I thought I would mention this since nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide still run XP. You may have not read that Windows XP SP3 is now on Microsoft's Windows Update Site. Since it is not a critical update it won't pop up in the Automatic Updates notifying you of SP3.

Warning! A word of caution for those who may have an HP computer with an AMD chipset. There have been reports of computers becoming unbootable (even in safe mode!) so if you have an HP computer with an AMD chipset you may want to forego installing SP3 until Microsoft provides a patch. Other than that specific case i.e. an HP computer with AMD chipset, it is recommended by Microsoft to update your XP OS to SP3. I installed it on my machine and everything is good to go with no apparent problems. SP3 provides many fixes and enhancements along with greater security. Your mileage may vary of course..

Best,
Mike

PS: Microsoft also recommends you disable any Anti-Virus software before installing SP3 but do so according to your own discretion.

Im from the If it ain't broke dont fix it mentality

I'm from the 'If it's from Microsoft, wait a few weeks and see what can go wrong' school of thought, myself!

Thats with all software developers, its not only microsoft....


I would never upgrade my keyboard that i'd need in a live situation untill others toroughly tested the latest patch, not even a Wersi and those are running on Windows XP..


Tough you are right, i,'d wat a few weeks before updating, as otherwise you get to deal with the early adapter problem...

Hi All
I have been using SP3 for the last couple of months (Beta version) with no problems at all; I installed the final version about 3 weeks ago, again with no problems. (Service packs are released to business users and Network technicians long before being let loose on the public)
Hope this helps

Bill

I would suggest it is a perfectly safe and useful upgrade.

XP is now a very mature and stable platform, (unless you are a "tweaker" and stuff things up). I know, I get it all the time when fixing them, and no matter how many times you advise people on "safe" computing, invariably you are back there within 6 months to fix it again.
Oh well, keeps me in $'s I suppose.

Hello,

Here is a link you can use to help you decide if you want to apply the SP3 update now.
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=2010&SiteID=17

Just keep in mind that those forums are for dealing with issues. People who have a successful SP3 installation experience may have no reason to post.

What am I doing? I'm going to do what I always do. Minor updates I install as they are available. Major updates (like SP2 & SP3)... I'll wait a few weeks to see how things shake out.

Your mileage may vary.

Thanks.

Hi,

I had to report a problem with my HP AMD computer being not able to reboot.

Fortunately with a restart in safe mode I was able to find a point to restore the previous situation. Fortunately it works perfectly and I'm sticky with my SP2.

Hope this help.

Regards.

Tried downloading SP3 yesterday and found that I was short on HD space. So i started offloading some of my mp3/wma files to make room. The computer pooped out. Booted up this morning and found that the computer is trying to go back to a fixed save point, but there is a missing dll, autocheck. Now it just gets to that screen and reboots. Today I'm writing from a spare laptop and having to update it to have most of the things I'm used to.

How do I get past the missing autocheck problem?

See if you can start in safe mode, and do the repairs from there.
You can also re-install Windows to repair any damaged files.
Hope this helps

Bill

SAFE mode did not work. My geek son took it home and has a Windows repair disk - he's a network admin. Let you know what happens. Til then it's laptop #2.

Word went out to the tech at Canon today to avoid loading SP3 into any PC. Looping problems are popping up all over the place.

My laptop is getting a new 160gb drive and a new XP install (with SP2 + updates). The old drive will become my new USB music drive. Oh, did I tell you that my first music HD fried itself. Don't know if anything is salvageable. If not, I'll have to re-rip all my CDs and might lose some old downloads.

I am of the mind that I will not do firmware upgrades, bios upgrades, Software upgrades until or unless I have PERSONALLY discovered the need for the update as it relates to my use.

SP3 does what? Why do I need it? What is it that is not working that would make me want to change things that are running perfectly?

Thank God for those "early adopters" who live for upgrades, updates and "beta test" them for the masses.

Why do you need SP3 enough to deal with even more issues?

Hey, it's what I do.

I am in no hurry. There doesn't seem to be any urgent need to risk causing problems. I think I'll wait a few months, let Microsoft bring out updates like they did with SP2 and then get it when it seems 99% safe to do so. Of course no software update is ever 100% safe.

Nigel has the right idea alright. Lay low and wait for the most opportune time when problems aren't so prolific. Remember, if you have an HP/Compact computer with an AMD chipset avoid SP3 at all costs until Microsoft and HP provide a fix for the reboot related problem(s). SP3 is not considered a critical update as I mentioned in my first post so there is no urgent need to update to it at this time, if ever. There are bug fixes and security improvements so needless to say if SP3 provides better security it may well be worth a look and taken into consideration at some point.

I also installed SP3 on my DAW computer that I'm using for recording purposes and everything went without a hitch there as well. Of course every computer system is configured and setup a little differently therefore no software is a 100% sure thing as it pertains to installing it successfully on each system. The big thing Microsoft stressed was disabling antivirus software and also closing out any currently running programs on the computer at the time of install. And also the HP/AMD issue and warning everyone not to install it if you fit that criteria.

Best,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 05-19-2008).]