Get the Latest Updates and Information from Your PC Manufacturer Before Installing Windows XP Service Pack 2.What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2.Memory protection helps prevent attackers from executing code on your computer.

US-CERT highly recommends that you enable Automatic Updates. The update services and automatic update feature of Windows XP have been improved. The Security Center '.provides a central location for changing security settings, learning more about security, and ensuring that computer is up to date, with the essential security settings that are recommended by Microsoft.' Outlook Express now supports the ability to read and compose messages in plain text and to block external HTML content such as 'web bugs.' Security checks are now performed in a more consistent way to help prevent the execution of malicious attachments. Enhanced protection against security zone elevation and object caching vulnerabilities helps defend against malicious web scripts.

A browser add-on management interface provides a way to identify and disable programs that run as part of Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer now includes a pop-up blocker, additional window restrictions, and changes in MIME type handling that better defend against social engineering and ' phishing' attacks. This protects you from attacks and vulnerabilties such as Download.Ject.Īdditional Internet Explorer Security Changes New settings for Internet Explorer disable the execution of ActiveX controls and Active scripting in the Local Machine Zone. Internet Explorer Local Machine Zone Lockdown.Blocking this traffic helps to protect you from worms and other malicious code that spread via the Internet. Windows Firewall is enabled in almost all configurations, blocking network traffic coming into your computer. Following is a summary of the new security updates and features in Service Pack 2: Like other Microsoft Service Packs, Windows XP Service Pack 2 also includes previously released security fixes and other operating system updates. Windows XP Service Pack 2 is a major operating system update that contains a number of new security updates and features.

Windows xp service pack 2 support tools