It seems that Microsoft's new upgrade to Windows is making some people nervous. That's not surprising, as home and office computing environments are just not as friendly as they used to be due to viruses and spyware. Even the software we want to install on our systems has unfriendly characteristics that trace our steps from Web site to Web site, has unfriendly license agreements or are written so poorly that they play havoc with other software on our systems.

Readers responded to my column about Microsoft's introduction of that new upgrade, Windows XP Service Pack 2, by sending me additional questions about installing the Service Pack and how it affects other aspects of their systems.

Bill told me he had received McAfee Anti-Virus for free when he bought his PC, and wondered whether Windows XP SP2 would spell the end of his need for that product.

Unfortunately, Bill, no. If you are using an anti-virus package such as McAfee, Norton or Panda, you should keep it on your system and continue to update it automatically to get fresh virus definitions.

SP2 does not have an anti-virus function, although it should help protect your system from various types of problems that some viruses cause; and it will make it harder for outsiders to take control of your system from outside. So you'll have to continue to shell out the money for your annual virus update subscriptions -- no matter which anti-virus you use.

Steve asks whether his computer needs to be in standby mode before the download.

No, Steve. When you download Service Pack 2, you'll want your computer fully awake for a couple of hours as you download using your broadband connection.

You'll be able to start the download via the Windows Update service. If your Windows Update is set up to run automatically, it will pop up an icon at the bottom right corner of your screen when the upgrade is available to you.

If your system does not have Windows Update in automatic mode, you'll have to visit Microsoft's Windows Update Web site, where it will take inventory of your Microsoft software and give you the option of downloading it.

Because the download is appropriate for so many systems and is so large, the company is releasing it to some users before others. That way everybody doesn't try to download it at the same time, causing the world's largest data traffic jam.

Or you can avoid the traffic by ordering a CD and installing from that disk. I also suggest that anybody using a dial-up connection with Windows XP buy the CD instead of downloading the service pack.

Otherwise, you'll tie up your system and phone a few days (it's that big).

After reading the previous column, Greg wanted me to make sure that users of other Windows versions besides XP know that they can't use the upgrade and shouldn't bother to download it.

Greg also reminded me that SP2 is only a service pack, not a new version of Windows. While that is technically true, SP2 has a significant number of changes to the programs that make up the core Windows operating system. So, all those people who buy a Windows-based computer starting this fall, will, in essence, buy a new operating system -- very different from the XP systems that others had purchased last month or last year. Even though most differences are under the cover, you will notice some changes to Internet Explorer, such as a pop-up blocker and tool bar, and a few other changes in other parts of Windows.

I've posted the SP2 feature list at megabyteminute.com.