Windows service pack 3?

[Skink]

If you download it to your computer from their website do you not have to click install? I had the icon but had to stop it in progress then later without the icon thingy that alway sprompts you to click on install I downloaded it. Is it now running? the computer seems happier.

[ElboRuum]

1. If you have Windows Update set to fully automatic...

It'll download and install without your say-so.

[meegbear]

2. Not sure, but to check what version ...

Goto Start | Run, type "winver" without the quotes and click OK. A dialog will appear with version info.

[HopeHoops]

3. Micro$oft Fudge Packs are a dangerous thing.

They fix one thing and break ten others.

You can always try running it again (from the browser Downloads window). If it is installed, it will say so. Beware thee who travel here, for there are Dragons. But don't worry. Dragons like you, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

[DainBramaged]

4. They fix one thing and break ten others (not true)

Sounds like something I'd read on that propaganda website we all laugh at.

:eyes:

[HopeHoops]

5. Okay, I was being generous - sometimes they break 20 others.

Perhaps the best example was NT SP 2. I don't even recall what few things it was supposed to fix, but it broke damn near everything else. You couldn't even back it out (although they claimed you could, it didn't completely uninstall). That was a bastard. SP 3 fixed most of what SP 2 broke, but it had its own issues, especially with file and print sharing. SP 4 was the only decent and stable version. Actually, NT SP 4 is the ONLY OS M$ has EVER had that was even close to stable. SP 5 broke things again and SP 6 was fairly stable, but not as reliable as 4. Plus, a lot of vendors never supported anything beyond SP 4.

Yeah, they break things.

[jbnow]

6. I had so many problems after downloading XP SP 2

that I still have not downloaded 3. I do other critical updates and think about downloading 3 but just shudder remembering the hassle before. I'm lost when things really go wrong...
is that bad?

[HopeHoops]

7. Back up EVERY DAMN FILE YOU CARE ABOUT first!

Never, ever subject yourself to a M$ fudge pack without backing up everything including your browser bookmarks.

[KatyMan]

8. Honestly

I've been working with and supporting MS products for 15 years and (not aimed at anyone specifically) I've found that most problems can be traced back to the user, or to whomever originally installed the OS.

[HopeHoops]

11. I go back to IBM DOS (the original pre-Microsoft), and I mostly agree with you.

I worked on one of the first IBM PCs in the DC area and have seen every flavor of OS since (except that Bob thing - I managed to avoid that noise).

Installation choices and user error produce most problems, but service packs are always a gamble. If a vendor's driver isn't compatible with some change in the SP, a device can simply "go away". The most fun was when the device in question was the fucking GRAPHICS CARD! I had to put in an old card to get the damn screen back, and it took a while to guess what the problem really was. Never update the OS without backing up right before you do it. That isn't just an M$ thing. It is true on any OS.

Oh, and "DEATH TO CLIPPY!" I just had to say that.

[Lance_Boyle]

10. Your example is from 10+ years ago.

Yes, *even* MS has improved its product in the decade since you had issues with it. :eyes:

[HopeHoops]

12. Interesting timing - I just stumbled on this a minute ago...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32393717/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

"Basic PC laws
Let's start with Nerve Central — the computer.

Law 1: For every fix that a Windows Update patches, the update will break two more things on your PC. — Darren Gladstone, PC World"

There are more, and they're right on the mark, but this is my favorite:

"Software statutes
Finally, if entanglements with hardware principles don't leave you bound and gagged, there are always software standards to render you helpless.

Law 1: Your software provider's online support pages contain explicit instructions for troubleshooting every conceivable problem — except yours. — Mark Sullivan, PC World "

[ElboRuum]

13. Elbo's Basic PC Laws...

Law 1:

Every piece of software written has a bug that no one will ever find, one that someone will find but nothing can be done about, or one that someone will find with an easy fix but that no one cares about.

Law 2:

For every computer system based on the Turing model, there is at least one yahoo who believes that the model is flawed because it doesn't operate according to the "read my mind" model.

Law 3:

Computer systems are the only available examples of a concretely realized paradigm in which the student learns flawlessly and the instructor makes all of the mistakes.

Law 4:

Blaming the computer for the fault of the OS makes no sense. Blaming the OS for poorly written software makes no sense. Blaming the software or the OS for user mistakes make no sense. Yet this has never stopped someone from cursing at their monitor when the fault is either in the PC or sitting in the chair in front of it.

Law 5:

The amount of complaining about a computer that a person does is inversely proportional to their level of knowledge.

Law 6:

No matter how "user-friendly" an OS is, there will always be a user who refuses to be friendly back.

Law 7:

In the world of the computer, as in anything else of any complexity, what you think you know, what you actually know, and how much there is to know is applicable and relevant to your claims of understanding. Proficiency requires training and a desire to learn. The sad fact is that most of the people who own computers are the same sorts who let their VCR blink 12:00AM forever rather than pull out the manual and learn how to set the time.

Law 8:

The number of people who believe that Law 7 does not apply to them is much greater than the number of people to whom it truthfully does not apply.

Law 9:

The shitty and worthless features that exist in your "bloaty" applications do so exist solely because some lazy or stupid nimrod users ASKED for them.

Law 10:

A computer is a tool, not a lifestyle. If you took anything from the movie Hackers as real (except for the fact that Angelina Jolie is a hottie), the amount of delusion you live under is beyond measure.

[HopeHoops]

18. Don't forget the ID10T and PEBKAC rules.

ID10T just has to be read.

PEBKAC - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair

[madokie]

17. Shit fire man I've never had an update hose my system yet

and I started out with a 10 mhz intel processor with 1 meg ram and a 20 meg hard drive so I've been here for a while. Every time bar none I've had a serious problem is when I screwed something up. I've had a couple hard drives fail me but nothing other than that either. Anyways I don't think it happens all that much is what I'm getting at. :hi:

[DainBramaged]

15. How long ago was NT SP2?? 12 years? You really hold a grudge

NT isn't even viable any more. Give me a break.......

Like I said, negative propaganda that is without merit, WHOLLY WITHOUT MERIT.

[EOTE]

16. XP SP2 is loads more stable and bug free than SP1.

I'm a senior IT analyst for the FDA and SP2 made my job far easier when it was released. It was added to the FDA image in record time because of all the security holes it plugged and the stability it added. SP3 is a far less substantial pack, but the great bulk of users will benefit by having it installed. SP3 is part of the image now, but it's not seen as essential, so we still have lots of SP2 machines on the network which are patched. Say what you will about Microsoft's operating systems being released too early or being too buggy or unstable from the release date, but MS's service packs are almost always unequivocally a good thing and should typically be installed ASAP.

[ElboRuum]

9. Interesting...

Funny, no XP patch I've ever downloaded (Service Pack or otherwise) has broken anything. And that's kind of relevant since I've downloaded them all.

I'm no MS fanboi, but I don't think the world is served in any way by the manufacture, packaging, and retail sale of bullshit, which is precisely what you're trying to pawn off here.

[Deja Q]

14. Vista or XP SP3?

Service packs add needed stability, but that's how the initial release of the OS is supposed to be to begin with. More MS-laziness.

(Security is always a concern and not addressed in my response.)