Microsoft really wants us to test SP2 RC1 for Windows 2003. They’ve made it available on Windows Update. Don’t worry, your servers will only install it if you prepare the machines with some registry updates that are available on the Microsoft website.
This update will make the following edits to your registry:
- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWindowsUpdateWS03SP2beta]
- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWindowsUpdateWS03SP2beta21124ad5-c8a4-4e4f-ac2d-95a6cb8fa72b]
Only when these updates are present will your server actually be able to see the service pack is available for download on Windows Update.
Some tips from MS:
- Do not install this RC on production systems.
- You will need to uninstall beta releases of the SP before installing the RC.
- You will not be able to install this RC if your test machine will built with an integrated build of SP2.
Remember that SP2 will also be applied to XP x64 which is currently only at SP1. There’s no word yet on whether XP x64 will be able to download the SP2 RC from Windows Update.
If you are going to try out SP2 (and it’s worth checking out for WDS!) then make sure you do it in a test lab. Make sure you also read my documents on WDS and on SP2.