RSSXP SP3 distribution proceeds after auto download filter put in place
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published May 6, 2008, 4:07 PM
After delaying the availability of Windows XP Service Pack 3 through its Download Center for one week after an incompatibility problem was discovered, Microsoft has now opened it up to automatic distribution.
SP3 actually was released last week, but in a limited fashion: by direct download, specifically through links on Microsoft's Web site, on its FTP site, and on services like BetaNews FileForum, as well as through retail and volume licensing channels. Now, consumers who use the Windows XP client and who have Automatic Updates turned on will be alerted to its availability, though Microsoft informed BetaNews earlier that SP3 should not yet have been made to be installed automatically. In other words, XP users shouldn't wake up one morning and find SP3 on their systems.
The delay, as it turned out, was triggered by an incompatibility discovered between SP3 and Microsoft's Dynamics Retail Management System, which is actually still being worked out. Customers with RMS are still being advised not to install SP3 until the problem is effectively resolved; Microsoft has yet to say exactly what the problem is.
In a post to her team's blog yesterday, Internet Explorer 8 program manager Jane Maliouta revealed some interesting details for both IE7 users and IE8 testers who use, or plan to use, SP3. Unlike the case with prior service packs, she noted, SP3 does not install the latest Web browser; so IE6 users will actually remain IE6 users, at least for the time being. But IE7 users who upgrade to SP3 will note that their option to uninstall IE7 will have been removed.
As Maliouta explained, it's because SP3 actually has replacement files for IE6. But once they've been installed on a system running IE7, they overwrite the IE6 rollback files.
"This behavior is by design and here is why," she wrote. "When we install IE7 on Windows XP SP2, we backup the existing IE6 files in an uninstall directory. Those IE6 files are the ones that shipped on XPSP2 plus all the security updates you've installed while using IE6. Windows XP SP3 contains a newer version of the Internet Explorer 6 files. If you have XP SP3 on your system and uninstall IE7, your system would revert to the backed up (older) version of the IE6 files rather than the newer XP SP3 version."
You can uninstall IE7, she went on, but it means uninstalling SP3 first.
Maliouta went on to say that IE8 Beta 1 will fully support, and be supported by, XP SP3. However, if you happen to have installed IE8 Beta 1 on SP2, there may be a surprise for you: Microsoft Update will not make SP3 available to you for automatic download, for reasons she explained were somewhat similar. The solution: Uninstall IE8 Beta 1 before installing XP SP3, then re-install IE8 Beta 1 afterward.
In an article published Friday by CIO, former Linux Watch blogger Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols -- who typically has very little good to say about Microsoft -- proclaimed XP Service Pack 3 "the best Windows PC operating system I've ever used," adding that it was actually a "pleasure" to upgrade two of his old Pentium 4 systems that were incapable of running Windows Vista.
"In contrast, Windows Vista SP1 will finally run on one of my computers without any ongoing problems. That's the best I can say for it," Steven added. He did not appear to also be testing Internet Explorer 8, however.
Anyone have problems with automatic updates failing ..
I installed XP > SP2 > connected to net; installed SP3 .. (This is second time around) everything is fine to this point then I run the updates and install the batch with IE7;this also installs ok but after this point any windows installs fail including windows live ... nothing microsoft will install .. It appears that I can download updates from third party sites such as AVAST (virus checker) ..
No idea what is wrong as there is no error or indicator from update except that it FAILED .. great help ...
I have a second XP PC which has had no problems ..
Anyone help !!!!!!!
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|Installed xp-sp3 from windows update. All went well. As usual i have to redo many of the customizations. Repatched uxtheme reinstalled noir theme,,ect
! prob i havent seen addressed is the space gobbleing of the backup files. I would like to wipe the backup files [space gobblers] but need some specific instructions as to which files & where they are located. Spare me the sarcasm & fanboy crap too, only helpfull replys are welcome. [format c: isnt what i need, nor is a mac or linux install] Can ya tell i read here often? =)) Thanks ahead of time for any help.
Mac
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|I installed SP3 successfully but after the reboot my pc wouldn't get past the boot screen, it would shut down and restart again. It repeated that for about 30 times. I tried to go into safe mode and managed to get to the desktop only for it to shut down again back to the boot up phase. I have had NO problems with SP2, nor vista. I, luckily, have a second drive with my back up on it and was successfully able to restore my drive and keep all of my data. Any opinions on why this happened or if anyone else experienced that, I would defininately like to read about them.
HP Media Center PC m7470n
AMD 64x2 Dual Core
300 GB Sata Drive
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|Only help I can offer without knowing what's running or what add-in cards you may have:
Make sure your drivers are up to date.
Make sure you've disabled your AV. (For that matter, kill all start-up programs through msconfig; you can re-enable them once the SP3 install has completed)
Sounds like you have nearly exactly my system. Bet the mainboard in that thing is an Asus, even.
I doubt it's hardware. That stuff is pretty standard unless you;ve got some esoteric add-in card going on.
Try disabling the start-up stuff as mentioned above, reboot, install SP3, and go from there. Good luck. ;)
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|See, I'm not the only one who knows about the restore function. And, no, we didn't share notes.
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|I use the restore function too.
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|After update it slowed my computer so much that it couldn't be used. I then used system restore to go back to sp2, and everything works fine.
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|*laughs*
System Restore? Really?
You utterly failed to notice the "uninstall" option for the service pack?
Sadly, much of SP3 is likely still on your system if all you did was a system restore. System restore!=uninstall.
Hopefully you didn't just bork it beyond all hope. If it work in it's current state, you're one lucky SOB. Try using Windows Update (there should be 2 or 3 since SP3). Try running Defrag. If these are working, you're an insanely lucky SOB. If they don't and the "uninstall" option for SP3 is either now missing or no longer 100% functional, you may be in for a complete system reload.
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|SOB SOB SOB... WTF dude. get a grip. Sys restore works just like uninstall ( and no, I didn't miss that uninstall was an option). I'm not new to the computer and, no, I wasn't born yesterday. At any time that an install goes awry or malware gets installed, restore is always the first option, not always "uninstall". Not always an option, dude. You might be an administrator or something, but what may work for you, may not always work for someone else. It Worked. That's all that matters. Quit being the BetaNews know-it-all.
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|Wow.
Chill. The first part of the post was a bit smart-ass, that's just the way I am. If you read the whole thing, the second half actually tried to be helpful.
System restore!=uninstall. Never has never will. It works in many cases when settings have been hosed or in cases of rogue programs gone haywire, but it does not in any way "uninstall" an entire service pack.
In regards to it working, I would not be so sure, which I why I suggested a few tests (common functionality broken by other's "restores" from SP3...amazingly, you're not the first to try this, and...even more amazingly, it hasn't been a flawless restore for them)
Take it any way you want to. System restore is a poor substitute for an uninstall when one is explicitly provided.
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|I didn't realize there was an uninstall, but my computer works 100% after using system restore. I just checked add or remove programs in the control panel and sp3 is still there. Well no worries now, my computer works fine.
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|OK call me stupid maybe, but if you did a system restore back to SP2 then why is SP3 still in Add Remove Programs?
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|I'm not sure, I guess it didn't actually take SP3 out, but whatever it did my computer works now.
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|Like I said, double-check the things like update and defrag.
Those are the most common items to break from an SP3 "restore".
If you lucked out, hey, more power to ya. Buy yourself a lottery ticket. ;)
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|Wow, you managed to be an a** and look like an idiot at the same time. Sys restore doesn't work the same as uninstall. They work differently. And just because something looks fine to you, doesn't mean that it is. As an example, I know many websites that look fine, but have shoddy code that should have gotten the webdevs fired, if not whipped.
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|Well, I may have managed to be an azz and apperar to be an idiot, but not everyone is a born tekkie and knows wtf you're talking about. I would guess 95% of the people writing a post here would and can identify as a true computer geek. I teach myself and it has not failed me yet, knock on wood. I may not know shyt and I may be an idiot, but I'm my own idiot. I do appreciate your side too. Not everything is as black and white as it seems. There are some grey areas. I'll let it go at that.
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|"The currently selected graphics display driver can not be used. It was written for a previous version of Windows, and is no longer compatible with this version of Windows.
The system has been started using the default VGA driver.
Please contact your hardware manufacturer to get an upgraded driver, or select one of the Microsoft provided drivers."
Graphics chipset is: Mobility Radeon 7500 AGP (Mobility M7). 64MB.
Also, if your laptop is not plugged into AC power, SP3 will tell you that it has to be.
EDIT: I searched for a driver update through Windows Update, updated from a 2002 version to a 2005 version, and now it works fine.
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|Also, if your laptop is not plugged into AC power, SP3 will tell you that it has to be.
This is standard...and a good idea. The update can take longer than most batteries (at least on laptops built around the time XP was released) will last.
As for the driver... No idea. That's unusual. What happened when you tried to re-install or update the driver?
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|I searched for a driver update through Windows Update, updated from a 2002 version to a 2005 version, and now it works fine.
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|Good deal.
Another option might be:
http://ati.amd.com/suppo.../radeon-prer300-xp.html
Latest driver from ATi for the 7500 series.
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|Look at the list of Problems here :
http://download.microsof...057aa8c631/relnotes.htm
They will fix the RMS problem, but I think, they will leave the other problems un-fixed as XP days are numbered.
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|I'll save you folks the utter waste of time:
6 issues.
...all followed by instructions on how to resolve them (Except the Dynamic Retail Management one they are working on).
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|@lilmegz. Mine did absolutely the same thing. So I essentially did what u did, except I went to safe mode and did a system restore to first one of that day. Guess I should treat this like a new OS, and give it 6 months to a year for all the kinks to be worked out.
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|If it ain't broke don't fix it.
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|I now second this comment, got SP3 to install, all windows would do is just keep rebooting, so I went into safe mode and got it to uninstall... man, what would we do without safe mode!
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|If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features. :)
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|I tried installing this earlier, got the message "Error: Access is denied."
Does anyone know how to fix this bs?
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|Yeah, I do.
But why is it BS? YOU modified NTFS permissions when you shouldn't have. Good Luck!
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|Funny, my XP machine is due for a reinstall. So I put if off a couple of days ago with the excuse of "I'll wait for SP3".
Looks like I have a weekend project now after all.
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|Install went smooth, and didn't take very long. The download is significantly smaller if you download from Windows Update though, however....
Issues I had with SP3:
1) 3rd party themes didn't work any more, I had to download a new version of Uxtheme.dll
2) Windows Live Messenger 8.5 would ask me to insert my Windows XP CD every time I started it. I uninstalled it, but the Windows Live installer wouldn't work, so I had to reinstall that before re-installing Messenger (I hate that installer), but everything works fine now. (Was closed during install)
3) Every time my computer starts the Windows Security Centre informs me that my ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall isn't turned on. Simple fix: Turned off security centre (Was turned off during install)
4)PerfectDisk 2008 wouldn't start. Fixed it by repairing the installation. (Was disabled during install, including services)
5)Added a process to my MSCONFIG Start-Up list called "Watson Subscriber for SENS Network Notifications" Apparantly it's an error reporting tool for Office?... disabled it.
That's it for now, although I assume most of those problems were due to 3rd party add-ons/cracked version of software, such as using MessPatch on Windows Live Messenger to remove ads,using Ux Multi-patcher to endable 3rd party skins and using a cracked version of PerfectDisk.
Otherwise, it's a smooth update.
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|FWIW, search fileforum for an SP3 uxtheme patcher. it's there. Works well.
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|Hey guys, rejoice! With SP3 just released by Microshaft, you fortunate Windows XP users get to keep your stone age OS in working order for another 6 years...woohoo!
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|Well being in 'working order' is more than I can say for Vista.
It's funny - they only JUST released drivers for my soundcard for Vista a month ago. Still not inclined to use it again on my home box though... too many networking quirks that just s*** me to tears.
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|lol
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|Yeah, those idiots.
How dare they run XP on a system they just bought that only had 1GB of RAM and a cheap, underpowered AMD in it.
They should be using Vista, right? Sure, it'll run like crap and they'll never get anything done, but hey...
/sarcasm
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|Which card?
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|Thats not Microsoft's fault it took them this long to make a driver. Maybe if some of the hardware manufacturers would have made stable drivers to start with they wouldn't have been removed from the kernel in the first place.
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|We've just had reports of printing issues (slowness) after installing. Also it reset print notifications to 'on' after install.
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|Updated two systems, laptop & older desktop a week ago. I ran into no issues other than replacing files I had modified like uxtheme and tcpip and the enabling of some disabled services, slight speed increase... and I mean slight.
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|No issues, other than it re-enabled some services I'd specifically disabled (like the Security Centre). Faster? Not noticeably.
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|3 computers and no problems... I do however see a slight speed increase, but maybe its just my imagination?
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|Marketing hypes tend to do that.
I'm joking.
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|I've been running SP3 for a week on two boxes in a production environment and haven't had any issues.
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|Upgraded 2 PC's, zero issues.
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|The installation was smooth; no problems. But I was mistaken in thinking that there would be a net gain of disk space.
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|3 systems in and no issues. Haven't seen any improvements either, but at least nothing broke.
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