There are actually about 27 mostly critical updates to a new WinXp SP1 Install that are completed before Windows Update will asks you to dl and install SP2.
SP2 is notorious for knocking out illegitimate, as well as purchased but faked activations of most Microsoft products. You have to love M$ - they got big by promoting one for the office and taking one home for the home computer. It was the unwritten agreeement in the old days.... buy for the office and use their software at home at no charge.
I miss the days of having a bonafide operating system that just ran my programs instead of the convoluted, over complicated, nightmare of memory hogging code that we now have on our so called "hybrid" Windows operating systems. What a joke :p mostly on us.
I personally avoid M$ products, although they must love me for some reason because ocassionally they give their progs on a complimentry basis for my feedback and personal use. I want to support good independent and software programers like Ewido (for Spyware, Worms, Dialers, Trojans, Keyloggers and Hijackers). Companies that write better code - price it fairly to their customers - and actually listen to their customers' suggestions. I have a horror of M$ buying good software like Giant, and others like Norton's resource eating bloatware buying good programs like Ghost. They (M$ - Norton and other large software companies) inevitably manage to damage well written task specific progs.
