For those of us who can't wait until September 9, the Windows XP service pack is available at http://download.microsoft.com/download/whi...psp1_en_x86.exeI just installed it and the applications I tested run my better. Even FS2002 seems smoother to me.

Yup... I have installed it as well and it seemed to have fixed a few problems that drove me crazy. However, it has added a new problem. Whenever I open Outlook Express, all my custom folders are no longer expanded. I have to click the + sign in order to view them. Before Sp1, they all were already expanded.Anyone else have this problem?

Sorry but I'm not an Outlook Express user so I can't help you.I've noticed something else though. I was just looking at the Properties of my system drive and almost .5 GB of drive space was used up by the installation. I don't think this is possible since I chose the option not to back up my files so I'm wondering what's now occupying the space.

Thanks for the link!-Greg

I noticed as I was installing the pack that my system "set a restore point"... if you have that rollback feature turned on, perhaps that is contributing to the added space being taken up? It's a huge download, and if a lot are system files, that could explain it.Apparently you *do* make a backup of your files, if you have the rollback feature enabled. Edit:There is also a directory in the root of Windows called "ServicePackFiles", which, in my installation, contains around 250MB of information. I'm planning on deleting it tomorrow, but it may just the temp spot that it throws uncompressed files... It's odd that it would do that. (And I did NOT choose to archive my old files) Just a thought...-Greg

XP SP1 improves many things...my FS2002 becomes smoother and also faster, plus it's also very good in terms of stability, it's much more dependable now.

I read there were some serious privacy/security issues with SP1...anyone know anything about this ????Something about how it checks serial numbers, keeps calling home all the time, monitors the system config, and stuff like that.I real somewhere as well that part of the update was not available as a download, but the cd version had to be ordered..think it was something for media player.....

Is this an official release or a beta release? Also is it for both the home and pro editions? I didn't find anything on their site except that it is being released monday.Thanks,JohnnyKTUS

This is the official Service Pack 1 release. Although the release date is September 9, its been available all week for subscribers to Microsoft's Premier Download service.

Well, the Service Pack does check the serial number to see if you're using a legal copy of XP. If you're using a "warez" version it will refuse to install. Other than that there are no privacy issues I'm aware of.There's a leaked version of XP Corporate edition floating around the Internet; the key begins with FCKGW... if you have that running on your computer you will get an error message and the service pack will not install.

Well, what's od is that I don't have the "rollback" option enabled and I specifically chose not to back up my files prior to installation.Anyway, I did a Disk Cleanup including deleting all but the most recent Restore Point and I was able to reclaim most of the lost space. As a test I moved the ServicePackFiles folder (274 MB) to a different drive, then rebooted but it didn't seem to make a difference in the space reclaimed. I guess XP is reporting the space available incorrectly.