PCTips Box

Although Microsoft has hammered away at Windows XP SP3 in order to provide an experience as seamless as possible for end users when deploying the service pack, failed installation scenarios are still a valid possibility. In the eventuality of a failed installation of XP SP3 RTM, there are some troubleshooting steps end users can take before running to Microsoft Support for help. The troubleshooting methods involve nothing more than basic actions on the part of the end user and are designed to resolve an unsuccessful installation process while, at the same, time ignoring the error message.

First of all, Microsoft advises all end users to turn to Windows Update for the primary source of the gold bits of XP SP3. “Sometimes an installation is unsuccessful because a previous operation was not completed. By restarting the computer, you close any pending computer functions and restart the process. Wait until the computer finishes the restart process, and then log on to your account. Visit Windows Update to reselect and install Windows XP SP3. Click Express Install (Recommended),” Microsoft stated. (more…)

The Multilingual User Interface Pack for Windows XP is designed to enable the end user to swap the languages for the graphical user interface. Microsoft has available a version of the MUI Pack which is tailored to XP Service Pack 2. Now, with the advent of XP SP3, the Redmond company has not made available a new variant of the MUI Pack, but instead introduced an update set up to make the Multilingual User Interface package for XP SP2 play well with Service Pack 3. The update is, in fact, meant to fix an incongruity between the MUI Pack and the gold bits of XP SP3.

“On a computer that is running the English version of Windows XP SP3 with the Windows XP SP2 Multilingual User Interface (MUI) Pack, you can select a non-English language for the user interface (UI). However, text may appear in English in the UI instead of in the selected language. The English text may appear in lists, menus, dialog boxes, product Help, and other locations,” Microsoft informed. (more…)

Officially, Windows XP Service Pack 3 RTM is not yet available for download. Unofficially however, the story is a tad different. The third and last service pack for Windows XP has been up for grabs from various sources, more or less legitimate since a few days. And now the final bits of XP SP3 can be accessed straight from Microsoft, even though the Redmond company has failed to jump the gun on the previously announced general availability date: April 29, 2008. But failed only in appearance, as Microsoft has been serving the gold version of XP SP3 through its Windows Update infrastructure since the debut of this week.

The fact is that the Redmond company has debuted the preparations for the general release of Windows XP SP3 scheduled for April 29. In this context, the final bits of the service pack have begun making their way on the WU servers and propagating slowly. (more…)

Windows XP Service Pack 3 RTM is finally available for download. Microsoft released the service pack to manufacturing, at the beginning of this week, on April 21, 2008 and is now making headway towards the general availability of XP SP3. Officially, the final version of XP SP3 is scheduled for delivery starting with the end of this month. However, Windows XP SP3 RTM Build 5512 has been leaked and is already up for grabs, ahead of the release timetable outlined by the Redmond company.

At the start of this week, Chris Keroack, Release Program Manager Windows Sustainability Microsoft, announced the RTM of XP SP3, and pointed to April 29 as the date when end users would be able to access the service pack via both Windows Update and the Download Center. The Redmond company planned to serve the gold bits of Windows XP SP3 starting on May 2 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, following general availability on April 29. (more…)

With Windows Vista Service Pack 1 having RTM’d on February 4, 2008, and out to the general public as of March 18, Microsoft has made available for download its free toolkit designed to streamline and automate the deployment of desktop and server operating systems. Being offered as the evolution of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007, the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 process and toolset is set up to facilitate the installation of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Previous variants of the tool, from the time it carried the label of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD), were used by approximately 1 million clients, according to the Redmond company.

“We’ve reached a pivotal moment in time, the release to Web of Windows Vista SP1, we [also] released Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008, the latest generation of the Microsoft Solution Accelerators designed to simplify and ease your deployment experience. (more…)

Microsoft is advising Windows XP end users to make room for the third and final service pack designed to update the predecessor of Windows Vista by mid 2008, according to the official timetable provided by Microsoft. The move comes as testers of beta builds of XP SP3 have come across an error message when trying to deploy the service pack followed by the failure of the installation. “You do not have enough free disk space on %SystemDrive% to archive the uninstall files,” reads the Service Pack 3 Setup error.

“Additionally, the following error may be logged in the service pack installation log: 8007F02B – STATUS_NOT_ENOUGH_WITH_UNINST. This installation log typically resides in the following location: Drive_Letter:WindowsSvcpack.log. This problem may occur if the free disk space that is available on the computer is insufficient to archive the uninstall files. (The uninstall files are also known as the backup files),” Microsoft revealed. (more…)

The end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 have been a veritable Service Pack fiesta for Microsoft in terms of the company’s flagship products. Both Windows and Office have got their fair share of updates, but the productivity suite of both the 2003 and 2007 versions has simply beaten the Windows client to the punch, so to speak. Microsoft made available both Office 2003 SP3 and Office 2007 SP1 ahead of Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. In fact, the third service pack for Office 2003 dropped as early as September 2007.

Microsoft’s perspective over Office 2003 SP3 is that the service pack represents merely a pit stop for Office users on the road to the Office 2007 System. At the same time, Office 2003 SP3 brought to the table enhancements around the board from security to performance and to increase compatibility with Windows Vista. (more…)