WinXP question

[Henry]

I know this isn't a WinXP group, but it's a lot more active than those
groups and the people seem knowledgeable.

I'm running WinXP Pro SP2 on a Dell Dimension 3 GHz machine with 2 Gig
of RAM.

I have only heard bad things from people I know who tried to install
SP3 and on newsgroups. It seems that one of three things will happen.

1. Everything will go well and it will work OK. (Seldom)

2. It will seem to go well for some period of time and then something
happens and your computer gets screwed up.

3. It will not install correctly and your computer gets screwed up.

With the last two, a clean re-install of WinXP is required to get back
running.

With my luck with updates, one of the last two will occur.

What happens if I don't update and stay with SP2? Will I not get any
further updates at all?

Signed Scared

Henry

[Don Phillipson]

"Henry" <wa0...@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:i0fkv2$s1f$2...@news.eternal-september.org...

(Your fears are exaggerated.)

1. Ensure that System Restore is set active. Providing your OS is
in good order, this will allow you to turn back the clock. E.g. if some
upgrade goes wrong you can reboot with yesterday's good OS
hive and you are back in business.

I.e. no "clean re-install of WinXP is required to get back running."

2. With a good installation of WinXP SP2, your main two reasons
for wanting to instal SP3 are:
-- To enable doing something that you cannot now do (e.g. to
instal new hardware or software.)
-- To get specific security modifications (because you judge
your habits make SP2 vulnerable to damage SP3 might prevent.)
If neither applies, you hardly need to upgrade.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

> What happens if I don't update and stay with SP2? Will I not get any
> further updates at all?

Bingo!

Support for WinXP (x86) SP2 ends on 13 July 2010. After that date, computers
running WinXP (x86) SP2 "will no longer receive software updates from
Windows Update" (i.e., Automatic Updates will not work and Windows Update
website will not be accessible) until SP3 has been installed. Extended
Support for WinXP SP3 will continue through 08 April 2014.

. What does it mean if my version of Windows is no longer supported?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/what-does-end-of-support-mean

[Bill in Co.]

Don Phillipson wrote:
> "Henry" <wa0...@arrl.net> wrote in message
> news:i0fkv2$s1f$2...@news.eternal-september.org...
>> I know this isn't a WinXP group, but it's a lot more active than those
>> groups and the people seem knowledgeable.
>>
>> I'm running WinXP Pro SP2 on a Dell Dimension 3 GHz machine with 2 Gig
>> of RAM.
>>
>> I have only heard bad things from people I know who tried to install
>> SP3 and on newsgroups. It seems that one of three things will happen.
>>
>> 1. Everything will go well and it will work OK. (Seldom)
>>
>> 2. It will seem to go well for some period of time and then something
>> happens and your computer gets screwed up.
>>
>> 3. It will not install correctly and your computer gets screwed up.
>>
>> With the last two, a clean re-install of WinXP is required to get back
>> running.
>>
>> With my luck with updates, one of the last two will occur.
>>
>> What happens if I don't update and stay with SP2? Will I not get any
>> further updates at all?
>
> (Your fears are exaggerated.)
>
> 1. Ensure that System Restore is set active. Providing your OS is
> in good order, this will allow you to turn back the clock. E.g. if some
> upgrade goes wrong you can reboot with yesterday's good OS
> hive and you are back in business.

I'm not sure how effective System Restore would be in rolling back from SP3
to SP2 (if needed), however. That's a pretty tall order for System Restore,
considering how much is changed. :-)

A much better idea is to image or clone the current SP2 drive, and restore
that image or clone if needbe, although I agree I think his fears of SP3 are
a bit exaggerated.

> I.e. no "clean re-install of WinXP is required to get back running."

And IF such would have been desired, simply falling back to the prior SP2
backup disk image (or SP2 clone disk backup) would resolve that issue.

[98 Guy]

"Bill in Co." wrote:

> >> What happens if I don't update and stay with SP2? Will I not
> >> get any further updates at all?

> I'm not sure how effective System Restore would be in rolling back

> from SP3 to SP2 (if needed), however.

XP's system restore can't roll back SP3 to SP2.

> A much better idea is to image or clone the current SP2 drive,
> and restore that image or clone if needbe, although I agree I
> think his fears of SP3 are a bit exaggerated.

Buy a cheap 80 gb hard drive (maybe $50) and clone your existing SP2
drive. Think if it as a backup. Use Norton Ghost 2003 booted from a
floppy.

I've never seen a satisfactory explanation as to what the difference is
between two similarly updated XP systems - one with SP2 and one with
SP3.

[@nomail.afraid.org FromTheRafters]

"98 Guy" <9...@Guy.com> wrote in message news:4C2BB7EE...@Guy.com...

Not a side-by-side, but maybe it helps.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=68c48dad-bc34-40be-8d85-6bb4f56f5110&DisplayLang=en

[Henry]

My reason for installing SP3 is that support for WinXP (x86) SP2 ends
on 13 July 2010. I don't think I can get updates after that.

Henry