Upgrading XP to SP3

[Anomaly]

When I did this I downloaded an ISO burnt it to disk and Shut down my AV and any other unnecessary programs and than installed from the disk. Went well for me. I'm interested to know how many here did it this way and did anybody use Windows update instead and if so did you have any problem?

[hazelnut]

Have done it 3 ways Anomoly on different machines.

 

Windows updates, iso, and the exe file.

 

All 3 worked.

[Andavari]

I've only ever used the large full downloadable .exe file in the past simply because I wanted all other programs that may interfere completely exited, and so I could disconnect from the Internet too.

 

If you have a retail version of the original XP install CD (no guarantee it will work with an OEM CD) you can make a slipstream installation of XP SP3 and burn it to a CD or DVD so when you install XP again at some point it will automatically install as XP SP3, I used nLite to make mine several years ago.

[cc1]

"...did anybody use Windows update instead and if so did you have any problem?"

I used Windows Update with no problems.

[DennisD]

I went the same way as you, the ISO burned to CD.

 

Two reasons ...

 

1: I always choose to download and carry out off-line installs simply because of the inherent dangers of doing on-line ones, especially with large files. First and foremost being a connection failure halfway through.

 

2: At the time I still had my "Recovery Partition" which was XP with SP2, so the ISO method gave me a back up CD containing SP3 if I ever had to do a reinstall of Windows.

[TeeJay3800]

I upgraded via Microsoft Update with no issues.

[cc1]

I've never installed service patches using ISO's. Is this where one downloads the ISO?

[Anomaly]

OK thanks for the answers.

 

cc1, yes that is one of the places. I've seen it on other sites to like this

[login123]

I had the problem described on this forum here. Was advised by a microsoft helper to copy the exe file to C:, reboot in safe mode, and run the exe. It worked. Been a year or two, though.

[Anomaly]

I had the problem described on this forum here. Was advised by a microsoft helper to copy the exe file to C:, reboot in safe mode, and run the exe. It worked. Been a year or two, though.

 

So you used the exe not the ISO or the Windows Updates version? You simply downloaded the exe to your main drive booted into safe mode and ran the exe? Did you do any of the reg changes that were discussed in the thread you linked.

[login123]

So you used the exe not the ISO ... Did you do any of the reg changes ...

 

I kept those instructions from the MS helper, they include a link to this Microsoft site. The file there is WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe.

 

I did use the exe, but...

 

I have gone back to my txt file where the instructons are, and the last note says that rebooting into safe mode was not necessary because I changed the registry entry for intelppm.sys before doing anything else. I don't remember doing that, but right now Intelppm...Start...has a value of 00000004, which is what the instructions said to make it.

 

That value is at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet \Services \Intelppm

 

I had several exe and iso files when SP3 first came out, there was lots of chatter about it. After comparing the checksums, I kept the one from TwistedMetal and the one from Microsoft. The one from TwistedMetal was linked on this forum at that time. The one at the link above is the same as the one I kept.

 

That's my best excuse for not remembering.

[MikeW]

I also used the ISO so that I could disconect from web and close all protection. Have updated several boxes this way

[Vajradhara]

I can't get SP3 to run, it's really starting to bum me out.

 

I've had SP2 for years and never had problems. But I've tried getting SP3 both with wupdate and with the install file download, I've tried it in safe mode and normal, I've shut off my antivirus. It always seems to install successfully but when I boot up it only gets to the XP loading screen then reboots itself. I can boot into safe mode, and when I try to uninstall SP3 with add/remove programs it throws some anonymous file not found error and won't do it. I've had to use system recover to get it off.

 

I don't know what to do, I was thinking of upgrading to Windows 7 but if SP3 won't install over this maybe I need to just reformat and start over.

[DennisD]

A couple of links here may have suggestions you haven't came across yet:

 

How to troubleshoot an unsuccessful installation of Windows XP Service Pack 3:

 

And this one with a link leading to a lot of stuff about installing SP3 issues:

 

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=15679

 

A lot of reading, but it might be worth wading through it.

[login123]

Hi, Vajradhara. Does your computer have an AMD processor (or any processor other than intel)? If so, that might be the problem.

 

There is a driver called intelppm.sys that causes the rebooting after sp3 is installed on an AMD machine. On my AMD machine, intelppm.sys is found in the folder "C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers".

 

If you are comfortable editing the registry, this Microsoft link 1 shows how to prevent intelppm.sys from starting by editing a registry value. See "Method 1". Be careful. The registry is unforgiving ...editing it is dangerous.

 

Down the page is "Update Information" with a link to here: Microsoft link 2. It is a download which says it "prevents an issue in which windows restarts continuously". I have not tried that update.

 

But I do know that my registry value for intelppm is 4, as suggested in link 1.

 

I would like to know how your efforts go, as I am soon to reinstall the WXP home myself.

[Anomaly]

The fact that this AMD processor thing is still an issue goes to show what a bunch of classless clowns MS are.

[Aethec]

The fact that this AMD processor thing is still an issue goes to show what a bunch of classless clowns MS are.

 

...Because you're so much better at programming and finding what exactly causes a bug in millions of lines of code, right ?

[Anomaly]

...Because you're so much better at programming and finding what exactly causes a bug in millions of lines of code, right ?

No because this problem has been there since SP 3 was released and the fix is a bunch of jumping through hoops. They should have fixed this and released a SP3 with the fix. They know what the problem is obviously so why not fix it instead of making the user jump through hoops.

 

I don't claim to be a programmer. I don't need to be better than MS or anybody else to point out a flaw. The fix for this AMD processor flaw is lame. It's also not very well documented or reported. Non tech types will just see a SP3 update available and download it and install it and have a screwed machine. They will have this because of MS stupidity.

[Aethec]

This is not MS's fault. The KB article says this happens when sysprep was done on an Intel computer and then deployed on an non-Intel processor. Microsoft can't do anything about this, I'm afraid. Contrarily to what you might think, MS doesn't want to screw their users' computers. Especially not when the said users are enterprises.

 

Back on topic now - Vajradhara, did that solve your problem?

[Anomaly]

This is not MS's fault. The KB article says this happens when sysprep was done on an Intel computer and then deployed on an non-Intel processor. Microsoft can't do anything about this, I'm afraid. Contrarily to what you might think, MS doesn't want to screw their users' computers. Especially not when the said users are enterprises.

 

 

I never said MS wanted to screw their users and will advise you not to put words in my mouth or we will have a problem.

 

As for it being MS fault. They know what the problem is now they should issue a fix to SP3 so it doesn't happen. The current solution is not acceptable IMO.

[pwillener]

As for it being MS fault. They know what the problem is now they should issue a fix to SP3 so it doesn't happen. The current solution is not acceptable IMO.

XP-SP3 was released more than 2 years ago; there is no point to "fix" such an old release now.

 

The exact cause for this problem is explained under 'User Complaints' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP#Service_Pack_3

[Talldog9]

they should have revised the offending intel component dropper and re-released SP3 way back then.

[Anomaly]

they should have revised the offending intel component dropper and re-released SP3 way back then.

Yes I agree.

 

pwillener, The point is it should not have made it this far. Either MS is going to support XP or it isn't. Don't half ass it. I just find this whole fix bush league.

[MikeW]

It is clear from the link that this was an OEM problem, nothing to do with MS.

 

"Shortly after release, a large number of users with AMD processors reported that their PCs would not boot after installing Service Pack 3. The cause was established to be a result of OEMs who preinstalled (using Sysprep) a copy of Windows XP which had been created on a machine with an Intel processor. This resulted in the Intel SpeedStep driver (intelppm.sys) attempting to load on the AMD-based PC. Microsoft never supported this configuration.[70]"

[login123]

Well, dern it, pwilliner's wiki link leads back around to the quotation by MikeW which leads to reference citation #70, which is Microsoft Link 1 in my post.

 

Good grief.

 

Vajradhara, did'ja get it fixed???