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Well, it’s been talked about anecdotaly in web forums for a while now that the new service pack for XP brought with it an unexpected performance boost.

The researchers found that a PC loaded with Microsoft’s XP SP3 completed the OfficeBench test suite in less than 50 seconds. A similarly configured system running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 took more than 50 seconds to complete the test suite — which measures how quickly a computer can perform common tasks in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

“Since SP3 was supposed to be mostly a bug-fix/patch consolidation release … the unexpected speed boost comes as a nice bonus,” the researchers wrote.

They added that XP SP3’s slick performance may lead some computer users to forgo Windows Vista. Exo.performance.network found that with the new service pack, XP is now two times faster than the newer Microsoft OS.

The tests were conducted late last year on a prerelease build of XP SP3. So it’s possible the final version is even faster.

It’s not all four-star reviews for the service pack, however…

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Maybe I can help you with that.

What is it lately with Microsoft Service Packs? To be fair, once the Windows XP Service Pack 3 is installed everything works just fine. However, I tested the SP3 install today and came across a problem. The install went through most of the install then would, nearly upon completion, die when attempting to write to the registry. So, then, I tried making sure the antivirus program was off and not just disabled, disabled everything in the start tray, killed any other non-necessary processes in the Task Manager. After these checks were made I then ran CCleaner to ensure any temp files were gone. So, at this point, I feel fairly confident that regardless of the outcome the install would not fail due to any firewall or antivirus program or any other running process. So, I run the install it fails again with the end result “Access Denied”.

Since this is a known legit install of XP that’s not of concern. I mention this as when many on the internet would post in forums and mention this problem the first question asked was “Is your XP install legit?”. OK, it’s legit so I continue Googling for possible solutions. Google is your friend and was mine once again today (although the solution I am about to post came from one of a few possible websites – so… I can’t quite give the credit where it duly belongs but, for full disclosure, it is not from my brain – I just happened to have success with this particular suggestion and thought I would post the steps I took and paste the code I discovered).

OK. here we go (You can just jump straight to here to skip my blabbering on and get to the solution).

Step1: Install subinacl.exe if you do not already have it installed. I already had it installed but most people will not. No worries. If you’re one that doesn’t have the file you can download it quickly and easily from Microsoft, here.

Step 2: Open notepad.

Step 3: Copy the following text, below, and paste it in notepad.
cd /d "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools"
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %windir%*.* /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb /verbose

Step 4: Save the file as reset.cmd.

Step 5: Run reset.cmd. This process can take a while to run (took me about 8-10 minutes, I believe).

After those 5 steps I was able to successfully install the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Update.

If I helped anyone from having a headache let me know. Comments should be working now and registration is not required.

Microsoft is taking a similar testing tactic as with Vista SP1: Make a crucial release candidate broadly available for testing Windows Update delivery. Microsoft tested SP1 Windows Update delivery in mid-January. The Vista update released to manufacturing a few weeks later.

The RC2 Windows Update test signifies that Microsoft is near the final testing stages for Service Pack 3. Microsoft is expected to make Vista SP1 broadly available sometime in March. It’s reasonable to presume that SP3’s release is imminent, perhaps around the time of SP1, or even sooner. I’m expecting sooner rather than later, unless there are last-minute glitches.

Windows Server 2008’s big launch is next Thursday. Microsoft has released a bunch of service packs so that major products are prepared for new server software. SP3 is part of the process for syncing up XP for Windows Server 2008. In ideal circumstances, Microsoft should release XP SP3 no later than Feb. 27.

While there has been big noise about Vista SP1, XP SP3 is much more important to many more enterprises. Windows XP is everywhere, and Vista is in just a few places, comparatively. I still expect XP SP3 to impede Vista deployments, seeing as how many more enterprises run the older Windows version.

XP SP3 download information is available here.

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You may not be able to download Windows XP Service Pack 3 yet without resorting to risky registry hacks, but software developers at Devil Mountain Software took a beta of the upcoming service pack for a spin, and they like what they saw.

In a nutshell, Devil Mountain reports that they saw a 10 percent performance boost over Windows XP SP2. Microsoft has said SP3’s primary purpose is to provide enhanced security and bug fixes. So the speed boost is a bit of an unexpected cherry on top.

Devil Mountain has also been putting Windows Vista SP1 through the paces, and while the software update does improve hardware compatibility and reliability, users running SP1 will not notice any performance boost.

On the bright side, the Vista update doesn’t seem to slow Vista down any. But Devil Mountain reports that Vista is about 2 times slower than XP according to the company’s benchmarking tests.

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A Web site that leaked details of Windows XP Service Pack 3 over the weekend claimed that the update includes several new features, including some borrowed from Windows Vista.

According to NeoSmart Technologies, Windows XP SP3 build 3205, which was released to beta testers on Sunday, includes four new features among the 1,000-plus individual hot fixes and patches that have been issued since XP2’s debut three years ago.

Features backported from Vista, said NeoSmart, include Network Access Protection (NAP), an enterprise policy enforcement technology that inspects client PCs before they access a corporate network, then updates the machines if necessary or blocks them if they don’t meet specified security criteria.

Other additions range from a kernel module containing several encryption algorithms that can be accessed by third-party developers, to a new Windows activation model that doesn’t require users to enter a product key.

Microsoft had previously announced SP3 support for NAP, which is part of Windows Vista and will be included in the not-yet-finalized Windows Server 2008.

Windows XP SP3, which Microsoft has said will be released early in 2008, will be one more move by the developer to extend the lifespan of the six-year-old operating system. Last month, for example, Microsoft gave Windows XP a five-month reprieve by pushing back the end of retail sales and sales of XP-powered PCs by large resellers to June 30, 2008.

And last week, Microsoft debuted a new “get-legal” program that lets companies purchase large quantities of Windows XP Professional licenses through their usual resellers.

Microsoft was not immediately available for comment on the leak, or the new features touted by NeoSmart.

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