Should I reinstall SP2 on my Dell Inspiron?

[spiram]

I've just recovered from a hard disk failure on my 2002 Dell Inspiron SmartPC 250N 40Gb laptop. It had been running Windows XP with SP2. Now I've reformatted the disk and reinstalled Windows XP (original version without SP1) I am faced with the question: should I reinstall SP2? Dell tech support insist that SP2 may have been the cause of the hard disk failure and strongly advise against reinstalling SP2. (They say that SP2 has been a problem on several Dell systems.) Microsoft however insist that SP2, being simply an upgrade to Windows XP, should not cause any problems. So I have 2 options. (1) Reinstall SP2 (after ugrading BIOS, drivers etc and removing Zonealarm); or (2) Stick with basic Windows XP which doesn't even have SP1. Problem with option (2) is that SP1 is no longer available and Windows Updates won't install. Advice from some of you guys cleverer than me would be very much appreciated. Many thanks. Michael

[Thong_Ispector]

My Dell Inspiron CD included SP1a
Part # R2490

And no, I do not run SP2... I do run Zone Alarm...

[spiram]

Unfortunately the installation CD with my Dell Inspiron does not contain SP1, probably because it is older than yours (August 2002). But thank you for your reply.

Michael

[Thong_Ispector]

Here is a link for SP1 in English

130 megs...

ftp.sakhalin.ru/patches/MS_Updates/XP/xpsp1_en_x86.exe

[spiram]

Many thanks. I'll try that.

Michael

[caperjack]

Many thanks. I'll try that.

Michael

You will also need some of the security patches that are in sp2 as sp1 doesent cover the latest blaster worm and a few others and you will be infected as soon as you go online . Microsoft downloads .

[spiram]

Many thanks. Michael