Windows XP SP3 Sows Havoc, Users Complain

From Information Week:

http://tinyurl.com/4e9qjx

Vista SP3 is causing havoc. I wonder why, Wintrolls. Cuss and discuss, 
folks.
Can't Microskank get anything right? Are Ballmer and Gates that 
incompetent?

Windows XP SP3 Sows Havoc, Users Complain

The problems with XP SP3 range from spontaneous reboots to outright 
system crashes.

By Paul McDougall 
InformationWeek 
May 8, 2008 11:58 AM 


Within hours of its release, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Service Pack 3 for 
Windows XP began drawing hundreds of complaints from users who claim the 
update is wreaking havoc on their PCs.

The problems with XP SP3, according to posters on Microsoft's Windows XP 
message board, range from spontaneous reboots to outright system crashes.

"My external disks are having trouble starting up, which results in 
Windows not starting up," complained user Michael Faklis, in a post 
Wednesday. "After three attempts to install XP SP3 with different 
configurations each time, System Restore was the only way to get me out 
of deep ****," said 'Doug W.'

Another user said the service pack prevented him from starting his 
computer. "I downloaded and installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network 
Installation Package for IT Professionals," wrote 'Paul.' "Now I can't 
get the computer to boot."

Dozens of other posters re****ted similar problems.

It's not uncommon for major operating system updates to cause problems. 
Typically, the glitches are due to conflicts with software, such as 
drivers, system files, or applications already resident on the user's 
PC. Microsoft has yet to indicate whether it will issue an update to 
address some of the problems, though it has done so with previous 
updates.

Microsoft released Windows XP SP3 to broad distribution on Wednesday. 
It's available from Microsoft's automated Windows Update service or as a 
file that can be pulled from the Download Center on the company's Web 
site.

The service pack should offer a number of enhancements over the current 
version of the OS, which Microsoft is phasing out after June 30th. It 
includes all updates issued since Windows XP Service Pack 2 was released 
in 2004, and some new elements.

Among them: A feature called Network Access Protection that's borrowed 
from the newer Windows Vista operating system. NAP automatically 
validates a computer's health, ensuring that it's free of bugs and 
viruses before allowing it access to a network.

Windows XP SP3 also includes improved "black hole" router detection, a 
feature that automatically detects routers that are silently discarding 
packets. In XP SP3, the feature is turned on by default, according to 
Microsoft.

Additionally, Windows XP SP3 steals a page from Vista's product 
activation model, meaning that product keys for each copy of the 
operating system don't need to be entered during setup. The feature 
should prove popular with cor****ate IT managers, who often need to 
oversee hundreds or thousands of operating system installations.
Some users may balk at a feature in XP SP3 that prevents them from 
downgrading their browser from Internet Explorer 7 to the older IE 6 
once the service pack has been installed. XP SP3 also won't install on 
systems running beta versions of the yet-to-be released IE 8.
Microsoft said the restrictions are designed to prevent system 
instabilities.