also for activities like visiting dvinfo.net), but is there any reason to install it on the new one? SP2 seems to address mostly just internet security issues. Is there something I'm overlooking?

I'm trying to keep as much extraneous stuff off this PC as possible -- no firewall or anitvirus, no Firefox/Thunderbird, no nothing but what I need to edit and composite (Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop), plus maybe Nero to burn DVDs.

[Rob Lohman]

Well, yes it is mainly geared towards security, but it also includes
bug fixes (besides for security), newer drivers and support for
some new hardware/standards. If it works for you I would personally
upgrade to SP2.

[AJ Silverman]

It does have some compatibility issues with some hardware..so check with your manufacturer to see if its supported. Some companies have fixes to work with SP2...some require you disable hyper-threading when using SP2. Good luck.

[Imran Zaidi]

If you don't EVER surf the net with that PC, and don't ever have it networked, and it is working perfectly with your existing applications, it's not really that important to install SP2. Reason being, you don't usually want to just slap on any microsoft service pack on top of a system that's been up and running for a while. The ideal and proper way to install an SP is on a total OS re-install.

If you were doing anything beyond what you described, and ever network with it or surf with it, I'd say otherwise, but it sounds like you're fine like you are. When you eventually reinstall your OS, however, plan on the upgrade. Better yet, get a copy of Windows that has SP2 embedded within it so you're not just patching it after the install is complete.

Also, depending on which Nero you have, there's one I had that didn't work after SP2 and required a patch also.

[Pete Bauer]

Hi John,

There have been some small bumps in the road, but I've been running Adobe Video Collection Pro 2.5 on a 3.00GHz/2GB DDR system (ASUS i875 Mboard) very nicely, both before and after SP2...even with Norton and MS Office on it. So you should be in good shape either way with your isolated and dedicated machine. I understand Imran's concerns; yet, since you're setting up a new computer, I tend to agree with Rob that I'd install SP2 for the bug fixes despite the fact that it introduces a few issues of its own. Worst case, it is just a couple hours to do a re-install on your new, clean system.

If you do install SP2, make sure to check Adobe's forums/FAQs for work-arounds for any issues. PPro has one issue that I know of and the work-around is very easy: just rename a file. I don't think this was SP2-related, but AE has a setup issue with certain hardware configs that include >1GB of RAM and, I think, hyperthreading systems...don't remember off the top of my head, but again, the fix was easy. Also, Encore has an upgrade to 1.5.1 (mainly a bug fix, but also now supports dual-layer).

With SP2 on an isolated system, you'll also probably want to turn off the yellow MS alert bar that pops up every time you open an html-based help file (which is what Adobe apps use). In IE:
Tools>>PopUp Blocker>>Turn off PopUp Blocker.

Let us know how it goes!

[Rob Lohman]

I have to slightly disagree with you there Imran. Yes if everything
is already running fine and not connected then there is no real
need. However, from what I understood he is building a new
machine (or at least doing a new install), so why not put in on
there (since it works okay on another machine).

The part where I disagree is for a complete OS reinstall with a new
service pack. I maintain a couple of servers for the company I
work for and have maintained lots of servers for clients and I can
tell you that it would be a very bad thing to have to reinstall such
machines everytime a service pack comes out.

What we do is test the service pack (upgrade route) on a few
general test machines first. Then usually (depending on the client)
a test machine that is a copy of the production machine gets
upgraded first to see if any problems exist with the applications
etc. running on there. Then the final machine is upgraded. I've
never ever done a re-install for a service pack upgrade.

Now ofcourse our machines aren't servers, but basically I still
would not recommend a complete re-install (especially with a
modern OS like XP) if the system has been kept clean (ie, just
been used for editing work etc. without all sort of junk on there,
because then a re-install is a good thing anyway).

Ofcourse as always the following points should be take into account:

1. backup all import stuff or things you cannot retrieve if it goes bad
2. don't upgrade while working on a project
3. make sure you have the time to do a re-install if everything fails

[Yi Fong Yu]

i currently administrate a few servers and clients in our office. i've set all computers to download bug fix and install it everyday 3AM. come to think of it... i've never run into any problems updating production servers/clients. but yesh do run it on a "test machine" just to be sure.

[Imran Zaidi]

Yeah my mistake - for some reason I was thinking he was talking about an existing running machine. Since it's new, yes, I'd say pack it!

As far as total re-install, I'm talking about best-case scenario. Applying a pack is best done slipstreamed where the pack is engrained in the actual OS install. This is the most efficient, and cleanest and most performance enhancing. However, packs are made so that they CAN be installed on existing machines, otherwise yes, the world would grind to a halt.

My recommendation was just that if you can, go for the best case scenario.

[John Britt]

Thanks, guys. Currently, I've got the new build running SP2 while I run SiSoft Sandra and whatnot on the machine. Once I'm done looking at the specs (another thread soon to follow on that), I plan on reinstalling Windows XP. Based on what I've read here, I'm going to go ahead and re-install SP2 at that time, as well. The OS is on its own partition, so if running SP2 causes any problems, it will be *relatively* easy to start over with SP1 (that is, lost time instead of lost video!)

Thanks for your help

[George Ellis]

SP2 gives you DirectX 9.0c (although you can download it) and new PnP files for the HDR1 and FX1 cameras ;) As mentioned, there are some non-security fixes included that are not generally available otherwise that you want and did not know about. Plus, there will be that one time when you need to connect it to move a file somewhere else, and that is when you want it :D

[Rob Lohman]

Imran: agreed, if it is an option doing it slipstreamed is best,
ofcourse. I do it on my own laptop as well, re-install every once
in a while and use a slip-streamed version. We seem to agree <g>