[downriver]

I need to keep an xp box running, just re-formatted and re-installed windows from a legal CD with sp2. Went through many hassles but did get it updated to sp3. But update still won't run. I am sent to a page "Support Center," that tells me to install sp3 (DONE), then turn on "Automatic Updates" (DONE), but it still won't do the update...

[ildperez]

Try downloading the sp3 executable from the windows website instead of auto update here is the link http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downl...ils.aspx?id=24

[downriver]

No, I got the sp3 update (installer package) and that worked. But I couldn't get it through the "help/support>update" path, nor any other updates -- redirected to another MS page with lots of "solutions" that were useless. The "help>about" info showed the sp3, but the updates were still not working.

Oddly, the machine is updating like crazy now... I scanned around other forums and found people having the same problem with xp updates. I think somebody up in Seattle area got to work on this. They are going to stop supporting xp soon. I gotta say, it's very annoying to me that every time MS makes a new OS, I lose hard and software that won't work with the new system, costing me time and money, both of which are in short supply these days... forgive the brief rant.

What seems to have worked is setting the update to (1) automatic and (2) to tell me when updates are available WITHOUT downloading or installing them. (I'm on a different box here, so that's an approximation of the actual language.)

But even that didn't work right away. I walked off for several hours, and found notice that updates were available upon return. Now, as I said, it's pulling updates over and over, building it back up as I wanted. So this is "solved," but still... confusing.

Thanks!

[managed]

Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003

Support Ends April 8, 2014

Still some time to go yet.

[downriver]

Right. The "rant" was premature. But what should have been a few clicks to update the OS ate a big part of my day. I've re-done the same box a couple of time in the past with nothing like this amount of hassle. MS is apparently already changing things for XP updates. So from where I sit, the support for XP seems already... diminished. I need one XP system working indefinitely for video hard/software I can't afford to replace, and already have lost functionality of much hard- and soft-ware on this w7 x64 machine. It's hard to keep up when on a fixed income -- that's my only point. And soon there's W8 to deal with... I still have a really cool little Ditto tape backup drive -- a marvelous little machine, and utterly useless since W95. Seems wasteful, to me. (It's been a long day...)

[ildperez]

I but money someone will keep making updates for xp lol system is by way to many people, Including me. I have seven but still use xp for like 90 percent of what I do lol. And I'm a tech

[downriver]

ildperez - way off-point, but for normal use (not gaming, etc.), what are the actual advantages to 64bit over 32?

I have multiple functioning boxes, too (not counting various defunct oldies): xp 32 & xp 64, in addition to w7 x64, and I honestly do NOT experience any better performance on the 64bit systems. Like I said, maybe gaming and other high-energy stuff, but not with anything I normally do, including occasonal video editing.

But then, I didn't notice much improvement on speed from w98se (even running fat32, not NT) to xp 32bit...

Stability and other things are better, yes (especially 98>sp), but just on the speed issue -- thoughts?