Someone reviewed v on Mar 19, 2023

Pros:

Cons:

Bottom Line:

Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

shellylee89 reviewed vFinal on Apr 26, 2013

If you want to download Windows XP for free (with step by step instructions on how to install) go here-- tiny(dot)cc/windowsxp1 -- just change the (dot) to . because I cant post links here. enjoy!

freetoothpaste11 reviewed vFinal on Sep 7, 2012

Still using XP... that speaks for itself

reacer reviewed vFinal on Sep 27, 2011

IMHO, if your computer is not upgraded, I would install Free Windows. It works without interruptions and it is highly protected. Web site http://free-windows.com

wacwogjla reviewed vFinal on Aug 16, 2011

No problem and it works on my PC.

Rozita8989 reviewed vFinal on Apr 26, 2011

After installing WIn-XP SP3 the seek noise from my hard drive went up noticably and that was after defragging the drive. If you have SP2 with all critical updates then you don't need the SP3 update, and for those who think that SP3 will somehow make your system faster ... It won't!!!

b3rn4rd1990 reviewed vFinal on Feb 11, 2011

nich bro..

trents reviewed vFinal on Dec 2, 2010

Hi,
i'm not sure for the speed for now because i still downloading it now...Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 Final i think it is nice and cool..

betasun reviewed vFinal on Nov 22, 2010

Also not good for my system .made it slow and not responsive .

BLADE102183 reviewed vFinal on Nov 9, 2010

I found a Genuine Full Version of Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3 only for $104.99 and it works great! You can buy it www.tek-micro.com here is the link:

http://www.tek-micro.com...sion-w%7B47%7D-COA.html

UJM reviewed vFinal on Jul 1, 2008

After installing SP3 the seek noise from my hard drive went up noticably and that was after defragging the drive. If you have SP2 with all critical updates then you don't need the SP3 update, and for those who think that SP3 will somehow make your system faster ... It won't!

bds14 reviewed vFinal on Jun 19, 2008

Saw the same problem as stp33:
My desktop would hibernate without a problem, but then it would never be able to come back from hibernation. The progress bar would fill up when returning, but then the screen would just go and stay black. When I manually rebooted the system after this, it would tell me that "the last attempt to restart the system from its previous location failed."

I uninstalled SP3, and now my system hibernates just fine.

Landsnes reviewed vFinal on Jun 15, 2008

Works!

I installed a clean system, applied SP3 and then installed all my programs. I've had no problems with it and everything works great! Can't ask for more than that.

stp33 reviewed vFinal on Jun 3, 2008

After having used released SP3 for 3 weeks, I have removed it.

1. sporadic blue screens here and there. No pattern. Various codes. Haven't seen as many blue screens in 3 years before SP3. After the removal, not one blue screen.

2. There also was another, more scary effect. Suddenly, in the middle of work, the screen would slowly flash several times, after which video signal (NVidia 7800GS) went off and computer (mobo Abit AV8) became unresponsive. After hard reset, there was long beeeeep instead of short normal one, and again no video signal. In about 10 minutes, everything magically restored to the normal state; during these 10 minutes, even complete turning off the PSU did not have any effect. This was happening about once in 2 days. I have no explanation or even an idea about what might be causing this and how it was possible, but again, this never happened before, and never came back after having SP3 removed.

3. Hibernation became impossible - computer was saving the state without a problem, but when trying to wake up, it said that the file was corrupted.

4. Removing SP3 itself also was not smooth - the un-installation has failed with "file not found". Investigation showed that it did not like one particular kb937468.cat because it had expired certificate. So I used system restore.

sweathog reviewed vFinal on May 16, 2008

CONS
1. Eliminates address bar in the taskbar.
2. Breaks Xpize

PROS
1. Improves speed

BobLennon reviewed vFinal on May 1, 2008

While the installation was rather ponderous, it resulted in a flawless first time install on our hybrid (wireless/lan)small office setup.

Thanks for the heads up and sneak preview.

Paul Skinner reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

This installed fine for me, and made my system a little bit faster, which is always appreciated.

It's nice to have a new baseline to install from.

Ryusennin reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Alpha, Beta, RC1, RC2... Final, here we go again!

As usual, installation of the Service Pack went like a breeze. I just had to use NT Registry Optimizer after I got an unexpected "Low on Registry Space" message after first reboot. Everything was fine after that.

anomoly reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Read all reviews. Works fine
You do have to redisable file protection & change tcpip.sys again but what's new with ms?
In 10 yrs you'll be able to run xp pro from a cellphone.

noBuddy reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Got the "access denied" after install finished. So Windows did a complete uninstall.
After finding the MS help page, downloading the subinacl.exe and building the reset.cmd with the text MS provided: new install worked.

This is final ? Found too many reports with the same problem.

And found even Open Source programs, which blocked registry access (no permissions to change settings - crazy)

Finally I deleted all tmp files - hundreds - still left after install. Now SP3 runs fine, no changes in speed. AV only reported IExlorer as changed and svchost.exe. So my other PCs have to wait to get SP3...

frodo888 reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Cool! The long waiting is over. I think SP4 will be released 2020...

JonIn92656 reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

I installed SP3 on both my desktop and laptop and had no problems at all. However, I "lost" the address toolbar on both of my computers. I'm not happy about that at all. It also takes longer to boot up now.

minklein reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

I installed it on my HP Laptop, 9300. It crashed into an endless reboot loop. Fix was a total reinstall.

I thought, Ok a freak situation, I tried it on a small game server I built, all late model stuff. Once again SP3 went into the endless boot loop, thus another total reinstall.

My download came directly from MS. Research indicates that I might not be the only one to experience this problem.

I'll take a pass on this one.

W@KK0 reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Here is the appropriate link to the WinXP SP 3 page:

http://www.microsoft.com...5110&displaylang=en

nilst2006 reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 homesite doesn't go to other than Microsoft.com...

bourgeoisdude reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Works. Does nothing extra except what the overview document says it'll do. No, I didn't notice any difference in Office App speed. It isn't any slower, but isn't any faster either that I can tell. Just think of it as a normal security update...a really big one...

rickg67896r7 reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

FYI: File from here: (4/29) = build 5512
MD5 for English Version: BB25707C919DD835A9D9706B5725AF58
That number seems to be correct from "Google hits".

howardagoldberg reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Installed it on four different machines last night:

Dell Inspiron E1405 (CoreDuo, 2GB RAM, WindowBlinds 6, MCE); Dell Inspiron 9100 (XP Pro, P4, 2GB RAM), Dell Dimension 3000 (XP Home, P4, 512MB RAM), and Dell Dimension 4600 (XP Home, P4, 512MB RAM, Vista Transformation Pack 8.01). All went smoothly, no problems thus far. Only minor issue is with VTP the taskbar and windowframes lose their "skin."

grinch89 reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Hmm,nothing new.If you have already installed all the updates what is the point of all this?

reddy.shyam reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Installed without any issues and also noticed that nothing new in there. :D Its always safe than sorry so better use latest service pack.

NunjaBusiness reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Nothing there. Why bother to put a link when it is not to the referenced download?

zridling reviewed vFinal on Apr 29, 2008

Yep, WGA right there in full view. Viva la XP!

DudeBoyz reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

I didn't know what number to give it yet, but I can update it later when I get more figured out.

For me, I'm hoping that they did NOT include IE 7 or any WGA crud that causes problems.

All I really wanted was the TRUE critical updates, and if that is what SP3 Final is really all about, I think I'll be pretty happy with it.

Stoerpser reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

No problems on my XP Home - also with the previous RC1 and 2.

aberkeme reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

Arcacossa:

The link below has instructions on how to fix the "Access Denied" problem.

http://forums.microsoft....D=3069610&SiteID=17

AHB

arcacossa reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

20 minutes into install, I get an Access is Denied message with only option to hit OK to uninstall. Another 20 minutes later system is back to where it started.

ToeKneeC reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

Test on 2 PC's at work. Same system specs but have been used for different things - took about 30 minutes after the long download (speed at work is only a T1 so what...150k most). Not really too bad considering all the things it's doing. Second machine blue screens on reboot though, not sure why. Nervous now, not really going to deploy for couple months anyway until we see what happens.

shelb reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

SP3 works great, I've put it on several computers.
Despite rumors, sp3 does NOT force installation of WGA. How can you tell if you have the real final sp3? Check the md5. Real final md5 is BB25707C919DD835A9D9706B5725AF58 (don't take my word for it, you can verify this lots of places). If you slipstream it, DO NOT prepare the slipstream from within Vista - do it in XP.

kaikara reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

It is a service pack. You know a roll up of all the previous updates and fixes. why do people think it is any different and give it three stars. I have loaded it on 3 systems and it is working great. Can't wait to slipstream a disk so I can just install WinXP with SP3 and not worry about the update.

slinkys_delsol reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

Note to Seier: Windows XPSP3 is actually available from MS to MSDN / IT Professionals: (http://technet.microsoft...-8d3c-0077c953a761.aspx). It was RTM’d (Released to Manufacturing) on April 19th and is scheduled to go Public either by April 29th, 2008 or May 1st, 2008. Will be available to order on CD by Mid-May. They generally release it to the IT guys a week or two before putting it out to the main public.

I installed this “Final” and it is nothing more than a cleanup. If you keep your PC pretty much up to date, it won't take long to install. In fact, you will spend more time downloading it then installing it.

For those expecting a new Speed Burst or number of new features, this is not it. There are no new features to speak of, but again I noticed it cleaned up all the KB Installs and went really quick.

This is more recommended for anyone who is unaware that MS has an Update Site or you don't update your PC to frequently.

I am giving it only a 3 simply because if you keep your PC up to date as it is, it really does not do anything new, except gain back maybe 500MB of hard drive space taken up by the previous individual updates of the past 3 years.

BB88 reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

The link is from download.windowsupdate.com, not from betanews itself.

seier reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

I hope Betanews doesn't get in trouble for releasing this a day early. Thanks slinkys_delsol, I was aware that OEMs were getting their copy 2-3 weeks early. I still can't figure out how/why Betanews can post this without getting sued or some other nonsense. The update installed quickly and completely. I'm happy with it. However, it's a service pack so you'll really need to talk to me in 6 months to get a decent opinion. That being said nothing is blatently broken and I thought the networking code would be noticeably slower, but it isn't while wired any ways. Hopefully it doesn't suck hard like Wireless does on Vista (take about a minute to join a wireless network on a Core 2 with 2GB of RAM).

mjm01010101 reviewed vFinal on Apr 28, 2008

I predict a SP3a. :)

cricri_pingouin reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Apr 14, 2008

Installed on 3 machines when it was released, no issues on any of them since then (i.e. more than 2 weeks).

nsrattan reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Apr 9, 2008

SaadSaleem can you give me more details of the problem that you are having. I was also having the same problem and might be able to help you with this. Were you able to get an IP. You can check that by opening a command prompt and typing "ipconfig /all" and checking the output. Send the details to me on nsrattan@gmail.com. Thanks

kiliya reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Apr 7, 2008

Good Lord, I don't know what any of you are talking about. My version was SP3 RC2 5508. No problems with address bars, etc. Best link for uxtheme replacement that I have found is: www.withinwindows.com/uxtheme-patches/
Remember to rename all uxtheme.dll's in system32 folder as well as the dll cache folder AND the service pack folder to something like "old", "older","oldest", whatever. Unzip the .rar file and copy and paste to your system32. When windows file protection gives you the prompt for the xp cd hit "cancel". Reboot. Good to go, at your own risk of course.

saadsaleem reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Apr 4, 2008

This service pack made my adsl modem (Siemens Speedstream) restart again and again. I have no idea that why it would do so, maybe new networking features which are downgraded from Vista. I had to remove this service pack in order to use the internet through adsl at home.

thomas_b reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Apr 1, 2008

My advice-- wait for the non-RC releases of SP3. I had to run some command line items before I could successfully install SP3 due to an 'Access Denied' more than have way through the install... that coupled with no address toolbar on the start menu is enough to make me dislike SP3 a little...

For future reference, if you yourself use the ‘Address toolbar’ (I love being able to load websites from the start bar avoiding the home page, et cetera) on the start bar—this ‘Address Toolbar’ feature has been removed as an option as of SP3 RC2—maybe RC1, maybe all versions of SP3.

Strangely I’ve heard Vista SP1 still has the address toolbar option ???-- also Windows+R on a keyaboard brings up the run box which has similar features to the address toolbar, if not exactly the same features. But here is a better soltuion than repeatedly typing Win+R...

Solution: Use the ‘Windows Search Deskbar’ although it is not documented much, you can type things like the following:

‘\\serverName\c$\Users’ – Launches UNC Explorer window

‘http://www.google.com’ – loads google in default browser/tabs

‘C:\Windows\’ – loads explorer with the C:\Windows folder in view

into the Windows Search Deskbar’ toolbar and those entries produce identical results to the old Windows Address toolbar from what I found while using it.

The only difference with this toolbar is that it suggests items that are indexed on your computer as you type as well as the websites/locations you’ve visited in the past.

The idea that they needed to remove the Address toolbar for legal reasons is absurd-- yes, please remove my convenience items-- Yeah, I want the government to tell me what my OS should look like-- thanks guys! It would use your default browser anyway. Don't touch 'our' XP! As far as Windows goes XP is the grail and Vista is trash.

shroom reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 31, 2008

@net_junkie : but you was warned, this is not a final product. You should never ever use a non-final Microsoft product on your personal computer.
I hope at least your hard-disk is partioned ;)

net_junkie reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 27, 2008

I installed this but on restart, it reset all themes and add-ons to the Windows default. I had different themes and also had Vistapack XP installed. I was unable to switch to any theme, even after using the ultheme fix again. After uninstalling the service pack, my hard drive had an error which caused the machine to be in an endless "boot" mode. I was unable to get into "Safe" mode as well. So, I had to reinstall Windows and I have lost everything.

This is the first time I have been seriously messed up by a Windows Beta or program. I suggest staying away until the final release, and even then, I have to wonder why it broke my machine with the uninstall. Just something to consider.

BedaSeanB reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 27, 2008

Hi just installed sp3 and checked the version number by right clicking my computer and selecting properties. Properties say service pack 3 v .3311. Btw can you post link to forum plz? Thank you

anonswgeek reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

slipstreamed and installed without any problems as did previous builds. i believe this is build 5508 though it doesnt show a build number. IE v6 so far doesnt crash when run unlike earlier builds of sp3. the speed improvements are great..im running on an overclocked celeron 350MHz and its fast. cant wait for RTM.

Richvideo reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

This refresh will not show up in windows update unless you uninstall the last build.

The build number is 5508 -I think?

For those having the denied error this should fix the problem
http://blog.malwareteks....sp3-release-candidate-2/
Some anti-virus software mess up the permissions and this locks out the install. This resets the permissions so it will work.

Prixsel reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

ALL STUPID PPLE WHO DONT READ FORUMS GOT TRICKD BY THE OLD SETUP FILE LOCATION BY MICROSOFT!!!!!!
They wrote that they only give the updates trough windowsupdate and this is the official download!

http://www.download.wind...5d6666603ec857f4095.exe

downlaod.windowsupdate indicates its not a virus site and 2008/03 indicates that its the latest!!!

ratty2008 reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

I don't think Microsoft have put the download on their servers yet.

Soozy reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

What a joke and a waste of my time. This is the exact same build that was available thru Windows Update about 2 weeks ago.
It certainly isn't a Refresh!!!!

Artem S. Tashkinov reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

Alas, it's not final/RTM.

Nighted reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

Hmmm...this is ok unless you need to slipstream the update. If that includes you: http://www.download.wind...6603ec857f4095.exe";

darthbeads reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

I really really dislike that SP3 disables the use of the address bar in the task bar, as I find this to be an essential component.

mjm01010101 reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

Been testing all the public releases and IMO it's better than Vista. Makes XP so fast!

I agree with the poster about WMP 11. It does chug, and I would like the interface much more customizeable. for example, when I am playing a song, the playlist doesn't always show the song, I have to scroll around to find it. a lot of "wasted" space with the album covers (useless to me.)

seier reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

Hey CyberDoc999,

Your impatience is showing, Internet Explorer 7 and WMP 11 will be great products when their subsequent releases are already out (8, 12). In other words I'll get to enjoy those products when they've fixed all the bugs they're going to and virtually all of the 3rd party compatibility issues will also be gone. Or you can use it now and test the products for Microsoft without getting paid. (yoda voice) "Hmmm....patience, I think you need."

-Christian Blackburn

JeremyP reviewed vSP3 RC2 Refresh on Mar 26, 2008

No problems with SP3. Installed fine, no side-effects.

Note on WMP 11. Someone says it is totally stable. Not my experience - I have 1.5 terbaytes of music in my library, spread over 3 internal and 3 external drives. WMP 11 seizes up and crashes all the time - to all intents and purposes it is unuseable, 10 is fine - sure, it takes time to load the whole library, but it works.

Nor do I want album covers shown regardless. It should be an option - as most of the library is downloaded music, the placeholder display is a nuisance. I would like to keep the explorer approach of 10.

photonboy reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 24, 2008

Stable, but some things still get broken.

Unless you have a good reason to try this I'd wait for the official release. If you want to try it, I recommend using a program like Acronis True Image which can take an EXACT image of your C-Drive. System Restore is limited.

In fact, despite SP3's improved security, making occasional full DVD spanned images (or 2nd hard drive) of your C-Drive is one of the best things you can do.

Make a detailed checklist of everything you do before installing then test it all.

XP SP2/3 is still the best gaming OS. In fact, despite the potential benefits of DX10, running the DX9 versions of those games under XP SP2/3 still produces the best gaming experience? Huh? What about DX10? Until the software is better written, only high-end computers using the latest SLI or Crossfire configurations can keep the frame rates up and use DX10. Sorry.

Not only that, but Vista breaks EAX support.

If you are a gamer, my advice is don't buy Vista yet (possibly never) if you don't need to, or at least dual-boot. I like to use the program FRAPS when optimizing games. (The latest Vista SP1 doesn't impress me yet overall, but I think it solved an issue with high CPU usage when playing certain video files.)

FYI: ATI is working on the ability to swap between a low-power onboard graphics chip and the addon graphics cards so NO POWER is used by the gaming cards when not needed! 2009? There is also a push for External PCI for modular desktops and laptops that can use external desktop cards.

I ramble... sorry. Anyway, SP3 is coming along nicely, but again if you aren't fairly computer savvy I can't recommend installing it just in case something important gets a little screwed up.

Friar Tuck reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 21, 2008

I should have know better with Beta 1 not long in front of RC2. One installed, I found my Windows Client for my wireless failed to function and Windows Wireless would not start. Restore capibilities after power down was non existant along with the ability to boot to safe mode. Programs like CCleaner, Eusing Registry Cleaner, AVG, PC Booster and XP Smoker were impossible to run after SP3 install. Uninstalled through the Microsoft provided uninstaller only to find out that the programers at Microsoft really haven't crossed all of the "T's" and dotted their "I's"......but what more could we expect. Tomorrow, I will do a total reload but under an SP2 environment. For my Toshiba Satellite A-55, I will stay clear of SP3 until I know that I know that Microsoft has gotten it right this time.

fatray reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 21, 2008

I have no way to uninstall RC1, it's not in add/remove? Why can't I just click to install and be done with it?

CyberDoc999 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 21, 2008

The Jedi?????
Luke.... I am your father.........
WM 11 and IE7 are totally tested and
Totally stable!

seier reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

I haven't used this service pack and they really need to just let people comment on stuff, but you are crazy if you think MS should bundle IE7 and WMP11. Those programs are new and unstable, MS knows it, that's why they aren't included. Take it from a computing Jedi New = Unstable, incompatible, and unknown, old = the opposite.

Diam0nd reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

Is this REALLY an rc? ms site doesnt say so

b0mmel reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

iLike

Project51 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

Yes, the address bar will be removed in the main taskbar because of the Google searchbar lawsuit, which is really stupid (the google case).

IE7 and WMP11 are not even included (again because blaming MS for bundling too many application.)

I gave it 5 because XP is 7 years old and they still support it, unlike the other OS (cat) which you'll have to buy the ServicePacks.

sam13484 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

If you have a direct link to the full 3311, can you post it?

Soozy reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

Sam, you need to read these posts and the instructions.
There is no direct link to the download.
The download here adds a file to your registry that then lets Windows Update see that you have a valid XP SP2.
You then need to run Windows Update to get the download for SP3.

darthbeads reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

Completely ridiculous that the address bar functionality is removed from the taskbar in this SP.

madmike reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

3 Stars to alert some peeps not in the know its not the finished item, install this at your own risk its only a release candidate not RTM

anonswgeek reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

what build number is it? this is an exe that makes a patch to an XP SP2 system's registry, then you need to go to windows update to install SP3. where is direct download to SP3?! plz

elopez17 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 2 on Feb 20, 2008

Task bar info

http://www.systemsabuse....-address-bar-go-missing/

SineWave reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Jan 2, 2008

Slipstreamed it with nLite into a nice cut-down XPSP2 install, works great for me and a dozen of users and customers I installed it to, but as you can see from other posts YMMV :). Especially with upgrading a working SP2, it seems. I did a Ghost backup before upgrading, and I wholeheartedly recommend doing it. So far, I can only praise it. File system is faster, CD/DVD recognition is faster, even webpages load faster. All in all, it works smoother than SP2, and I didn't find any bugs so far, only fixes.

I really like where this is going. This will be the best Windows ever. Bravo MicroSoft! [and both thumbs down for Vista...]

Cheers!

Irritated User reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Jan 1, 2008

XP service pack 3 (sp3) was installed on three different machines each with a CLEAN install of XP-sp2 and all three crashed immediately after reboot.

These machines had different ASUS mobos but most significantly, the high-end A8N32-SLI Deluxe was one of them.

I've not seen an early RC1 of any earlier Windows service pack (XP-sp2, W2K-sps1 to 4 etc.) cause this much havoc.

To me, this SP3-RC1 looks more like an early alpha than an early release candidate.

photonboy reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 25, 2007

Most people should wait for the final version. You SHOULD be tolerant of a certain amount of instability because that's the nature of the beast.

I installed on several systems and tested fairly thoroughly, though I came to the conclusion that Slipstreaming or doing a fairly fresh update is the way to go. I only mainly found some freezing requiring the occasional reboot which I suspect will depend a lot on the hardware.

One of the best things you can do is get a backup program like Acronis True Image and make a CD/DVD or hard drive Image when your happy with the Windows partition so you can easily get back to it.

Glad to see all this XP support. Even with my new ATI HD 3870 I'm in no rush to "upgrade" to Vista. I'm happy with XP and as a gamer I get DX10 support but lose (for now) an average of about 18% per game (varies wildly by game and card) not to mention that Vista voids EAX so there's workarounds (which bypass Vista). Sigh! What are you doing Microsoft?

Shakeeb reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 23, 2007

the last RC build released about a month ago sought to change my IE7 to IE6 & WMPlayer ver11 to ver9. All attempts to restore my previous ones were of no avail.This has got me stumped!. I wonder if this new pack would'nt put me in the same dilemma again!!??

rebelxhardcore reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 22, 2007

Windows XP seems to not chug over 512Mb on RAM anymore when running my general applications. It uses 257Mb. Windows xp service pack has added stability to my system

CyberDoc999 reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 22, 2007

crashed my clean install windows xp media center sp2 laptop.....
blue screen had to re-format....

boony reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 22, 2007

Running without a glitch so far. Slipstreamed with nlite and all's well.

anonswgeek reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 21, 2007

have experienced no problems whatsoever so far.. dont know what has changed since the last RC build about a month ago.. XP has been a good upgrade from windows 2000 which i was using up until a month ago. all the software i use installs fine. am using sp3 on my main and only pc.

Umapathy reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 21, 2007

I haven't downloaded since I am on a slow speed connection now but I will get it anyway. There are many new SATA disks developed over a period of time and there are new Laptops and Computers developed with out Floppy drive I shall be thankful if Microsoft would integrate the SATA drivers with the OS through service packs. This would be a great help for the users. So that users need to not to worry about creating SATA installation floppy during the text mode of the setup.

Although most indic lauguages are supported still the date/time applet doesn't display Tamil (most indic lauguages) properly. Only half of the character display this bug exists from Windows 2000 and it is continuing for many years. Microsoft should take positive steps to solve this issue.

x-ray reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 20, 2007

try to switch to a pc not a mac

Adam_Cs reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 19, 2007

Hey, guys!

While installing SP3 on Windows XP Pro, it keeps getting me every single time an error telling that I need additional 4MB on harddrive. That's strange, as I have 110GB harddrive and there are still 105GB free. I am running black MacBook with 2GB RAM and Windows XP Professional over Bootcamp. Any advices? Thanks in advance.

poisonu reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 19, 2007

Quite Good....
..particularly for a RC1....

MikeDiack reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 19, 2007

Hi Matt and all
I've been betaing SP3 since the summer and am very pleased.

But DON'T mess with DCOM unless you know what you're doing. I'm a C++ developer and have been using DCOM for about 7 years. It's a messy and poorly documented subject, if you're not sure what you're doing, you'd be well advised to leave it alone.

Mike

matt2971 reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 19, 2007

Imaged my OS drive and ran the install.

Didn't find any major problems on startup and on running my major applications, but found a couple of warnings in the event log where there were none before. One related to a DCOM app's launch permissions, and the other was a RAS error saying that the new NAC client couldn't bind to the NAC server.

Started playing with the DCOM settings (which I don't understand well), and messed up teh security locking myself out of everything. LOL.

rebooted into another windows copy and re-imaged OS drive back to how it was. Looks like I'm gonna have to use this on the other copy and test more fully, as I don't wanna run with warnings in the event viewer.

On speed, on my old - but perfectly tuned - PC, the Windows XP splash screen hung around for 5 bars rather than 3 before, so booting for me was very slightly slower. responsiveness in the OS was fine though, couldn't see a difference.

On another note, P2P users will need to reapply the lvllord TCP/IP half-open connections fix, as SP3 overwrites the file of course.

More testing....

mjm01010101 reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 19, 2007

Installed much faster than previous one. No issues on first machine (desktop). Second machine (laptop) failed at the middle backing up the registry and at the end when attempting to install a file. Wary. Restoring from backup and I'll wait on the final for a month or two.

As usual: never trust a MS RC.

-Lord- reviewed vSP3 Build 3264 RC1 on Dec 19, 2007

I know it's a beta. I also know it's just a release CANDIDATE... but that's where my problem lies. That means that MS is actually considering releasing this as it is to the public and it's bug ridden... from the errors below to a host of others, but most specifically having to reinstall an entire OS because this patch that is designed to fix things wrong with the original OS, is actually damaging the OS to a worse condition than that of a clean install with a slipstreamed SP2. I am not a Microsoft basher, but I have to say, this is typical of them.

trevithick reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 17, 2007

I installed this and installation went without a hitch. It rebooted and everything seemed fine at first. The following morning, a message came accross my screen saying "Entering Sleep Mode" or something similar (I know accuracy is everything, but I have far fewer brain cells after this) and I promptly lost the screen. No mouse movement or keyboard banging would wake it up. I ran checkdisk several times, and had the same results. In the end, I tried a recovery installation over the existing Windows and that killed the system. It would boot long enough to see the Windows logo and then momentarily flash a BSOD. I eventually had to due a clean install.

I'm going to try it again before I load up all my software and see if the problem replicates.

tamchee@singnet.com.sg reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 15, 2007

I had similar problem as highroller. What I did was to uninstall the sp 3. Finally I performed a system restore and the whole system goes back to original sp 2.Whew...

highroller reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 15, 2007

Installed this service pack on 3 different machines with no immediate problems.
However i'm encoutering alot of ie7 scripting bugs which is hampering my efforts to use alot of script based websites :( I re-installed the latest ie7 build from microsoft, did not solve the problem.

anyone encountered this? (example 1.. yahoo answers, example 2, facebook messaging)

Hope this comes right by the final release. :P

msodos123 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 14, 2007

After a huge amount of time as the install was nearing its end, it indicated an error had occured (no mention of what kind), spent a huge amount of time uninstalling itself, then left a message saying that some files had been updated and XP may no longer function. Luckily, all seems well, so far.

Knight1946 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 14, 2007

I wish to say I am very impressed with the new XP Service Pack 3. I have a Del Dimension 2400 with 2 GB of ram, Pentium 4 2.66GHZ and since I downloaded SP3 I have noticed speed inprovements in boot time, and an improvement in clarity of videos on Utube. These are videos I watched before and after the installation and I am very pleased with my results. I read this SP3 improved performance and now I agree and I am glad I installed it. I appreciate Microsoft for this fine effort.

nilst2006 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 13, 2007

What about OTHER LANGUAGES ????

Link to homepage....why not a direct link to the page where it can be downloaded. It just goes to Microsoft.com.... :(

donnyjepp reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 13, 2007

why is the filename retarded?

kelong reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 13, 2007

Where is the x64 version ?

bradingram reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 12, 2007

does anyone know if the sp3 will have to be uninstlaled , when the full sp3 is released , or will it just install over the top ???

brusco reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 12, 2007

The best Microsoft Desktop OS just got a little better. Even though this is an RC I would still recommend it for people who need a performance increase.

slickandy reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 12, 2007

See this link for details for new functionality: http://download.microsof...0Service%20Pack%203.pdf

For new slipstreamed installations, the following may be of interest:

"As in Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Windows Vista, users can now complete operating system installation without providing a product key
during a full, integrated installation of Windows XP SP3. The operating system will prompt the user for a product key later as part of Genuine
Advantage. "

BoNeLeSS reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

The goods. A hundred of hotfixes from SP2 till now are slipstreamed.

The bad: No DX10. Still need sucky Vista for it.

needTOS reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

I've had it since it first was released early December, I have found it nice after a full clean install since it install all of the previous updates.

DiamondT reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

Do not install yet!
I got no SIP to work at the office, Had to uninstall.
Then at home on my gaming rig I got safe mode only.
The uninstall worked.
Whew.
My bad.

Sven123456789 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

Like the users below state, seems like there is nothing new with this. If you've been keeping up with all the updates via windows update, than you really don't need this. I read the pdf. from the site some guy listed. Pretty much states that there will be no major add on's or additional features in future Window xp including SP3. Bummer, was hoping for at least a couple new features, but doesn't seem like that will happen.

Jao717 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

I have not seen a difference at all. It is basically all the patches released since SP2 and a few others for "enhanced performance". I see no difference however I have only had it installed for about an hour now.

some guy reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

heres some good info
http://www.techexams.net...k-3-release-candidate-1

bufftbone reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

I like big butts and I can not lie..........

dejavu reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

Windows XP need a better firewall!

jewellmr reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

Just installed it, no problems, but then again I don't notice anything new on the surface.

roj reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

Given that I have absolutely no intention of ever running Vista, I'm anxiously awaiting the final of this. I just hope the niggling Windows Explorer bugs are fixed - they're damned annoying.

mjm01010101 reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

"Failed to install the catalog files"

"Winodws XP SP3 has been partially installed and may not work correctly"

Rolling back the image to SP2.

arjesus reviewed vSP3 Release Candidate 1 on Dec 11, 2007

Based on the reviews i read it looks very promising.

Is it multi-language?