text: upgrading windows service pack 1 to sp2 - would that affect my installed programs? i have a pc that have an service pack 1, and i would like to upgrade to service pack 2.. the problem is i dont wanna loose my programs since its a pain to install files again and get all my cds together.. so does upgrading to sp2 would make my programs no longer working? it should not affect any of your files or programs.  over the last year, i have upgraded at least 20 pcs where i work from sp1 to sp2 and have had no problems.  when sp2 first came out, ms offered a free cd-rom to make it easier than using the download off of the site.  they still have it offered as part of windows update, but it takes a long time to download, even over a high speed connection.  with windows security being was it is, you are best to do the update.