[karbo]

I have a laptop on wich I recently updated to SP3. I have had no problem what so ever, nore do I see any difference. I even have a D-Link wireless card and contrary to some saying it caused major problems after SP3, everything is working fine for me. I updated from SP2 to SP3 with Windows Update when prompted. Perhaps this is the key to possible problems. I read about people installing from a CD or iso image or downloading from whatever questionable website. Please do it the standard way and it should work ok. There seems to be a possible issue with AMD processors so try to get more info if you have this type of processor.

I still didn't install SP3 on my main computer at home and I don't quite understand why I don't even get prompted for it. But I can see it in Windows Update. I'll first test it on my laptop but unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to really fully test it because I have very few programs on it to check compatibility issues, compared to my main computer.

But, I'm wondering... For people not updating to SP3, will it be possible to make any other future updates without SP3?!? I suppose we won't have a choice anyway.

[brillser]

Hi Karbo,
I was wondering about that myself.
"But, I'm wondering... For people not updating to SP3, will it be possible to make any other future updates without SP3?!? I suppose we won't have a choice anyway."

Mine is at that same stage, it's prompting me to download sp3. But I'm wondering should I back her up and do a reinstall to factory settings, ie: sp2 without updates, before hand?
thanks for the post Karbo.

[TOGG]

You can read about what SP3 actually contains here; http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en and if you d/l the White Paper itself (in pd format), you can see exactly what the 'small number of new functionalities' actually consist of.

This patch appears to be mostly, if not completely, for the benefit of network admins. Unless you want to d/l the ISO version to burn it to a CD/DVD for future reinstalls, there seems little point in bothering. There is no chance of my dialup connection holding up long enough to d/l 300+ MB but even if it would, I don't want, or need, 'all previously released patches for this OS'.

[tony007]

you dont need sp3 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946480/

[Courtneyc]

Not yet. Next month, both SP3 for XP and SP1 for Vista will be listed as critical downloads in Windows Update. About 6 months after, Microsoft will make it a requirement for all future updates (like they did with SP2).

Courtney

[TOGG]

I've read elsewhere about SP3 being designated as 'Critical' next month, but I'm curious as to how a patch that doesn't appear to contain anything critical now will somehow become so later? Surely it is Critical now or it isn't? What will be happening in the next four weeks to change its status?.

[brillser]

From No.5
"Not yet. Next month, both SP3 for XP and SP1 for Vista will be listed as critical downloads in Windows Update. About 6 months after, Microsoft will make it a requirement for all future updates (like they did with SP2)."

What about patch tuesday in the interim? As TOGG points out in No.6.

[Bone Head]

For what it is worth , I heard people with AMD processors are having problems with it .

[D-Rock]

As far as I have read online SP3 is fine for anyone with an Intel processor. SP2 had serious problems right from the start with AMD processors. I believe they had an online update "fix" for that already but I wouldnt trust it just yet. I personnally am using an Intel Pentium 4 and I have been using SP3 since it was a beta back in January. I like the way it feels. It seems to have a good performance boost until you load too many programs onto your computer, then the performance degrades. Of course that is just my opinion.

[brillser]

So should SP3 be installed from a clean SP2 or can it be installed on an updated SP2?

[corrigme]

I can't tell any difference in SP3. Brillser - You can install SP3 from any SP2.

[Bone Head]

They say make sure your computer is clean of malware [etc]
Some people with IE7 are also having problems .
If you are going to download the 300 meg version , best to burn it to a CD so you can install it on more then one computer .

[karbo]

Well, the version I always see in Windows Update is only 69.3 Mb. What's the 300 Mb version people are talking about? Is it for people who start from a new SP2 installation?

[tony007]

Courtney C what is your source ?

[AquaHarmony]

I had the misfortune of downloading the SP3, and boy, I got the shut down and restart nightmare of a lifetime! Of course, I checked AFTER THE FACT, that's because I have an AMD processor and only found out at that time, that persons with that type of processor, may experience exactly what happened to me. Needless to say, I have a 500 GB external drive that I saved everything to. I restored back to factory settings successfully, I did happen to find my way to that, and now I am back to being as happy as a clam. I don't plan to dload SP3, until maybe much later this year, when perhaps all the kinks are worked out.