[Necrosis]

I'm downloading right now, what does everyone else think?

[BlueMak]

I think you are brave, good luck.

[Vikingod]

From what I've read, the SP serves as more of a roll-out of previous fixes/patches. I'm not sure there are any features available that aren't already out there.

[Customgamer1]

Well I hope it works good.

All Microsoft needs is a bomb like SP3 for XP... However after they fixed it after release it's all good!!!!

I would consider downloading it, but really don't want to take the risk

[Dyre Straits]

FWIW, I downloaded the ISO image for both 32 and 64 bit. Image burned successfully without a hitch using NERO.

Installation of this SP2 Beta took about 18-20 minutes. I didn't use a stop watch on it.

I set it up to auto restart and it did restart about 3 times.

Installation has been active now for less than 30 minutes so there's not been much testing and investigation done as yet.

UPDATE: Since SP2 is designed to add better support for Bluetooth, Blu-Ray, and other recently developed devices, I figured I'd try out the Bluetooth options on my cellphone.

As recently as only a couple of weeks ago, I could not transfer files from my computer to my cellphone using the drivers that came with my Bluetooth dongle. But, using the drivers installed by SP2 only, I just successfully transferred and image from my PC to my cellphone without any problem at all.

This one feature, alone, is worth having SP2 installed. I spent nearly a month trying to succeed at this prior to SP2 and nothing worked. This time, it was done in less than 5 minutes.

So, here's one thumbs up for the progress.

[Necrosis]

Originally Posted by Vikingod

From what I've read, the SP serves as more of a roll-out of previous fixes/patches. I'm not sure there are any features available that aren't already out there.

I know but I was hoping there was some kind of script that turned my processor into a Core i7.

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by Necrosis

I know but I was hoping there was some kind of script that turned my processor into a Core i7.

When you dream, you dream BIG, don't you? LOL!

[Knight_Breed]

Well if Dyre hasn't broken it yet then I am giving it a go

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by Knight_Breed

Well if Dyre hasn't broken it yet then I am giving it a go

I actually was able to download an image from my cellphone, too. This is something I've been trying to do for months and this SP2 has made it possible without having to deal with other drivers.

I could always send an image via the email client, but, not with Bluetooth....till now.

But, just because I haven't had problems...so far...don't blame me if you do.

[Nachbrenner]

I had exactly the same Bluetooth issues like Dyre and now it works with SP2.

In device manager a second REALTEK audio device appeared with an exclamation mark. This must be uninstalled.

[Necrosis]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

When you dream, you dream BIG, don't you? LOL!

One can always dream....

So far no issues w/ my main setup getting ready install on my lappy.

[Judas]

Originally Posted by Customgamer1

Well I hope it works good.

All Microsoft needs is a bomb like SP3 for XP... However after they fixed it after release it's all good!!!!

I would consider downloading it, but really don't want to take the risk

xp sp3 fixed?

it's far from fixed on a number of machines.. the biggest issue still being the svchost.exe consuming 100% and every solution presented by microsoft has not resolved it.

[Customgamer1]

Originally Posted by Judas

xp sp3 fixed?

it's far from fixed on a number of machines.. the biggest issue still being the svchost.exe consuming 100% and every solution presented by microsoft has not resolved it.

O

I was just assuming it was better now, but I guess not. I also installed it on 2 of my other computers without problems...

But staying on topic I rather forget about Sp3 for Xp and just use the better os Vista!

[Knight_Breed]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

I actually was able to download an image from my cellphone, too. This is something I've been trying to do for months and this SP2 has made it possible without having to deal with other drivers.

I could always send an image via the email client, but, not with Bluetooth....till now.

But, just because I haven't had problems...so far...don't blame me if you do.

Cool and glad it's working fine for you

But as per normal considering my luck I am having issues with it installing on Vista Ultimate X64. It reverted back fine but on the part 3 of 3 after the reboot it came up with this error

[Valdeam]

I'm itching to try it out! Should I take the dive?

[CDsDontBurn]

and i don't even have vista installed yet 'cept for on my sister's laptop. i probably might just skip the whole vista OS all together and go with w7 when my next rig is built, lol.

[Customgamer1]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

and i don't even have vista installed yet 'cept for on my sister's laptop. i probably might just skip the whole vista OS all together and go with w7 when my next rig is built, lol.

You could, but really Vista works good overall! If you use it daily I think you will find that it's just overall has less glitches than Xp.

Runs smooth, nothing really crashes, more eye candy, and well just about everything 7 will be but 7 will be a little bit more refined.

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by Knight_Breed

Cool and glad it's working fine for you

But as per normal considering my luck I am having issues with it installing on Vista Ultimate X64. It reverted back fine but on the part 3 of 3 after the reboot it came up with this error

Did you get the ISO that has both flavors? I got mine from here:

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) Beta Standalone DVD ISO - For English, German, French, Japanese, or Spanish versions of the OS - Softpedia

And, I have to concur with Customgamer1 that I've had absolutely a great experience with Vista now for over a year. I seldom ever boot back into XP -- which I can do very easily -- and usually only for the sake of refreshing my memory in order to help someone. I also do it now and again to keep XP updated. Otherwise, XP just doesn't get that much attention from me anymore.

The only reason I do keep it around is to avoid having to buy a new legal size scanner. The one I have works just fine under XP but, UMAX has lost a longtime customer by refusing to provide Vista drivers for their 'legacy' products.

Now I need to test to see if the scanner is supported under SP2. I haven't gotten that far with it yet.

EDIT and UPDATE:

So far, the system is quite stable. One thing, though, that was annoying is that, due to this being a BETA release, there's an expiration date on it and that throws this into being an "Evaluation Copy". If you've rebooted since installing SP2 BETA, you'll likely see the little annoyance down in the lower right corner of your Desktop.

Well, it's fairly easy to remove in just a few minutes. Just follow the instructions from over here.....

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/1...rk-on-desktop/

Although these instructions were originally intended for SP1 BETA and some earlier evaluation releases, the latest version of the said file works fine.

BTW, I've read that the expiration for SP2 Beta is sometime in April, 2010. If that's true, never fear, the official release will be coming out much sooner.

[Necrosis]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

So far, the system is quite stable. One thing, though, that was annoying is that, due to this being a BETA release, there's an expiration date on it and that throws this into being an "Evaluation Copy". If you've rebooted since installing SP2 BETA, you'll likely see the little annoyance down in the lower right corner of your Desktop.

Well, it's fairly easy to remove in just a few minutes. Just follow the instructions from over here.....

Hack to Hide and Remove Vista SP1 RC Preview v.258 Evaluation Watermark on Desktop My Digital Life

Although these instructions were originally intended for SP1 BETA and some earlier evaluation releases, the latest version of the said file works fine.

I only have this on my 32 bit install on my laptop. However, since I have "Test Mode" turned on my 64 bit setup I don't have that notice. What I have is "Microsoft (R) Windows (R) (Build 6002: Service Pack 2, v.113)" top dead center of my screen.

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by Customgamer1

You could, but really Vista works good overall! If you use it daily I think you will find that it's just overall has less glitches than Xp.

Runs smooth, nothing really crashes, more eye candy, and well just about everything 7 will be but 7 will be a little bit more refined.

well, i think i might be moving onto vista 32bit on my machine in the very near future as my machine got some kind of nasty virus/trojan that AVG and AVAST can't seem to get rid of. so, i'll likely be formatting my machine later tonight and give vista 32bit a whirl and i'll be joining you guys in this sp2 expidenture

[Knight_Breed]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

Did you get the ISO that has both flavors? I got mine from here:

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) Beta Standalone DVD ISO - For English, German, French, Japanese, or Spanish versions of the OS - Softpedia

Yep the 5 language stand alone and I burned it on my new DVD Sata burner I bought yesterday ... using the Nero7 essentials supplied with the drive.

I also tried the .exe version with similar results as well as the following:

1) Reverted back to stock 2.33(7x333) on my E6550 from 3.1G

2) disabled Spybot S&D resident

3) disabled Antivir guard (resident)

4) Installed 2 critical updates auto update was bitching at me to install

No go and same error all I can think of is I have installed some "Ultimate Extras" to try out along with updates and perhaps its interfering. It's not a license or WGA issue because MS prompted me to install the two updates at the top of the list below. So

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

well, i think i might be moving onto vista 32bit on my machine in the very near future as my machine got some kind of nasty virus/trojan that AVG and AVAST can't seem to get rid of. so, i'll likely be formatting my machine later tonight and give vista 32bit a whirl and i'll be joining you guys in this sp2 expidenture

It was Judas and Dyre that talked me into trying Vista initally and you won't be disappointed. As far as 64 bit OSes go Ultimate X64 blows the doors of XP64 with far fewer driver issues that OS was always plagued with

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by Knight_Breed

It was Judas and Dyre that talked me into trying Vista initally and you won't be disappointed. As far as 64 bit OSes go Ultimate X64 blows the doors of XP64 with far fewer driver issues that OS was always plagued with

you don't think that i would have any issues with my hardware do you?

intel 875p chipset (ABIT IC7-G MoBo)
p4 3.2Ghz
2GB RAM
x1950pro 512MB AGP
74GB Raptor (OS)

[Knight_Breed]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

you don't think that i would have any issues with my hardware do you?

intel 875p chipset (ABIT IC7-G MoBo)
p4 3.2Ghz
2GB RAM
x1950pro 512MB AGP
74GB Raptor (OS)

I can't tell you for sure all my equipment is less than a year old and the biggest issue people have with Vista is support of older hardware. I would say if everything is 2 ... 3 years old max you shouldn't have driver issues and in addition manufacturers have been working on support for Vista with there drivers.

You still get the odd case mostly mice or keyboards or scanners like Dyre has ...

[CDsDontBurn]

well, i'll give a shot and see what happens.

and i believe the vista disk i have is a pre sp1 version. should i install sp1 first then sp2? or can i go straight to sp2?

[Customgamer1]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

well, i'll give a shot and see what happens.

and i believe the vista disk i have is a pre sp1 version. should i install sp1 first then sp2? or can i go straight to sp2?

90% sure you have to install SP1 first than go to 2.

But installing SP2 right away will at least not be a big deal if something goes wrong and you need to reload windows!

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

well, i'll give a shot and see what happens.

and i believe the vista disk i have is a pre sp1 version. should i install sp1 first then sp2? or can i go straight to sp2?

SP2 is supposed to include all the updates for SP1, too. But, if I were doing this from scratch, I'd update with SP1 first and then do SP2. The reason being that, SP2 could take an hour or so without the initial SP1 files/updates. I'd allow close to an hour for the updates once you do get Vista installed, regardless. All depends on your Internet bandwidth, too.

And, as for the hardware, just be sure to get all the ABIT driver updates for the motherboard.

[CDsDontBurn]

it's an Intel chipset board, so i'll be getting the latest drivers from Intel's website, not ABIT's. and what about my x1950pro AGP? are there any vista drivers out there for it? will the 8.11's work for it?

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

it's an Intel chipset board, so i'll be getting the latest drivers from Intel's website, not ABIT's. and what about my x1950pro AGP? are there any vista drivers out there for it? will the 8.11's work for it?

X1950 Pro is supported by official Catalyst drivers, yes. And, the 8.11s are listed for it as well.

Here's what I would do, though, if I had any doubts:

1. Get a totally separate HDD and install Vista onto it with only this HDD connected.

2. Get everything setup and updated.

3. Make sure everything is working to your satisfaction.

4. If any problems arise, shutdown, connect your current XP HDD and boot to that. This way you've got a decent backup OS in case of trouble.

Good luck!

[Customgamer1]

That sounds like a good idea, however CD's you could just install Vista and Sp1 and not have to take the risk with Sp2 lol.

Your call, but if you do go that route I would take the advice from above.

[Dyre Straits]

So far, after a couple of days with SP2 Beta, I'm quite pleased. No problems to report at this point.