Which to update 1st after oem xp reinstall, MS or NIS?

Hi all,

Looking for advice here with this reinstall of OEM XP. Have the disks for the SP1 & 2 & will be installing NIS 2006 from CD also. Due to the weakness of the XP firewall, would I be correct in assuming it's best to install the NIS asap & go there 1st (as it has to be registered online) & to have the current protection of it's updates before facing the saga of MS update site?

It will be a clean install - as much as any Oem can be as we intend to format the disk before starting again. I've copied all the oem tags n files to the external hard-drive being used as data & doc repository in case any are needed.

It has to be a clean install as a virus was contracted a few years ago & is still held in quarantine. I know of no other way to be sure to be clear of it in the changeover. This is not the only reason for going back to the beginning but is a major factor.

One reason is the slowness of IE & Explorer to load and the other major one is that this standalone PC believes it is a Network which slows things down further. This I believe, is due to an Windows Update installed when it was set to auto download AND install - a mistake I don't intend to repeat as I've never been able to locate the culprit update and uninstall it. This is partly why I'm not organised with all the MS updates to now on disk- don't want to repeat the Network nightmare

It will be taking place in around 8 hours or so, so I hope someone reads this & replies before then as it may take a while to get back online in a surfing capacity

Looking forward to spending more time around here in the near future, I've missed this place!
~ CL

 

I would do the NIS install first.
As a precaution you may want to enable Windows Firewall temporarily.

Using cds to update? I also went that route with sp1 & sp2 when I re-did XP recently.Cheap and less of a hassle.

 

I always do HIPS>Firewall>AV>Def updates>Windows updates.

 

Hello ConstantLearning

It is not a good practice to use your security software to protect you from the installed updates (calling home issues, etc.) The best way is to not install the updates which you don't need.

So I would, on the contrary, suggest patching of your system first before installing any security software. However, you should get acquainted with the Windows updates first, have some read on what each of them do. You certainly don't need everything recommended by the little yellow shield in your taskbar. Example is Malicious Removal Tool, you don't need these if you have a third-party AV. And, if you use an alternate browser, mail client or media player, you don't need a bunch of those updates for IE, OE and WMP.

An alternative to online updates is Autopatcher, a package of around 300 megs which contains all the updates for Windows, critical, recommended and optional. You could dl it, and then carefully select updates you need. There are links in it for every update, you can read what are they for on MS site. Of course, Windows will nag you with the yellow icon that your system is not fully patched, but you can always turn that off.

When you are done with this, install your security (NIS). Of course, that's just the way I do it, and I may be wrong here...

Cheers.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice

I will be using Fx & Thunderbird on a daily basis, but need some of the Office files for friends work afaik. It's likely that IE will be installed & updated again also for co-owner's needs... unfortunately.

So it will be, Rescue Disk, XP-SP1, XP-SP2, NIS - upgrade NIS to '07 if possible, then off to MS update site OR use Auto-Update with download NO install settings so I can read & check on the necessity of each update ( if I can get my co-owner to be that patient ). The latter method doesn't require use of IE.

I was wondering if I should use one of the Windows advisory update like MBSA but as I'm no IT person, seems wisest to stick with what I know.

@ The Seer ~ It's the Firewall aspect & anti-malware aspect of NIS I want covering the PC while it's online working through the MS updates post SP2 - not anything to do with calling home

Thank you all for your input, it's deeply appreciated.

Here goes ( fingers crossed ) will let you know how we get on.

~ CL

 

Hello again.

Are you actually worried that you might pick up some malware from Windows Update site or get hacked while you're updating? I find that most unlikely.

Windows firewall is excellent for inbound protection, it only lacks outbound control, that's why I mentioned "calling home" issues. It will protect you from any possible hacking attempts, but not from WGA spy-crap-ware . That you should exclude from updates, not use NIS to block it. (WGA is just an example)

Anyway, whichever method you choose, I believe you'll be fine. Practically, not much of a difference really.

My regards.

 

I always fully update my OS and drivers first, then i make an image before i start to install security software.

 

I'm with farmerlee. With the help of AutoPatcher, I get the OS as fully up to date as I can (without going online) and then I image. (This way, if (when) I have to start over again, I'm not starting from just SP2.) Then I install my AV and firewall (and start on all the rest.)

 

You can also create a fully patched XP oem CD.. I personally use HFSLIP for this purpose. It actually slipstreams newer XP files into your XP source, then make, and even burn, ISO for you..

 

I currently use RyanVM's Update Pack but before that I used AutoPatcher.

 

Ryan's VM you say WSFuser? Never tried it, I lingered to do so, Autopatcher did the job for me. I know I should try it, but perhaps you can give me your reasons for switching from Autopatcher to Ryan's... Is it better somehow?

I am sorry if this is OT...

 

Well RyanVM's Update Pack gets integrated into your Windows CD as opposed to AutoPatcher that installs afterwards. Also I use nLite so I figure it might remove some things updated by hotfixes.

 

Hi WSFuser.

Oh yes, I almost forgot, you're using nLite. OK, I will try nLiting RyanVM's on my next reformat. Autopatching takes substantial amount of time, so your method could be more advanced/time saving. Thanks for the reply.

My regards,

 

Hello again. It's a relief to be back, went pretty smoothly overall.
I've learned a lot, both through the experience & from the posts in this thread.

I'll keep RyanVM's & AutoPatcher in mind if there's a need to do it again. Great tips.

Seer, I felt that I needed the Security in place so I could download Firefox to read up on each of the updates WU proposed taking as long as needed to understand fully. I find that some of the Security Updates stated as necessary for XP SP2 often do not apply to XP Home Edition when you read the Mitigating Factors.

I had NIS upgraded (free) to 2007 and installed remotely by a NIS professional after I'd installed XP's SP2.

I think I've made an error by installing MSXML 4.0 SP2 Parser & SDK (trying to get the MDAC right) as the KB927978 (Nov '06) update of SP2 of Msxml4 has slowed down the system noticably - installed today. I don't think I'm running anything that requires more than the Msxml3 SP7 that I already had.... Feedback on this would be appreciated.

Thank you one & all for your input and advice, it has helped a lot

~CL (so obviously not a tech ) up n running again