Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: XP, Service, Pack Category : Miscellaneous
After much teasing, Microsoft’s long-awaited final Windows XP service pack 3 became available on Tuesday via manual download and automatic update.
Microsoft halted the planned release of Service Pack 3 one week ago when the company discovered that the new software interfered with another piece of Microsoft software called Dynamics Retail Management System. Microsoft also stopped downloads of the previously released Vista Service Pack 1 for the same reason — both updates were determined to cause data loss when paired with Dynamic Retail Management System. Microsoft since prevented as many DRMS users as possible from installing the two service packs by implementing a filter.
As of Tuesday, the first publicly-available final version of Service Pack 3 can be downloaded online, or, it will automatically download as part of regularly scheduled Windows Update routines. It has been nearly four years since Windows XP Service Pack 2 launched in August 2004, so consumers running XP machines may have built up expectations for noticeable and vast improvements to their operating system. Unfortunately, most users will likely not notice many changes when they install SP3.
Most of the fixes inside the pack have been released previously through Windows Update. The new fixes change things like security options control panels and product activation updates and make these settings similar to those available in Windows Vista.
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I installed XP service pack 3 from windows update yesterday, the computer rebooted after it encountered an error during install, "Access Denied" error , after around 3 thirds of the way through. The installed detected this error and proceeded to unistall SP3. When the computer rebooted the what looks like to be a black terminal screen instantly appears before anything else informing me that "GDI32.dll could not be located in the dynamic link library GDI32.dll". So I used the recovery console, did a chkdsk /f and rebooted after errors were found and fixed. When rebooting this time the dreaded blue screen of death appears (not the as before) giving me the very same error message on a BLUE not BLACK screen. The computer will not proceed any further.
I wonder why this service pack was delayed so much, could it be because many similar errors were discovered and microsoft are now trying to do their usual job of covering up their mistakes without actually fixing them.....
Any way I am very disapointed, as usual with Microsoft even tho i shouldn't be as I expect these problems from good ol'MicroSoft.
Hopefully I will be able to find a fix for this...
I am Eagerly awaiting Microsoft's next attempt at an operating system (In my opinion Vista doesn't count, as far as I can tell it's for children to use, is terrible at filling the shoes of a business system , horrifically slow and basically not in anyway a contender as serious operating system). But perhaps they will have an epiphany due to their latest (lack of) success with Vista and redesign something more effecient, and robust.