So Windows XP SP3 was finally completed on Monday which goes along with the release schedule that we had previously provided. TechNet and MSDN subscribers were furious that they would not be given the download until after it was released to the public, and looked at it as a slap in the face from Microsoft. The negative publicity obviously wasn’t what Microsoft wanted, and so today they made the download available to those subscribers.
Does it even matter now? Not really… the 316MB XP SP3 download is appearing on sites all across the Internet. A good example of this is over at two of my favorite places: Major Geeks and Softpedia. They’ve already posted the full download, and have mirrored it in several different locations. That essentially means that it is already publicly available despite the fact that Microsoft won’t officially be posting it on their own site until Monday.
So if you want to get XP SP3 (build 5512) a little early head on over to Major Geeks or Softpedia. The download speeds won’t be blazing fast, but it sure beats tinkering around with a torrent.
Great news Ryan. MajorGeeks is one of my favorite download sources too. I was just searching for this yesterday so it’s quite nice to have a good source for the download. Thanks.
Ryan:
Being this a huge and important Windows upgrade, is it safe to download now or wait until it’s official from Microsoft?
Will wait for your answer before downloading.
You are lucky, links are english version of windows xp… other language??
Dammit, the download is going way too slow here at work. I shall have SP3 downloaded in 29 hours.
MajorGeeksUSA sites were painstakingly slow at about 5KB/sec while Australia averaged about 100 — varying between 50 and 170.
Try torrent – its faster.
I d/l the SP3 ISO from MSDN this morning and it is 544MB. There is one file on the disk labeled “WINDOWSXP-KB936929-SP3-X86-ENU” and it is 316MB. I’m not sure what the other garbage is.
The Softpedia download is going considerably faster; Majorgeeks was very slow for this download. Both sources are reliable trustworthy sources, otherwise I would be waiting until next week for the Microsoft download.
I was really pleased that they posted it already. I was wondering whether they would, but I figured Softpedia at the very least would since they post stuff early all the time.
Yep, it’s completely safe coming from those sources. The one Microsoft will be posting will not be any different.
No, unfortunately only the English one for right now. Sorry.
Wow, that is pretty bad! Maybe you should try a different mirror?
That is definitely a faster route to go, but I think people like the reassurance of getting it from a reputable site.
Just a difference in what languages they come with I’m sure. The ENU one is English only.
I just noticed that there are several sites now linking to MajorGeeks, which could explain the speed difference.
Unless you get it from Microsoft, you can never be 100% it’s legit.
You can always run an MD5 checksum check on the file if your nervous about “not getting it” from Microsoft’s servers. The additional size of the disc are the language pack installers which is why it is larger in size than the standard EXE. I personally find the checksum check overkill. Especially if your familiar with the download host.
i think this is not the best choice to download windows xp sp3
better to wait for official download launch for windows xp sp3
An easy way to legally get sp3 installed and working would be to wait for windows update to download the only stuff needed among these 360 mo regarding your system.
But it’s still more than a month to wait after public release on 29th, as long as i know, for W.U. to do the job.
Softpedia is a cool and sure shorthand and installing what’s really needed is almost automatic, for in the worst cases, you’ll overwrite what’s yet present. At least for en-us/uk language based systems.
Doesn’t this SP have the Windows Genuine Advantage spyware built in?
@jeremy
W.genuine advantage has yet been set last days through w.update.
Anyway, it has it. It’s Microsoft.
i got i from majorgeeks and installed it and it says v 3311. :/
I have the RTM sp3 on my web site. Very fast connection, but please dont use any of the crappy download managers, as I am limiting connections to 1 per IP.
ack, forgot the link
[phb.btfh.net]
That is very true, but some sites have proved themselves as a reliable source for these types of downloads in the past.
If Microsoft didn’t wait so long to release it via Windows Update then I’m sure a lot more people would just hold off. Personally I always download the standalone version anyway since I have so many computers to update.
Wow… very kind of you!
So, this is the last version? I mean should we download it or wait for the official release?
Some people are saying that you need to wait until it officially comes from Microsoft, but honestly there is going to be nothing different from what they release tomorrow. I guess at this point you can just hold out another day.
Okay, so it’s “tomorrow” now, and I still don’t see the official download from Microsoft anywhere. Am I missing something? Thanks.
They won’t be posting the update today. We’ve got an article regarding this being posted in about 15 minutes.
downloads.micosoft.etc…link is superfast. Installed sp3 ok on my xp desktop.
Used microsoft link, took approx 1 hour to download. Updated 3 computers with no problems.
downloaded and installed SP3 on the XP Media Center. Rebooted and the reboot keeps failing. Went to Safe Mode and found that the SPTD.sys file would not load/work. Had to restore. I am not sure what this sys file even does. Any help is appreciated.
That particular file is used for DAEMON Tools, and maybe there is a compatibility issue with that and XP SP3?
Download from Microsoft link, it’s the last, genuine, reliable, complete sp3. If your system has no compatibity issue before, it just CANNOT have after sp3 installation.
Or you can also wait for your system to be self-updated, sure you won’t have any problems in both cases.
ok have removed the SPTD file and deleted from the registry. Went to MS site, downloaded and installed SP3 and rebooted. BOMBED OUT. The system kept loading on the black Windows XP page and then rebooted….and rebooted….and rebooted. The system could not get pass that section. WTF?? I can’t get any support from either MS or HP who had it pre-installed as OEM. Am I stuck with only SP2????
It sounds like there is some other compatibility issue. Are you downloading the standalone version of XP SP3 or just using Windows Update?
I have tried both standalone and the Windows Update. I really don’t understand whats happening.
@Skip
May it be the stand-alone or the update process through WU, both install sp3 ok, and the whole OS is detected as Windows xp_sp3.
Can you (if installed) impeed HP QuickPlay from loading at start-up, as well as HP Heath Check and maybe your anti-virus auto-updater?
At least, before trying to update to xp_sp3, kill those processes for the updating time through process explorer, for instance.
Look for an auto-starting program, too, and its processes, that could trouble the installation procedure. You might have something not very compatible. Try these steps. Good luck.
Interesting news, check this out…. My problems with installing SP3 seems to be with the way HP created my OEM system software. And I am not alone either. According to an article on May 14, 2008 by Shogan in The Pit Blog at PC PitStop, “…it’s known that many of the (problem) reports are specific to HP Computers with AMD processors. Copies of Windows intended for Intel-based machines were used by OEMs on AMD-based computers. According to Microsoft the blame sits squarely on HP and possibly other OEMs”.
Reading further, Jesper Johansson, a well respected MVP in Windows Security, gives a better detailed explanation of the cause of the problem.
Also Microsoft has issued this Help and Support document KB888372 dated May 6th, 2008. Might want to check this out.
Update:
I ran the VBscript provided by Jasper Johansson, installed SP3 via Windows Update, rebooted and BANG! I have a computer running SP3 with no problems!!!!
Thanks for the update Skip. It looks like HP just posted instructions on how to get around the issue as well.