Microsoft patches for 1394 Firewire needed with WinXP SP2 for digital music recording?

Hi, All,

 

I have an Inspiron 5150 laptop, 3.06GHz HT, 1.25GB RAM, 40GBHD, running Windows XP.

The laptop is 4 years old, and I have, of course, updated to Win XP SP2 ages ago. All is working perfectly.

 

I have a rear panel 4-pin Firewire 400 1394 port that I have never used.

 

I am setting up to do some home digital music recording, and I am considering purchase of a Firewire-based audio recording interface, probably a Focusrite "Saffire" or a Presonus "Firebox".

 

In doing my online research on the various available devices, I came across references on several of the manufacturers' support sites to problems some folks have with poor performance of Firewire devices after updating to Win XP SP2.

 

Apparently one of the effects of the SP2 update was to reset the 1394 Firewire speed from the SP default of S400 down to a new default speed of S100. This can cause glitches and dropouts with a number of connected audio and video devices.

 

The first reference to this problem that I found is here:

http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/article.php?id=235

There is more info here- see third post by "Fulcra":

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/printthread.php?t=1437808&page=3&pp=100

 

 

There are two "fixes" or patches for the Firewire problem available from Microsoft.

KB885222 is here:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=885222

and KB904412 is here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904412

 

 

I can find no information about either of  the two fixes on the Dell Support Forums. (Although there are references to problems some folks have had with Firewire and XP SP2, there have been no specific fixes offered.)

 

So...

 

 

I need to know if it would be advisable for me to install either or both of the patches before I attempt to install a Firewire interface!

 

Thanks in advance for any advice or information!

 

Ken