Windows XP Service Pack 3 Resources for Computer Technicians

As most computer technicians should know by now, Windows XP Service Pack 3 has been available via Windows update since the 6th of may so enough time has passed for people to install it and some problems to arise. This article contains information that all computer technicians should know about Windows XP Service Pack 3 including what SP3 fixes, whats new, important information and some known problems and solutions.

Whats New in SP3
Service Pack 3 adds a few new features to Windows XP but the main focus was for it to be a collection of past updates in one package and include some small bug fixes.

The new features are:

Product-Keyless Install Option – Similar to the Windows Vista installer, you now have the option to not enter the product key when installing the operating system.

“Black Hole” Router Detection Algorithm – XP gains the ability to detect and ignore network routers that incorrectly drop packets. This too, is a Vista feature.

Network Access Protection Compatibility – This feature allows Windows XP to interact with the NAP feature in Windows Server 2008.

Kernal Mode Cryptographics Module – According to Microsoft, this is a new kernel module that “encapsulates several different cryptographic algorithms”.

CredSSP Security Service Provider – Enables an application to delegate the users credentials from the Client to target Server.

Descriptive Security Options User Interface- The Security Options control panel in SP3 now has more descriptive text to explain the settings and prevent incorrect configuration.

Enhanced Security for Administrator and Service policy entries- In System Center Essentials under SP3, Administrator and Service entries will be present by default on any new instance of policy.

What has been taken out:
Due to legal issues, the option for the address bar in the taskbar has been removed. However, there is a third party application to bring it back which you can download here.

What fixes are included in XP SP3:
Microsoft has posted a big list of all the fixes that are included in Service Pack 3 which you can see here.
However, SP3 does not contain any security updates for Windows Media Player 10.

Important information you should know:

SP3 is for x86 editions of Windows XP only. The 64 bit versions of Windows XP were serviced by the Windows Server 2003 SP2 update which you can obtain here.

SP3 is cumulative, so you can install SP3 on top of Windows XP SP1 or SP2.

SP3 will run on any edition of Windows XP SP1 or SP2. This includes Media Center Edition. The only exceptions are embedded editions of Windows XP.

SP3 is deployable using Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 or many third party solutions since the process has not fundamentally changed.

SP3 is slipstream-able.

Windows XP Problems & Solutions

One of the members on the Technibble forums started a great thread for Service Pack 3 problems and solutions which you can check out here.