Service Pack 3 for Windows XP now available on Microsoft Update

Thanks for the info Leo.

on it thanks

Let us know if it was worth it! Like...any noticeable improvements or anything like that!

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Probably the most noticeable thing in this is the removal of the ability to add an address bar to you taskbar. I have not seen anything really that stands out. I've had it for a week or two now. (technet subscribers got it then).

Not really sure what to look for but I have noticed that just normal opening up programs and navigating in them seems to happen quicker.

Thanks for the heads up Leo. Is it available as a stand alone download yet? I hate doing something as large as a service pack through auto update.

angus1949 not sure of you internet connection, I have DSL, from start to finish which included a reboot it seemed to take 45 minutes, didn't really time it.

You can get a CD but you have to wait about 4 weeks!

Thanks Philly but I found the stand alone. I've got a 20Mbps cable connection, so the 316Mb file downloaded pretty fast. I like to have the file when possible in case of any problems. Here's the address for anyone else interested:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5B33B5A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en

There's nothing to write home about unless your an admin,it's nothing like SP2 was,once you install SP3 you won't notice anything different apart from perhaps that SP3 has a few bugs & now you have to reformat

WWW Link

Yep, it all looks good and after a reboot, cleanup and defrag, both my systems are running at lightning fast speed. Fantastic job, Microsoft.

If you have not got a good system cleaner then now is a time to consider one as my cleaner - TuneUp 2008 Utilities cleaned about half a gigabyte of crap left behind by the SP3 update - unnecessary update archives and backups, unused shortcuts and files etc etc. Ran PerfectDisk over the whole drive and cleared up an defragmentation problems in 15 minutes. System seems to be noticeably quicker.

xscorpx I took a look at the link you provided and I think that most folks here don't fall into the group of users it was talking about. I could be wrong.

There's nothing to write home about unless your an admin,it's nothing like SP2 was,once you install SP3 you won't notice anything different apart from perhaps that SP3 has a few bugs & now you have to reformat WWW Link

Bugs.......What bugs?

The link you provided was a well publicized issue that Microsoft found just before releasing SP3 to Windows Update. It related to a small section of customers on the Dynamics program. It does not affect anyone else.

Indeed, Microsoft Update won't even let you upgrade to SP3 until they get that issue ironed out.

Well, I have to tell you it totally tanked my system. After installing said SP3 update my system could no longer reboot. I could only get it to boot in safe mode. Could not get any restore points to work either. I had to do a complete system re-install. What a nightmare! I've lost all Bookmarks, all software registrations and of course many hours of my time and many more to go.

Reminds me now that from this day forward, MS auto update is off! No way will I stupidly leave that auto update on, they would only persist in installing an update that has failed and tanked my system twice. That's right not just once but twice. So no more of that.

Where to I send in my complaint to MS? And, will they even read it?

Sorry to hear that, BigDog. It installed perfectly on my system.

System seems to be noticeably quicker.

This is what I have been wondering. People have been talking a speed boost. So you see a marked improvement in speed with SP3?

Is there any good programs to use to test the speed of your system, to see for sure or how much improvement is really there?

I had been using the beta of SP3 but then when I heard that the official version was coming I uninstalled it. I noticed a bit of a slow down at that point. The official version installed just fine although it took awhile even with cable. There does seem to be an increase in the quickness of the OS. So far all is well.

This is slightly off topic, so I hope no one gets mad, but is there any programs to truly test this? I have heard the term benchmark before. Something to run before sp3, or before running a cleaning program and defrag, to really "see" the difference. Any one have input on that?

JavaFiend that's a very good question. I'm sure someone will be able to provide an answer.

I'm some what interested in that also.

You always see posts about tests done comparing different software or programs. I'm one of those that believes the only valid tests or those they we run on our own machines, Who cares if or how it runs on a test machines, right. How is it going to run on my machine the way I have it set up.

Had 2 attempts so far looks good until reboot then dies, Safe Mode & System Restore works ok so PC is returning to Monday's settings at the mo.

Damn RickJP, sorry to hear that. Something has to be interfering with it, but what. Did you download one of the early releases? Did you remove it before loading the final version?

I would suggest going to MS for help, but I always get lost looking for help in their forums.

Hopefully someone will stop by with the answer.

First time had tried to get SP3 no idea what problem is, might DL stand only and give that a try.When boot in safe mode shows up as XP SP3 so nearly gets there.At least I can go back to SP2 ok so not a big deal.

TuneUp 2008 Utilities

Been using it for years myself - excellent choice!

I have not personally installed SP3 yet on my system, as I run some software that will not run on SP3 yet, and I also run dual-boot XP MCE and Vista Ultimate. Does anyone know what installing SP3 would do to a dual boot system? I have SP3 blocked from installing right now until I get a lot of information on these type issues first.

Rick,
Turn off any HIPS programs you might have running. SP3 installed perfectly on my machine except it hung on the re-boot and broke my IP connection. Just had to do a warm boot and all was great after re-syncing my router with my modem. No great improvements noted though. If something doesn't work (hardware) after install it's probably a driver issue that needs an update from the provider. Back-up all your data first of course. Best of luck to all.