SP1 - SP3 Maybe Not

[Ron H]

Great reading on the new Windows 7 M1 Ultimate Edition - read the first three
subjects from The Hotfix here :
http://www.thehotfix.net/
And here is a little more :
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Has-Microsoft-Disavowed-Vista/
It don't look good for Vista. Ron

 

[Bill Sanderson]

I see a lot of fud, and very few verifiable facts.

I'm running both Vista SP1 and XP SP3 on various machines. I haven't really
seen a lot of difference in SP3, although it includes some useful new
functionality in some areas, but very little that was not already an
optional download.


Vista SP1 is well worth the effort, but I can't say that the users I have
who are still on RTM have been complaining....

 

[Robinb]

Bill is sp3 stable? sp2 on some machines was a horror to install.
Did sp3 go smooth for you?
and can you tell us what new stuff is in it?
thanks
robin

 

[Bill Sanderson]

SP3 is released as a public beta, so Microsoft clearly believes that it is
stable. I did have one glitch in testing SP3, but the glitch happened after
uninstalling one build and then installing standard updates to SP2--I doubt
it is something I could replicate, or that others will see.

At this point, I suspect that it will be completed in the not too distant
future, so I think I'd advise against looking at the beta unless you are
really curious.

http://download.microsoft.com/downl...982/Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3.pdf

gives the details

Table 1--around page 5 or 6--is stuff aready released which is folded
in--WPA2 capability is a good example of that.

Table 2 is new stuff and it it short and sweet--improved black hole router
detection turned on by default, and NAP- network access protection--which is
primarily of interest in the Enterprise market.

I'll roll this out to every XP client I can when it is released--I've had
zero problems on typical corporate desktops with it--the one problem I had
was at home, with my wife's machine (wouldn't you know it!) I actually did
a complete system restore to about 24 hours before using my Windows Home
Server to fix the problem.

 

[Alan]

Hi Bill,

I'm running XP Home SP2 on both my Dells -- a 6 year old Dimension 2300 and
a relatively new Dimension E520 -- and I know that I WON'T have to upgrade
to IE7 or Media Player 11 when I install SP3. (And I'm quite happy about
that. :> )

I do have a question though: Reading the information contained within the
Deploying Windows XP SP3 section, it states, "You can run the SP3 update
package on any SKU of Windows XP SP1 or SP2. For example, you can run the
SP3 update package on a computer running the Windows XP Media Center Edition
with SP1."

Does this indicate that SP3 will NOT install on top of the original, Gold
XP?

The reason I ask is that my Dimension 2300 came out before SP1, and the OEM
XP installation CD that it shipped with is just the 'Gold' RTM XP, with no
included service packs. (My Dimension E520 came with an OEM XP SP2
installation CD.)

If I ever need to do a clean install on the Dimension 2300, will I have to
first install the 'Gold' RTM XP Home, with no included service packs, then
install SP1 or SP2 before I can install SP3?

Alan

 

[Robinb]

interesting how it says all over- for those users who cannot upgrade to
Vista right now-
microsoft feels it is stable but do you and I am assuming you are on a sp3
newsgroup- do they?
also this newsgroup open to the public so I can go look at their comments?

thanks
robin

 

[mae]

I have been reading this one:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=2010&SiteID=17

mae

| interesting how it says all over- for those users who cannot upgrade to
| Vista right now-
| microsoft feels it is stable but do you and I am assuming you are on a sp3
| newsgroup- do they?
| also this newsgroup open to the public so I can go look at their comments?
|
| thanks
| robin

| | > SP3 is released as a public beta, so Microsoft clearly believes that it is
| > stable. I did have one glitch in testing SP3, but the glitch happened
| > after uninstalling one build and then installing standard updates to
| > SP2--I doubt it is something I could replicate, or that others will see.

| > | >> Bill is sp3 stable? sp2 on some machines was a horror to install.
| >> | >>>I see a lot of fud, and very few verifiable facts.

| >>> | >>>> Great reading on the new Windows 7 M1 Ultimate Edition - read the first

 

[Bill Sanderson]

I've seen some spirited debate about the question you raise.

My understanding at the moment is that SP3 will not install on Gold, but I
have not tested the combination.

The debate is over a pair of issues:

1) "Service packs are cumulative."
2) "XP Gold is out of support life."

Some folks feel 1 ought to trump 2.

I'm neutral--testing Windows is an expensive business--removing Gold from
the test matrix has a clearly measurable cost, I suspect. So--if you have
not made a disk with SPx incorporated, and you have to go back to bare
metal--gold, make sure the firewall is on and closed, go to SP1, then SP3.

 

[Alan]

Thanks for the reply, Bill.

I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't reading too much into the SKU
information when it said XP with SP1 or SP2.

Alan

 

[Bill Sanderson]

I don't think so. I really can't recall if I saw tests of trying to apply
to XP gold, and I haven't tested it myself, but I suspect it is blocked.

 

[Alan]

Hi Bill,

I started a thread in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general about my
interpretation this morning -- don't worry, I only mentioned you as someone
really "in the Microsoft loop" :> -- and I'm getting totally outvoted (the
story of my life ).

Let's hope I won't need to find out for sure the hard way and have to do a
clean install on my old Dimension 2300.

Alan