I was sitting in the airport in Dallas/Ft. Worth for a long layover on my way back from the MVP Summit and decided to pass the time by installing Windows XP SP2 RC1 from the CD Microsoft so generously gave us while there.  Considering that the general consensus at Microsoft was that we should install it, I figured I'd take the chance.  Besides, I couldn't stand the cruddy, current XP wireless config, which was supposed to be enhanced with SP2.

So I popped the CD in and gave it a whirl.  First, it didn't auto run, for whatever reason, so I opened the CD in explorer and ran the autorun.exe file.  A small dialog box came up, saying it was verifiying xpsp2.exe for a while.  After that, it apparently extracts the contents to the drive.  A couple minutes later, the installer started, and it took a good five minutes or more to 'gather information' about my current setup.  It asks you if you want to backup your current files, but the option to choose anything but 'yes' is greyed out, which makes sense, considering this is pre-RTM.  It then backs up all files and registry, giving separate messages while doing each.  After this (a good 5-10 minutes), it says that it's “running processes before install” or something like that for a minute, and finally it starts to install, which of course takes several minutes.

After it's done copying the files, it says something very helpful like “running processes after install.”  This is where I think the problem started, because it stayed on this message for a good thirty minutes.  For the first few, I pulled up Task Manager to see what it was up to.  Nothing.  I watched the processes for the installer, and nothing was happening.  So I thought I'd give it a while and started writing on my “Generics, In-Depth” article that should be released on 15seconds.com in while (I know, plug plug, but I really do think a lot will find it helpful.  By the way, I'm looking for a better title.  It's targeted at less-advanced programmers who might find the topic confusing, but it should have something for everyone who's new to the subject.  Please contact me if you have an idea.  I digress...).

Anyways, about thirty minutes later I decided that the installer was DOA and decided to just cross my fingers and reboot.  Actually, I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter because I couldn't leave it on through the flight.  I thought about hibernating, but I seem to have disabled that somehow (even though it is checked to be on).  So I tried to shut down.  No go.  Well, it actually prompted me saying “%1 Setup” is trying to install, please don't shut down (paraphrase).  I waited a couple minutes, thinking maybe that would give it a hint.  Nope.  So I started the shut down again and just killed the prompt.  The system went to blue screen, not bad one but the one you get when not on a domain that says it's shutting down.  It just hung there, so I pressed the big red button.

All seemed to be going okay.  On the reboot, it did some fancy pre-windows loading, took a really long time to load up (to be expected when doing a major OS update) and came up.  I believe the Security Center comes up automatically the first time, which is I think a good idea.  It's a good jumping off point to look at some of the new functionality. 

The first things I looked at were my IE settings.  I enabled the popup blocker and disabled Google Toolbar's blocker.  Then I decided to check out the new firewall stuff.  Doh!  An unknown error occurred, Windows cannot display Windows Firewall.  Hmm.. well at least it's ON, even if I can't configure it. :)  I tried rebooting again.  Same problem.  Oh well, it was time to grab a bite before my flight, so I shut down and pegged it for later troubleshooting--I'd need an internet connection anyways.

Here we are a few days later, after recovering from the trip, spending time with family, and doing the Easter thing.  I thought about blogging about my problems, but I thought I'd try to solve them first.  I did (aren't you glad I didn't keep you in suspense?).  I tried searching Google and Google Groups without success (that's a pretty bad start), so I went to the SP2 site, which has a link to the SP2 groups.  I searched in the install group and then in the security group and found the problem.  I needed to register a DLL.  I guess this should have happened sometime after when the installer gave up on life and hung.  In any case, here's what you need to do if you run into the same problem:

1. Start -> Run: regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\hnetcfg.dll
2. Restart the Security Center service.

Having done this, I can now happily look at the new Windows Firewall settings pages, which are pretty nifty, I might add.  I'm also pretty happy with the new wireless config UI and functionality; it seems to do a little better than the previous on finding networks that are not broadcasting their SSIDs and is actually usable, to an extent, when you have your card disabled.  Plus, it has a new icon for the sys tray that shows it is a wireless connection, which nicely differentiates it from your wired connections.

As for the new firewall, it is much more user friendly.  It will prompt you when an app tries to access the internet, allowing you to unblock that app if you so choose, and it will only open the ports for that app while the app is running.  Pretty cool (compared to the previous firewall), especially if you have an app that randomly picks ports and won't let you lock it down, like Linksys's wireless print server drivers apparently do.  Finally, the Windows Firewall is usable and user friendly.

I'm personally not too happy with the AntiVirus warning.  I don't run A/V software because I think it's not that necessary for the savvy user who uses a firewall, stays patched, and is smart about email.  And I don't need the added drain on my system or finances.  The truth is, IMO, if anything can get to me, it will likely be before a virus def is written anyways, so the A/V software wouldn't do any good.  Anyways, the point of this diatribe is that I don't want Windows to pester me about my “system [being] at risk.”  Luckily, Microsoft was foresightful enough to allow you to check a box indicating that you are running A/V software they can't detect, which turns the A/V alert from red to yellow (and quits pestering you).

Overall, I'm happy with the SP2 experience.  They need to fix whatever it is that hangs the installer, but other than that, it seems pretty solid.