Re: XP SP3 Problems/Help

"Ale" wrote in
<news:0D45588F-2543-4F9C-9E0D-551FB5AC18D9@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

"VanguardLH" wrote:

What in the release notes for SP-3 convinced you that you must have
SP-3?

Vanguard, that's precisely the point, SP3 release notes say that it does not
significantly impact the XP experience and that it does not add any
additional security patches other than those already released thru Windows
Update. It only seems to add the convenience of unifying all previous patches
in a single file. Therefore, it odes not seem to be a critical patch, so why
go thru the trouble of messing with system files? I guess the only reason to
eventually consider is the lack of support for SP2 in a couple of years.

No, the release notes *do* mention additional functionality that was
added in SP-3 but most, if not all, of them might not apply in your
computing environment. Do you know what is NAP? If you do, is it
applicable in your computing environment? There are some other
additions but you need to read the release notes to see if they apply to
your setup. 80% of SP-3 is SP-2 plus subsequent updates since the
release of SP-2. So if you have SP-2 and been staying up to date then
SP-3 gives you little additional functionality, and what it does give
you in additional functionality may not be usable to you.

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

- Adds NAP (I won't bother to decode the initials since if you don't
know what NAP means then you don't need it).
- New version of MMC. Yes, you use MMC but a new version isn't need for
those applets that use it now.
- Says it adds MSXML v6 yet I already have it (and I don't have SP-3).
Check for %windir%\system32\msxml*.dll to see the highest version you
already have; however, it is possible that I manually installed the
latest version of MDAC and not as part of Windows Update.
- MSI 3.1 (from 3.0). A minor update. If any update in the future from
Microsoft requires it, they'll shove it at you when you visit Windows
Update.
- Newer version of BITS. Again, if you don't recognize the initials
then you don't need a newer version. V1.0 came in Windows XP. V1.5
came in Windows Server 2003. So V2.5 is a major upgrade. See
http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/3/d/b3d8e8ea-8c3f-4962-8a01-478b33f44e15/BITS.doc
for info on BITS. Do you even have a server host in your network? You
do at work but then *you* shouldn't be updating your employer's
workstations as that is a task to be performed only by their IT group
when they decide to deploy that service pack.
- IPSEC update. Do you even define IPSEC filters? Didn't think so.
- DIMS. Again, are you on a corporate network and logging under a
domain?
- Peer Name Resolution. Possibly helpful if your intranet includes a
mix of Windows XP and Vista hosts. It has been working for me so far so
the "update" is hardly a requirement.
- RDP upped to v6.1. I already had v6.0 (again possibly because I
downloaded it rather than getting it through Windows Update).
- WPA v2. Possibly useful. I haven't bothered to check into this one
yet.
- More descriptive text explaining the options for security policies.
Well, if you haven't figured them out by now, you don't use policies.
If you do use policies, you would've already figured them out by now.
The added help comes too late. I'd rather see more info added to the
BSOD error codes.
- Windows Product Activation. Claims that you can "now" opt to now
activate during an install and can activate later after the OS has been
installed. It was there before but not obvious so Microsoft just made
it obvious.


In addition, and without official notification by Microsoft despite
their claims to notify:
- Removes the Address toolbar from the Windows taskbar.
.

Relevant Pages

  • WPA2 support + Group Policy
    ... support for WPA2 to be defined in group policies in Windows XP SP2 ... Reading the Microsoft blub again, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.group_policy)
  • Re: XP SP3
    ... It is not unexpected that there will be a SP-3 for Windows XP, ... Also you should be careful about your assumptions of what MVPs and Microsoft ... Particularly note the differences between windows XP Home and Professional. ... > "There will be a Service Pack 3 for Windows XP," Bernard Ourghanlian, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • RE: AD Policy audit tool for Windows 2000
    ... On XP and above you can do gpresult.exe /v on a per workstation/user ... AD Policy audit tool for Windows 2000 ... GPInventory from Microsoft: I am not sure about this either. ... I am trying to find the policies that has been changed by ...
    (Security-Basics)
  • Re: Service Pack 3
    ... that's why it was downloading. ... > You are probably seeing SP-3 for another product you have installed. ... > There is no SP-3 for Windows XP and will not be for some time. ... >> automatic update feature wants to download and install it, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • RE: AD Policy audit tool for Windows 2000
    ... I don't have this or a Windows 2000 machine handy so I ... This can compare settings ... GPInventory from Microsoft: I am not sure about this either. ... I am trying to find the policies that has been changed by ...
    (Security-Basics)