A service pack is merely a collection of many past updates but, may also
include some new updates.
It provides a simple means of determining a level of a program..
news:
[email protected]...
If you want to know what is really in SP3, Microsoft has a whitepaper
on SP3 you can download from:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...ad-bc34-40be-8d85-6bb4f56f5110&DisplayLang=en
But here's a quote from that whitepaper:
"Windows XP SP3 includes all previously released Windows XP updates,
including security updates and hotfixes, and select out-of-band
releases. For example, the service pack includes functionality
previously released as updates, such as the Microsoft® Management
Console (MMC) 3.0 and the Microsoft Core XML Services 6.0 (MSXML6)."
"Microsoft is not adding significant functionality from newer versions
of Windows, such as Windows Vista, to Windows XP through XP SP3. For
instance, Windows XP SP3 does not include Windows Internet Explorer 7,
although Windows XP SP3 does include updates to both Internet Explorer
6 and Internet Explorer 7, and it will update whichever version is
installed on the computer. One notable exception is that, SP3 does
include Network Access Protection (NAP) to help organizations that use
Windows XP to take advantage of new features in the Windows Server®
2008 operating system."
The upshot is, IF you have kept SP2 up-to-date (all Win Updates
installed) installing SP3 is not _critical_.
Sorry if I was not clear about the SP3 ISO being just the installer
for SP3 only. But installing SP3 using an SP3 Install CD is the safer
way to do it. The CD install also does not need to unpack files to
your hard drive prior to install.
