Official Windows XP Service Pack 3 Download Links
The Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be released to the public tomorrow. A lot of users have already downloaded the service pack from various locations like download portals and the Bittorrent P2P network.
Many users however were very cautious and decided to wait until the service pack would be available through official Microsoft channels. Tomorrow, users can download the service pack directly from Windows Update.
Downloads may be rather slow after the release as caused by the expected rush, and it does make sense to download the service pack 3 for Windows XP early.
Cautious users will be delighted to know that the official download links of service pack 3 have been revealed and that it is as of now possible to download the Service Pack 3 directly from Microsoft servers.
Available are service pack releases for various languages. All for 32-bit systems only though. The languages that are available are English, German, Russian, French, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. All downloads are directly from Windows Updates. If you have been wary before downloading the service pack there is nothing more to fear by using this official download.
Microsoft removed some downloads from its Support website. You can still download the Service Pack 3 for Windows XP from the company's Microsoft Update Catalog website.
Download speed is fine. I'm getting about 330 Kilobyte per second currently.
Windows XP Service Pack 3 direct downloads
The Service Pack 3 for Windows XP has finally been added again to Windows Update and the Microsoft website and every user has the opportunity to download and install it.
The ISO is provided for system administrators who have to distribute the Service Pack to several computers, and home users who want to update more than one system, for instance their own and their parent's computer.
There should not be a problem however to distribute the executable version of the service pack to multiple computers as well as long as they are all using the same language version.
You need to burn the ISO images to CD or DVD first, or mount them, while you can execute the executable files directly on the PC that requires updating.
Network administrators may want to check out the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package that Microsoft made available, which allows the updating of multiple computers on a network.
You can also order Windows XP Service Pack 3 DVDs from Microsoft. Information about the procedure are available here on this overview page.
I never liked Windows Update and prefer to download the patches, which includes the Service Pack 3, as a direct download so that I can burn it once on a CD or DVD and distribute it to every computer that needs the update.
Block installation of Windows XP SP3
Several users encounter problems and issues during and after installation of the two new Windows service packs that Microsoft released earlier this year.
Both service packs will be automatically downloaded later this year to computers that have automatic updates enabled, which could prove disastrous for companies who cannot afford that they computers stop working after the update.
A solution is to disable automatic updates, but that's probably not a preferred solution by many as well as it interferes with regular patches..
The easiest way to block the automatic download and installation of both Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is a Registry key that has to be added to the Registry. This key prevents the installation for twelve months.
The update problems should be sorted out by that time, and if they have not been it is still possible to disable automatic updates. To add the entry to the Registry do the following. Press Windows R, type regedit, hit enter.
The Registry opens and we need to navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate and create a new DWORD named DoNotAllowSP there. The value of the DWORD has to be set to 1.
An alternative would be to create a new text document, paste the following three lines into it and rename the document to block.reg afterwards.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DoNotAllowSP"=dword:00000001
A double-click creates the new Registry key automatically. The block can be removed by either deleting the Registry key again or by setting the dword value to 0 instead.
Steps to take before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3
Microsoft released a Knowledge Base article detailing the steps that users should take before installing the latest Service Pack for Windows XP. The article itself is divided into two parts with the first part detailing the steps to take before installing Service Pack 3 while the second part lists possible error messages and problems users can run into when installing it.
Microsoft suggests a minimum hard drive space of 1500 Megabytes on the system partition when installing the Service Pack from the Microsoft Download Center or 1100 Megabytes when installing it from a shared network drive. The page lists two updates that, when installed, will make the installation of the Service Pack fail. Those updates are the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit and Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) 6.0 MUI pack (Update 925877 for Windows XP).
If you have installed one or both you need to uninstall them to install the Service Pack. Last but not least it is required to make sure that security software like antivirus applications do not interfere when installing the Service Pack.
The page lists the most common error messages that user receive when updating Windows XP to Service Pack 3, among them are:
- You do not have enough free disk space on %SystemDrive% to install Service Pack 3.
- You do not have enough free disk space on %SystemDrive% to archive the uninstall files
- Service Pack 3 setup error. Access is denied
- You do not have permission to update Windows XP
- Digital Signature Not Found
- Setup could not verify the integrity of the file Update.inf
- Failed to install catalog files
- The software you are installing has not passed Windows Logo testing
- Service Pack 1 Setup could not verify the integrity of the file
- Internal Error
- This Service Pack requires the machine to be on AC Power before setup starts.
- Service Pack 3 installation did not complete
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 cannot be applied to Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 cannot be applied to Windows Embedded for Point of Service
- Setup has detected that another update is in progress.
The blogs and forums are full of users who report problems after trying to upgrade Windows XP to Service Pack 3.
Don't install IE7 before Windows XP SP3
The Windows XP Service Pack 3 is available again and many users have already made the switch to protect their system with the latest security updates. If you have installed Internet Explorer 7 before updating the system to the third Service Pack and decided to uninstall it again you might have noticed that the option to uninstall the browser is grayed out and therefore not available on the system anymore.
The reason for this behavior is that the system would revert back to an older version of Internet Explorer 6 that would not contain the patches applied by the Service Pack. The Windows XP Service Pack 3 updates the version of Internet Explorer installed on the system during installation of the Service Pack.
The only possible way to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 that has been installed before installing Service Pack 3 is to uninstall the Service Pack first and then Internet Explorer 7. Microsoft suggests that users of IE6 should update their system with Service Pack 3 first and install IE7 afterwards. This ensures that the browser can be uninstalled normally.
I'm sure that not many users will run into this problem but some surely will. An alternative would be to switch to another browser like Opera or Firefox if you do not feel like uninstalling the Service Pack to uninstall IE7 is worth it.
The third service pack for Microsoft's Windows XP operating system ships with Internet Explorer 6 included.
Update: Windows XP users should update the system's native web browser to Internet Explorer 8 if they have not done so already. While there may still be some situations where IE6 or 7 is required, in company networks for instance if Intranet apps only run on IE6 or 7, it is safe to say that this should not be the case for home users.
Fix for Restart Bug after installing Windows XP SP3
Users with AMD processors that have been trying to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 might be greeted with a bluescreen error message after rebooting their computer. The error message starts with STOP: 0x0000007E (0xC0000005 and contains the error text SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED. The computer restarts and the bluescreen error is displayed again. This is an endless cycle but thankfully though HP has found out about the cause for this problem and has published a solution to resolve the issue on their website.
Service Pack 3 for Windows XP apparently copies an Intel power management driver to the computer that was not there before which is the cause for the restart bug. Things like these can happen but I'm wondering why non of the public beta testers have encountered the error before the update was released officially.
You can only use the following information if you use a non-Intel processor and encounter the previously mentioned restart bug after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. I'm going to list two possible solutions, one from Microsoft and the other from HP.
HP solution for XP SP3 Restart Bug:
- Boot Computer in Safe Mode
- Use Windows Explorer to browse to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers
- Right-click intelppm.sys and rename it to XXXintelppm.syx
- Restart Windows
If the computer is unable to boot into safe mode do the following:
- Press F8 during startup and load the Microsoft Windows Recovery Console
- Type the number that corresponds to your Windows installation
- Log in as an administrator
- Type cd c:\windows\system32\drivers at the command prompt
- Type rename intelppm.sys XXXintelppm.syx
- Restart Windows
The Microsoft fix for the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Restart Bug:
- Boot the Computer into Safe Mode
- Press Windows R, type regedit, hit enter
- Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Intelppm
- right-click the Start entry in the right pane and select modify
- Enter 4 in the Value Data box
- Close regedit, restart the computer
we help for windows xp
Gracias, Danka, Thanks–
Yes, this is a great webpage. Learned lots reading thru all the comments, all the way
to the bottom. I have a comment I’ll post later but just want to see if THIS POST will go thru
before bothering to round up all my notes. Ha, it’s a bit late to say anything about Win Xp
here in the year 2020 but someone might benefit, who knows. Whatever, the man who posted
this, “Martin”, surely has helped lots of Xp users who have had problems. Win Xp still does
offer value for computer users, like myself, who do not have a new machine and only 1 gig of
memory. I have a Win 7 DVD, legal, that cost me $180 but a Sempron CPU with 1gb of memory
isn’t powerful enough to run Win7 so say all you like, “XP is dead”, but what do you do if your
machine doesn’t have the computer horsepower to run a newer OS?
Thanks to all… I learned a lot from all these postings…………. nx0t radio
It’s an amazing post thanks a lot !
https://fiduce.fr/courtier-en-pret-immobilier-paris-17-75017/
Dude, you saved me from insanity. Thank you ever so much for these quick and easy instructions!!
tried to download sp3, got SAVE window, then everything dissappears, never to be seen again anywhere. What happened? Firefox seems to do this a lot. What is the point?? Where is the download??????
OMG. THIS MADE MY WHOLE DAY. I HAVE BEEM STRUGGLING WITH THIS STUPID SERVICE PACK ON MY DAD’S DINOSAUR ALL DAY.
It still works in 2012
Thank you! Hate microsoft shit that force me to download piece of crap explorer.
I have a problem sort of like that. I have a P4 XP sp2 machine and can’t get the “RESTART” to restart the machine, it just hangs and never restarts. From the choices of “Stand By”, “Turn Off” and “Restart”. It’s driving me nuts PLEASE help me.
5 STAR
VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY GOOD
hahahahahaha
Windows xp sp3 germany good
its very good.i impressed to your website.
thank u ma8t works fine
long life berber people
I also installed the SP yesterday. Today after trying to start my computer it kept restarting. I get into the place to start in safe mode but the keyboard does not want to work. I think it is pretty F)(& UP of microsoft to release an update that does this. Now it will cost me money to have someone fix the problem while there was nothing wrong with my compueter before this update.
allot of people are full of shit about their down speeds, keep your hand off it!
tnx martin thats amazing
for me, it works just fine. no problem during installation, and no problems after.
It worked like a charm, thank you for publishing this!
i have hidden my folders by mistake in mydocuments. now unable to restore it. please help me
Win XP SP3 is not that good. Although there were no errors during installation, you will notice strange after installation. Under svchost, include 2 worms. you have to remove all files scattered on your hard disk for these worms. These worms were activated as per schedule under task. XP users will not find any, but vista can see these super hidden files. These task schedules belongs to Windows Defender. You have to remove all the worms first before disabling Windows Defender and deleting the task. Notice also the memory leak cause by svchost under system. From time to time, windows errors comes out and you need to restart your system. Although i havent experience any crash on my HDD yet, hopefully the step above will help you. i will post soon for any changes/ updates i will encounter. Your friendly neighborhood, Spidey.
250kps, i hope that works in pirate win xp
Wow… never encountered this issue before. I was just getting ready to delivery the computer to a customer when this issue came about. Thanks for your help!
The MS fix worked for me, the sys file wasn’t in the drivers folder.
19 min to download
SP3 renders ipods useless
180kbs…
trying to download service pack 3 but cant find it anywhere, has anyone got a link?
If we want to install Windows XP service pack 3, the XP computer should have minimal Windows XP Service Pack 1, otherwise the SP3 can not install.
hi
hello any body
:( 23.6kb sec
Man i hate my ISP i cant get above 50KBS, its takin forever to download
Good Work.Really I need it.Thanks
i have uninstall windows internet explorer 6 for service pack 2; to install internet explorer 7,but internet explorer 7 which is not working properly so i have uninstall it and wants to install internet explorer 6 for service pack2 again
awe nice link me downloading it jus got n old pc s0 takin a lil while hope im hapy wit it or ill show microsoft my nuckles and downloaded went to 30mb da fastest :P
Documenting what I am doing just in case:
Start computer; as I release the start button, hit F8 repeatedly to get to Windows Advanced Options Menu. Scroll to Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Enter. Tries to boot up, but goes into the loop. Will not boot up in any mode. Any ideas?
already have it need speed version
My experience with SP3 is that it is significantly less stable. I have a fair number of installed tools, such as wireshark. But I found that sp3 had a number of problems. Mostly network related:
* Blue screens (I haven’t had a blue screen on sp2 in over two years)
* Network device failure. My wireless nic (built into my T43) would fail periodically requiring a restart to resolve. Unlike the previous poster, my problems occurred on an open network (not wpa or wep encrypted).
* Windows mobile sync: the sync would fail periodically.
I’m not saying everyone will have these problems. I am saying that I had these problems.
where is the polish language sp3??
Windows XP SP3 Polish EXE (ca. 307.7MB):
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/6/5/465a583a-96a4-4000-80c5-4eef5eb0fac3/WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-PLK.exe (currently dead)
http://xpsp.dlservice.microsoft.com/download/4/6/5/465a583a-96a4-4000-80c5-4eef5eb0fac3/WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-PLK.exe (still alive)
…identical to…
http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/svpk/2008/04/windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-plk_7CBE718131E9C71B322F1149E86BEDBA351BA11C.exe (still alive)
Thank you foe the Japanese link
Macs are indeed great, they are used by most professionals in the graphics, movie and image making industry. That’s an accepted fact. It’s also a fact that a lot of Mac users appear to be extremely annoying individuals who make snobbish and unhelpful comments about people who don’t use them. Some kind of insecurity issue there perhaps?
And it’s the stupid Mac evangelists who should be taking their shit elsewhere. This site is for Windows users wanting official SP3 download links, nothing to do with Mac users.
If Macs are so damned good why does Windows have around 90% of the market compared to Mac’s 5%? You’re the one who knows nothing about computers if you honestly think Macs are ‘better’. I think you’ll find most people
have got more sense than to waste money on something that’s around twice the price of a PC and not as good.
well.. as a couple of guys said before, get a mac. it simply works.go take a look if you don’t believe me
i’m using it all day long without issues, and i do use windows too, just for the games.
the guys who complain about security issues regarding os x, maybe it’s because you don’t know how to use a computer… trust me, unix is rock stable
go take your shit elsewhere but not here. usualy the guys who can’t stand up macs are the poor nerds who can’t afford one..maybe that’s why they’re being so repulsive about the technology ;) it’s to expensive 4 them:):))
boo ya!
Sloooooow… 5,5 kBps average… =/
Well installed the sp3 and very upset to see that for some reason Microsoft excluded the address bar as an option in the start taskbar, I used it all the time. And also now when I goto open with to set my prefs for video player to view a file it opens notepad rather than the program I select.
What about a fix for duo core chips? This is not just an AMD chip issue. It is happening to my new duo core chip system as well. It won;t shut down, just keeps rebooting. I have to press and hold the power button to force it to power off.
FREAGGIN MICROSUCK!
One problem with SP3 that a number of people have run into is that wireless internet connections stop working properly. I don’t know why, but I’ve discovered through trial and error that it is only a problem with WEP-secured networks. Unsecured or WPA secured networks continue to work fine. Try reconfiguring your security until a fix is disseminated.
IT DIDNOT WORK
THE FILE IS CORRUPTED !!!!!!!!!!1
Mine is a Compaq Presario SR1520NX./ AMD Sempron.
I installed Svc Pack 3 this morning and got the reboot loop. A few other message boards seem to link this problem to a compatibility issue with AMD processors.
I started up in safe mode, performed a system restore, and it’s up and running.
Went down at 2.1mbps, not bad for a Socket A AMD system. Installed 1st time with no problems, thanks. :)
But make sure that if you’re using IE8 Beta, uninstall it before you download Sp3 and reinstall it afterwards if you want to keep using it or you won’t be able to roll back to IE7 if you’re having problems with IE8.
Macs suck, Linux needs an extra download every time you want to do something, and Xp Pro Sp3 just works as an OS should. :-p
2000 B/s!! whoooooooahhhhhhhh
yes thats Bytes!!
Whohoo Tanzania!!
(Thnx for the link)
downloading 1.1MB/s
yay
~Mac sux windows is decent & Ubuntu pwns
thank you very much
Came fast enough… at peak time UK, too.
“Kev-pple says, July 13th, 2008
get a mac so you dont have to worry about a pice of crap service pack”
You [severe flame self-censored], the VERY FIRST time I did any systems admin on a Mac I found a bug that research told me required an ‘update’ (akin to a service pack / Windows Update download). This bug required my whole Wireless Access Point to be lowered in security in order to accommodate the Mac, even though it was an obvious function of the software and not hard to predict and design properly in the first release. Businesses requiring security would not tolerate this level of performance from expensive hardware and supposedly well-designed software.
So stop the bullshit Mac-evangelism, it makes you look a retard. Any and all software requires improvements. The criticism of Microsoft should be reserved for the updates that are out there which are NOT available for general release, and require payment (which you then rely on the MS operative to decide is to be refunded) for a support session just to check they’re correct. That and the huge bugs (P2P Netbios share browsing, on ANY version of Windows, working efficiently, anyone?) that it just refuses to fix.
I do hate Microsoft on occasion, and think they’re arrogant SOBs, too. But two wrongs don’t make a right.
Thank you so much. Highly recommended to other users.
get a mac so you dont have to worry about a pice of crap service pack
Hi I download it and happend at 5Mb per sec and finish in 27 sec hahahhaa but Sp3 iS dUMB AND SLOWED MY PC DOWN AND LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING IT MICRSOFT MADE IT SO THAT YOU WOULD WANT VISTA
ALL THE PEOPLE WHO THINK IT WAS GOOD shame shame shame
thanks
Thanks A lot mate for this updated SP3, this would make us updated for someTime atleast !!:)
no Mames wey!!! me estoy haciendo una chaketa, y en 3,200Kb en 50 sec… se me salio la leche…
14Kbps ……… :(
About XP SP3 and WiFI: It was a real nightmare… I resolved on HP notebook just updating the wireless board drivers. now wpa/wpa2 works fine. on my desktop PC (WiFi interface is a USR PCI board using a Broadcom BCA 4318, no update drivers availabe) I use the wireless utility supplied with the board. so I have wpa2. if you use ” wireless zero configuration” manager, only wpa and wep works.
To continue my previous post: Switching router and XP SP3 notebook to WPA2 from WPA turned out not quite enough to restore _reliable_ automatic wifi connection on booting. But then, unchecking all installed wireless connection protocols except Internet protocol (TCP/IP) solved the problem. I have not tried pinning down which of the other installed protocols is unhappy with SP3, but informed Microsoft support.
this still doesnt work … it keeps restartign even when you disable the service and rename the file
wonder who is at fault … hp or microsoft … neither one of them will take responsibility …
2750 kB/s :-P
Installing SP3 on my Toshiba notebook broke “automatic” connection to my WPA wifi nework, which is provided by a Linksys WRT54G ver 1.1 router. Curiously, “on demand” connection worked fine.
Suggestions received from technical support at Microsoft were entertaining but useless.
Telling the Linksys router to do WPA2 instead of WPA has made “automatic” wifi connection work again, at least in first tests.
speed is excellent, maxed out at 2,100 k/s
HAAA 2.36mb, try 12 mb under 30 seconds bam, downlaoded and ready to install!!!
My WiFi secure connection issues were resolved by updating my WRT54G router’s firmware (from one 3rd Party’s to another – http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato/).
When I tried to connect to my sister’s NetGear DG834G router I could not. This was resolved by simply enabling “WPA and WPA2” within the standard router UI (using firmware V5.01.01). In BOTH cases I am using WPA2-PSK security.
My (Acer) Laptop uses a “INPROCOMM IPN2220 Wireless LAN Card”.
I’ve upgraded a lot of PCs but have had issues with WPA on some laptops. In my case WEP worked okay but WPA would make an initial connection and then drop it. This was with an internal Atheros based Wifi card in a Packard Bell laptop of a friend of mine. On my own laptop I’ve seen some odd behaviour where it would not pick up an IP address and kept trying continuously but that seems to have resolved itself. Overall no major problems except with certain wireless laptops and WPA encryption.
about time, sp2 is so outdated, i’m glad that m$ is still updating windows xp even though if I prefer a different system altogether :)
Dear Sir/Madame
A few days ago I noticed that when I restart or shut down windows XP Home addition the music that goes along with it does not come on anymore. How do I fix this problem? I hope that you can help me?
Regards,
Gary
Bill – Thank You!
Your fix for SP3 worked with simplicity. I’m not the techno geek, but that was as easy a fix as I’ve ever seen.
start – run – sc config intelppm start= disabled – enter..
This fixed the SP3 upgrade problem and my system rebooted immediately after restart. Thanks!
This is being blown WAY out of proportion…
This problems stems from the fact that HP used an Image they’d created on their Intel based PC on their AMD based computers…and sold them to customers…
Hvala na service Pack 3 ! Nema sto vise da se kaze. Hvala jos jednom!
I have and AMD Duron cpu. Strange enough,
1- I did not encounter Restart bug after installing XP SP3 ;
2- I do have the “C: Windows System32 Drivers intelppm.sys” file ;
3- I do not have whatever occurrence of intelppm in my Registry, but I do have a “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEM ControlSet001 Services Intelide” key (Intelide, not Intelppm), with no subkey, which is as far as I know the feature of disabled services …
Mystery, mystery …
Very good,Donoven. Of course, we’re all very impressed.
I downloaded service Pack 3 aon my XPS machine and my system would not reboot in normal mode. After 24 hours it was still sitting there with that xp boot screen.
I finally did a system restore to a time before the install of service pack 3 and it boots jsut fine now. so much for MS updates again. DELL and MS should team together to sell soething you need to continue to pay them for over a period of 20 years to get it right. Some business plan.
I tried to install the sp3 update from Microsoft’s site and my computer would boot to a blue screen. I had to have a tech from Friendly Computers come to my house to fix my computer. It took him about 45 minutes, and their rates were really reasonable. I am not sure what the problem was, but if you are having any problems, I recommend their services. Their site is http://www.friendlycomputers.com and you can find the closest location on their site.
@darkkosmos: what’s wrong with IE7? *lots* :D…seriously, some people – mainly web designers/developers – will benefit from having older browsers, so they can create web apps/pages that work well in older browsers. i’ve personally developed a website that looks good in Firefox, Opera and IE7…but i never tested it in IE6 and it looks horrible in there. basically, older browsers are less likely to support newer CSS and JavaScript statements and whatnot, so they’re ideal for testing websites. it’s a fact that GMail will at least complain in older browsers.
HAHAHAHAHA!!! All Of U People Have Slow Computers I Got 2.36 mb per sec 1min 19sec
Yes Donoven, you probably pay three times a much to your IP !
Same issues as ‘Twincam’. Wireless encryption no longer works. WPA or WPA2 not working. No encryption works fine. HP nx9420 laptop with Intel ProWireless. Thinking of rolling back to SP2.
Seven upgrades so far and all went perfectly; six more to go and I’m done.
All my family’s computers use AMD’s xp 3200+ cpu and all have been perfect. I have every confidence in the remaining installations being event free. I’ve used the installation CD, downloaded .exe file and online via Microsoft update.
I built all the computers; no idea if that means anything.
Great link, thanks very much for that. Went down at 1.1mb/sec which i was well happy with.
The same here :(
Service Pack 3 from Microsoft = LOOP
To: Bill
Can you tell me how did you fixed this? I went to the forum you mentioned but I couldn’t find anything there…
Bill wrote this:
Well, Well, Well. What a simple fix when you know what it is…
start – run – sc config intelppm start= disabled – enter..
Wow, that fixed it. Now sp3 downloaded, installed, and system booted correctly. I really like this solution because it doesn’t require any fiddling with things, or deleting anything…..Thanks to Ben Armstrong on Virtual PC guy’s Weblog. He actually posted this solution in October 2005 (before my computer was even built)…..
I installed Service pack 3 this evening and my system will not reboot and will not go back to last known good. I am now trying to recover my system. Don’t download this!!!!
i download it
really nice
|| guys you can download DirectX 3D 10 on XP from my website for testing only
darkkosmos, some don’t like IE, some prefer IE6. I switched to IE7 only for security motivations : I never use IE7 otherwise than for MS updates.
But, freedom remains, and consequently availability to switch back to IE6 !
I don’t get it, what’s so bad about IE7 that you HAVE to switch back to IE6?
Nice to admit some speak, or read, or paste, Lithuanian :)
So long as it doesn’t break this I can still run IE 3.0 :)
http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE
Bruno, nLite, I’ve read, has a dedicated option for IE7 integration. What I ignore, but presume as true, is if this integration follows the logic of integrating it after IE6 updates …
Transcontinental, i think that nLite install Windows Hotfixes/Updates acording to their order after KB*. Even if you add for example: KB999999 first and KB777777 after the first, KB777777 will install fisrt.
And perhaps nLite doesn’t even install updates, it unpack updates and copy files directly to the i386 folder.
nLite proposes to integrate IE7 alltogether with XP SP3 in its personalized Windows XP setup. My question may be naive, but if IE7 option is chosen, does nLite install it sequentially, that is after the IE6 updates? I imagine it does.
Christoffer you probably will be able to uninstall IE7 that way. The problem however is that you will then be left with a IE6 version that is not fully updated and it probably won’t be updated automatically afterwards even if you connect to Windows Update. Worth a try though.
I have installed a cleaning program called CCleaner (Crap Cleaner), which is freeware, and in that program the option for uninstall Internet Explorer 7 is still active or available….
I haven’t tried it though…
I’m having the exact same problem that Jim had. Wouldn’t boot, wouldn’t go back to last know good…Am in Safe Mode now trying a system restore.
Windows Update offered it, I accepted. HUGE mistake. PC wouldn’t reboot (pretty vanilla system too!), wouldn’t restore to prior known good config. Got it to boot in safe mode and am in the process of a system restore to a prior savepoint and it seems to be booting now (but terribly slow). I’m a Techie for a living – I can’t imagine what the average user is going to do when/if this happens. Stay away for a week or 2.
Well, Well, Well. What a simple fix when you know what it is…
start – run – sc config intelppm start= disabled – enter..
Wow, that fixed it. Now sp3 downloaded, installed, and system booted correctly. I really like this solution because it doesn’t require any fiddling with things, or deleting anything…..Thanks to Ben Armstrong on Virtual PC guy’s Weblog. He actually posted this solution in October 2005 (before my computer was even built)…..
3 issues encountered (on previously VERY reliable XP “Pro” Acer Laptop):
01) WiFi encryption is now broken. I used to use WPA (router does not support WPA2) but now NEITHER WPA nor WEP work. This is BAD! I can only use UNSECURED Wireless connection!
02) MMC error using “Diskeeper” (v8.0.478.0). This was by-passed using the dialog indicating a failure (3rd option)
03) “Address” Toolbar is removed. This is a real pain. I had, obviously, become very dependent on it (it was a GREAT timesaver!)
I have an HP Media Center PC running XP w/sp2. I recently had to completely recover my system due to a very nasty xponlinescanner virus. After recovery, I went to the MS update site and installed all the updates available. Everything worked fine until I got to the SP3. After installing SP3 my machine will not boot except in safe mode. I removed the Symantec AV program that is bundled in the XP software and downloaded the SP3 without AV installed, however, I did have the bundled MS firewall installed. 3 Times I’ve tried to update to SP3 and each time with the same results. I ran Ad-Aware, Uniblue Registry Booster 2, ccleaner and still no boot. Fortunately I have my computer completely backed up on both a Free Agent external hard driver as well as a maxtor one touch, so I am not losing any data, however, there certainly seems to be something wrong with the SP3 upgrade by MS. I would recommend not installing it until MS is able to correct it.
what about italian version? was it delayed?
thanks a lot for the link! :D :D
Thanks for link. Went down 4700kbps, 1:08 :) Best so far ;)
Nice !!!! 1.570 Mb/s
Nice one.
Got the original one.
Thanks a lot.
Keep updating the information
I installed it twice, latest RC and then this “Final” release but I had the same problem – I couldn’t browse the web (I tried firefox & int. explorer v6). Some chat software worked (Skype, Xfire) and I could play multiplayer games. So, I couldn’t surf the net and check e-mails?! Anyone here knows the solution? Thx
1.250mb/s
nice. Thank you!
XP Pro hacked OS Installed it and half way through it posted an error, then it uninstalled itself. Tried the same on my other computer and it went in fine. I have all the updates anyway so I don’t worry about it, just typical windows strangeness.
Well, I have by now installed XP SP3 as well. No noticeable speed enhancement. Maybe, I do say maybe, a somewhat slightly stability improvement (a feeling of greater “smoothness”) but still, I’m aware of imagination’s tricks in such circumstances.
I had IE7 as a previous install. I mention this because I’ve read that some have had problems to install IE7 after XP SP3. I’ve even read that any total reinstall of Windows XP should consider installing IE7 before XP SP3. If this is true, it does mean that slipstreaming XP SP3 would be a nonsense (if IE7 is to be in the lot).
Any comments on this fact would be appreciated, otherwise that will mean 2 discs to reinstall XP updated : 1- XPSP1+SP2 slipstreamed, 2- IE7 then XP SP3… I love compact installs!
Downloading it at 2300K, 1min 45seconds.
Previous RCs had some notceable bugs but thus far I have not encountered any strange behaivour.
As for performance, it could just be a placebo effect but things do seem a bit snappier. At the very least it hasn’t made anything worse on my 4 test machines.
Proceeding to update my network systems because I feel confident enough now.
Thanks for the SP3 link. The English link is working just fine for me even though it was delayed for RMS. It is coming through at 425K but I’m just glad to be able to pull it down. — (It just finished and all looks good! Thanks!)
Hi all,
SP3 cannot be found on M$ Servers because of the last minute glitch in the SP3 : The guilty patch is the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, application that manages online sales with certificates and stuff.
Microsoft has decided to remove the SP3 from download servers and to delay (one more time is not a surprise) the final SP3 version.
Have a nice day.
NeoTrinity.
Thanks for SP3 link
thank you for linking. speed is apx. 1,2mbyte/s
Thx for the link
Thanks a lot.
Thank you for the SP 3 German link.
Thank you, downloading a nice 800kbs. So excited.
Et voilà : 309.20Mb on a traffic-free highway!
Now this is really nice, thanks a lot Martin :)
The XPSP3 has landed. Data is nominal !
What about Portuguese (Brazil)?
SHA1 hash (included in these links) is identical to the leaked SP3 I have. Just in case people are worrying if they should they redownload it.
Speed is pretty good. I had my line maxed out at 800 KBps.
I have SP3 installed. I had no issues, though it did take a little while to install. Lets hope it keeps Vista at bay for some time yet.
Cause tonight is the night. Not quite, tomorrow 04-29-2008 rather. Less thrilling than Christmas, now that reality brings us back to Earth!
Besides what has been here commented, I’d like to evoke this point, which is in my mind not clear :
I’ve been told that XP SP3 will also have the advantage of including updates which could have been “missed” by MS Update throughout all manual updates performed ever since XP Install.
Is this true, that is, is the fact MS Updates may “miss” updates, should they be very, very few, a possibility?
I think the most significant visible change would be support for WPA2 wireless encryption.
I think one visible performance/feature improvement would be support for WPA2 wireless encryption.
downloaded 3 times from both majorgeeks and softpedia everytime I get an error while trying to install saying incorrect update.inf did a search online and found this was also a problem with some people with SP1 if a certain service wasn’t running. checked the service is running, tried stopping it and restarting to no avail so guess I won’t be installing it just yet LOL
Before installing the SP3 for XP, i just wanted to know what are the visible differences. Are there any conceivable system improvement features, any positive system security updates, or stability features. I am looking for an update for gHacks for more information.
I’m mostly on Vista now. But last week when I tried to update an old XP Pro SP2 machine via Windows Update (not even doing a SP3), that machine went into an endless reboot loop. I think Microsoft is Windows Updating a prep program to install SP3 when it becomes available. And that prep program has the same loop “feature” that Vista’s had before they fixed it for Vista.
Naah… the about windows daialog box only change and the system info….
Installed, no problems (got it from softpedia, I believe), no changes in performance at all (it did bring back my internet explorer and show desktop icon into the quick launch menu, which i’d removed).
I don’t use Office so the claim of 10% boost in Office wasn’t tested; 3dmark scores were exactly the same before and after.
I installed SP3 on my computer only to find out that it would not boot after restarting it.
I had to install windows again on another partition (since I hadn’t setup a dual-boot system yet), move a file that the SP3 forgot to install into my system32 folder, finally be able to boot only to uninstall it and never want to hear about it ever again…
Downloaded and installed it (on XP MCE) from majorgeeks yesterday.
Encountered no problems during download or installation.
Personally, haven’t noticed any difference on my system. I have read reports that there was an improvement in speed on some systems, during beta ands RC tests.
If you have IE8 (Beta) installed your machine may hang so uninstall it before apply SP3. You can reinstall it after the update with no problem.
I’m gonna wait for it to appear as an official update, I hope it gives at least a minor performance increase…
Installed at work on top of corporate WinXP SP2 (patched daily). Relatively fast install, single reboot required. No errors or problems so far. Creates somewhat large (~400Mb) backup.
Thinking about installing at home, but there my windows passed 2.5 years since last reinstall and is somewhat… mutated to slightly different life form. So I am being cautious. :)
i installed mine without problems..no noticeable performance difference
I had to re-register the windows msi service
Now this is interesting! Before next Tuesday, ladies & gentlemen, is XP SP3 worth installing, or is it only worth slipstreaming for next XP reinstall?
OK, if you’re dealing with a network, some extra security is provided, but otherwise, is overall speed/stability improved? I’ve heard up to now yes and no…
I downloaded SP3 direct from MSDN downloads (my company has a subscription).
There are not that many changes really, it just runs as should. I have updated 4 machines now with no issues at all. Nice and quick – about 20 minutes each.
The one thing I look forward to is not having to download 100+ updates when building a new machine.!
Rumors spread in the web that MS was supposed to released a final version of SP3 this week but it is now rumor to be released some time in April…