Go to SP3 or stay with SP2?

My desktop PC was purchased in Dec/05 and is a Windows XP Media Center Edition SP2. The laptop is Windows XP Pro, purchased a year ago, also running SP2.

I've been avoiding going to SP3 because I had kind of heard some people had been having problems with it, but SP3 has been out for a while now, so all the bugs should have been worked out by now, I figure. The laptop is very stable with SP2. The desktop gets a little cranky once in a while, but I'm hoping it's just minor stuff. For the most part, things are going well with SP2 and I'm reluctant to rock the boat needlessly.

Is there any compelling reason for me to change any sooner than I am forced to (like, by MS ceasing support for SP2)? Someone on another board happened to ask why I hadn't gone to SP3 and it got me thinking that maybe it's time I looked into doing that.

And how easy or difficult would it be to go back to SP2 if SP3 doesn't work out? If there would be any difficulties, I would expect it on the older computer, which is an HP Media Center m7260n and has lots of extra stuff on it. More opportunity for things like driver conflicts.

 

Update your drivers and your other programs. That is what causes most problems.

 

In addition to the driver updates advice... I have gone to SP3 on both my XP computers and I haven't noticed anything negative, rather the opposite. They both work very well, and are very reliable.

 

Thanks Mimsy and Just Playin. I figured some people were sticking with SP2 because of perhaps using older equipment and there possibly being driver conflicts. Sometimes it's hard to get the right drivers, too, especially for machines like my HP. I don't know if companies are still doing this, but my first computer, purchased in '99, was a NEC with an on board graphics chip, and I had read that there was a possibility that NEC had modified the chip and sometimes companies will do that, and then it's hard to update the drivers. I don't know if this sort of thing still goes on now or not. I tried to upgrade the audio driver on the NEC machine, apparently got the wrong one, and ended up with no sound until I figured out how to undo what I had done. (Windows 98SE didn't have a way to roll back the driver upgrade, but in running the driver installer again, I found there was included the option to uninstall, so I chose that one and it worked, had my old driver back...but there was no way I was going to try to update the video driver after that!)

Do you know if a person can roll back to SP2 if things don't work out with SP3?

And I was thinking of ordering the CD rather than doing the download, since it's a rather big download. Can you use the same CD on more than one computer?

 

Hi Amethyst_08, I was also afraid of SP3, and I also have XP Prof too. But, when I did the update, no bells or whistles went off, my hard drive didn't explode, and actually, I didn't notice a thing, but my computer sure did like it.. It is very good update... I haven't regretted it at all...

I would suggest to update to SP3 also... Your 'puter will like you more :-D

Are you on a dial-up connection? if so, you might want to download the "Free Download Manager" it is a Godsend to us DUN users!

 

Hey bro update to sp3 i am useing xp as well and it helped me with the little things my puter loved it

 

roflmao

Yeah, OK. So I don't need to be so :eek about this.

We have a satellite internet connection, which is a lot faster than dialup but not nearly as fast as broadband. I would save a download like this for late at night, although I did the huge 200+ MB .Net framework update on the laptop and that went fine. That was done late at night and I fell asleep and so did the laptop, but the download resumed when we both woke up, it just picked up where it left off and all was well. I would have preferred a CD for that one, but it wasn't an option.

Thanks for the reassurance about the update, and you, too, FBP. It's good to hear that it's working well for people.

 

Hi Amethyst_08 , do you know of anyone on a hi-speed connection, that can download it to a CD for you? I am on a dial-up connection myself, and I was so 'afraid' of SP3, that I , uh, :-o removed it from windows download site! I ended up having it burned to a CD and installing it that way...

If you download Free Download Manager, it will pick up the update when you go to download it, and when you go off line, then back on, it will pick up where it left off, thus not losing anything.. I have it, and it has saved me a LOT of time... It is also good for WMV files .

Just a thought, but with your connection, you may be alright, and also, check and see if it is being offered thru Windows update, and if it is, just allow the AU to pick it up... That is what I was supposed to do, but I have learned not to un-check those little buggers! The hard way! If it is offered thru AU, you won't have any problem.. AU will pick it up for you.... Hope all goes well, as I said, I sat here waiting for bells, whistles, and I was ready, but nothing happened! :-D You too will be fine! No, you don't have to be afraid of it at all.....

 

I have had numerous people say "SP3 is buggy" or "SP3 causes crashes", and these are the same people that said "Vista is buggy" and "Vista always crashes". In other words, it's total BS :crap SP3 is fine and will not hurt anything. Many people have reported slight performance increases after installing SP3. However, if you're on dial-up, I'd either get a friend with hi-speed to download and burn it (as suggested above by TC), or just stick with SP2. Either way is OK.... Microsoft support for SP2 and SP3 ends mid 2010, so it really doesn't matter either way (that is if I read this chart correctly).

And, yes, SP3 is available via Automatic Updates....

 

Not just slight, it made quite a noticeable difference! And yes, I agree with you. Surprisingly often "computer problems" are just user issues... LOL

 

I checked out the MS support link you provided, dlb, and I don't know what to think, other than that Microsoft seems to be pretty flexible with its support deadlines. My desktop is XP Media Center Edition SP2, supposedly not supported anymore, and I still get updates offered, both for windows itself and some of the other items installed and that is from Microsoft itself. It usually gets the same critical updates as the new XP Pro laptop, although the MCE wasn't offered the great big .NET update. It's there in the 'optional' list, however, as are some other updates for MCE itself. I guess I'll just carry on with whatever updates and support I can get for as long as it lasts.

I do my Windows updates manually all the time and choose 'custom', and SP3 is always offered for both machines, so I can download them any time. I had thought of getting the CD just to make sure nothing gets corrupted during the download, and it's just nice to have that on hand in case I ever have to reinstall and start over on either computer.

Thank you again to everyone who responded. I'm quite reassured to hear that SP3 does function well.

 

I meant to say that my Windowx XP MCE is a 2002 version.