Re: service pack 3, do I need it?

Pdigmking wrote:
"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:uq8ks5StIHA.4924@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:



List of fixes that are included in Windows XP Service Pack 3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946480/

The article clearly states that the list of fixes it shows were
added to SP3 only. If you want to know what was included in SP2
or SP1a - they have links in the article. ("The following fix
list includes only the updates that were added in Windows XP SP3.")

So - out of those 1174 additional fixes (yes - there are 1174
listed in SP3 alone) - how many do you have installed Post-SP2? I
had about 100-120 on a good day. ;-)


I went to the website, and looked at the entire list. I choose 5
security patches randomly, and found that all five have already been
installed via the automatic update. Well, it wasn't exactly
random, I started with the last update on the list, or the most
recent, and went back from there. Obviously that list does is not
comprised of never- before released, only included in SP3 patches
and updates. If I understand you correclty, you're saying that
there's a 1174 fixes in there that I don't have. Again, what am I
fixing? Nothing is currently broken. Obviously I don't need those
fixes or I'd be here complaining about some problem I'm having and
trying to find out which patch to download. I couldn't find a
security patch in SP3 that I don't already have.

Incorrect - I am saying that there are 1174 patches there - of which I do
guarantee you do *not* have ALL of them installed. You may very well have
100-150 of them installed. I never said those patches were ONLY release in
SP3 - I said they were included in SP3 - not SP2 or SP1a.

Don't want it - don't download it - you realize my whole point is that no
one cares what you do with your computer system as long as you are happy
with it and you do not harm them directly or indirectly.

I still have no idea what you are trying to convey with 'update the
installer'; I would like to know, however.

Well, it just did it again. When I went to the windows update
website, (using I.E.) it checked for the most recent "updater",
found that mine was out of date, and installed a more recent one.
Then I ran the updater and found that SP3 is a recemended update.
It appeared to download and install something called "genuine
advantage" something or another. I've seen this two or three times
over the last four years or so. It appears to change something so
that I can download and install new patches. If I'm continually
updating my XP this way, why wouldn't whatever I need to continue
recieving updates not just be included in the routine updates? What
is SP3 going to change that will make it impossible for me to
continue updates and why would it do that?

That is just another patch. Many of the patches you have gotten in the past
year have only been offered to you because you have SP2 - if you did not -
you would have never have been offered certain patches. It does not matter
if you got the latest WIndows Update Agent or not - that's just a single
component.

Heck - even SP3 requires you have at least SP1a installed on a working
system - in other words - if you never installed SP1a or SP2, you cannot
install SP3. Microsoft has checks it does before allowing some
patches/service packs to be installed.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389 --> "You must have either Windows XP
Service Pack 1a or Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed in order to install
Windows XP Service Pack 3."

SP2 required you have certain patches installed before you could install it:
http://www.petri.co.il/windows_xp_sp2_patches.htm

It's the way things work - they will stop support for Windows XP with SP2 in
2010.
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselect
Specifically:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps

Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 released on 17-Sep-2004 will have its
support retired on 13-Jul-2010. After that date - there will be patches you
will not be offered unless you have SP3 installed.



BTW - I have to point out that if you have actually experienced
this
Take advantage of the fact that the
data (every bit - literally) on a computer can be backed up and
restored later - in case of a problem. If everything in life was
like that - things would be all good.



I'm not just talking about data here, my important data is backed up
regularly. I'm talking about the entire drive, (two of them)
programs, shorcuts, network cofigurations, external devices,
drivers, everything. no matter how I back up 200+ gigs of stuff, it
takes hours to back it up, and hours to restore it. I have better
things to do with my time than sit around trying to fix problems
created by service packs that were supposed to fix problems not
create them. I haven't had to restore an OS in five years, I'm not
interested in doing it now.

Proves you did not read - I gave you three applications which - as I stated
very clearly - would backup a system in totality. You could apply that
image to a brand new hard drive in the same system and boot up like nothing
happened since the day you created the exact image - settings and all.

As for the 200+GB of data - I have a few terabytes - however - I backup and
store my data seperately from my system drive and applications - so I can
backup and restore 10-20GB of stuff and have everything up and working in
25-45 minutes. Sometimes the backup can take an hour or so - but it is done
while I sleep.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: i cant update windows!
    ... > download, but at the very end of the process it says that the ... I havent been able to get any updates ... First - cleanup your machine and ready it for Service Pack 2. ... Then install Service Pack 2 from the downloaded install file (not the ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Files Gone???
    ... Cannot Open E-Mail Attachments in Outlook Express After You Install SP1 ... Turn off email scanning in your antivirus software. ... Windows 2000 and Windows XP. ... Windows XP Service Pack 2 Resources for IT Professionals ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Norton Antivirus.
    ... Cannot Open E-Mail Attachments in Outlook Express After You Install SP1 ... Turn off email scanning in your antivirus software. ... Windows 2000 and Windows XP. ... Windows XP Service Pack 2 Resources for IT Professionals ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Since January 18th, no high-priority updates...
    ... Since I do not intend to install NIS 2006 again, I thought it does not matter ... I checked about what you say (time of the Automatic Updates) and changed it ... I uninstalled NIS 2006... ... 2 February 2006 Windows Update Agent Unable to Connect: ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • Re: restoring dbx files
    ... Cannot Open E-Mail Attachments in Outlook Express After You Install SP1 ... Turn off email scanning in your antivirus software. ... Windows 2000 and Windows XP. ... Windows XP Service Pack 2 Resources for IT Professionals ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)