Having downloaded Windows XP Service Pack 3 I find my computer is now very slow and generally not functioning as well as previously. I was perfectly happy with Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2 and would like to uninstall Service Pack 3. Is it alright to uninstall Service Pack 3 and revert to Service Pack 2?

Before you uninstall Windows XP Service Pack 3 you should think very carefully, as Service Pack updates are generally designed to provide new functionality and fix previous bugs in Windows (which may or may not have been fixed through other updates released through Windows Update). Additionally, by uninstalling Service Pack 3 you are potentially uninstalling important security updates and patches which may have been rolled into the Service Pack. As such, once you uninstall the Service Pack you should immediately visit windowsupdate.microsoft.com to download the latest security patches for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (which is the version of Windows to which you have rolled-back).

Should you wish to proceed with uninstalling Service Pack 3 from your computer there are several methods you may use to uninstall the Service Pack, and these are detailed at the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: support.microsoft.com/kb/950249 . You should try the methods in their numbered order, as the methods start with the easiest and least intrusive method (which will result in the least disruption to your computer) then proceeding onto methods which are more complicated.

After you have successfully uninstalled Service Pack 3 you need to visit Windows Update (windowsupdate.microsoft.com) to download the latest security patches for Windows. When you visit Windows Update and click the “Express” button (to download the most high-priority updates) you will likely find that the only available update is Windows XP Service Pack 3, as Windows Update has detected this is not installed on your computer and it is categorised as the most high priority update. Obviously, you do not wish to install Service Pack 3. I have not been able to find a reliable way to get around this issue, so you may not be able to update Windows through Windows Update unless you install Service Pack 3. You should try clicking the “Custom” button to select the updates to install, but this is a much more manual process which may not fix the issue. Be aware, if you cannot update Windows then you should take a better look at why the computer does not perform well with Service Pack 3 as the inability to install updates (particularly critical security updates) makes your computer particularly vulnerable to attack. If your computer is old you may wish to consider backing-up all the data, reformatting and reinstalling Windows from scratch with Service Pack 3.