That would be me. I crashed the whole computer. I called Microsoft, and after six calls, they took responsiblility, and put me on the phone with data retrieval, and after a week of phone tag, we were able to retrieve all my files from my dead computer, and then reinstall my operating system and then put all files back into their places. At first they told me all was lost, and to just reinstall Windows XP and that all my files were gone. This was not so. But, I still don't have SP2 installed. The tech told me to read the link below and follow the instructions of what to do BEFORE I install SP2 . I have been "vewy vewy afwaid" to attempt it. But before I do, I will save all my files to CD "before" the big crash. Good luck if you attempt to do it. Many people have had problems. Here is a link that might be useful: Before you install SP2, read this

I'm about to update to SP3 on my computers and looked at the instructions Ravencajun linked above: Call your computer's manufacturer or check their support website to see if there are any compatibility issues with your computer. Confirm that your BIOS firmware and device drivers are up-to-date. At minimum, your XP computer must be running Service Pack 1 for SP3 to install. To cover every installation option, make sure that you have at least 1.8 GB of free space on your computer's hard drive. Take this opportunity to confirm that you have enough available storage for optimal performance of your computer. Delete any unused programs and data. Perform complete antivirus and spyware scans with up-to-date virus and spyware definitions. Back up your data and make certain you can reinstall it. Remove any Microsoft applications, such as Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit and Remote Desktop Connection (RDP), that will prevent SP3's installation. ------------------------------------- Some of these I don't know how to do. How do I do this?: Confirm that your BIOS firmware and device drivers are up-to-date. -------------------------------------------- Other things I want to doublecheck I really have to do: Remove any Microsoft applications, such as Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit and Remote Desktop Connection (RDP), that will prevent SP3's installation. Do I really have to remove IE8. Some of our computers have IE7 - others have IE8. I am not sure if I have Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit and Remote Desktop Connection (RDP). Would I find these in add/remove programs? What do they do? If I have them, do I really have to remove them? And if so, where do I go to re-install? Same with IE8. Thanks. Lynn. PS - I did order the installation CD a while back and have that to use. I gather it's preferable to downloading?

urlee the difference between the cd and getting it through your windows update is that with the cd you get the full install with windows update it is supposed to check your pc and give you just what you need but it seems more of the problems are happening to people who use windows update, so they are urging people to use one of the full methods. Now it could be that people using windows updates are not turning off all their antivirus and firewall and spyware protection when doing it that way which is definitely advised, when those things are not disabled first real issues can arise. However a word of caution, just because you use the cd does not mean or guarantee there will not be problems. The problem that is specific to people with AMD processors for example HAS to be addressed and the patch applied before any install of sp3 or those issues will happen. So it still means you have to do your homework and find out what has to be done to your pc prior to install if you choose to install it. Which is why we highly suggest backing up everything you do not want to lose or create an image of your system just in case the worst happens.

I have dial-up service and because of this, SP3 came into my computer during several sessions of being on-line. My copy of SP3 greatly fouled my computer. The installer stopped when near the end of the install and left a MESS. I tried to uninstall, but that did not work. I tried to use the 'file repair' option on my original Windows XP disc. It refused to do this - said that I was trying to load files from an older version to a newer one. LOL. Parts of my system barely worked. Much of it was trashed. A session with a MicroSoft IT person did not work (although he was very accomodating). I recovered by going to my favorite computer service & store and purchased an OEM disc of XP with SP3. This installed ok. (This fix cost me the purchase price of XP, but that was better than loosing all my old email files containing genealogical data.) After my computer was up and running with XP with SP3, I found that all the installed aoftware was no longer registered. All my applications had to be re-installed. I had to reinstall ThunderBird and all of its settings were lost. These had to be re-entered to get it working again. All the modem/internet connection settings had been lost. These had to be set up again. I was not happy, in fact, I was very preturbed before it was all over. Fortunatley, I did get back all my emails because I had a backup copy on an enternal hard drive. I have no idea what went wrong - I suppose the interrupted downloaded file had errors, or its installer was bad. Supposedly, this download was supposed to support interruptions.