Computer help forum: Xp Service Pack 3

Yes. Service packs and other security related updates should be considered MANDATORY.

I am running XP pro, like you are and I know too many people that ran into a lot of trouble with SP3. I done a lot of reading on this subject and maybe is you are really good with computers and a problem arises,you can fix it,
I am not loading SP3 I was told if you have all the other updates ,you should be fine, I will not chance messing up pc more than normal,Out of 10 people who loaded it, 7 have problems,Not worth it in my estimation,

Thanks for the info, you're very helpful and pleasant to work with.

I am a computer novice... I have XP Media Center Edition on a Dell XPS 410, right now I have SP2.

I too have read all the horror stories about SP3. I'm afraid to try it.

I run ZoneAlarm and AVG, I was told that I should turn those off before installing. I guess it's safe?

Also, the link you provided above for DL'ing SP3, says its not for installing on one machine... still ok to use?

Thanks,

I am running a SYSTEMAX PC from TIGER DIRCT I think its a HP. It has a intel pentium d 3.20G. Reason I put that in is that usually Hp run on AMD. This I am sure of, as I ran belarc advisor, and it has everything in computer,
I think the first time the SP 3 was offered,I downloaded it and it would not finish,
I had so many problems with pc, its 18 months old and had 4 hard drives put in it, thank goodness I have insurance on it,

all I am running in my startup by clock is Mcafee Security Suite,from AOL and ACTIVE SPEED. and AOL. I disabled my Mcafee before installing SP 3 and it started and just went away, I am 86 per cent empty, so I have room for anything,
ANY HELP WILL BE APPRECIATED,

I aslo have another problem,I am new here so if I am in wrong place just let me know and tell me where to go on this

When I start my PC it loads windows ,every thing in startup is loaded, and it depends on temperment of pc, my mouse will FREESE,I cannot use my REBOOT button, I have to do a hard turnoff from machine,wait 2 minutes and restart pc, It starts over ,usually good for awhile,Got to point that is leave screen on always,will not let it got to sleep if I am not using it,I could be in the middle of something and it just freezes up again, I got no ERRORS of any kind and no blue screen of death, Does anyone have any idea what is causing this,or just help me on explaining to my COMPUTER HELP ON PHONE what to say,I am calling MONDAY on this, thanks Marlene

I have a Dell Inspiron B130 and I installed SP3 on my computer since it came out and my computer works faster with SP3 than it did with SP2. I have Zone Alarm and I also have Avast.


Rick

When I go to do stuff in my computer that requires to turn off Anti-Virus, etc, I get all my downloading completed, then just before turn off any security, I reach behind the computer and unplug the wire that connects me to internet. While you are unplugged, it is safe to run with no antivirus. Then, be sure your AVG is working again before you plug your connection wire back in.

Probably due to your skill level in "preparing" more than 50 computers for SP3, you have had no problems. Your experience, though, is not the experience of the more typical computer user. I, and most other home users that I know, have had great difficulties with the installation of SP3. I have installed SP3 on 4 computers and 3 of them had to be formatted and windows reinstalled. SP3 installs smoothly on a fresh windows installation but is not friendly with many, many applications. SP3 appears to have come from the same "cubicle" that Vista came from. Very, very buggy!!!

As I said elsewhere in this sequence, originally I had XPpro/SP2 and had some 40 programs and a lot of data (the latter was moved to a slave drive) and I installed from the web SP3. There were some conflicts with programs and in the end I gave up and wiped the drive with KillDisk utility and re-installed XPpro/SP2 and immediately installed SP3 and any additionla M% updates, then one by one re-installed my programs and had no problems.

For thos techincally interested my CPU is water cooled AMD quad 9950 with 4 GB Ram and plug-in HDD's

I am another novice on the computer, so please bear with me. I am getting the message that "updates are ready for your computer" and "click here to install these updates". I start the installation and a few minutes later, a message comes up that says "Setup cannot copy the file LCLMM.XML. Ensure that the location specified below is correct, or change it and insert 'Windows XP System Files' in the drive you specify."

The box below says "copy files from" with the location "C"\windows\srchasst\muil0409". I'm not sure how I ensure that this location is the correct one or what to change it to. It then asks me if I want to continue without copying this file, and I click no, which cancels the "Service Pack 3 Setup".

I have Norton 360 for virus and firewall protection, and I did not disable it before trying to install this update (didn't know I was supposed to?...like I said, I'm a novice at this stuff.) Help!

Service pack 3 was installed on my computer (automatic download) while I slept. For some reason Microsoft likes to update or download at 3:00 a.m. Bottom line: Service pack 3 wrecked my computer! I spent 4 days on the phone with tech support, having to hard shut down my computer because it froze all of the time (hadn't done this prior to Service pack 3). I took my computer in for analysis and repairs.
Unfortunately, nothing could be done. I had to buy a new computer.
My advice: STAY CLEAR OF SERVICE PACK 3!!!!

I now am running Vista, which I hadn't planned on getting for quite some time. Valuable lesson learned: NEVER allow Microsoft to automatically update. With Vista, I am notified of the updates and "I" decide what I want downloaded!!

I have loaded SP 3 on three of my own computers and on my Mom's computer. I have had no trouble at all and I am no expert.

I finally loaded up SP3 about a month ago or I should say I tried to. Once installed I could not get Windows to recognize my dsl modem or find the connection. Plus start up suddenly went from 2 minutes to around 8 minutes. I researched all of the advice out there about uninstalling Anti-Virus and Firewalls as well as a couple other tweaks of XP before installing but after 3 attempts to install I gave up. When I finally looked at what I would be missing from not installing SP3 I surmised that most of the update was previous smaller updates packaged together to work better. In my case it really didn't work at all. I turned off the automatic updater so it wouldn't bother me and I update manually now from time to time. I figure I can hold off another year before I am forced to get another computer and then either update to Vista or get out of the Wacko Windows World all together by buying a Mac or switching to a Linux OS.

beckyc - You can contact Dell and I was told they'll send you a real XP disk if you need one. Or possibly you could reformat with the Dell recovery disk? Or you can go to pricewatch.com and buy an XP disk for, looks like $72-90. XP makes it easy to reformat and reinstall and it'll be faster than what Dell sent as there's no adware or offers pre-installed.

keith

There are sadly shops that are handing out XP like it was free. There's a sad lesson here and it's very costly. XP runs about 99 bucks after shipping at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116056

Sorry to read posts like this.
Bob

That's not a good sign. When I see that message it's always a bad sign that the hard disk, cable or other part is nearing the end.

Hope you don't have to read what people write at http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=310752&messageID=2872155&tag=forums06;forum-threads