The short answer is:  Yes.

  The longer and more complicated answer is something like this:

The majority of home PCs are connected to the Internet at least some of the
time.  In a recent exercise, a Windows PC connected directly to the Internet
was infected and taken over in about 16-20 minutes.  Before SP2, the default
configuration for Windows, even XP, was pretty vulnerable.
  Experienced users have known for a while about steps they could take to
"harden" a machine to resist such attacks.  (It doesn't sound like you're in
this category.)  Some of the tools involved are tricky to configure
correctly.
  With SP2, Microsoft is largely "pre-hardening" XP, so that users don't
need to be experts to be protected.

  There may be existing applications which need some adjustment to work with
SP2, but it's unlikely that you are using any of them.  They tend to either
be advanced tools and/or custome applications used within the companies that
developed them.  Any popular applications that need adjustment have new
"latest version" updates appearing already.

  So, in general, the people who might have problems with SP2 know who they
are, and have less need of it than the average user.   (If you are inside a
company or institution, you should ask your IT department about this.)

David Gillett


On 30 Aug 2004 at 15:57, Donna White wrote:

>   Hello; I was recently notified by Dell I should update windows XP
> home edition with SP2- it sounds complicated and should I do it> I
> understand it protects me from invasion by sounds confusing to me.
> Thanks Donna

>   Donna M. White
>   603-267-8395
>   www.edenwhild.com

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