Windows XP Service Pack 3 - Is it now safe to install?

jdo_2

Hi,
Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere, but I couldn't find anything following a quick search.
I just wanted to gather opinion on whether it is now recommended to install XP Service Pack 3? I was aware of quite a lot of problems when it was first released so I didn't install it. I'm now wondering whether all the problems have been sorted and whether I should install it, or whether sticking with SP2 with all the windows updates except SP3 is a less risky option?

Thanks,
John

TerryC_2

In general, it is always recommended to have the latest update installed as soon as it is released.

Little_John

but yes SP3 is safe to install I have only had one PC fial on the install. it did screw the pc up and it needed reinstalling but that was the only time. I have installed it in excess of 200 times so far

chunter

YES, unless you've a dodgy copy of XP.

aliEnRIK

Without SP3 your open to quite a few nasty attacks (One of which has hit the headlines bigtime due to the sheer number of machines infected)

mdbarber

As stated later fixes are mostly for security but...
A good idea here would be to post your machine hardware, just this week i came across an issue with a sp3 driver incompatibility, on a hauppauge TV card,
(nova t500 99 series i think), then if anyone has come across similar issues they can tell you..

N9eav

Will service pack 3 gobble up too much memory on an older computer> I only have 330 usuable RAM for example

aliEnRIK

N9eav wrote: »

Will service pack 3 gobble up too much memory on an older computer> I only have 330 usuable RAM for example

no
Bit it could possibly slow your machine down
Id really recommend upgrading your ram to 1 gig

BenL

Yeah it is fine, i work for a software development company and it was done automatically months ago to all pc's in the building.

Not seen any problems and they wouldn't have done that if it was risky.

onzey

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Without SP3 your open to quite a few nasty attacks (One of which has hit the headlines bigtime due to the sheer number of machines infected)

Please could you supply more info on this ( particularly the headline making attack)?

Thanks

nickmack

onzey wrote: »

Please could you supply more info on this ( particularly the headline making attack)?

They're probably referring to Conficker:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker