Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

Microsoft is no longer offering SP2 as a separate download, that is why we offer both.  Understand that if you decide to install SP3, you are not required to install SP3 first.  Both are stand alone upgrades.  We offer both as a service to those who do not trust the XP sp3 and want only to ugrade to sp2.

It's an unsafe world out there for Windows-based computers. Microsoft wants to address the problem with its new megapatch, Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. Does it succeed? Not entirely. But the big fix does so much to close security holes and to make protecting your PC simpler that it's still an essential upgrade.

This giant patch--the biggest single update since Windows XP itself was released--promises to cure many of the known security ills that have befallen XP since it debuted in late 2001, and to preemptively put a stop to a still-unknown number of others.

But it's not just a big security fix; SP2 makes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks easier to navigate, adds new features to Tablet and Media Center PCs, and updates XP's multimedia components.

Windows XP SP3 combines all previously released performance, security, and stability updates. It also provides a limited number of new and enhanced functionalities, although it does not significantly change the Windows XP experience or bring functionality from newer versions of Windows to Windows XP. The goals of Windows XP SP3 are to:

• Provide a new baseline for customers still deploying Windows XP, to help them avoid the inconvenience of applying individual updates.
• Fill gaps in the updates users might have missed by declining individual updates when using Automatic Updates, and to deliver updates not made available through Windows Update.