Can you handle another computer question?

[Ed62]

One of my boys has dial-up service. Yeah, I know it's ancient, but he lives in the middle of nowhere, so that's all that's available. Here's the problem:
We recently put a new hard drive in his computer. After re-installing Windows XP, he wanted to download the updates. He tried to download Service PackII, but he couldn't, for some reason or another. He tried all through the night, but it would never download fully. He also wanted to download iTunes, but he had to have Service PackII in order to get iTunes.

I have an external hard drive. Can I download Service PackII, then copy it to his new hard drive? What about iTunes, or the other updates for Windows XP? Is there a rule of thumb about which files you can successfully download, then copy to his new drive?

Ed

[rjwaldren]

Yes you can, here's the catch, a lot of large MS updates like SP's, IE etc want to do online updates meaning they have a small installer that runs and pulls in the pieces it needs as it installs. To get around this you need the full IT version of it. I recommend you go with SP3 though, there have been tons of fixes since SP2. SP3 is a safe upgrade. Here's a link to the full installer, note that it's 300+MB:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

iTunes and most other software install can be copied around just as you suggested.

[MilDoc]

As long as you can download the actual installation file, you can transfer it.

I could not find a complete download for Service Pack 2 at Microsoft, there is one for SP 3. SP2 might be there complete too, but I did not see it.

Here's the link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/B...9-0C56CD979D05

[cgallery]

Yes, you want what is called the "Network Install" copy of SP2. It is a single executable that is available at Microsoft.com and is about 275-MB (so it could fit on a CD if you can burn one).

Here is a link for SP2:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en


Here is a link for SP3:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

[Ed62]

That brings up another question. Don't you have to have SP2 before you can install SP3? Will these updates install automatically, or do I have to tell it where to install?

Ed

[tewilk]

That brings up another question. Don't you have to have SP2 before you can install SP3? Will these updates install automatically, or do I have to tell it where to install?

Ed

Go directly to SP3. I just reinstalled another computer recently with sp1 then I installed sp3 with no problem. Might want to download IE 7 while you are at it but I tend to use firefox which I believe is alot safer than using IE.

[Ed62]

OK, I'll go with SP3. Thanks very much for all the replies.

Ed

[dbhost]

One thing nobody has mentioned. Which version of XP is he running? XP Professional has a certain set of binaries, XP home has a different set of binaries, XP 64 bit yet another, Media center, etc... Make sure that IF there is a separate installer for each version that you get the right one...

Sorry, I don't mess with Micro$oft products below Server 2003 Advance edition, I'm a *nix guy...

$ chown linux:linux /market/share

[crokett]

dbhost has a good point. IIRC the SP3 install for XP is the same no matter what version you have but you should verify this. I know you can install SP3 directly on a vanilla install, I've done it a few times.

[Ed62]

This appears to be the proper download. I've also downloaded iTunes, Ad-Aware, and AVG free. These are all .exe files, downloaded to my external hard drive. Once the drive is hooked up to his computer's USB port, do I have to copy these files to his "C" drive, or can I just execute the files from my external drive? In other words, if I execute the files from where they are now, will they install on his computer, in the proper place? Hope I made clear what I'm trying to say.

Ed

[gerti]

Even assuming you got a really good dial-up line and no timeouts or other problems, downloading 300MB would take roughly two days.

[just started]

They should install from the usb drive but it will be slower than copying to the hd and then installing.

[Ed62]

They should install from the usb drive but it will be slower than copying to the hd and then installing.

OK, thanks for the help.

Ed

[twistsol]

One more thing. You must have at least SP1 installed already to install SP3 I just found this out after doing some data recovery for a neighbor.

[Ed62]

I wonder if you used the same download? This is a quote from the Microsoft website: Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system.

I installed SP3 with no problem. Everything seems to be running. What kind of experience did you have?

Ed