Nikhil Dev

A really interesting and very true to its description graphic.

This has always been my biggest concern. Windows is always an over bloated operating system. For me an operating system needs to be just an empty box. The user should then have the option of filling it up with things.

As usual, when there is nothing to read, there is Digg. I was goin through one of these articles in that and something interesting that I saw there interested me. Microsoft has secretly launched the Service Pack 3 for Windows Xp. As for now this is available to only a selected number of users and is possible through a hack. Thats why I thought that I will write some detailed instructions on how this is achieved.

1. Open Notepad and type in the following into it

@echo off
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\XPSP3 /f 2> NUL
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\XPSP3 /v RCPreview /t REG_SZ /d 1c667073-b87f-4f52-a479-98c85711d869 /f
echo XPSP3 registry key has been set. Please check for updates in Windows Update - Kudos to nikhildev.com
pause

2. Now save that file with any name like “windowsxpsp3.cmd” . Make sure that you have the double quotes and the .cmd extension.

3. Now double click on that file and let it do its work.

4. Once you have confirmation, log onto the window update website and look for any Windows update available.

5. You will see that Windows Xp Service Pack 3 is one of them listed. Just install that and reboot the computer once everything is over.

Thats all that you need to do to install the new Windows Xp Service Pack. Microsoft says that in the new Windows Xp Service Pack 3, it has included a lot of bug fixes and few features from Windows Vista. I I havent tried any of the features as I am writing this before rebooting my computer. Will keep the results posted about the Service Pack 3 for Windows Xp.

Do comment, if you need help or are stuck in some step.