I installed Service Pack 3 for Windows XP as instructed, but it somehow disabled startup, putting me into an on/off loop. Can I safely do without SP3 and, if not, do you know of a "fix" for the installation? Mark Sherwood
Microsoft says: "Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes. It also includes select out-of-band releases, and a small number of new enhancements, which do not significantly change customers' experience with the operating system." In other words, if you use Windows Update, you will already have installed almost everything in SP3, and you won't notice the rest. (Surprisingly, SP3 doesn't seem to include Internet Explorer 7.) You can therefore ignore it while Microsoft continues to work on the installation routines. If you want to try again, Microsoft has published a useful guide: How to troubleshoot an unsuccessful installation of Windows XP Service Pack 3.
