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Author Topic: Needle in the haystack  (Read 2807 times)

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king244

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    Needle in the haystack
    « on: March 22, 2009, 08:04:34 PM »
    hi all, im losing my mind with this.........i want to make sure i can get what i need before i build my first system.....
    i want windows xp home edition......i see it all over for about 85 bucks but is always the oem version. I want the retail version n case my hard drive takes a dump or i want to install on 2nd pc. I also dont want to spend alot, im sure we all feel that it shouldnt be that uch money and nobody likes lining microsofts pockets.....i have found xp home retail for 88 bucks, but no service packs.....so im trying to see if i can get that and then download sp1 an 2 (i dont want sp3, as ive had a few problems with that on another system and had to delete it)....anyway i cant seem to find the downloads...? i see something called internet explorer sp1 download on the ms website but i dont think that is whatim looking for......does anyone know where i can d/l sp1 and sp2 for free...?
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    JJ 3000



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    Re: Needle in the haystack
    « Reply #1 on: March 22, 2009, 10:30:23 PM »
    Quote
    .does anyone know where i can d/l sp1 and sp2 for free...?

    yes

    Click Start then All Programs and select Windows update. All of the service packs are there.
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    king244

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      Re: Needle in the haystack
      « Reply #2 on: March 22, 2009, 10:47:18 PM »
      HOLY SH!# .......
      Thank you!

      ps. nice dog
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      patio

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      Re: Needle in the haystack
      « Reply #3 on: March 23, 2009, 08:42:39 AM »
      Just so you know...with the Windows liscense....one copy =one machine.
      You can't activate it on 2 machines whether it's Retail or OEM...
      Someone misinformed you.
      Also there is no limit to how many times you can reinstall it.
      However if you make major hardware changes down the road you will have to run a Repair Install and/or re-register it with MS.
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      " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

      soybean



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      Re: Needle in the haystack
      « Reply #4 on: March 23, 2009, 08:50:34 AM »
      If you buy/bought a recent edition of Windows XP, it probably will already have SP2 installed.  However, if you need to get/install SP2 as a separate step (for a legitimate installation of Windows - see patio's comments), you can download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

      BTW, if I were doing a new build, I think I'd install SP3.  If any problem arises, at least you're working with a system in which you haven't accumulated user files yet.  So, nothing to lose by having to uninstall SP3 or possibly starting over with the installation of Windows.
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      patio

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      Re: Needle in the haystack
      « Reply #5 on: March 23, 2009, 10:09:16 AM »
      I wholeheartedly agree with soybean ...

      SP3 CD Order

      P.S. If your XP CD only has SP1 you will be able to skip SP2 and just install SP3...another time-saver.
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      " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

      king244

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        Re: Needle in the haystack
        « Reply #6 on: March 23, 2009, 10:40:18 AM »
        awesome info guys, thanks.....
        as far as sp3, i did think of that but if i buy xp with sp3 and have problems can i use that same disk to install xp WITHOUT sp3 or would i have to buy another disk?
        also, with respect to "one copy one machine"....what if a hard drive goes and i need to reinstall...? everything i read says you cannot do it with oem but you can with retail version?
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        patio

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        Re: Needle in the haystack
        « Reply #7 on: March 23, 2009, 11:20:22 AM »
        It can be done.
        Hardware fails and MS understands this.
        As long as you are legit you have no worries.

        As far as installing without SP3 i doubt it can be excluded from an SP3 install CD ...
        Why are you so concerned about SP3 ? ?
        It had issues very early on but those have all been addressed.
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        " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

        king244

          Topic Starter


          Intermediate

          Re: Needle in the haystack
          « Reply #8 on: March 23, 2009, 12:41:03 PM »
          my concern is this...... about 2 months ago i wanted to clean up, update and install virus and zone alarm on wifes pc......windows update came on and i clicked update automatically all...which i dont usually do.....after it updated with sp3 i had major performance problems that when i deleted sp3 went away...upon searching the 'net i found many similar problems to the ones i had with sp3.......   to be on the safe side i want to stay far away fom it, especially when building a brand new system that i dont want any issues with
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