Everyone Please Beware, If I would have known then what I know now, I would have never done this, but I installed SP2 for XP. This is the biggest hack I have ever seen microsoft put out. Yes it's true, Beleive it or not, it's worse than Windows ME, Microsoft has outdone themselves this time. SO I installed SP2 for XP, for two days I had to justify everything I did on my PC, for instance a message window would popup stating that the website I would like to visit could be unsafe, My Local News Website, is not, in my eyes, unsafe. Then every program I launched, I had to let Windows know that I understood that there are known compatibility issues with it. "Yes I understand that SP2 and Nero have issues" SP2 is like a nagging mother of XP, then on the third day I got a BSOD, and upon rebooting, it informed me that my hardware has changed significantly since I activated windows, and gave me 3 days to reactivate windows. I tried activating through the web (Broadband Connection on my network) it couldn't connect. After that, NO INTERNET FOR YOU!!!! It horked my NIC drivers, I tried reinstalling them, and it told me that the drivers were required for booting my PC. I then tried my backup dialup, and it informed me that the PPP Protocols couldn't be negotiated. I then searched here, Computing.net, and seen others have had the same problems. I then checked microsoft.com, obviously you all know how that went. So I called the SP2 Help Line, waiting 47 minutes to talk to someone, when I finally got through, they told me my problem isn't SP2, and I should contact the manufacturer of my PC, which actually is, well me. So I informed her of that, and she told me to call back the next day, and gave me a number, well thanks for nothing. I need to take a class in Linux, and more software developers, and software companies, should stop taking these blows from MS, and start releasing products for linux. I will post back after I uninstall this garbage update, to see if it fixes my internet connection. FRUSTRATED dj_dough

Try doing a System Restore prior to the SP2 update. That could do wonders. anDrew

Okay so here is my solution, I uninstalled SP2, and I was still having problems, however, I noticed that my NIC wasn't labeled like before, and I checked my event viewer, and noticed an error.... [QoS: The Packet Scheduler failed to register with the Generic Packet Classifier (msgpc.sys).] So I uninstalled the QOS Packet Scheduler, and TCP/IP, and MS File and Printer Sharing, and all those goodies from the Local Area Network Connection Properties, and instantly, I noticed that I was able to send / receive, and I opened IE, and VIOLA, it rocks, now I am just afraid to reboot! HAPPY dj_dough

Andy11: Thanks, actually I thought about doing that, but that made me cringe, I wanted to post this out here, because Microsoft has "No Prior Knowledge of SP2 Causing Problems With LAN Connections" at least that's what the lady on the phone said. I hope this Post can help others who are struggling through this same problem.

Did you even do any basic research about SP2 before installing it? If you had you would have been able to update a lot of the things you have had problems with to SP2 compatible versions. I'm not a Msoft apologist but you cannot blame them if third party software on your machine no longer works. As for the constant IE warnings did you check your privacy settings? There is no doubt some systems have problems with SP2 but a blanket "Doom Doom Don't do it" warning isn't helpful to anyone. There are plenty of people who have successfully integrated SP2 (me included). And yes I have some programs (one game in particular) which no longer run. Haven't yet tried compatibility mode so they still might work when I get around to trying. My point is basically this: State your problem. Ask for help Leave out the bleating. It doesn't add to the collective knowledgebase that is Computing.net Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for life.

Well said! Maybe dj_dough never read KTTD's warning earlier about "flaming" posts. Once I thought I was wrong, now I'm not so sure!

To everyone who insists on service pack 2! Suffer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I made an unfavourable comment about it 2-3 weeks prior to its release as I had a microsoft beta version and it totally sucked ass on every computer I tested it on. We now will not allow sp2 on our network under any circumstances. We have just opted to implement the individual patches that are required as we need them. A home user really has no need for service pack 2 if thay follow the simple rules of properly configuring a 3rd party firewall, fastidiously maintained Antivirus and spyware tools. That's it people...you need nothing else. Here's a tip for you leave MediaPlayer 10 alone do not install it...its riddled with more holes and exploits than a sieve. XP...urghhhhhhh....fisher and pykle graphics built on NT4 (and how many service packs has NT4 had? and NT2000? 6 and 4 respectivly With XP we are still at 2....enough said. Work Is The Rent We Pay For The Space We Occupy On Earth AMD Athlon XP2500 Codegen 550W P/S Gigabyte GA-8KNXP 1 Gig ECC-DDRAM 2x200gig SATA Seagate HDD Pioneer A06 DVD Burner