Upgrade from WinXP SP2 to SP3?

[WhipperSnapper]

My OS is pestering me again to update my Windows XP Pro from SP2 to SP3. Is this a good idea? Bad idea? What are the benefits of upgrading to SP3?

Topic moved to Operating Systems.

AnandTech Moderator
mechBgon

 

[Billb2]

It's a little faster and MS says it's more secure(???). Really, nothing spectacular.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Faster? That sounds like a good reason to upgrade.

But is it still buggy?

 

[nova2]

bad idea if you don't have any backups, but otherwise try it but dont waste much time trying sp3 if it fails, as its not worth it like sp2.

considering how much of a bloody pain it turned out to be to upgrade my winxp sp1 laptop to sp2, I probably wont bother trying sp3 on it for awhile considering there is no good reason it needs sp3.

stuff that probably ended up helping me upgrade to sp2 (so that the sp2 install would stop failing)
ms aritcle id 822798
service pack installation logs.
KB928595

 

[Nothinman]

I applied it to the XP Pro VM I use at work and haven't noticed anything good or bad.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
I applied it to the XP Pro VM I use at work and haven't noticed anything good or bad.

The 2 XP machines I put it on have behaved the same after the patch as before.

 

[Billb2]

You have to benchmark to see any speed differences.

 

[secretanchitman]

xp sp3 is just the same for me...the only plus side is that now i dont have to run windows update and leave it on through the night (with the ie7 box sitting there waiting for me to press yes, install) cause all those annoying updates are included.

 

[waitman]

I have had it screw up the sound on a couple different machines that I have put it on. On one machine that I put it on, I noticed quite an increase in the speed.

 

[ForumMaster]

keep in mind, that although sp3 does contain some addons (wpa2 support and router black hole discovery among them) it's mostly just a pack of fixes. it isn't as different as sp2 was.

 

[spherrod]

Have had no issues on the multiple machines I've upgraded - probably not a bad idea to have a backup first though.

 

[KGB]

The only times I've had issues going to sp3 was when using AMD processors with VIA or SiS chipsets. This is a known issue and there are registry workarounds for it but it is a PITA.

 

[alexvorn2]

bad idea.

 

[corkyg]

Very good idea! My XP Pro updated itself to Sp3 and loads faster than it did before and is more secure. And, there are a dozen or so updates after SP3.

The big advantage is that is rolls upa year's worth of updates since SP2, and makes reinstalling (if you ever need to) much more efficient.

 

[MRGOOCH]

Does SP3 replace SP1 and SP2.If I had to replace my hard drive could I just use SP3?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: MRGOOCH
Does SP3 replace SP1 and SP2.If I had to replace my hard drive could I just use SP3?

All service packs are inclusive of previous ones.

Regarding whether to install or not... sure beats the hell out of downloading umpteen bajillion individual windows updates.