23 replies to this topic

[Steve51]

Hi Everyone
I have not Downloaded service pack3 for windows xp yet I keep hearing bad things and sometimes good things about it does anyone have any advice for me.

Thanks

[hazelnut]

I think you summed it up really Steve, some people have no problem at all, and some do.

If you are able to make a backup do so, and then if it goes wrong it's no problem for you.

Many people including myself have had no problems with SP3, but it's your call

[DennisD]

I just installed it a couple of days ago Steve with no problems. I did it from a downloaded ISO file burned to CD.

IMO the best way to do it. You can turn everything off, AV, Firewall etc with no risk, and you nullify the inherent risks that come with online installs.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

Stick the CD in, and the Wizard guides you through it.

Good luck.

[Steve51]

DennisD, on Aug 31 2008, 02:13 PM, said:

I just installed it a couple of days ago Steve with no problems. I did it from a downloaded ISO file burned to CD.

IMO the best way to do it. You can turn everything off, AV, Firewall etc with no risk, and you nullify the inherent risks that come with online installs.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

Stick the CD in, and the Wizard guides you through it.

Good luck.

Thanks Dennis sounds like a good idea to me. I clicked on your link wow its a big download 544mb if I ido install it I will certainly do it your way.
Thanks
Steve

[DennisD]

It looks big, but the longest part of the process was the Wizard backing up a lot of files.

The actual install (following the onscreen dialogue), on my pc was only about 15-20 minutes.

[Andavari]

hazelnut, on Aug 31 2008, 05:02 AM, said:

Many people including myself have had no problems with SP3, but it's your call

SP3 hasn't given me any problems either. However like you say make a backup first of all important files, etc., hence you just never know. And do disable your antivirus real-time protection, since it's installing OS files (that's recommended by Microsoft in some document I had read, but it's just common sense™ too).

[davey]

Steve51, on Aug 31 2008, 10:22 AM, said:

Thanks Dennis sounds like a good idea to me. I clicked on your link wow its a big download 544mb if I ido install it I will certainly do it your way.
Thanks
Steve

Hi Steve,
I did mine online like Hazel.
If memory serves me it was only a 60 some MB download based on the status of my system.
I already had SP2 completely up to date.
Followed Hazel's and Dennis' advice and turned everything off including any scheduled tasks or screen savers.
EDITI have 2004 DEll with 256 MB and approx. ??? KBp/s download and it took about 1 hour download and 1 hr to install. This was when it was first available.
Later I updated others PCs and it only took half the time.

The people that had the most problems were mainly HP,Compaq or custom PC users with AMD processors but even that has been fixed by MS from my reading.
EDITSome people did have to reload some Drivers. I have nothing special . you may since you are a musician . I think.
Good luck,
davey
P.S. You can always get the CD and just keep things the way you have them until whenever. If that comes.

Edited by davey, 31 August 2008 - 08:55 PM.

[Steve51]

davey, on Aug 31 2008, 08:01 PM, said:

Hi Steve,
I did mine online like Hazel.
If memory serves me it was only a 60 some MB download based on the status of my system.
I already had SP2 completely up to date.
Followed Hazel's and Dennis' advice and turned everything off including any scheduled tasks or screen savers.
I have 2004 DEll with 256 MB and approx. 350 KBp/s download and it took about 1/2 hour download and 1/2 hr to install.

The people that had the most problems were mainly HP,Compaq or custom PC users with AMD processors but even that has been fixed by MS from my reading.
Good luck,
davey

Thanks Davey my pc is Packard Bell so I hope things should go well.

[Andavari]

davey, on Aug 31 2008, 02:01 PM, said:

If memory serves me it was only a 60 some MB download based on the status of my system.

I downloaded the whole big single setup file for offline installations because I didn't want to have to go through Microsoft Update to download it ever again should I format and reinstall. Plus since dealing with more than one system it makes it rather handy to have it archived on CD, I also have it archived on my secondary hard disk too.

[rridgely]

This should be read by anyone who is reformatting before upgrading to sp3:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

Basically you need to reboot after upgrading windows update and before you install sp3, otherwise you wont be able to install new updates without reregistering a few dlls.

[hazelnut]

davey, on Aug 31 2008, 08:01 PM, said:

Hi Steve,
I did mine online like Hazel.

I didn't do mine online. I downloaded the whole service pack and then installed it manually.

[davey]

hazelnut, on Sep 1 2008, 01:35 AM, said:

I didn't do mine online. I downloaded the whole service pack and then installed it manually.

I certainly do apologize for my misunderstanding of what you were doing at the time. I do remember you saying that you had just installed something and did not want to complicate matters by doing both at the same time. I think it was a virtual machine software.
No wonder my download was so slow . All you guys were downloading the whole thing at one time. Wow !!! That also means I went out on the limb by my own little self. dramatically speaking of course. I am sure there were many others that did it the same way. The one thing I do know for sure is that later it was relatively faster to download.
And I sat there, being none the wiser thinking if Hazel did it that way, that is how I am going to do it. I better get my CD ordered now in case I need it .

Well it worked !!!
Thanks Hazel,
davey

[CeeCee]

I tried to install SP3, when it came available on Microsoft Update, but without any succes. It was so frustrating episode, that i will go without SP3, and won't try to install it again, until it comes fully required.

[YoKenny]

CeeCee, on Sep 1 2008, 10:59 AM, said:

I tried to install SP3, when it came available on Microsoft Update, but without any succes. It was so frustrating episode, that i will go without SP3, and won't try to install it again, until it comes fully required.

I had no problems installing SP3 on all 3 of my XP systems.

Did you get an error message?

Have you tried Dial-a-Fix Flush Software Distribution and Policies?
http://wiki.lunarsof...wiki/Dial-a-fix

Click the green arrow ( Check all ) then let it run.

Edited by YoKenny, 04 September 2008 - 11:38 AM.

[DennisD]

CeeCee, on Sep 1 2008, 02:59 PM, said:

I tried to install SP3, when it came available on Microsoft Update, but without any succes. It was so frustrating episode, that i will go without SP3, and won't try to install it again, until it comes fully required.

Have you tried doing it offline from an ISO CeeCee?

[Anthony A]

I still don't see why people are installing SP3 if you have a fully updated SP2. What exactly are you accomplishing? There is nothing significant in it other than an a accumulation of all the updates since XP was released. Great for reinstalls. No real reason to risk Billy butt jammer Gates completely screwing your computer if you have SP2 fully updated.

[YoKenny]

List of fixes that are included in Windows XP Service Pack 3

Quote

Fix list
The following fix list includes only the updates that were added in Windows XP SP3. For more information about the updates that are included in previous Windows XP service packs, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946480

[YoKenny]

Quote

Device Manager and Network Connections may be blank after you install Windows XP Service Pack 3

SYMPTOMS
After you install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), Device Manager may not show any devices, and Network Connections may not show any network connections.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953791

Articles dealing with Windows Update issues:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910359
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555989
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

[Corona]

They're finding this out now?

[Andavari]

Corona, on Sep 12 2008, 02:47 PM, said:

They're finding this out now?

They'll just have a little patch for the big patch to patch things up.