David, I agree with you about installing all of the XP upgrades as they are issued. SP2 has those upgrades included (all since SP1). SP2 is causing a lot of problems for a lot of people so I still say KISS for now. Then there is Longhorn (available sometime in 2006) the next incarnation of the Windows operating system. It will be a major change, being able to handle vector images and 64 bit information, etc. Longhorn elements will be incorporated into XP before Longhorn is released. I will probably wait for this release rather than use SP2. I use Black Ice to see how many hacking attempts there is on my computer. When I turn off Zone Alarm I get about one every few minutes. With Zone Alarm enabled I get no attempts except an occasional random attempt (a fishing expedition that gets no entry - perhaps one attempt per day). I don't think any attacker will be able to get into my system. So in light of Zone Alarm and other protections I use, I fail to see how my computer activities and software can fowl up other computers. Perhaps you can explain? J Dent At 10:31 AM 9/4/2004, you wrote: > While the KISS principle has value in many contexts, I argue that this >isn't one of them. > > Several major worm/virus outbreaks of the last four years would have been >a whole lot less severe if more people had installed updates that were >already available -- in some cases, had been for eight months. Too many PC >users take this attitude, apparently believing that a pound of cure, and a >colossal headache for everyone else on the Internet, is far more fun than an >ounce of prevention. > The fact that so many computer problems are pretty much invisible until >someone finds a way to abuse them should lead us to realize that users are >rarely in a position to correctly judge whether "everything works fine". In >my work environment, I frequently encounter users whose new program/device >"works fine" -- except that it's disrupting service to hundreds or sometimes >thousands of their colleagues and neighbors. They don't know others are >having problems, and can't tell that they're the cause. > > As to Mary's specific issue, many Yahoo games require Java applets to be >permitted. So my hunch would be that installing SP2 tightened up the >default security level in her browser, and that loosening that one area just >a little will be better in the long run than uninstalling the whole Service >Pack. > >David Gillett > > >On 3 Sep 2004 at 23:47, John Dent wrote: > > > Mary, > > > > It may be tempting to install SP 2 but I recommend that you don't. I use > > the Kiss principle (Keep it simple stupid!) when installing software and > > updates. If everything works fine then why upgrade? This applies to all > > software upgrades. > > > > J. Dent > > > > At 06:57 AM 9/3/2004, you wrote: > > >We play Yahoo and MSN games frequently. We downloaded the XP Service Pak > > >2 the other day. After doing so, we were not able to get into any of the > > >Yahoo games. I contacted Yahoo Help, followed the instructions they have > > >to no avail. > > > > > >Finally, my son uninstalled the Service Pak and everything is working fine > > >now. I know the Service Pak is important but we do like the option of > games. > > > > > >Has anyone else had this problem. If not, does anyone have any > suggestions. > > > > > >Thanks. > > > > > >Mary Baker > > >[log in to unmask] > > > > > > > > > > > >--------------------------------- > > >Do you Yahoo!? > > >Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. > > > > > > The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering > > > Mandrake Linux or Red Hat Linux CD sets along > > > with the OpenOffice CD... at a great price!!! > > > http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml > > > > PCSOFT's List Owner's: > > Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> > > Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]> > > PCSOFT's List Owner's: > Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> > Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]> PCSOFT's List Owner's: Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>