Zen Internet Support Forum

I installed SP3 on a fairly new dual core machine and I have had no problem at all with it.

I tried to install it on a two year old Dell and it had an access denial  error (even though in administrator mode" but it just backed off and removed what had installed leaving no problems.

The EeePC just says it does not have enough recource to install it.

3 PC's attempted with 1 success.

I think the best time to install SP3 is after a clean XP install as it looks like it is changes to the OS or installed software over time that causes the problems that people have had.

I had run one of these registry tuning/cleaning anti bug programs on the Dell for a couple of years while the dual core is less than 8 months old.

 

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Ken

Zen Active 8000

By the time a family pays off the mortgage for a home in the suburbs, the home isn't home,and the suburbs aren't suburbs.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your reply, I cannot download SP3 via the Microsoft update site for some weird reason I don't understand. I have found a version of SP3 which I have downloaded & burnt to CD but its really for IT administrators (all 300megs+ of it) & its NOT recommended for a single system. Would your copy of SP3 be suitable for a single machine? If it is could I ask a favor could I get a copy from you??

Ivan

That is the copy I have Ivan and it worked OK

Works over networks etc. It was the only version available on the Microsoft site that I could find

 

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Ken

Zen Active 8000

By the time a family pays off the mortgage for a home in the suburbs, the home isn't home,and the suburbs aren't suburbs.

Hello Ken,

Thanks for your response, OK! your feedback on this is very appreciated. The problem is that with most Microsoft service packs in the past you could be reasonably confident that there will be no major problems with the installation or post installation. However considerable self doubt has plauged my mind as I've been reading such wildly conflicting information regarding XP SP3.

To make matters worse Microsoft have been making it increasingly difficult to get ANY updates or service packs without some kind of validation or activation. 

The options for getting hold of SP3 has also been confusing, SP3 was first only made available to computer retailers & OEM system builders. So new machines with XP came with it pre-installed. OR Microsoft's preferred channel for most users was through Windows automatic Update service.

**NOTE:- Microsoft offer SP3 for IT Professionals but have commented on that its not the most desirable form of service pack if you are only updating a single machine. But I have realized now that its because its a large build size at around 300megs plus. 

**The only other method of sourcing SP3 was to download a small Microsoft file which in effect hacks or tweaks the XP registry so that SP3 is specifically downloaded via the windows update service. 

PS:- I hate the windows update service and try to avoid it like the plague. As I want to know what I'm downloading & installing because 90% of MS updates are a total waste of time & space. Only the system or OS critical and security updates are worth having IMO.

**I might have a go with SP3 after what you've reported.

Thanks once again Ivan.

Here is a useful link if you need or want XP service pack 3 (English) but its a large download so not advisable for dial-up connections (DSL only realistically).

http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/windows-xp-service-pack-3.html

Ivan.

Can I suggest that you download SP3 from the official Microsoft site, to avoid any issues of viruses, malaware etc.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5b33b5a8-5e76-401f-be08-1e1555d4f3d4&DisplayLang=en

As Cytek says, it's big (318Mb)

That is the version I got and I do agree that it is always better to get any update from the official site.

As long as the MS version is free of malware 

 

 

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Ken

Zen Active 8000

By the time a family pays off the mortgage for a home in the suburbs, the home isn't home,and the suburbs aren't suburbs.

Hello again,

Just a report back really, I have spent about an hour installing XP SP3. Downloaded from the Microsoft site.

Not what you would call quick exactly, in fact the whole process is more like a re-install of the entire OS in my opinion. Anyway after much anxiety I finally bit the bullet & installed the darn thing, anyway despite the slowness it installed cleanly & I've had zero post installation problems (touch wood as they say) as far so good.

**No! new features in terms of the user interface & No! changes to my systems overall performance either.

**YES! the MS version is malware free.

**I'm a happy bunny now its done 

Ivan

I tell I a lie the machine is actually slightly faster since SP3 was installed, its definetely more perkey & responsive.

I did read some where that a commerical IT company found their machines were 10% faster after SP3 seems to be true.

Ivan

Glad it worked out OK for you Ivan.

I can't say I noticed an increase in speed but the dual core 3G machine is fairly new and fast anyway. A pity really as it is upstairs now and only switched on once a week to keep it up to date.

My wife was not to happy with a noisy huge desktop cpu case in the living room so I now mainly use an Acer 5220 laptop with Vista Home Basic on it and the EeePC with XP Home installed.

As I do banking and other high security things on the machines I do like to keep all security in the OS up to date and I also never use free antivirus and firewalls etc but always buy good and well tested software.

What I meant buy MS malware was things like WGA which after all does the same thing as lots of other spyware. But of course we do trust Microsoft 100% 

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Ken

Zen Active 8000

By the time a family pays off the mortgage for a home in the suburbs, the home isn't home,and the suburbs aren't suburbs.

Hi Ken,

YEP! extremely happy bunny now its all working & my machine is flying along nicely.

**Ken, I've been using Zone Alarms 100% free basic firewall for 8 years now & not only is it totally rock solid its never let me down ever in all that time (never paid a penny for it either). ZA is much much better than many other licensed products you would pay for. Why? the basic ZA firewall uses SPI (thats stateful packet inspection) which has a well tried & tested track record on protection, SPI has also become the computer industry standard for most good quality routers these days too.

**The MS windows XP built in firewall has always been a poor quality offering & not to be relied upon as your only source of internet protection. Now to be fair to MS the firewall that comes with Vista is much better & can be relied upon, but I still don't think its very user friendly jobby.

**SPI works at a lower level of the network stack in contrast to other firewalls that only use application filtering or packet filtering (these work at a higher level of the stack & so are considered less secure in my opinion). 

**I have used most of the commercial licesned AV products over the years I've been involved in computing (both professionally & as a hobby at home) such as Norton AV, McAfeee, etc. I have to say that Norton was OK but not fantastic but trying to remove Norton was a sheer pain in the posterior (never again! yes! it was that bad).

I have been using Grisofts FREE AVG (free for personal use) which is streets & light years better than Norton and the updates are daily & free. It has ALL and more features than Norton AV.

Right Now I am using AVIRA ANTIVIR (free anti virus) from a German software house but its an extremely high quality & good product, also like the above it has free daily updates.

**NOT ALL SOFTWARE IS CREATED EQUAL, just because you paid money for the product please don't assume its the best or that there aren't better programs for the task.

**I recently ditched MS Office in favour of Sun's Open Office which is totally increadible alternative 10 out of 10 I cannot fault it (and no activation non sense or costly licenses either). Install it & use it end of story. 

**I don't have & have no intention of having WGA (windows genuine abuse IMO). Why? should anyone have to ask Microsofts permission to make physical changes to their own hardware when they want to. No! I'm NOT going down that path if I can avoid it. What I do with or too my machine has nothing to do with MS IMO.

Ivan.