Service pack 3 for Windows XP has been out for a week or so now and reports have been pouring in from people who have applied it and seen it hork their computers. Â The most common symptom has been a computer that does nothing but reboot after the service pack has been applied without allowing the user to get into Windows to do anything useful.
I applied it myself on a computer running XP in my household and I didn’t see anything crazy as a result. Â However, just because it worked for me doesn’t mean anything. Â Maybe I’m just lucky. Â I’ll try another computer here and see what happens. Â 🙂
There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel. Â Jesper Johansson, a Microsoft MVP, has investigated the issue and come up for some solutions for the more common reasons why a computer may choke after the upgrade. Â Check out his site for some solutions.
I strongly believe that you should install service pack 3. Â However, if you have a computer such as the one Jesper describes (name brand with an AMD processor), you may want to enlist some help before doing so if you don’t feel comfortable with the steps that Jesper outlines. Â The good news is that if you’ve already upgraded and are having this problem, it can be fixed without reformatting and reinstalling everything.
One other place I read suggested using the service pack which is available on the disc image from Microsoft. Â Traditionally, you’ve been able to purchase a service pack disc from Microsoft. Â I haven’t investigated that for this version as I was able to download the image instead. Â You can find links to the downloads here: Â gHacks list of SP3 downloads.
Good luck and happy upgrading!
