Do I need SP3?

[*John*]

I have a Windows XP Pro SP2 install that runs excellently. No problems whatsoever, and it's quick. I haven't updated beyond SP2 at all though. I usually go from service pack to service pack for both maximum stability and compatability. The good thing is that I have totally avoided WGA and OGA in my Office 2003 too. I value my privacy and stability, and given the trouble with that i'm glad to give it a massive miss.

My question is whether I need SP3? Have all of you installed it, or have some of you held back? The fact that it contains WGA is a massive minus for me, because I don't trust it, particularly not to lock me out of my own PC the next time there is a problem at MS. I am also worried about compatibility. Is newer software going to require SP3, and this leave me out in the cold with SP2?

I'm just generally interested in your opinions

Thanks

[anonymous_user]

I have SP3 and its great. As for compatibility, SP3 is mostly updates and doesnt cause drastic changes like SP2.

If you really choose to stay with SP2, I dont think youll have any problem.

[Andromeda43]

Sp3 is a humongous download and it gives you Nothing of real value, not at all like SP2.

If your existing install of Xp is running well for you, forget about SP3. OK?

I installed it, and it took only six minutes to install on my PC, but it did absolutely NOTHING for me.

YES....the further you can stay away from WGA, the better off you'll be.

Sounds like you've got your PC pretty well under control. Keep it that way.

Cheers mate!

Andromeda B)

[spacesurfer]

sp3 is behind-the-scenes security updates. doesn't hurt to install it. if you've got a legit, nothing to worry about wga. i'd go for it simply because of security updates and nap and some say of performance gains.

although i haven't seen a performance gain (NOR a loss), on a clean install, i have noticed faster boot time on my virtual pc's.

[JedMeister]

I have installed it on all XP systems that I've worked on except for business machines (as I've read of a few problems that I don't really want to have to deal with) and have had no ill effects. On the other hand I haven't noticed any real improvements either. I think its basically just all the security updates to date in one pack. The full version is quite big but on one PC I worked on recently it said that it would only require a download of around 50MB (on Windows Update). I was under the impression that SP3 doesn't include WGA although I could be wrong with that (pretty much all the machines I work with have it installed anyway). Even if you don't want WGA, don't let that be a significant factor in deciding whether to install SP3 or not as MS have instructions on their website on how to remove WGA (if you so desire).

[Mr Snrub]

Quick clarification: a service pack contains all published security hotfixes (GDRs) and non-security hotfixes (LDRs) after the previous fork, up to a certain cut-off date.

GDR = General Distribution Release - those hotfixes available through Windows Update

LDR = Limited Distribution Release (also known as QFE - Quick Fix Engineering) - those hotfixes are the ones you see KB articles for that state "if you have the symptoms in this KB article, contact Microsoft to obtain the hotfix

Jumping from service pack to service pack might feel "cleaner", but bear in mind you are implementing a LOT of changes in one go, and in troubleshooting terms that can be a nightmare.

To present the other side of the argument, if you have hundreds of hotfixes installed and come to install a service pack, there is a lot more to back up into uninstall folders to allow a rollback.

Eventually, like Windows 2000, XP will be only supported and have hotfixes produced for the last service pack.

[TheFlash428]

SP2 was released in August 2004. So basically you haven't updated your computer in almost 4 years?

Personally, if I was running on a fully patched system, I wouldn't worry too much about SP3, but given the fact that you state that you haven't run any updates since SP2, it might be a good idea to update.

Of course, you would want to completely back up your system before applying a major update like this, and only you know what may be best for your system.

As far as the WGA, the only reason to really avoid it is if your running a non-legit copy of XP, otherwise it's pretty harmless (IMO).

[JedMeister]

Sorry I missed the bit about you not having installed any updates since SP2. With that in mind I would definitely advise you to install SP3. But only after a full and thorough backup of anything that is important to you (in case something goes really wrong).

Good luck!