I recently installed Windows XP service pack 2 beta in the hope it would resolve some M$ driver issues.

SP2 has 256-bit WPA encryption for your wireless card. That is a big deal in my book. It also have alot more security than any previous patch for Windows XP. Security includes IE and Active-X hardening against script kiddies and worms.viruses. This is a direct result of Windows XP source code being released into the wild of the internet. That was a very very bad thing.

PC is running alot slower during bootup but after all the services are working everything is fine.

Hopefully SP2 will be out soon. Wouldn't suggest the beta version as of version 20040610.163018