XP SP3 experiences

[sswilson]

SP3 has gone live, and I'm currently installing it on my main rig. I'll leave it off of the test bed until I see what it does to the first one. :)

Drop in any of your experiences (good or bad) and hopefuly folks will be able to make an informed decision as to whether or not to install it on their current rigs.

[sswilson]

Ok, hands up..... does this SP3 update make anybody else's spider senses tingle???? :)

Not that I want to reveal myself as a conspiracy theory buff, but I wouldn't put it past M$ to muck things up with XP in order to draw its performance down to Vista levels....... :)

First thing that should be reported is that SP3 does a product key check. Don't know how that will affect folks running hacked versions (not all hacks are for pirates... many folks hack the os just so they don't have to jump through the activation hoops), but it's something to be aware of before installing. (Maybe somebody will be kind enough to install it onto an XP install inside of a VM for us to verify what it does.... :) ).

It's also a pretty quick install. Nothing like the bloated stuff we've seen prior to this, but all that does is verify that it's mostly a "put all updates together" update.

[sswilson]

Wow.... gotta be the first SP install I've done which didn't already have a ton of security updates to the update!!! Not a single one! :)

[stoanee]

Well, I have tried to install SP3 twice and both times it went on and on then.........access denied! It then prompted me to to uninstall and reverse changes! WTF? I guess I will wait for the automatic update.

[encorp]

I'll install it on my P4 system when I get home and let you know. I don't really believe in a lot of conspiracy crap, I don't think MS is going to cut the OS with a service pack to end limit it at all. I think SP3 was planned well before they knew how Vista would sell or not on the market. I don't think MS wants to hurt the people who already own the OS - just limit who can pick it up in the future. I have also been reading of some performance increases from various sources who got it early so I'll check for myself and report back here.

[enaberif]

i installed it 2 days ago on my laptop with a "hacked" xp and no problems.

[Eagle Eye]

My experiences are nothing exciting I downloaded it off the windows update website, installation was successful and no problems upon reboot. As to performance I haven't ran any games or benchmark tools and I don't have anything to really compare it too so it would be kind of pointless, I am just happy it installed correctly. The first time I installed the SP3 I installed the incorrect version and it mucked up my installation so bad I had to do a complete system repair and my system still hasn't fully returned to its previous state.

[ebdoradz]

have downlaod both the .exe and the ISO files from download.microsoft.com

but i havent tried it yet

i will test it 1st on my 3rd rig (blue one in sig) and if its working properly i will expend for the yellow and green rig

might need to wake up @ 3am to install in the red rig since its hosting a website

wiull post result when i get some

[Jmac]

I've installed it on about a half dozen computers, including one of my own. I can't say I've had any issues, but I haven't really noticed much of a difference either. :shrug:

[jdrom17]

Seemed to make my P4 2.4GHz; 512MB RAM; ATI 9000 Laptop run better