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General discussion

Are new computers up to date?

Jun 19, 2007 11:45PM PDT

I have neglected to fix, patch, and upgrade some things on my old computer, some because they messed things up. If I get a new computer, will all the fixes come with it?

Discussion is locked

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No
Jun 19, 2007 11:54PM PDT

If you got a system with XP, then it would come with SP2 already installed, but that's it. Vista would be the same as if you bought the upgrade CD, you'd still need to install the patches released for it.

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SP2
Jun 20, 2007 12:05AM PDT

It was the attempt to install SP2 that gave me the most trouble. I ended up removing it and never tried again.

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Most common problem with SP2
Jun 20, 2007 1:51AM PDT

Is when you try and install it on a system with malware. That tends to cause things to blow up. That's about the only problem I've ever seen relating to installing SP2.

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To add to Jackson's words of wisdom:
Jun 20, 2007 7:22PM PDT

1. Before you go ANYWHERE on the web, update Windows, your antivirus software (note that most new PC's these days come only with a time-limited trial version; you'll eventually need to buy that software or install another one after uninstalling the one that came with the PC) and install a good firewall.

2. New PC's from large vendors come with a lot of preinstalled stuff that you may never use. If that's the case, uninstall those apps.

3. After all this, you'll need a good Registry cleaner to get rid of the trash; fret not, there are a number of good free ones out there.

4. Then, decide on a plan for backing up your data, obtain the necessary software and backup your entire C: drive. This will be your recovery disk, and NOT what the vendor gives you.

For more good advice, see Toni H.'s post in this forum. It's the very first post on the forum home page.

Paul