Is there a Windows XP SP3 download?

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Hi All,

Have a friend who’s PC has a corrupted version of Windows XP SP3 installed but has no install CD but has a valid Microsoft license. She needs to repair (actually Fred Langa, calls it a non destructive upgrade) so as not to lose all of her installed software. For windows 7 I found this site, is there a similar site for Windows XP SP3 ? http://www.shaileshtripathi.in/2011/08/leaked-windows-7-sp1-integrated.html

Thanks for any information,
Steve

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Steve,

You can find the XP SP-3 download here. :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Perhaps this can help. or this site. Others listed as well, just Google search XP SP3

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Hi,

Are these full install CD’s with setup.exe files(basic windows XP plus SP3) or just SP3 upgrades? My friend needs to do a full install, not a SP3 upgrade?

Thanks,
Steve

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These are most likely just the SP3 upgrades. Not sure if the XP is available to download in any version. Perhaps someone else knows a legitimate source.

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Uninfected valid XP disks are hard to come by on the ‘net. Maybe eBay or Craig’s.
To get an XP-SP3 disk, it would probably have to be ‘slipstreamed’. They can be found.

The easiest, least expensive way is to beg/borrow any MS XP disk (same version – Home/Pro). Run the repair install, using your valid license number. Then run the updates. SP3 should eventually be one of them. If not, go download it from one of the previous links.

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She may need to query the computer’s manufacturer if the XP installation is of OEM type. [pay for a new disk]
If not, anyone (friends) with a genuine copy of the same flavor will do in this instance. She could then use her own product key if needed.

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Hi All,

Thank you for the responses, WHY is it so easy to download a Win 7 ISO and not an XP?

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Because Microsoft doesn’t want you using XP anymore if it can help it.

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Because Microsoft doesn’t want you using XP any more if it can help it.

I would say it is because XP is older technology and Windows 7 is better packaged – remember that there were ever so many subtly-different versions of XP Home and Professional: OEM (for each manufacturer), Retail, Volume Licence, to say nothing of Media Centre! Each needed a specific CD (well, at least a specific file with specific content on the CD), and using the wrong version just didn’t work when you came to input the product key…

If you have either an MSDN or a Technet Subscription, many of these versions are downloadable (containing SP3, if you want).

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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CLiNT,

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” I think not! You nailed it! :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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I guess my feeling is that why would anyone want XP? Just my 2 cents. The only OS that might cause me to say good-bye to Win 7 might be Win 8.

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NO, MS doesn’t want us to continue to use XP, and that’s probably why XP updates are messing up PC’s all over the world.

But, like has already been said, any CD of the same XP type (Home, Pro, etc.) will work as long as you have the Legal Key to type in at the appropriate screen. On most every factory made PC, the registration key is on a green label somewhere on the outside of the case.
As far as downloading an ISO for an XP CD, well………….Buyer beware!
Get a legitimate CD from a local Computer shop if you can, or from a friend, who is using the same version of XP.

Then after all the pain and bloodshed is over make a Backup Image of the C: drive, for future use, and never have to go through this again.

FREE backup programs are readily available.

Good Luck!
The Doctor

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Search the web and download this file:
en_windows_xp_home_with_service_pack_3_x86_cd_x14-92413.iso
Then burn the iso image to a cd with almost any burner software.

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I don’t recommend installing Win XP SP3. I did it, but then both my printers became unusable. I had to wind back to SP2. Make sure you have a restore point so you can wind back too, before you consider this.

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CGP, in my opinion, the proper solution is to install SP# and then got to your printer maker’s website and reinstall the printer. It’s not hard and then you are safer – I believe that you NEED SP3.

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I downloaded XP’s Service Pack Three as soon as it was available and I’ve never run XP without it since.
No Problemo Jose!

I just saved it to a CD and carry it with me on every call. If I’m working on an older PC without it, I install it.

On a PC without other problems, it will cause no problems at all.

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From the preacher’s pulpit…
[sarcasm & humor]

There’s really no reason to stay with Windows XP, especially since Windows 7 can emulate Windows XP with it’s “XP Mode”.
…And the emulated XP mode in Windows 7 I believe is free.
So, unless you have really really sucky hardware or are too cheap to get at least the W7 profesional version, there’s no need for XP.

In Windows XP, service pack 3 is a must. And the best & most trouble free way to install it is after a total clean install, as part of the initial updating of the os.
And the best way to install Service Pack 3 is by downloading it before hand and then executing it’s install. NOT BY MS UPDATE.
We’ve got 10 years worth of XP experience, we can tweak and tune this os to pur like a kitten.

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Hi All,

Have a friend who’s PC has a corrupted version of Windows XP SP3 installed but has no install CD but has a valid Microsoft license. She needs to repair (actually Fred Langa, calls it a non destructive upgrade) so as not to lose all of her installed software. For windows 7 I found this site, is there a similar site for Windows XP SP3 ? http://www.shaileshtripathi.in/2011/08/leaked-windows-7-sp1-integrated.html

Thanks for any information,
Steve

You need to know which kind you need (the license will tell you). I use 7 Windows XP SP3 discs:
-XP Pro (for almost any XP PRO license)
-XP Pro Upgrade (if it was installed as an upgrade)
-XP Media Center
-XP Home Retail
-XP Home OEM (works with Dell, HP, Emachines, Gateway, Acer, etc.)
-XP Home Dell (if you have a Dell, works like above, but doesn’t make you enter key or activate)
-XP Home Upgrade

You should not try to do a repair installation with an earlier version disc… in fact, if your disc is original or SP1, it will not even give you the repair option: just like using a Home version on a Pro system, it will not see the existing Windows installation.

Also, if you run the repair installation and you have upgraded Internet Explorer (from 6), you will want to re-update Internet Explorer before trying to use it.

I used to make personalized upgraded CDs for people, but found that the 7 above seem to cover everyone. I suppose I could send you a disc or post an ISO somewhere (with the Internet Explorer 8 setup file added) if you can’t get a hold of one locally

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I don’t know if this will help because I’m a novice at this. But in case something here might be useful:

I have just finished upgrading Win2kSp4 to WinXPSp3. I did it with an Upgrade CD version of XPsp2 (bought on eBay), because I couldn’t find any XPsp3 CDs, except those that were OEM (those won’t upgrade but only will replace your C: partition) or were for Refurbishing (those wipe all partitions from your computer).

I did everything below in my Administrator account.

I opened Win2k, inserted the upgrade CD, and followed the directions to run the upgrade. (Booting from an upgrade CD is a no-no, according to several WinXP books that I have.) It ran fine, including a reboot. I now had WinXP Sp2 installed.

Then to get Sp3, I ran Windows Update. Its many recommendations were in two sections: Sp3, and all the usual High-Priority suspects: presumably every High-Priority update that had come out since Sp2 (I hope excluding those updates that had been fully replaced by later ones). My recollection is that there were 74 of those. They were all checked-marked and ready for downloading; the Sp3 was not checked.

But I decided that it made more sense to install the Sp3 first, in hopes that it would include some of the 74 others and reduce the number of others below 74. So I unchecked the 74 others (there’s a clear all option so I didn’t have to do that 74 times), checked the Sp3, ran the update to download and install Sp3, did the usual reboot, and so far everything had gone well.

I then ran Windows update again. Of course, this time there was no SP3 option, but to my surprise the High-Priority “others” list had grown to something over 100 (I think it was 113). I ran the update for those, rebooted, and again everything went well.

Then on a hunch, I ran Windows Update again, and it found two more High-Priority “others.” So I ran the update for those, rebooted, and again everything went well.

But I had not considered the “optional” updates, and so I again ran Windows Update and installed several of those (not including .Net which, so far, I have not needed). This time there were no additional High-Priority updates.

I hope this is of some use to someone.

Roger Folsom

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It sounds like you did everything ok with what you had. Most of the 74 updates were included with SP3 and the 100+ are since then… (SP2 updates to you to 2004 and SP3 to 2008.) I use homemade slipstreamed SP3 CDs, OEM, Retail, and Upgrade versions, so the steps are similar, except I then have to run Windows Update less times.

The upgrade path you followed is usually not recommended for persons because of the likelihood of excess garbage from previous versions. If your Win2K installation is good and fairly lean, it can work, but if there is any system corruption at all it is likely to carry though the upgrades and often generates errors during the process. Even if you are upgrading, it is best if possible to back up everything, take an inventory of all the programs you use – what’s downloadable, what installs from CDs, etc. And then you can use any XP CD, boot from it, (if it’s an upgrade CD you usually have to put in an older Windows CD when it prompts you), and reformat the drive you are installing to. This removes any old Win2K debris that could interfere down the road, especially with drivers. Then you would have to restore your data, re-install your other programs, possibly go to the motherboard website to download drivers (though most likely, between SP3 and Windows Update, a Win2K system will have almost all of its devices recognized). Your way is quicker if everything works…

In your case, it appears that everything has worked, but it is a good bet that your system is slightly slower than the cleanly installed XP system.

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Kevin:

Thanks very much for your reply. I have a lot of specialized software (e.g. for doing symbolic mathematics), and you are right that I chose to upgrade (despite its risks and disadvantages) rather than dual boot WinXPsp3 and Win2k and gradually move software from W2k to WXP, because that would have been an enormous time sink. So I don’t mind if my upgrade is “slightly” slower than Win2k was. XP actually is notably slower, but at least some of that is XP’s pretty colors and round corners on at least some boxes. (I have set it to Windows Classic mode, to get a conventional start menu that satisfies my preferred organization instead of Microsoft’s.)

I should have mentioned that before running the upgrade CD, I had made a backup image of my partition C: (then with Win2kSp4, my utilities including RegClean and TweakUI, and application software which — since I am a WordPerfect user — doesn’t include any MS Office except for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word Viewers). Being paranoid, I also made a backup image of my partition D: (which is data, and my customized software settings that are unique). Those backup images went to a physically separate external hard disk, which normally is turned off and whose cable connection to my “Desktop Replacement” laptop isn’t connected. So I felt comfortable with the upgrade.
And if worst had come to worst, I could have done a clean install of WinXPsp3 (using a brand new unused WinXPsp3 OEM CD for that) onto partition C:, and then restored Win2k (from the backup) onto a new partition E: (thus my data partition D: would be “in the middle” and accessible to both W2k and WXP), and dual boot.

But at least so far, worst hasn’t come to worst. But I still need to uninstall the Win2k Powertoys (in particular, TweakUi) and replace them by the XP versions.

And I need to know what registry cleaner would be best. The upgrade did not replace RegClean 4.1.7364.1, and I know that MS has dropped all Regclean versions, but it worked well for me on Win2kSp4. Whether it would work on WinXP, or trash the WinXP registry instead, I know not. Before I try it, I’ll do an image backup of my new WinXPsp3 partition C:. In the thread
http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread//142724-To-clean-or-not-to-clean-the-Registry-that-be-the-question/page3
my posts #43 and#44 ask about using Regclean, but probably since this an old thread I haven’t received any replies.

In that same thread, on page 1, a DrWho recommended “Easy Cleaner” or “Easy Cleaner II” (at least the first one from from Toni Arts). He sounds knowledgeable, but one never knows….

I searched the WinSecrets files and found some Registry Cleaner info by Fred Langa, but aside from minor comments his main info was on InformationWeek and his lanks to those stories no longer work.

Thanks again. Please don’t feel obligated to reply to this (including the P.S. below), although of course I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Roger Folsom

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