By Susan Bradley
Patch Watch, June 5, 2008 The growing list of XP SP3-related glitches being encountered by users should give pause to anyone thinking of downloading and installing the update.
If you've kept XP patched from week to week, there's presently no clear advantage to implementing the OS's latest service pack, though you'll want to do so eventually.
When should you install XP Service Pack 3?
Since its initial release a little over a month ago — as I reported in last week's special news update — XP Service Pack 3 has been plagued with reports of problems among early adopters. Considering that the service pack's most important enhancements relate to computers on corporate networks, you may be wondering whether you need XP SP3 at all.
It comes down to a question of support: Microsoft supports each service pack for two years following the release of its successor. Thus in the spring of 2010, XP SP3 will be the only XP service pack that Microsoft will support. In addition, Microsoft has stated it will offer free support for those facing XP SP3 installation issues through April 2009.
If you have already installed XP SP3 and haven't experienced any problems related to AMD processors, Norton AntiVirus's SystemProtect, or any other service-pack glitch, you don't need to remove SP3. However, if you haven't yet installed XP SP3, hold off.
Instead, scroll down the Windows Update page each Patch Watch Tuesday and choose to install updates that do not include XP SP3. I'm starting to hear more reports of SP3-related driver problems. For example, Microsoft's Knowledge Base article 951822 describes a free hotfix for a problem encountered when using certain models of Citizen or Alps printers after XP SP3 is installed.
Bottom line: if you've installed XP SP3 and your PC is working fine, leave it alone. However, if you suspect SP3 has caused your system to act up, remove it via XP's Add or Remove Programs applet. Finally, if you haven't installed SP3, it's perfectly okay to wait until all the wrinkles are ironed out.
A fix for constant XP reboots
If your Windows XP machine keeps rebooting after you install SP3 and it's not due to the problem with AMD-based systems I reported on earlier, you have a couple of options.
Press F8 just as the system starts and check "Disable automatic restart on System Failure." If this option isn't available, reboot, press F8 again, and select the Safe mode option, which loads Windows without certain drivers.
Once Windows opens in Safe Mode, go to the Add or Remove Programs applet in Control Panel and remove XP Service Pack 3. If that stops the reboots, you know your issue is SP3 related and you need to contact Microsoft about it via the links I list below.
If you have one of the offending AMD machines and you're unable to enter Safe Mode, return to the startup menu by pressing F8 as the system starts and choose the Recovery Console option. Detailed instructions can be found here. When the Recovery Console opens, enter the commands as listed in Jesper Johansson's blog post on XP SP3.
To get help from Microsoft for problems related to XP SP3, follow one of these links
US Support
Canada Support
UK Support
AU Support
Other Locations
Once you're on one of the above pages, click Select a Product, choose Windows XP, and click one of the options for Windows XP Service Pack 3.
Just remember, there's no rush to deploy this service pack.
