windows XP SP2 problems

[Alessandro]

Hi everybody

I have used Celestia for months had never problems, it runs quite good
(the best program never see in my life!!) since i installed service pack 2
for windows security.
Now it runs slow, very slow, too slow. Why?
I read almost all messages in forum but i didn't found any on this subject...?

Please let me now if there is a solution.

Sorry for my english not very good.

Thank you very much

Alessandro

[selden]

There are many things that can cause Celestia to run slowly.

The most common one is to ask Celestia to draw many things Having many Addons installed will do this. I usually have only a few active Addons. The rest are kept in a "holding" directory.

Another is if your system is using software OpenGL instead of hardware accelerated libraries.

Also, shutdown all of the programs that you don't need. This will make more memory and CPU available to Celestia.

[alphap1us]

I don't use Windows, but someone mentioned that SP2 installs Microsoft's crappy drivers over your older better ones. Go to nvidia.com or ati.com and re-install the drivers for you card.

Hope this helps.

Joe

[Don. Edwards]

This is a very simple problem to adress. The Windows XP SP2 simply installed microsofts nuetered drivers on your system. I don't understand why nVidia allows Microsoft to remove important OpenGL parts of the driver package but they do. This is of course because Microsoft is Pro-Direct X and Anti-OpenGL. So simply reinstall your drivers for your cards manufactutrer and this should fix the problem. As a standing rule I try and tell everyone to never accept any drivers from Microsofts's Update site. You look and see what driver updates they list, but don't load them. Simply write down what drivers they are and go the manufacturer of the device and get there driver instead. It will be a more complete driver anyway and will probably be a newer driver to boot. Hope this helps out.

Don. Edwards

[John Van Vliet]

my thoughts exatly
DON'T USE MS 'S DRIVERS
but after i instaltd sp2 i was still using nvidas 61.77_win2kxp_english.exe and not MicroSoft's version of it . I was fully expecting to have to reinstall the correct driver , but did not have to .

[mmarable]

I would install the latest NVidia driver regardless of what your system reports.

I was running SP1 with an MSI/NVidia 5200 card and Celestia worked great. I installed SP2 and even though my system reported that I was using the same drivers, Celestia was so slow it was unusable. I reinstalled my NVidia drivers and now Celestia runs perfectly again.

[jamarsa]

Hah, that was fun!! Reinstalling the Microsoft drivers without asking the user and knowing perfectly that almost nobody with a little sense uses them...
Really, Microsoft always think the user is an idiot.

[Alessandro]

Ciao everyone

You are right. After installing SP2 my Nvidia drivers (i got an GeForce4 Ti 4200 w AGP8X 128Mo) are replacede (only partially, don't know why...) with MSwindows drivers .
I must replace them. I hate Bill G. !!!
Hope I'll found them on Nvidia site...
Thank you very much :
Selden, alphap1us, Don Edwards, John Van Vliet, mmarable, Jamarsa.

Ciao a tutti.
I must again congratulate Celestia creators and say this forum is admirable.

[Jugalator]

Hah, that was fun!! Reinstalling the Microsoft drivers without asking the user and knowing perfectly that almost nobody with a little sense uses them...
Really, Microsoft always think the user is an idiot.

It's probably just in case your former ones from nVidia could be from some older version that's not compatible with SP2. So the SP2 installer replaces them just to be sure this won't be a problem after the upgrade. Of course, they'd probably work anyway, but Microsoft can't test all drivers in all revisions there is.

[fsgregs]

Given the problems with SP2, is it worth installing? Is there something in it that WIN XP users must have?

Frank

[Harry]

Given the problems with SP2, is it worth installing? Is there something in it that WIN XP users must have?

I think the most important feature is the improved security. If you keep your system reasonable secure by other means (Firewall, not using IE, not using Outlook/Outlook Express, only executing known good software, ...) you probably can do without. BTW, Mozilla/Opera/etc. won't make your system automatically secure, they too have to be updated regularly, and you still have to be cautious...

But this is getting completely Off-Topic

Harald

[smbika]

I will not - repeat NOT - install SP2 for XP. I have heard more than one horror story (although 1 is enough) about screens going black and keyboard functionality being lost when it comes to this "significant" patch and it will not happen to me. I am not the typical home XP user - I actually write software for a living (well, when I can find a job) and have had to repair my system too many times from installing arrogant software and games (the kind that overwrite Windows files and change system settings) and I go ballistic if ANYthing changes. The machine and OS function adequately and until i see a better reason than "added security" which is the reason for the myriad patches MS releases weekly, the not-broken system ain't gonna be fixed.

I know this is not strictly a Celestia comment but I include it because one the obvious problems with SP2 is the "fixed" vid-drivers (fixed as in neutered as one chap above said) which would lead to me not enjoying Celestia - and that would make me very unhappy indeed.

I am behind a router with no ports i do not know about and need open and i run antivirus and antispyware software so i will pretend that is sufficient. Also, I am in the process of weening myself of IE.

Thanks,
Sean

[selden]

Each person has to decide what's appropriate for their own system.

Bear in mind that SP2 is not just a set of security patches. It also includes hundreds of bug fixes for the programs that are included with XP. For example, Hibernate had lots of problems for me under SP1. With SP2 installed, I now can use Hibernate to shut down my home system. Restarting from HIbernation is much faster than a full boot.

My personal opinion is that most of the problems with SP2 are relatively minor and have been blown way out of proportion. Updating your graphics drivers is one of the things you should be doing anyhow, for example.

So far as its security fixes are concerned, remember that a lot of malware is downloaded by malicious Web pages and e'mailed HTML code taking advantage of bugs and mis-features in IE and Outlook Express which are fixed in SP2. They'll bite you whether or not you have a NAT router.

And many future bug fixes will require that you already have SP2 installed.

[smbika]

Admittedly I was in a heated moment and since I have noted you to be an even keeled voice of reason in the forums and in personal e-mails I will rethink my approach to this.

It seems a shame that I should need to protect myself from the bad things and then re-protect myself from THAT. Kinda like getting morphine for pain in a hospital and then needing an additional shot to stave of the nausea caused by the painkiller...something I know from experience, and not, in my opinion, an in-apt analogy.

As far as vid-drivers go, and other things related, I will research the efficacy of that...I am not sure what that would buy me since it all seems to work just fine...but then I could be fooling myself...and that screen going black thing bugs me - not a simple fix by downloading vid drivers for that one I imagine...

Still, I appreciate the candor and will give it more consideration.

Thanks,
Sean

[John Van Vliet]

well sp2 wasn't that much of a hassle , although it did take me 2 days to figure out why my scanner was not working , wia was instaled over my twain
driver