I have attempted to download Windows XP Service Pack 3 several times but without success. The first time I attempted to download the Service Pack through Windows Update a message appeared informing that I need to insert the original Windows XP CD, which I do not have as Windows XP came pre-installed on the computer. After a few more attempts at downloading the Service Pack it commenced downloading which completed and the installation commenced. However, the installation appeared to hang only after progressing a few percent after 4 hours. After this time I was forced to stop the installation. How can I get Windows XP Service Pack 3 to install on the computer?

I am unsure why you would have been prompted for your original Windows XP CD when installing Service Pack 3, since during my installations of Service Pack 3 I have not been prompted for the CD. Nevertheless, if the computer did come pre-installed with Windows XP you should have the original installation media for Windows. This may have come on a recovery CD (which is not labelled specifically as a Windows XP CD, but instead is a vendor and machine-specific recovery CD for your computer) or the Windows XP information is contained on a hidden recovery partition on your hard drive. Either way, if your computer is a brand-name machine then you should definitely have the original Windows XP installation media on either a recovery CD or a recovery partition, as brand-name vendors will not supply their machines without the original installation media in one form or another. However, you may now ask the question as to how you can access the installation media should this be on a hidden partition or a recovery CD. When the vendor installs the operating system on the computer they generally cache the installation files on a directory. This means that when the Windows CD needs to be used to copy any files, instead of having to insert a CD (which you may or may not have) you can simply point the installer to the directory on your computer which contains the cached Windows installation files. On most computers this is located in the C:\i386 folder on the system drive.

In any case, it seems that you have managed to get past the stage which prompted you for the Windows CD and installation files so the trouble you are currently encountering relates to installing Service Pack 3 on the computer. Before installing Service Pack 3 I suggest that you read the following article at Microsoft Knowledge Base: support.microsoft.com/kb/950717 . This article outlines the prerequisites and recommended steps that you should take before installing Service Pack 3. Make sure that your computer meets these requirements and you have performed any required steps to ensure that your computer is able to install Service Pack 3. In particular, make sure that you disable any security software on your computer (e.g. antivirus, internet security) before installing Service Pack 3, as many users have reported that such security software causes major problems when installing Service Pack 3.

Assuming that your computer meets the requirements for installing Service Pack 3 we next need to look at the method you are using to install the Service Pack. The method you have been using to install Service Pack 3 is through Windows Update. This is the recommended method for installing the update on an individual computer. However, there are alternative methods available to install Service Pack 3. These methods involve downloading the stand-alone installer for Service Pack 3 and then running the installer on machines where you want to install the Service Pack. Obviously this method is more useful for larger environments where you may wish to install Service Pack 3 on a number of individual computers, but it will work just the same for installing Service Pack 3 on one computer. The primary reason that this method is not recommended for individual computers is because the update package you need to download is significantly larger than the package you download from Windows Update. That is because the Windows Update package only downloads the elements of the update which are relevant to your computer (e.g. language packs, etc) whereas the stand-alone update installer needs to incorporate all components so it can cater for all installations of Windows.

As the Windows Update installation of Service Pack 3 does not work you can try downloading the full Service Pack 3 package from the Windows Update website to see whether that will install correctly. Visit www.microsoft.com/downloads and search for “Windows XP Service Pack 3”. The first result you should receive is “Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers” which was released on 6th May 2008. Click the link for this package and then download the installer file. Once downloaded, close any programs which are currently running on the computer and then run the installer file to install the Service Pack 3 update.

Should the installation of Service Pack 3 not complete using the standalone installer, and the installer continues to hang without making much progress, it seems that something on the computer is causing the Service Pack 3 installation to fail. As a first step you should try closing all non-essential background programs and processes to eliminate that as the cause of the issue. Close all visible programs which are running (including those in the Windows system tray). Now you also need to close any non-visible background processes which are running. Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to open the Windows Task Manager. In the window that appears click the “Processes” tab. You should see a column titled “User Name”. Click on this column to sort the processes by user name. If this column is not visible, go to the “View” menu > “Select Columns” then tick “User Name” and click OK. Once the processes have been sorted by user name we need to start closing all non-essential processes that are running under your user name. Select a process running under your username and then click the “End Process” button. In the confirmation window that appears click “Yes” to confirm that you would like to close that process. You should be able to close all processes running under your user name except “explorer.exe” (which is the Windows graphical user interface) and “taskmgr.exe” (which is the Windows Task Manager, the program you are using to close the processes). Make sure you only close processes running under your user name, and do not close any processes running under other users (as they are generally system processes which could cause your computer some degree of grief if they are closed). Once all the non-essential processes running under your user name are closed then check whether the Service Pack 3 package will install on your computer.

Should Service Pack 3 still refuse to install on your computer there is something else preventing this from installing. Your question does not mention anything about encountering errors when installing Service Pack 3, but instead the installation hangs after progressing a few percent into the installation. Searching the internet I did find a few articles which refer to problems when installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. The first article relates to receiving an “Access denied” or “Service pack installation did not complete” message when installing the Service Pack. If you have received these errors when installing the Service Pack then you can find a resolution for this problem at support.microsoft.com/kb/949377 . If this article does not help and you still are encountering problems then please contact me again for further advice.