Windows XP - which service pack is best?

[burnt_toast]

Doing housekeeping I've just recently formatted my R50p to factory settings and slowly updating selective XP updates.

I've just got Service Pack2 setup and wondering which service pack you guys find best in terms of stability and operating ease, I recall hearing service pack 4 isn't so hot?

Things are running smoothly right now with SP2 and if 3 and 4 aren't critical I'd like to keep it that way

[jdhurst]

I have not seen a Service Pack 4 for XP. SP3 works well with some caveats. SP3 wants to play around with Device Drivers (Microsoft has never stood down from its arrogance and it thinks it knows everything). As a result, and after applying SP3 to a large number of machines, I do the following:
1. Update to SP2.
2. Check for all possible upgrades to device drivers and do them.
3. Do Windows updates up to but excluding SP3.
4. Download and install SP3 manually.
I have not had any trouble with SP3 doing it this way. Skipping steps may or may not work.
... JDH

[killer]

After waiting for about 6 months after its release, I installed SP3 and everything works fine.

The reason for waiting 6 months is to get any lumps ironed out by MS.

[burnt_toast]

for very basic computing would there be any benefit to updating to SP3?

internet and office apps is about the extent of this comp's puprpose

basically i just want to cut down on excess stuff and have a zippy machine

[basketb]

If you are happy with SP2 then stay with it. If not and you have time to spare, experiment with SP3 and see whether you like it better.

[jdhurst]

SP2 was a re-write of XP. SP3 is just fixes and does not re-write the system. So if it works, leave it there. It is totally transparent if it work (and there have not been any IBM machines that I cannot make it work). ... JDH

[spuddog]

I don't think service pack four is available, so go with three.

Scott

[archer6]

What I find quite interesting is that all three of the newest ThinkPads I've purchased direct from Lenovo in the last three months have shipped with XP SP2. I've upgraded a couple of them to SP3 and noticed no real benefit. Now while some might argue SP3 offers "better security". I don't buy into that as I already have a very effective approach in place & have yet to have a security breach.
Worst of all in a couple of cases when "upgrading" to SP3 its littered the system with odd files randomly placed. And that was after being very careful and performing a "manual SP3 upgrade". Thus I now avoid SP3 at all costs and have done clean installs of SP2 on the systems where SP3 went awry. Following my tried and true method of maximizing SP2, I have fast and stable results. Finally just out of curiosity I called Lenovo to inquire why they are shipping SP2 and after escalating the call to level two tech support, I was told they do not support SP3.
.
I'm standing fast with SP2 and enjoying fault free & fast perfomance.
.
Cheers...

[jdhurst]

Archer - My second from the top post lists the steps to get SP3 working properly. The evidence seems to be that SP3 tries to tamper with drivers and therefore for IBM machines, update the drivers first, update Windows to just before SP3 and then updating to SP3 itself seems to cure the problem. The other thing I have found is that SP3 needs at least 1Gb to run, and if adding RAM anyway, 2Gb is better. SP3 running in 512Mb of RAM (good for SP2) can cause programs to fail.

So while SP2 works, I am advising clients (and myself) who want an XP machine to keep going well for a while to add the RAM and upgrade everything. The result is very good. ... JDH

[archer6]

So while SP2 works, I am advising clients (and myself) who want an XP machine to keep going well for a while to add the RAM and upgrade everything. The result is very good. ... JDH

Excellent, thanks for the sage advice JDH.

I'll follow the outline you provided. As far as RAM is concerned I'm great there, as I have either 2GB or 3GB on each XP machine.

One question: You mention "download and install SP3 manually".
Typically I've been using Microsoft Update, and choosing custom (or something to that effect) and un-checking the boxes of the files I do not want to install. Most of them I recognize, some I do not. Would you provide some clarification on this please?

Thanks!

[GomJabbar]

@archer6

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

[jdhurst]

Hi Archer. I download the service packs just so I have them (multiple machines). After that just run it.
.... JDH

[archer6]

@ GomJabbar and JDH

Thanks a lot you two.

From the vast depths of the MS site GomJabbar comes up with a winner...ha..ha..ha

What A Team....

Cheers...

[robert213]

Just another piece of info...

I reinstalled Windows XP Pro using my IBM Product Recovery ver 5.7 discs.

I skipped installling SP2, using MS Windows XP Service Pack 2 disc.

I attempted to install SP3, using MS Windows XP Service Pack 3 disc...

A. Welcome to Windows XP Service Pack 3
1. Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 with Advanced Security Technologies
2. Service Pack 3 introduces enhanced security features
3. Extracting files...
i386\...

B. Service Pack 3 Setup Error
1. Setup has detected that the version of the Service Pack installed on your system
is lower than what is necessary to apply this hotfix.
2. At minimum, you must have Service Pack 1 installed.
3. [OK]