Best to be safe than sorry lol. We all know what it is like to get computer problems lol. They get me pulling my hair out lol. Next time i shall reach for the hammer lol

Best to be safe than sorry

Which means you need to go to SP3! You can bet on the fact the bad guys are hoping you don't.

Sorry you had problems but there's no way to help you through them since we don't know what sort of problems you had.

I suggest you check Windows Update to make sure you have installed all necessary updates. Then check your hardware maker's websites for newer drivers that may affect the upgrade. And make sure all your security applications are current.

Then run CCleaner, ATF Cleaner, or Windows Disk Cleanup to rid the system of clutter. Backup your important documents and try again.

For best results, I recommend you install from a local installation file and not Windows Update. There are 3 ways you can accomplish this:

1. Downloaded File - Download the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers. I know it says Network but this is the right one. Download and save it to a convenient folder on your computer, then run when preparations are complete.
   
2. Create an Installation CD - If familiar with burning CDs, you can download the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network - ISO-9660 CD Image File.
   
3. Order Installation CD from Microsoft - For a shipping and handling fee, (about $10 in the US), order the CD from here:
   
   • XPSP3 on CD - Asia,
     
   • XPSP3 on CD - Europe and Africa,
     
   • XPSP3 on CD - North America,
     or
     
   • XPSP3 on CD - South America.

Ty i will try this. I have another problem sorry i bought alaptop recently which had windows Vista on it i downgraded to Windows Xp home as i didn't like vista do i need to use winxp home drivers and vista drivers together or will it be ok to use only drivers for winxp.

i downgraded to Windows Xp home as i didn't like vista do i need to use winxp home drivers and vista drivers together or will it be ok to use only drivers for winxp.

If you're running XP, you need XP drivers. Drivers are O/S specific. ie; XP drivers won't work on a 98SE or Vista machine.

Did you check that XP drivers were available for that laptop hardware before you "downgraded"? There's a possibility that XP drivers aren't available for that hardware.

For best results, I recommend you install from a local installation file and not Windows Update. There are 3 ways you can accomplish this

If I buy or burn a disk, does this then supersede the recovery disks that were part of my computer package at purchase?

NO! Do not throw those away! This just allows you to get your computer to near current standards in a few minutes compared to many hours, and it allows you to do so when you are not connected to the Internet - that is, not exposed to the very threats the updates you have yet to install are supposed to defend you against.

So this just become yet another disk to lug around. Folks with a full install version of Windows can "slipstream" everything into a new disk, but they would still have to keep the old ones are part of proving proper ownership of the license.

OK. Thanks.

I have tried to download SP3 tonight on my wife's PC AMD CPU and nearly completed the final set up and the dam thing blue screened on me. On re start it automatically then removed SP3 and then rolled back it took 1hour 20 min for the install and the roll back. There seems to be a problem with SP3 and AMD so I have read in other sites, anybody else had a problem. What a waste of an 1 hour and 20 min.

There seems to be a problem with SP3 and AMD so I have read in other sites

That is true. We touched on that a bit earlier in this thread. It seems HP used a non-standard image file that affected millions of AMD HP machines. Anyone with an AMD CPU in a HP\Compaq PC and XP should check the HP web site before installing SP3 - HP has supposedly released a patch.

Some Norton users have problems too. Some wonder why Norton and HP did not catch these issues in the many months SP3 was in beta?

You might wait for a friend to successfully download the install file and everyone burn a copy of it - there are no licensing issues with the patch file. Or if another computer on your network has a copy, use that.

Yes She who must be obeyed PC is a HP with a AMD CPU so I guess we will have to wait for a patch from HP to get it sorted out