XP SP3

[nihil]

That is usually the argument for not being an early adopter of a new operating system or application release.

A service pack isn't an "upgrade" it is an "update". Usually they consist of a consolidation of patches and fixes to date (which you have most likely applied already), with a few new ones added for good measure.

This presents a dilemma, as if you don't apply the new patches, you will leave yourself vulnerable. I am sure that most of us are aware of the increasing trend to have exploits out in the wild hours after a patch release.

Incidentally, I am sure it is not my imagination, but I am sure that SP3 has produced a performance improvement in this box.

@ MsM:

Forgot to mention it, but SP3 loads RDP 6.1 and you need to uninstall RDP 6.0 or you will get an error message

[MrLinus]

Nihil,

Some services packs are upgrades (see SP1 for Win2k3 -- it did major kernel changes that affected how MSCS worked on virtualized environment). It's interesting that SP3 loads 6.1 but you have to uninstall RDP 6.0 beforehand. Wouldn't it have made sense that they have included an uninstall script in the SP?

[nihil]

Hey Mitts,

How is Mechicho, or whatever they call it

Some services packs are upgrades

Indeed they are. However I think that you have to agree that the majority are not? In any case, this XP-SP3 isn't

It is so bad, Bill Gates is going to have to send us McDonald's vouchers, there is so little additional work coming out of it

Wouldn't it have made sense that they have included an uninstall script in the SP?

You mean "like everyone else"????????????

No, you will not draw me into M$ baiting, no way!!

[MrLinus]

LOL. Mexico is ok. Although I've lost my voice today so it's going to make today and tomorrow a tough teach.

And it's good to know that SP3 doesn't affect the kernel.

[nihil]

OH Dear!

All I can suggest is going to a quality pharmacy and getting some glycerine and "TCP", which is "an aqueous glycerol solution of halogenated phenols 0.68%w/v and Phenol BP 0.175% w/v" it is made by Pfizer, for example. You make a solution of the two and gargle.............

It worked when I was a choirboy

No, not "THAT film"............. for "that" you need an ice-bath, fume cupboard, running water, 25% concentrated sulphuric acid, 75% fuming nitric acid, glycerine, and a 9volt battery, mercury trembler switch.............. errrrrr...... ummm yeah well............. command wire?

Good luck!

They do teach you some strange stuff in the military?

[JPnyc]

No problems with it here yet. Installed on my laptop only so far.

[CyberB0b]

I came into an issue on 2 machines installing SP3 and had a "No Access" error. I found a forum that linked to a knowledgebase fix for the problem.

1. Make a backup of your registry.

2. Download and install subinacl.exe. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en)

3. Create a file called reset.cmd with Notepad. Copy the text below into the file reset.cmd and run reset.cmd with administrative rights (it may take a LONG time):

cd /d "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools"
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %windir%*.* /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb /verbose

4. Reboot and try install SP3 again.

Worked with no issues. If that doesn't work you can always try Dial-a-Fix and select all options (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4899.html). Dial-a-fix has fixed almost every other Windows Update error I've come across. Hope this helps someone.

[Cider]

Installed XP3 on my network. No issues so far

[nihil]

I have been monitoring this and it seems that some people are getting hit with a continuous reboot cycle problem. Particularly HP boxes with AMD processors.

This may help:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/fixin...3_reboot_blues

[vanman]

Hi there nihil,
Havent spoken to you guys in a while..I installed it and the only problem i got so far was that my internet connection did not want to work..Tried various things but to no avail..Restored to an earlier date and all was fine..I must agree to some extent that to wait a while would not hurt anyone i guess..

Some ppl here in SA recon that if your updates are done automatically through automatic updares turned on there would be less hassles..Do not understand that kind of reasoning anyway but is there any truth to that??