Do We Need Windows XP SP3?

[Guest United]

Well, now that Windows XP SP3 is out and freely available, is it really necessary for anything? I just did a complete reinstall of SP2 with all the security and various software updates right up this past week and all, so I'm thinking I don't need to install it, don't want to screw up my current installation of SP2. It appears on Windows update without being labeled as a "priority." I wonder if further security updates can be done over SP2 or one has to have SP3 layered in there?Randy Jura, KPDX

[mjrhealth 820]

XPsp 3 is supposedly the last major update for xp and contains all the updates to today. MAny people have said that it has improved the response of there machine others have not noticed any diff. I have had the RC1 RC2 and final on this machine and my sons . I had to reinsatll a couple of drives but only because i had to uninstall the RC2 before installing this one and it rolled back a couple of drivers. Simply put once this is on you probably wont find any more updates. I also remotely installed it on an older machine in Perth with no issues and my 65 year old dad installed it on his , he had to reinstall msn otherwise no problems.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

As long as you keep your machine up-to-date with Windows Update ... you do not need SP3 as you already have it, in a sense.Service Pack 3 is just all of the updates since Service Pack 2 rolled up into one installation file. If you're keeping your machine up-to-date by having it automatically install updates as they are released (the smart thing to do), you're all set.

[Guest United]

Thanks Kevin, that is what I was thinking.Randy Jura, KPDX

[tf51d 284]

>As long as you keep your machine up-to-date with Windows>Update ... you do not need SP3 as you already have it, in a>sense.>>Service Pack 3 is just all of the updates since Service Pack 2>rolled up into one installation file. If you're keeping your>machine up-to-date by having it automatically install updates>as they are released (the smart thing to do), you're all set.I think you are going to need it for any future Window Updates. When I ran Window Update last week, it was the only option to download. I think any future updates will be against SP3.

[scott967 62]

Does sp3 force WMP 11 on you? I've been trying to avoid that.scott s..

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Tom,That's doubtful. The likely reason SP3 was the only option shown is because you have all the other updates available for Windows XP (fairly normal behavior for Windows Update if I recall my SP2 days.)The larger question, of course, is will Microsoft continue to make patches available for XP for much longer.Given the issues surrounding DX10 and Vista, one certainly hopes they will.Cheers,

[mjrhealth 820]

I think that SP3 was more than just a collection of updates, if that was the case all they would of had to do was put all the updates togeteher and crete a setup. That wouldnt of taken them all of a day. This has being beta tested so im assuming there is more to it then meets the eye.

[JSkorna 137]

From the SP3 white paper:"Windows XP Service Pack 3(SP3) includes all previouslyreleased Windows XP updates,including security updates andhotfixes. It also includes selectout-of-band releases, and a smallnumber of new enhancements,which do not significantly changecustomers

[Guest PPSFA]

There have been problems reported with some users. For me, I always wait a few months before installing anything from MS, until they decide to pay me for beta testing. I've had my fill of MS issues that they expect users to find, and there are always plenty.

[Daveo 36]

>There have been problems reported with some users. For me, I>always wait a few months before installing anything from MS,>until they decide to pay me for beta testing. I've had my fill>of MS issues that they expect users to find, and there are>always plenty.Same here. I held on to Windows 2000 until XP SP2 came out with all the issues I was hearing about. Anyway XP is needed for "FSX" :D ,,but If it ain't broke don't fix it, especially with FSX running.

[Guest JIMJAM]

I read its alot of security fixes and also you will need to eventually enter your Xp serial code to verify to MS you paid for it.If you beleive it will go smoothly, I have a 757 block to sell ya.

[fulfern 0]

Hi all,just to let you know, yesterday I installed Service Pack 3 on my W/XP SP2 + FSX SP2 and, touching wood, so far I haven't had any problem.BTW, I also made the following performance test on my system:(Quad 6600 @ 2.91 GHz, 4GB DDR2, nVidia 8800 GTX 768 MB)- fresh reboot- a steady situation in slew mode with graphical logging of FPS, (using JABfpsx utility from Jacy Brouze - very nice)- stock FSX plane (CRJ700)- before SP3: average 67 fps- after SP3: average 69 fpsRegardsFulvio

[Guest United]

Well, I'm glad to know that SP3 seems to be OK to slap ontop of SP2, and glad you got a little FP bump. But I'll wager that bump is too small to be of significance. That's OK. I really want to add SP3, I just don't want to deal with any unforseen crap that doing that might cause. It's hard when there's nothing that can be done if an intended good patch still screws some systems up.Randy Jura, KPDX

[Guest United]

Well, I'm glad to know that SP3 seems to be OK to slap ontop of SP2, and glad you got a little FP bump. But I'll wager that bump is too small to be of significance. That's OK. I really want to add SP3, I just don't want to deal with any unforseen crap that doing that might cause. It's hard when there's nothing that can be done if an intended good patch still screws some systems up.Randy Jura, KPDX