Re: SP2 is TOO BIG TO DOWNLOAD -- where can I save space?

frodo_at_theshire.org
Date: 08/24/04 

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 18:41:38 -0000

Frank D. Nicodem, Jr. <Mail@franknicodem.com> wrote:
> My automatic download of SP2 started this morning -- and completely wiped
> out the 600MB of free space I had left on my C: drive! I was rather
> started, since the only information I had from the Microsoft Web site was
> that this was a 233MB download. However, after some searching around the
> Microsoft site this morning, I found the following statement:
> What to Expect
> Hard disk space: You need at least 1.8 gigabytes (GB) of free space on your
> hard disk.

well, you read right, you had better have at least 2 GB of free space. I
realize that sounds like a lot, but in todays world of $50 80GB hard
drives that's only a little. If this is truely a problem, I'd suggest you
don't need SP2 - just wait until your next computer comes w/ it already
installed.

The SP2 installer itself is around 200-300 Meg, in a compressed file. It
unpacks itself to a temp folder to run (on a different disk if possible),
that takes almost 500 MB. It makes a backup/uninstall of everything
before it begins, that takes up about 500 MB. Then it makes a System
Restore Point, that takes up about 300 MB. Then it installs itself, that
takes about 200 MB more than the stuff it replaces. And then it leaves a
copy of itself on the HD so that it can be accessed if/when you run sfc or
add/remove windows components sometime in the future. Plus there's
another copy of the critical DLLs in the dllcache folder too. Finally it
deletes the temp install directory. So, when you're all done your HD will
have about 2 GB less free space, until you delete the uninstall directory
(assuming you're happy and feel you won't ever want to uninstall the
beast).

In prep for SP2, run Disk Cleanup, and use its options to remove excess
system restore points. Delete/uninstall any unused programs, and archive
to cd-r any large downloads, music, and videos that you can to free up
space. I would recommend AT LEAST 2 GB of free space on the windows
partition, plus another partition w/ at least 1 GB avail to hold the
install run-time if possible. [Side note: if your disks are getting close
to 70% full then they are exacting a performance hit that you should be
concerned about].

#1 bit of advice for SP2:
-------------------------

DONT BE IN A HURRY!! SOMEDAY YOU'll HAVE SP2, BUT IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE
TODAY. REALLY! IT'S NOT THAT WONDERFUL, YOU CAN GO ON FOR MONTHS WITHOUT
IT. YOU WILL BE HAPPY WITHOUT IT! BUY A NEW DRESS INSTEAD!

IF YOU MUST PLUNGE, BE SURE TO: disable any 3rd party firewall before
running the install. If you're connected to broadband, disconnect it
during the sp2 install process (press cable modem's standby buttion, or
unplug the lan wire).

Run AV and spyware scanners to ensure your system is not compromised in
any way.
 
Also disable as many startup items as you can, especially AntiVirus stuff;
don't use msconfig to do this, use the individual program's options
feature, or get Mark Lin's Startup control panel. Reboot several times to
make sure your system boots as cleanly as possible, w/ no extraneous
things running. The system tray should be empty except for the clock and
volume control, and task manager should show only the minimal number of
process running after a reboot (about 20 or so on a typical system).

And make sure the Server and Workstation services are running, just to be
safe. If they are not, install the File and Printer Sharing layer in
Network connections (but don't bind it), you can uninstall it again after
the upgrade.

Give yourself 2 hours to do this task (prep, install, checkout/retweak),
and w/ a little luck it'll go smoothly. For the most part the upgrade
preserves your user preference settings, I only found about half a dozen
things that were "reset to their defaults" by the upgrade. Things in the
Startup folder were most effected, their pif files were reset and needed
tweaking. And review your services and IE settings, there are several new
things you should become familiar with. Exercise all the system tools and
your programs to make sure they still work. Pay attention to/review all
the settings/info in My Computer | Properties and My Computer | Manage.

If performance seems sluggish, don't blame SP2, blame the after-effects of
the upgrade process. Give it time to gel, for the boot-time-defrag to
kick in, and for the HD to optimize. After several reboots and a couple
of days of satisfactory operation run disk cleanup again to get rid of
junk, review your services settings to keeps unneccessary things in
"manual" startup, and rerun the disk defrag. Performance should return to
normal. [Some have said SP2 is "much faster". I have not noticed that,
but it is definately not slower. Boot-up and shutdown are as snappy as
ever now that it has settled.]
 
Good Luck to all brave souls...

================

My observation since installing it: not much different really, in everyday
use you don't notice much other than the IE popup blocker and new IE "info
bar". [Mozilla is still better]. I do not use Outlook Express, which did
have many things changed, so if you use that you'll notice a lot more than
I did [again, Mozilla Mail is better]. But for the most part it's little
changed after all the brew-ha-ha. The new firewall is improved [but ZA is
still better; stick w/ ZA 4.5.594.000 Personal for home users, ZA 5 is
still more trouble than it's worth].