do I HAVE to have sp3

[falcon23]

I was looking through some posts and I saw that some people are only running wnidows xp with SP2..No SP3...Skuzzy for one and lusche..

 My question. Do you still DL all the security updates? and can I run IE7 with only sp2??

                                                         Thanks,
                                                            Falcon23

[MrRiplEy[H]]

You don't HAVE TO have anything basically.

And no level of SP will make IE a good option for a browser - you're simply doing it wrong if you use IE.

[Skuzzy]

I have not had good luck installing SP3 on a SP2 system after it had been in service for a while.  My personal home computer was installed with XP w/SP3 and I have had zero problems.  Security is a bit tighter as well.

I have not had the oppertunity to install SP3 after a fresh XP w/SP2 installation from.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Yeah zero problems here too installing it. But there's no pressing reason to do so except getting the security updates.

[Ghosth]

Nope, you can run SP2, or even 1, you can turn off automatic updates.

I would recommend that if you do, you might want to stay away from .net and active X applications, as both tend to have security holes.

[Puck]

Nope, you can run SP2, or even 1, you can turn off automatic updates.

I would recommend that if you do, you might want to stay away from .net and active X applications, as both tend to have security holes.

You might want to stay completely away from a network in general if you're running less than the latest security patches.  Building a secure system on Windows is like building a prison out of meringue.

There are exceptions to this, but most of those people don't need to ask in the first place.

[Puck]

I have not had good luck installing SP3 on a SP2 system after it had been in service for a while.  My personal home computer was installed with XP w/SP3 and I have had zero problems.  Security is a bit tighter as well.

I have not had the oppertunity to install SP3 after a fresh XP w/SP2 installation from.

SP3 has (HAD?) some entertaining bugs, most of which involved dlls getting unregistered.  We mostly use an SP3 disk for the initial build, and when that isn't possible we'll put SP3 on without incident before we run update. 

Windows XPPro is still (including Windows 7) the worst (desktop) operating system Mockrosoft has ever released...except for all the others...  I see us migrating to Windows 7 at SP2, but probably not before then.

[Skuzzy]

It is better than that Puck.  The OEM copy of XP Pro w/SP3 is very different than the upgraded to SP3 XP Pro OEM versions.

You just never know what those guys at Microsoft will toss at ya.  Certainly do not beleive the labels.