Is it true that Windows XP SP3 Pack affects adversely to your hard drive?

Question

Someone told me not to update sp3 pack for windows xp because it will slowly damage your hard drive. Is it true? How can I uninstall sp3?

Answer 1

You know, the worst thing about computing is the bad or useless advice one gives to others.

I guess SP4 will just chew through the DVD writers then eat the CPU fan for breakfast ?

Answer 2

Its complete BS. You need Windows XP SP3 because of the patches provided with it, not to mention the fact that you will be unable to get any other updates without installing it.

There is a way to uninstall SP3 but I have never done it because it does not need to be done!

Answer 3

I wish someone could explain to me how an operating system update could "slowly damage your hard drive." That's just plain hum...... I can't say it because I'd get this answer yanked. It is ridiculous. If you have installed SP3, leave it alone.  

Answer 4

That's rubbish. Microsoft SP's are highly trusted. Even on the offchance there were an issue with it, it would automatically update and patch itself.

Answer 5

Windows XP SP3 Woes Especially Affect AMD Systems

Users who thought the Windows XP operating system would be more reliable than its younger sibling Vista are being buffeted by reports that the latest update for XP, Service Pack 3, has its own problems.

A variety of complaints about SP3 are being posted on the Web, with users complaining about system crashes, spontaneous reboots, and other issues. On the Windows XP forum at Microsoft.com, for instance, a poster named Doug W. said that, after installing SP3, he had to use system restore “after three attempts, with different configurations each time.” He mentioned that his system has an Athlon chip from Advanced Micro Devices, and other users have reported similar problems with SP3 on AMD machines.

AMD-Based HP Machines

According to news reports, a Microsoft document lays the blame for the endless reboot problem after installing SP3 on some computer makers. The issue, the document said, is when the XP disc image is created on an Intel-based computer and then run on a non-Intel-based machine, such as an AMD one.

Jesper Johansson, who used to work for Microsoft, noted on his blog that Microsoft identified the same problem with Service Pack 2 for XP, and that the particular problem is unique to Hewlett-Packard AMD-based desktop machines.

He quoted the company as saying in an article written following the XP SP2 problem that it did not support using a computer with one kind of processor to run an operating system based on an image created on a computer with another kind of processor. The article described how to modify the Windows registry to correct the problem.

SP3 was released to broad distribution by Microsoft last Wednesday, and is available from Windows Update service or from the company’s Download Center. It offers a variety of fixes and enhancements to XP, which Microsoft has said it will begin phasing out at the end of next month.

Could Be ‘Pretty Significant’

It has also been reported that SP3 will not install on systems that run a beta of Internet Explorer 8 and, after successfully installing SP3, IE7 cannot be uninstalled to, say, use IE6 instead.

Laura DiDio, an analyst with industry research firm Yankee Group, said some of the bugs in SP3 “were usual,” but others, such as the apparent issues with AMD-based HP machines, were the kind of “serious problems” with an update that haven’t been heard about “in years.”

She said observers should “give it another week or two” to see if people are still having substantial problems” and, if they are, “this could be pretty significant.”

DiDio added that the reported “hundreds” of complaints will be seen by Microsoft as relatively few. But, she said, it could impact enterprise users, since continued reports of problems could provide more reason for IT departments to delay updating XP with SP3.

Barry Levine