This dialog box appears because Windows is attempting to write to the first partition it sees to install the update. Using Boot Camp 3.0, the first partition it sees is the Mac OS X partition, which is mounted as read-only. This is why the copy cannot complete. In order to avoid the dialog box, complete the steps below to disable the OS X file system read feature so that the Windows partition is the first one that the update sees, then reinstall the update, then re-enable the OS X file system read feature.
Getting out of the Update installer
1. Click Cancel to dismiss the Copy Error dialog box
Read more

http://support.apple.com

Windows XP Professional com Service Pack 3 Original (Sem Alterações).

Megaupload: Parte 1

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Windows XP Service Pack 3 is an important update for your XP operating system. It patches a lot of security vulnerabilities for the XP operating system. Unfortunately, once you update to Service Pack 3 some hardware devices might not function properly. If you have tried downloading the latest drivers or you already did a system restore but you still have the problem, you can just uninstall Service Pack 3.

There are two methods in removing Service Pack 3 from your PC. Follow the steps in removing Service Pack 3

Method 1: Using the Add Remove Programs in Control Panel

1. Click START, CONTROL PANEL and then ADD REMOVE PROGRAMS
2. Check SHOW UPDATES on the upper right hand corner
3. Look for WINDOWS XP SERVICE PACK 3 and then click REMOVE
4. Follow the steps and click FINISH to restart your PC

After restarting Service Pack 3 would be removed from your PC. Easy, isn’t it?

Method 2: Using the Service Pack Uninstaller wizard

If for some odd reason you cannot remove Service Pack using Add Remove Programs (honestly I can’t think of any reason why you cannot do it from Add Remove Programs) you can use the hidden Service Pack 3 uninstaller wizard

1. Click START and then RUN
2. On the RUN box, type “c:windows$NtServicePackUninstall$spuninstspuninst.exe” without the quotes and press ENTER
3. The Service Pack 3 uninstaller wizard would pup up. Just follow the steps. Click FINISH to restart your PC

There you go. Two easy methods in removing Service Pack 3 from your PC. If you have any methods in mind, just let me know.

Internet Explorer is the default browser on any out of the box Windows machine. Internet Explorer 6 is the default in XP while Internet Explorer 7 is the default in Vista. Internet Explorer 8 is the newest version and it is by far the best version of Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, like any Windows software, it has it’s share of bugs like the search default provider error.

I have provided some steps in a different post on how to solve the error but if none of the worked you can actually uninstall or remove Internet Explorer 8. Bear in mind that if you uninstall Internet Explorer 8, you would revert back to the default Internet Explorer version of your machine.

Also, it is worth noting that when you upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 3, you won’t be able to remove Internet Explorer 8. If you need to upgrade to Service Pack 3, remove Internet Explorer 7 or 8 first and then do the upgrade.

Here are the easy steps to remove Internet Explorer 8:

Windows XP

1. Click Start and then go to Control Panel
2. Look for Add/Remove Programs
3. Search for Internet Explorer 8 or Windows Internet Explorer 8, highlight it and then click Remove

Windows Vista

1. Click Start and go to Control Panel
2. Click on Programs and Features and then click on Installed Updates
3. Look for Windows Internet Explorer 8 and click Uninstall

Easy steps and I know you can do it. Let me know if I missed something.

Computer users beware, security experts have warned that the deadly Internet worm Conficker C is all set to strike back on April 1. According to Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos, Conficker C is programmed “to hunt for new instructions on April 1″. On January 1, the virus had infected more than nine million computers worldwide and was spreading at a rate of one million machines daily. Here’s all about this virus: what it does, how it spreads, symptoms that you have been hit and also how to escape it.

Although the origin of the name “conficker” is not known with certainty, Internet specialists and others have speculated that it is a German portmanteau fusing the term “configure” with “ficken”, the German equivalent of “fuck“. Microsoft analyst Joshua Phillips describes “conficker” as a rearrangement of portions of the domain name ‘trafficconverter.biz’.

How does it spread?

According to security experts, Conficker’s most intriguing aspect is its multipronged attack strategy: It can spread in three different ways.

One is a vulnerability in Windows that Microsoft patched almost six months ago. The bug, which is in a file-sharing service that’s included in all versions of the operating system, can be exploited remotely just by sending a malformed data packet to an unpatched PC.

Two, the worm can spread by password attacks. And third, by copying itself to any removable USB-based devices such as flash drives and cameras.

Symptoms

Microsoft’s advisory about Conficker lists several symptoms of infection, including these:

· Account lockout policies are being tripped.

· Automatic Updates, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Windows Defender, and Error Reporting Services are disabled.

· Domain controllers respond slowly to client requests.

· The network is congested.

· Various security-related Web sites cannot be accessed.

In case your PC is showing any of these symptoms Microsoft recommends that you immediately use the MSRT to clean the machine.

Users can download MSRT from Microsoft’s site, or follow the instructions posted at its support site.

Danger

Once in a computer it digs deep, setting up defenses that make it hard to extract. The worm leaves the computer vulnerable to further exploitation by hackers and spammers, who are able to remotely download more malicious programs onto the computer, or even use the worm to help install software that will enable them to track and steal security information, such as banking logins or credit card information. Malware could also be triggered to turn control of infected computers over to hackers amassing “zombie” machines into “botnet” armies. “Here we are with a big, big outbreak and they keep revamping their methodology to increase the size of it,” Perry said. “They could be growing this huge botnet to slice it up and sell it on the criminal market.”

A troubling aspect of Conficker is that it harnesses computing power of a botnet to crack passwords.

Most vulnerable machines

According to Microsoft, unpatched Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 machines are at the greatest risk. There are also reports from security companies, which highlight the danger to PCs running Windows XP Service Pack 2 and XP Service Pack 3.

Incidentally, these versions account for the bulk of Windows’ market share. Unpatched Windows Vista and Server 2008 systems are less likely to fall victim to these attack, since hackers need to authenticate access to the computer, in other words know the log-in username and password.

How to escape

Microsoft advises people to stay current on anti-virus tools and Windows updates, and to protect computers and files with strong passwords.

Microsoft issued a new series of security patches to try and help computer users defend their machines against the worm. Security experts urge people to harden passwords by mixing in numbers, punctuation marks, and upper-case letters. Doing so makes it millions of times harder for passwords to be deduced.

Solution

As antivirus companies worldwide scramble to erect defences against the Conficker C worm, an Indian company has successfully found a way to beat the computer worm. MicroWorld Technologies’ security solution claims to not only detect, but also eliminate Conficker C and block any further attempts by the worm to reinstall itself on the system. Govind Rammurthy, CEO & MD, MicroWorld Technologies said, “A three-pronged strategy is needed to tackle Conficker C an updated antivirus software, firewall protection on each and every computer in the network and the latest Microsoft patches.” MicroWorld’s recently launched eScan version 10 software also incorporates daily updates against the Conficker virus, which the company built after buyers of previous versions complained of Conficker attacks. Because the Conficker worm downloads fresh versions of itself on an hourly basis, eScan 10 is updated 8-9 times daily.

It also provides each computer with its own firewall, thus screening every software that seeks access to the computer and automatically downloads key patches released by Microsoft. So, let’s install this software or any other by ESET, Kaspersky, or BitDefender, and run on-demand scans for about 3-4 times a day, and assure ourselves to have a clean PC till the end of 1st week of April 2009. Good Luck, and Godspeed!!!

The advantage of this full download is that it can be used on any system – plus it doesn’t require an Internet connection to install. You can download SP3, copy it to disc or a portable drive and use it on multiple PCs. Alternatively, since the file is so huge, you can download SP3 on a fast Internet connection and use it to update a PC with a slow or non-existent connection. C’mon!! Let’s Try and Download it!!

Description
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (XP SP3) fixes a range of bugs and adds new features to Windows XP. The file is a large download and can be applied to any version of Windows XP Home, Professional, TabletPC or Media Center (32 bit only). In addition, it doesn’t matter what XP patches you have previously applied to your system, SP3 will update any unpatched, partially patched or completely updated system to version SP3. It includes all features of Service Pack 1 and 2, plus all patches, updates and fixes released up to and including April 2008’s monthly security bulletin. Keep in mind that new patches made available after Service Pack 3 was released (mid April 2008) will still need to be applied.

Important notes: Microsoft advise uninstalling any beta or Release Candidate versions before installing this final release. Do not install Service Pack 3 on systems with AMD chips unless a special hotfix has been applied first. This hotfix needs to be applied before SP3, otherwise your system may get stuck in a loop and never start. The file will download directly from Microsoft’s servers – you may want to shorten the file name.

File Size
316MB

File Name
WindowsXP-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu.exe

Author/Supplier
Microsoft

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes the following:

• All previous security patches and fixes released for Windows XP.
• All enhancements and new features that were included with Windows XP SP1 and Windows XP SP2
• Only two new features have been added: Black Hole Router Detection Windows and Network Access Protection (NAP).
• The following are already available for Windows XP in stand-alone updates. Windows XP SP3 includes them by default (System administrators must choose to install each of these updates): MMC 3.0, MSXML6, Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1 v2, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.5, IPsec Simple Policy Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, Digital Identity, Management Service (DIMS), Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) 2.1, Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2).
• From the Release Notes: “Microsoft is not adding significant functionality from newer versions of Windows, such as Windows Vista, to Windows XP through XP SP3. For instance, Windows XP SP3 does not include Windows Internet Explorer 7, although Windows XP SP3 does include updates to both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7, and it will update whichever version is installed on the computer. One notable exception is that, SP3 does include Network Access Protection (NAP).”

To download the complete 313MB SP3 for all English versions of Windows XP, please click the download links below.

Download Windows XP Service Pack 3 (XP SP3) Final Release via My OFFICIAL WEBLOG

ATTENTION !!!!

Windows Service Pack 3 patch for AMD processors to prevent STOP: 0×0000007E error on boot

Applies to:
Windows XP with AMD processors with SP2 – use before SP3 is installed
Requirements
Windows XP with AMD processors with SP2 – use before SP3 is installed

File Size
0.5MB

File Name
WindowsXP-KB953356-x86-ENU.exe

Author/Supplier
Microsoft

Description
If you have an AMD processor and are considering upgrading to Windows Service Pack 3 (SP3), then it is important that you apply this patch before SP3. Otherwise, your system may possibly get stuck in a loop of reboots that will stop Windows XP from starting.

On a technical level, there is a problem with the way that the System Preparation (Sysprep) image is created. According to one explanation offered by Microsoft “The problem may occur if the original Sysprep image for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1), for Windows XP SP2, or for Windows XP SP3 is created on a computer that uses an Intel processor and is then deployed on a computer that does not use an Intel processor. In this configuration, the Intel processor driver (Intelppm.sys) may try to load after the computer is upgraded to Windows XP SP2 or to Windows XP SP3. The driver does this because an orphaned registry key remains from the original Sysprep image.” In these cases you may also see the following error messages:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer…

Technical information:

STOP: 0×0000007E (0xC0000005, [number1], [number2], [number3])
SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

When Physical Address Extensions (PAE) is enabled, you may receive the following error message: STOP 0×000000FC (ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY)

[number1], [number2] and [number3] listed above will be random, alphanumeric and 10 digits long. However, 0×0000007E and 0xC0000005 will always be present for this type of error. Note 0×0000007E errors have multiple causes, but if it is an AMD processor and you have just installed SP3, there is a good bet that this patch will fix the issue. Ideally the patch should be applied before the Windows XP Service Pack 3.

Downloading Windows Service Pack 3 patch for AMD processors to prevent STOP: 0×0000007E error on boot via My OFFICIAL WEBLOG

I Hope this posting can Help your Problem about Windows XP Service Pack 3. I must to say “sorry” for Indonesian People because I write this article in English. Many of my visitors had been complains if they can’t read my language.
So, I’ll try to write My article in English.

Please Fell Free to Enjoy My Weblog.. ^^

Best Regards, Mr.Peee

A fellow IT professional friend of mine has a blog of her own, and I thought I’d share it with you all.  I have a feed from Tech Talk Plus with her most recent post on my the sidebar for your reading pleasure.

Microsoft released SP3 for Windows XP to the public on May 5th and it still has some kinks to work out.  I’ve had much success running SP3 using VMware Workstation, but I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to roll it out to my computers.  On a side note, I cannot speak enough to the amazing-ness of VMware.  I could write a whole book, if I could get up the motivation to actually put words to paper or wordprocessor.  More articles to come about VMware Workstation.

I’m glad I’ve been doing my research, because being a budget-minded computer user that still desires quality CPU architecture, I almost exclusively choose AMD over Intel.  I don’t want to bash either AMD or Intel, because they both produce great chips, but I don’t have wads and wads of money laying around to throw at expensive Intel chips.  So I use AMD chipsets and get exactly what I need:  Good computing power at a budget-minded price.

OK, done with my AMD advertisement, moving on…

Being that I use AMD chipsets in both my desktop and laptop, hearing that SP3 breaks AMD computers caught my attention.  Naturally, Microsoft had to release a fix, which can be downloaded at the site I just mentioned.  I shake my head at this solution though, because when you go to install SP3 on a “non-Intel-based-processor computers,” it breaks the Windows boot, and causes the computer to continue rebooting infinitely.

Fortunately, Microsoft also released a workaround in case you’ve already tried to install SP3 on another computer that you can see here.  There are directions on uninstalling SP2, and I bet you can also use similar means to uninstall SP3 if you can boot, but System Restore can also get rid of it, and if you absolutely can’t boot up, you can always use Recovery Console to do a System Restore.

Bottom line, I think there’s a balance to be had when implementing new software.  Part of me resists change, especially when transitioning over to unfamiliar software and programs that I don’t know how to use very well.  However, I also know this about myself and try to compensate, by jumping head-first into new software, sometimes prematurely.

For instance, I jumped on the Vista train as soon as I got the chance, and have since completely abandoned Vista for Windows XP.  Microsoft still seems to be outwardly on the Vista train, and secretly throwing it to the wind, with the release of Windows 7 slated for the beginning of 2010, but that is really only speculation on my part.

So I think that jumping on the bandwagon early can be a great thing, as long as I’m not afraid to jump off if it looks like the bandwagon is going into a ditch.  Knowing how to see an upcoming ditch is the real trick.

Approximately 40% of computer users do not have their web lbrowsers updated to the latest standard.

Note: Internet Explorer 6.x users are at high risk for security vunerabilities. Please consult this page for minimum system requirements. I am afraid that any Windows 98/ME users cannot upgrade to IE7. They cannot user Firefox either.

This is particularly relevant to my customers because the vast majority use… …Internet Explorer 7. It is in this product category that the largest percentage are not up-to-date with 52.4% not having their browser updated to the latests security standard.

The reason for being up-to-date is important. 89.4% of security vulnerabilities came from the use of the Internet and web browsers. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that IE7 is not automatically updated. It updates on a monthly basis but in my experience you often have to go to the Windows Update site and search for and apply updates manually.

For example, on the computer I a currently writing this post from there are 0 secuity udates I need to apply.  A quick review of my two other computers shows I need to update x and 0 updates respectively.

What to Do?

Please contact me and I will assist you or you can do this on your own. I also have the Windows Service Pack 3 image file if you require that recommended update as well.

Go to Windows Update

Select the Express Button.

The site will inventory your computer and install the updates automatically. Be advised…if you have not installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 it may require you to do so firs in this mode. If the inventory indicates you need to upgrade to Service Pack 3 please call me for advice on what to do next

If Service Pack 3 is installed then follow the dialogue boxes and apply the updates. In some cases you will need to reboot your computer after you apply them.

It is recommended you repeat this process until no more updates are required to be installed.

I would also recommend, once the updates have been applied to run CCleaner.

Select the Custom Button

Only if you are confident you know what you need to install. Windows Update Express is advised for the majority of my customers.

Well I call it fun.

If I had no computer technology to complain about, my otherwise pleasant nature could turn ugly. At least it gives me an outlet for any built-up negative energy. Better to unleash it at the maroons in Redmond or even my own incompetence than onto those near and dear to me.

First of all, typing has become more and more frustrating for me if not downright difficult since my last two surgeries. I’ve begun a quest for free open source speech recognition software. So far the best results I’ve had consist of several projects that require you to compile code on your own. You need to be ready to solve your own problems—as well as contribute your solutions to the project(s)—if you want open source speech recognition now. You need to be able do a lot of typing just to get the code running. And I won’t tweak code to run within Ubuntu, which is based upon testing and unstable releases of Debian. It would be better to do this in Debian Etch if possible. Right now I’m running Debian Etch only virtually within MS Virtual PC. That’s not a good way to test and tweak hardware dependent software. Debian Etch should be installed onto it’s own hard drive or partition so it can run natively if I want to do this. Most likely I’ll wait for the folks at Carnegie Mellon’s Sphinx project (funded through DARPA), the Simon Project on SourceForge.net, and the Open Mind Speech project, another SourceForge.net hosted project, to come closer to their respective goals. With all these motivated and resourceful groups working towards the same end, the fruit of their efforts should be realized soon. I hope to contribute to the Open Mind Speech project, which plans to release their product under the GPL. I’ll try to keep up with all these projects and report what’s going with them here.

Secondly, I’ve been very busy just trying to stabilize my systems while considering that the release of Windows XP’s Service Pack 3 may have been pushed forward to roughly coincide with the release of Ubuntu’s latest incarnation. At any rate, between the two of them, the dust has finally settled. Now I have XP SP 3 settled in and operating smoothly on one box, while the AMD64 version of Ubuntu 8.04 is running great on another computer here. Both upgrades were somewhat problematic for me, either due to my aforesaid technological incompetence, imminent hardware failure, or problems within the packages themselves. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that nothing is bug-free.

When Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) was released on April 21st, the servers got hammered, so I waited until the following Saturday morning, April 26th, to start the upgrade. Update Manager downloaded 1,380 packages for my system. I had lots of software installed, including Ubuntu Studio’s real-time kernel, midi sequencing and music notation. I have a 3 mbps connection, but it averaged only about 80K per second as opposed to a “normal” full-speed (approximately) 360k/sec. It took a while, but it finished.

Even with known hardware problems (bad DIMM slot, flaky AGP interface, and, as it turns out, a soon-to-fail hard drive), the update worked fine. In fact, I was impressed at the manner in which an error was handled, much better than the way the same problem was handled when updating to Gutsy, which eventually turned out to be the soon-to-fail eIDE hard drive. Even though I had Hardy running well, I replaced the motherboard and started a fresh OS install the next weekend. In the meantime I decided it was time to run Microsoft Update on my XP Pro installation and was informed that Service Pack 3—now at version 2—was available.

What a can of worms that turned out to be. Actually, it was two cans of worms opened nearly simultaneously. First of all, the newly upgraded XP SP 3 system wouldn’t re-boot. Fortunately the data was intact. In the mean time I determined that the hard drive on my Linux box would imminently fail. Hardy Heron installed with the newly replaced motherboard but failed to boot even though Debian Etch installed and ran subsequently. But the Debian install was faulty as well, getting errors when concatenating large downloaded files. The XP system, having an ATSC TV tuner and Beyond TV from SnapStream, needed a new—and bigger—SATA hard disk since I needed to do a fresh install anyway. That way I could use the older and smaller (250gb) SATA hard drive to replace the bad 160gb eIDE drive on my Linux system. So began the odyssey of the past 6 weeks. There’s been several ups and downs I need not go into here besides moving a sizable quantity of data. And there’s no need to go into detail about my not always astute silicon mining excursions at our local computer recycling center, The Surplus Exchange.

Now I understand why Service Pack 3 was held back from Automatic Updates. While an improvement over all, certainly some things will break, especially if there are flaws in your current XP SP2 installation. Even though getting everything working again was a little bit of a pain, it’s been worth it. There are improvements in XP SP3 that should make most XP users happy. I know I am. It looks much better and seems faster. The only drawback I’ve found is that some low-priority applications that were previously well behaved, specifically Beyond TV’s ShowSqueeze routine, now hogs CPU cycles, making it virtually impossible to run anything else concurrently, and difficult to halt by bringing up the Task Manger, even using the preemptive ctrl-shift-escape key combination. (BTW, I use that combination exclusively rather than ctrl-alt-delete. That way I don’t inadvertently restart Windows.) Just be sure to schedule such tasks when you know you won’t be trying to use the system for anything else.

Ubuntu 8.04 (AMD64) is now running great on a nearly identical hardware setup—except for CPU speed and hard drive size—as the XP box. It does all I ask of it. Install nsplugin wrapper to use 32-bit plug-ins with your 64-bit web browser. Flash 9 and other plug-ins now work in a 64-bit environment. One other thing I now have working that I didn’t before is the Macintosh emulator Basilisk II. I have access to a bunch of my old System 7.x.x Mac files I haven’t seen for years. Hidden in there were some projects, graphics files, word processing files and financial data worth keeping. Now I can port them to my Linux system. Basilisk II runs on Windows and OSX too. Take a look at this new screenshot of all this stuff loaded at once.

I have another procedure scheduled for tomorrow, June 9th. Hopefully I will make another post soon.

But whatever you do, make it fun!

Existem informações que dao conta que o service pack 3 do Windows XP tem provocado crashes e reboots automaticos em alguns roteadores principalmente do fabricante Billion que ja criou um firmware para mitigar o problema.

Brief Description

I think this will be my first technical post here- for me that is the day job and that’s the way it usually stays.

However, getting my laptop to recognize the new SDHC cards has been a saga so am sticking this up to hopefully save some people a bit of hassle.

I bought a new 4gb SDHC card for the O2 Xda Exec that I was given and between that and the Thinkpad neither were able to recognize the card; I had expected that since both are a couple of years old. I knew there was a fix for the XDA Exec over at xda-developers.com so I downloaded that and it works without any problem. In order to download the SDHC.cab from the site you will need to join the forum which is a good idea anyway since they have quite a lot of good information and downloads on there. To get the phone to recognize the full size of the card though you will need to download Pocket Mechanic which is a very nifty tool- trial period of a month but inexpensive enough to buy.

[EDIT]- for an update with an 8gb card check here.

The Thinkpad Z60m has proved to be the sticky issue though- I downloaded the recently released Windows XP Service Pack 3 which I knew would have the updates for SDHC. However, even after that the laptop refused to recognize the SDHC card. So went to the Lenovo website which is sometimes decent enough for Thinkpad users…however on this occasion they didn’t have any information so had to go digging. This turned into truly an archaeology dig- there was no information out there at all with Google searches.  So finally armed with the fact that the card reader for the Thinkpads were manufactured by Ricoh I came across Antifart.com who thankfully had all of the information that I needed. The link is for the Dell Vostro so I backed up the old drivers to be on the safe side (as everybody should do!) and the new ones worked without a hitch.

So for Thinkpad users- download the new service pack be it XP/Vista with Windows Update and then follow the install directions from Antifart. BEFORE you do that make sure you do a system backup and backup the drivers as well!! This is something that cannot be emphasised enough since it is the one time that you forget to backup that something will go wrong and bite you in the ass!

This morning I had vis comm, which as always is a pain because it starts so early, I slept late last night thanks to the woes of MacOS which didn’t make getting up any easier. In essence the attempted macOS X installation turned out in relative disaster with my backup partitions type being changed to HFS+ and when I changed it back to NTFS all of my files were gone. I tried a few recovery methods but nothing worked, in the end I had to just live with the fact that everything that I didn’t have backed up on DVD was gone. I gave macOS once last try on a completely blank set of hard disks but still nothing but restart loops after installation so… I went back to the previously linked and praised h33t release of XPSP3.

This meant I spent most of my afternoon and evening reinstalling software. Nothing of note really happened, I did some more playing with threads in Java and that pretty much brings me to now, where I’m finishing off my WoW reinstallation – which I can’t do much with anyway, since it’s maintenance night.

You can download Windows XP Service Pack 3 here.

FACTS…according to WinSuperSite.com

“It is the final Windows XP service pack, a collection of previously-released fixes and product enhancements, as well as a few new features that are unique to this release.

You will need to install at least SP1 on XP before installing SP3.

SP3 does not apply to the x64 version of Windows XP. Instead, that operating system is updated via service packs aimed at Windows Server 2003

The new features, according to WinSuperSite.com:

Network Access Protection compatibility. Announced years ago, this feature allows Windows XP machines to interact with the NAP feature in Windows Server 2008. This functionality is built into the RTM version of Windows Vista as well.

Product Key-less install option. As with Windows Vista, new XP with SP3 installs can proceed without entering a product key during Setup.

Kernel Mode Cryptographics Module. A new kernel module that “encapsulates several different cryptographic algorithms,” according to Microsoft.

“Black hole” router detection algorithm. XP gains the ability to ignore network routers that incorrectly drop certain kinds of network packets. This, too, is a feature of Windows Vista.”

Of course, some people had problems after installing Windows XP SP3, which happens with every Service Pack or major update. SP3 will create a Restore Point, but the best thing you can do is backup your data prior to installing XP SP3, that way if anything happens, you’ll have peace of mind. Also, you can uninstall SP3.

Always do a complete scan of your computer using a reputable antivirus program, and anti-spyware program. Service Packs generally don’t play nice with viruses or spyware.

A known issue with SP3 can be found via eWeek.com (rebooting issue). Sound cards are known to not put out any sound after installing SP3 as well. Many other issues have arised, but the cases seem to be few and far between.

In a previous post I outlined some important things to do BEFORE attempting the installation of the service pack. Good idea of me to follow my own advice…

On my prototype computer I attempting the installation and got an error which only goes to show that being systematic, or not, can have an impact on the installation.

Some things I learned/did:

1. If you have more than one user account log on as the computer administrator!
2. Turn off you anti-virus software before the installation.
3. If you have an Nvidia or ATI video card update the drivers. Nvidia has a new driver posted just this week and ATI has one for the Radeon series that was posted in April.

I attempted on first install by shutting down AVG but I got an error which delayed the install by some 30 minutes as Windows XP booted up again and in a two stage process reverted my OS to its former installation. An error was created because it recognized that a new driver was available for my Nvidia video card. I downloaded and installed it and started the install process again.

The install looks like it is going to be clean with no problems and the total time, if I had taken the precaution to upate my Nvidia drivers, to install the service pack would be just over an hour. I am just in the process as I write this of rebooting and the result is you will see a DOS (cmd) window open and some files being applied. Once that is complete you should be done.

Once you have a good install go to Windows Update and check the computer once more and apply any further updates listed. For this computer I had to install the latest version of Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool and a driver for my wireless network adapter.

All told, it went OK. Now lets see how it works for the next week or so before I trust the service pack.

PS: There is more than one version of the Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Note  The version of the tool delivered by Microsoft Update and Windows Update runs in the background and then reports if an infection is found. If you would like to run this tool more than once a month, use the version on this Web page or install the version that is available in the Download Center.

Tällä kertaa taitavat Windows ongelmat kiertää minut kaukaa, sillä näyttäisi siltä, ettei Service Pack 3:n asentamisesta pari vuotiaalle kannettavalleni seurannut mitään pahaa. Ainakin toistaiseksi kaikki tuntuvat toimivan ihan hyvin, mutta nähtäväksi jää miten käy pitkässä juoksussa.

Tein siis eilen illalla varmuuskopioinnin ihan turhaan. Varmuuskopiot haihtuvat kohta bittiavaruuteen, paitsi sukututkimustietokannan varmuuskopio, joka saa jatkaa elämistään, kunnes 1/4 megan USB-tikku on täyttynyt eli vielä hyvän aikaa.

Piccola news per segnalarvi, se già non ne siate a conoscenza, che da qualche giorno è disponibile il Service Pack 3 per Windows XP in versione italiana.

C’è anche da segnalare che nonostante il ritardo, dovuto a correggere alcuni bug dell’ultimo minuto, alcuni utenti hanno riscontrato alcuni problemi come ad esempio l’impossibilità di disinstallazione di IE7 dopo l’installazione del SP3 o continui riavvi con sistemi con processore AMD.

Da notare anche come Internet Explorer 7 e Windows Media Player 11 non vengono installati assieme al SP3 ed è quindi necessario scaricarli a parte se interessati.

Nonostante tutto ciò gli interessati posso effettuare il download diretto del SP3 per Windows XP cliccando qui.