win2k sp4 vs win xp sp2

[kropotkin]

Hi!
Some stupid move i've made in my perpetual drivers tweakin', lead to an unfixable Invalid Boot device error, in my Win2k sp3 startup.
So, i'm reinstalling, but i'm not sure yet what to choose :
- win2k sp4
or
- win xp sp2, stability and Matrox Marvel G400 capture vise .

Any sugestions?

[Adis]

XP is the best (I'm not working for Microsoft )

[Brian Ellis]

How about W2k SP2? It's rock stable and does not have the disadvantages of XP or the higher W2k SPs. I'm not changing from that for video work until I'm really forced under protest.

[Elie]

Microsoft did not release SP2 for Windows XP.
But it is the OS I recommend.

Regards,
Elie

[kropotkin]

Well, it would soon be availalble .. XP SP2 ... but i'm afraid of new bugs in exchange for bug fixes . Well whatever, i think i will go for XP. I have it at work and i found it a little bit faster, specially if i disable all those stupid animations and effects . Win2k really got dangerous after SP2 ... so i choose the future .

[Flying dutchman]

Did you experiment with new VIA IDE drivers?
Using the recovery console, locate and delete the driver for the IDE controller. It's somewhere in the directory
C:\WINNT\system32\drivers and probably called viaide.sys;
Windows will then revert to the standard driver atapi.sys (if present).

[mits]

Win2k and SP2 works fine for me. Even the sony dvd-recorder (DRU-500ax) which suggests the latest sp works ok. If you have an audigy sound card which supports dvd-audio then the sp3 is required, otherwise sp2 i think it will be ok.

[kropotkin]

Flying Dutchman, i have a Intel 815 based mb, so i don't think i can use the via drivers I tried to disable the driver ... however i didn't delete it. This could be an idea ... I'll test it first .

[colinbr]

How about W2k SP2? It's rock stable and does not have the disadvantages of XP or the higher W2k SPs. I'm not changing from that for video work until I'm really forced under protest

Can anyone remind me of the disadvantages of W2K SP3 ?

I vaguely remember reading something here about it when it was released, where several people were grumpily annoucing that they would not install it.

Something to do with digital rights management?

I've tried to use the forum search for W2K SP3 but it refuses to work unless your search term is at least 4 chars long.

[GNEP]

They changed the EULA for SP3 to match pretty much that for WinXP IIRC.