XP SP3

[AliceZ]

I've heard that MS will be releasing SP3 for WinXPsp2, in a month or so. I
searched but did not find any info about it, other than it will be abour
328MB.
Is this SP3 "coming out" soon? Will everyone who has SP2 be required to
download (?) and install it?
At the moment it appears to me that this SP3 will make many changes to our
computers and possibly cause problems with other programs we now have
installed.

 

[philo]

I've heard that MS will be releasing SP3 for WinXPsp2, in a month or so. I
searched but did not find any info about it, other than it will be abour
328MB.
Is this SP3 "coming out" soon? Will everyone who has SP2 be required to
download (?) and install it?
At the moment it appears to me that this SP3 will make many changes to our
computers and possibly cause problems with other programs we now have
installed.

Huh?

The world has not yet gotten to the point where one is forced to apply
as new service pack. The decision is up to you.
I suspect that once SP3 is officially released...the instances of problems
will be minimal...
hovever you may want to clone your drive prior to applying SP3 just in-case
of problems.

I did test out the pre-release of sp3 and found it made some nice
improvements
to my system.

 

[philo]

Wrong

they force you indirectly, expecially MSFT

there are so many programs that require sp 1 or 2 or else they will not
install

so unless you want to live in a batcave with old ancient non updated
programs you need the service packs.

Well if that's the case...forget it as you will soon enough be forced into
using Vista

My main OS is still Win2k all my stuff works with it.

My second machine has XP though .

I also have a test machine for Vista but it seems to still have some bugs in
it

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I've heard that MS will be releasing SP3 for WinXPsp2, in a month
or so. I searched but did not find any info about it, other than it
will be abour 328MB.

Is this SP3 "coming out" soon? Will everyone who has SP2 be
required to download (?) and install it?

At the moment it appears to me that this SP3 will make many changes
to our computers and possibly cause problems with other programs we
now have installed.

Huh?

The world has not yet gotten to the point where one is forced to
apply as new service pack. The decision is up to you.

I suspect that once SP3 is officially released...the instances of
problems will be minimal...

hovever you may want to clone your drive prior to applying SP3 just
in-case of problems.

I did test out the pre-release of sp3 and found it made some nice
improvements to my system.

Wrong

they force you indirectly, expecially MSFT

there are so many programs that require sp 1 or 2 or else they will
not install

so unless you want to live in a batcave with old ancient non updated
programs you need the service packs.

Many people choose to do this.
Again - you are NOT *forced* to change - especially not by any one entity.

I still know people running Windows 95 happily - as all they want is
something to pop their email with or play an old game they enjoy.

If you change it is because you have decided to 'keep up' with the rest of
the world that is changing around you. You make that decision. Sure - if
you plan on being in a career that utilizes computers in some major way -
you will have to choose whether or not to change because the world you deal
with changes. Again - your choice. There are still many places on the
planet that do not utilize computers and have changed very little in many
many years overall.

Also - the whole thing about blaming one entity for forcing the CHOICE to
change or not is ludicrous. A computer is not comprised of one single
component nor do the factors leading to the change in any product usually
based on one entities choices. It's usually done per requests and or other
factors that influence the product in question to also change - which likely
in turn causes many other products to change and the cycle goes on like it
always has.

What you are saying contradicts itself. You say you have to change (apply a
given service pack to a specific OS), but you add an "unless" - which means
you don't have to change(apply a given service pack to a specific OS). So
what you have done is say you agree that no one forces you to do anything -
but they do... ? Or you have agreed saying that someone does force you to
change - but they don't...? heh

Everything is a choice. You don't even have to use Windows XP - much less
apply said service pack in discussion. You don't have to have a computer
even. Anything else is an assumption.


As for the original poster - it will be out soon enough, you can choose
whether or not you want to install it (taking into factor security reasons,
new software, new hardware, etc) and you should - when doing anything to
your computer, even just using it - ensure you have a decent backup plan so
you at least do not lose the data important to you and quite possibly a more
advanced plan to make it easy to revert back to a state you were in prior to
any bad incidents.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Microsoft will announce the release of SP3 soon. There are online articles
by various journalists who place the release announcement anywhere from next
Monday to sometime next quarter so you will have to just wait. Do not use
the version of SP3 currently available on microsoft.com since it is a
release candidate for public testing and not the final. The size of the
service pack download will vary from 65mb to nearly 400mb depending on how
up to date your system is. Wait for it to be offered to you by Windows
Updates. There are no urgent updates in it if you are already up to date
with the critical patches that come out every month. As with all important
upgrades, it is wise to back up your important files before applying SP3
when it is available.

Oh, and just disregard the immaturity of some of the responses you are
getting to your question.

 

[PD43]

Wait for it to be offered to you by Windows Updates.

I read an article a couple weeks back that said SOME people actually
DID get offered that RC release at Windows Update. It was an
unintentional thing.

 

[HEMI-Powered]

Shenan Stanley added these comments in the current discussion du
jour ...

Many people choose to do this.
Again - you are NOT *forced* to change - especially not by any one
entity.

I still know people running Windows 95 happily - as all they want
is something to pop their email with or play an old game they
enjoy.

If you change it is because you have decided to 'keep up' with the
rest of the world that is changing around you. You make that
decision. Sure - if you plan on being in a career that utilizes
computers in some major way - you will have to choose whether or
not to change because the world you deal with changes. Again -
your choice. There are still many places on the planet that do
not utilize computers and have changed very little in many many
years overall.

Also - the whole thing about blaming one entity for forcing the
CHOICE to change or not is ludicrous. A computer is not comprised
of one single component nor do the factors leading to the change
in any product usually based on one entities choices. It's
usually done per requests and or other factors that influence the
product in question to also change - which likely in turn causes
many other products to change and the cycle goes on like it always
has.

What you are saying contradicts itself. You say you have to
change (apply a given service pack to a specific OS), but you add
an "unless" - which means you don't have to change(apply a given
service pack to a specific OS). So what you have done is say you
agree that no one forces you to do anything - but they do... ? Or
you have agreed saying that someone does force you to change - but
they don't...? heh

Everything is a choice. You don't even have to use Windows XP -
much less apply said service pack in discussion. You don't have
to have a computer even. Anything else is an assumption.


As for the original poster - it will be out soon enough, you can
choose whether or not you want to install it (taking into factor
security reasons, new software, new hardware, etc) and you should
- when doing anything to your computer, even just using it -
ensure you have a decent backup plan so you at least do not lose
the data important to you and quite possibly a more advanced plan
to make it easy to revert back to a state you were in prior to any
bad incidents.

A very sane and reasonable approach to ANY update, not just a Windows
SP, and exactly the philosophy I use - I ONLY update to get specific
bug fixes or specific new features but NEVER to "keep up" with
anyone.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

<snipped>

Colin Barnhorst wrote:

Wait for it to be offered to you by Windows Updates.

I read an article a couple weeks back that said SOME people actually
DID get offered that RC release at Windows Update. It was an
unintentional thing.

Although I never witnessed that - it may have been true. I do not recall
hearing anything about it being pushed with fully-automatic updates... But
offered, I have heard those stories.

From what I can tell - when it was offered - it was offered as "Service Pack
3 Release Candidate 2" - not just "Service Pack 3". It may be true that
some people are unsure what release candidate means - but it again all falls
back to computing common sense and paying a little attention to what you are
installing on your computer.

The advice given in this conversation so far still stands:

- Windows XP Service Pack 3 RTM (released to manufacturing) does not exist
at this time and installing anything that resembles Service Pack 3 for
Windows XP at this time means you are either being duped or installing a
pre-release product and you should treat it as such (willing to rebuild your
machine and lose everything on it.)

- Wait until it is released and announced officially. It is not something
you are likely going to be able to miss or misinterpret. It is likely to be
a prominent headline someplace obvious on www.microsoft.com.

If the OP (or anyone) wants to know more...

Being a pre-release product - there really is not a direct support
option available. You have a few options, however:

Start here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/0a5b9b10-17e3-40d9-8d3c-0077c953a761.aspx

Which can lead you:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=103822

and the forums set up specifically for the pre-release product:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=2010&SiteID=17

And of course:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...2b2-aab1-b969a62c68a7&DisplayLang=en#filelist

Where you can download it in different languages OR download a script that
sets a registry key on your system so you can get Windows XP SP3 Release
Candidate 2 from the Windows Update web page directly.

I do not recommend installing the pre-release (release candidate 2) on any
machine you are not willing to rebuild from scratch.

Hope that helps!

 

[PD43]

From what I can tell - when it was offered - it was offered as "Service Pack
3 Release Candidate 2" - not just "Service Pack 3". It may be true that
some people are unsure what release candidate means - but it again all falls
back to computing common sense and paying a little attention to what you are
installing on your computer.

Yup... it was.

HOW many folks do you think REALLY have/exercise "computing common
sense".

You've been playing this game for years... and have witnessed more of
the opposite than most of the transient posters here.

 

[Craig]

...

Microsoft will announce the release of SP3 soon. There are online
articles by various journalists who place the release announcement
anywhere from next Monday to sometime next quarter so you will have to
just wait. Do not use the version of SP3 currently available on
microsoft.com since it is a release candidate for public testing and not
the final. The size of the service pack download will vary from 65mb to
nearly 400mb depending on how up to date your system is. Wait for it to
be offered to you by Windows Updates. There are no urgent updates in it
if you are already up to date with the critical patches that come out
every month. As with all important upgrades, it is wise to back up your
important files before applying SP3 when it is available.

Oh, and just disregard the immaturity of some of the responses you are
getting to your question.

Colin,

Do you (or does anyone else) know if WinXP SP3 will include the .NET
Framework SP2 updates that came out for .NET 1, 2, and 3? I ask because one
program I use requires .NET 2, and I found that the .NET SP2 results in my
program (EMC Retrospect Express HD 2, a backup utility bundled with my
network hard drive) crashing. From what I've seen, EMC has not updated its
software since before the .NET SP2 release, so I'm afraid to run any MS
update that may install .NET SP2 on my PCs--at least until I see that EMC
has a revised version of their software. Thanks.

Craig

 

[PD43]

Do you (or does anyone else) know if WinXP SP3 will include the .NET
Framework SP2 updates that came out for .NET 1, 2, and 3

SP3 will not have any updates that were in SP2.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Shenan Stanley wrote:

From what I can tell - when it was offered - it was offered as
"Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2" - not just "Service Pack 3".
It may be true that some people are unsure what release candidate
means - but it again all falls back to computing common sense and
paying a little attention to what you are installing on your
computer.

Yup... it was.

HOW many folks do you think REALLY have/exercise "computing common
sense".

You've been playing this game for years... and have witnessed more
of the opposite than most of the transient posters here.

Most do not - that does not mean I am going to give up posting about it in
hopes one more person figures out that they should use common sense more
often in their life than just "stove hot - do not touch"... ;-)

 

[PD43]

Most do not - that does not mean I am going to give up posting about it in
hopes one more person figures out that they should use common sense more
often in their life than just "stove hot - do not touch"... ;-)

As you have probably guessed, I lack your patience when it comes to
posting to those who lack <ahem> "common computing sense".

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

No, because .net framework is not a part of XP, it is an option. It is a
part of Vista, but it is optional with XP. Bundled programs, like WMP and
IE are never updated by an OS service pack either. All of these items have
their own updates, and in the case of .net framework and IE, their own
service packs.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I've heard that MS will be releasing SP3 for WinXPsp2, in a month
or so. I searched but did not find any info about it, other than it
will be abour 328MB.

Is this SP3 "coming out" soon? Will everyone who has SP2 be
required to download (?) and install it?

At the moment it appears to me that this SP3 will make many changes
to our computers and possibly cause problems with other programs we
now have installed.

Huh?

The world has not yet gotten to the point where one is forced to
apply as new service pack. The decision is up to you.

I suspect that once SP3 is officially released...the instances of
problems will be minimal...

hovever you may want to clone your drive prior to applying SP3 just
in-case of problems.

I did test out the pre-release of sp3 and found it made some nice
improvements to my system.

Wrong

they force you indirectly, expecially MSFT

there are so many programs that require sp 1 or 2 or else they will
not install

so unless you want to live in a batcave with old ancient non updated
programs you need the service packs.

Many people choose to do this.
Again - you are NOT *forced* to change - especially not by any one
entity.
I still know people running Windows 95 happily - as all they want is
something to pop their email with or play an old game they enjoy.

If you change it is because you have decided to 'keep up' with the
rest of the world that is changing around you. You make that
decision. Sure - if you plan on being in a career that utilizes
computers in some major way - you will have to choose whether or
not to change because the world you deal with changes. Again -
your choice. There are still many places on the planet that do not
utilize computers and have changed very little in many many years
overall.
Also - the whole thing about blaming one entity for forcing the
CHOICE to change or not is ludicrous. A computer is not comprised
of one single component nor do the factors leading to the change in
any product usually based on one entities choices. It's usually
done per requests and or other factors that influence the product
in question to also change - which likely in turn causes many other
products to change and the cycle goes on like it always has.

What you are saying contradicts itself. You say you have to change
(apply a given service pack to a specific OS), but you add an
"unless" - which means you don't have to change(apply a given
service pack to a specific OS). So what you have done is say you
agree that no one forces you to do anything - but they do... ? Or
you have agreed saying that someone does force you to change - but
they don't...? heh
Everything is a choice. You don't even have to use Windows XP -
much less apply said service pack in discussion. You don't have to
have a computer even. Anything else is an assumption.


As for the original poster - it will be out soon enough, you can
choose whether or not you want to install it (taking into factor
security reasons, new software, new hardware, etc) and you should -
when doing anything to your computer, even just using it - ensure
you have a decent backup plan so you at least do not lose the data
important to you and quite possibly a more advanced plan to make it
easy to revert back to a state you were in prior to any bad
incidents.

there is nothing that biologically forces you to wear clothes..

you could remain in doors if its cold outside,
and get in your car that has heating to go from place to place in
the winter..

but you do wear clothes although no one is forcing you to do it

why? lol

You are assuming quite a bit.
That's what got you into this in the first place.

You have no idea if I own/utilize a car. You can't even be sure that I wear
clothes. There are many people throughout the world that do not subscribe
to either of those things (cars or clothes.)

It is natural to try to warm oneself *if* it is cold *to them* - but each
person and situation is different for that as well. That is survival
instinct - not necessarily a conscience choice. Although there are many
examples where people have made the conscience choice to die in the cold.

We are talking about a conscience choice that has nothing to do with your
continued survival. Getting indoors to warm up or into a car to go
someplace is a conscience choice (when available.) Someone could just as
easily choose to walk/run, use a seg-way, roller skate, ice skate,
pogo-stick, crawl or not leave/go/get warm - or even die (although they have
to have a decent amount of will power.)

Comparing those items to installing a service pack on a certain operating
system and relating it to EVERYONE is just not going to happen in the real
world. ;-)

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I've heard that MS will be releasing SP3 for WinXPsp2, in a month or so. I
searched but did not find any info about it, other than it will be abour
328MB.
Is this SP3 "coming out" soon?

No official date has been announced, but yes, it's expected very soon.

Will everyone who has SP2 be required to
download (?) and install it?

"Required"? Nobody is ever required to download and install anything.
It's almost always a very good idea to install the latest service
pack, but it's not a requirement.

At the moment it appears to me that this SP3 will make many changes to our
computers and possibly cause problems with other programs we now have
installed.

There is *always* a risk of problems if you install *anything*. But
note that there is also a risk of programs that can be caused by your
*not* installing it. Operating System service packs usually have
security-related fixes within them, and running without those fixes
exposes you greatly.

On balance, my view is that you minimize risk, not by refusing to
install fixes and improvements, but by always being up to date with
fixes and improvements.

 

[philo]

Win2k with what service pack though..?
Not vanilla win2k I can imagine..,

I find win2k to still be a good OS.
It's a good choice when you need to keep lower-end machines running.

However sp4 and all the security updates are a necessity. (plus all the
obvious things such as virus checker etc)
"Vanilla" win2k is quite insecure...
but things were a lot different in the year 2000

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

You can get a prerelease version of Windows XP SP3 now. I have been running
it on an old NCR Pentium 4. I haven't noticed any major benefits, but there
aren't any obvious problems either.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...99-12af-42b2-aab1-b969a62c68a7&displaylang=en

It is strongly recommended that you NOT install or use this prerelease
version on an important system. If you insist, make and test a system backup
FIRST.

William

 

[Marko Jotic]

Most do not - that does not mean I am going to give up posting about it in
hopes one more person figures out that they should use common sense more
often in their life than just "stove hot - do not touch"... ;-)

see my quote below.

I wouldn't have bothered except your stove comment struck a chord: a
relative with a new stove with a glass top (no red rings), one with a
light that goes on to say its hot


he asks his wife what the light means, "its hot".
so he touches it "ouch it IS hot"
he touches it again, then a third time before he managed to stop

--
Marko Jotic
"Common sense is anything but common".
From the notebooks of Lazarus Long. Robert A. Heinlein.
Handmade knives, antique designs, exotic materials at
http://www.knifeforging.com/

 

[Marko Jotic]

SP3 will not have any updates that were in SP2.

the MS site clearly states that SP3 will be cummulative, e.g. SP1 and
SP2 need not be installed.

--
Marko Jotic
"Common sense is anything but common".
From the notebooks of Lazarus Long. Robert A. Heinlein.
Handmade knives, antique designs, exotic materials at
http://www.knifeforging.com/