Windows XP SP3 Conflicts With Norton Software

Windows XP Service Pack 3 continues to have difficulties playing nice with other software, or vice-versa. Now it’s been found that Norton software behaves strangely after SP3 is installed. Just what SP3 needs…more good news.

On the other hand, it’s a good case for dumping Norton. Back in the day I was a big fan of the original Norton Utilities. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and if I buy a computer now with Norton on it, one of the first things I do is uninstall Norton and put AVG on the machine. I happen to prefer AVG, but there are many viable alternatives these days to the bloated, bog-slow, intrusive Norton software.

McAfee Antivirus is almost as bad, so I won’t have that on any of my machines, either. I haven’t heard of any conflicts between McAfee Antivirus and SP3 yet, but it won’t surprise me if I do. We use the enterprise version of McAfee Antivirus at work and we’ve had a number of conflicts with our enterprise software applications that were traced back to McAfee Antivirus and required patches or workarounds for one or both applications.

It’s becoming even more obvious that unless you desperately need SP3 for some reason, you should avoid upgrading until Microsoft and the hardware and software folks get these issues worked out. They will get resolved, it’s just a question of when.

John The Geek

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Windows XP Service Pack 3 – No Rush

Those of us still using Windows XP are hearing a lot about Service Pack 3 lately.  Windows XP SP3 has been released for a while now and the usual reports of problems are being received from the early adopters who have already installed it.  It’s good that there are those brave (or foolish) enough to install a new service pack as soon as it’s available.  The rest of us can sit back and watch the fireworks from a safe distance!

My advice is to wait a while before installing SP3.  Hewlett-Packard (HP) has warned owners of their PCs with AMD processors not to install SP3.  There is a known problem where the machines continually reboot after SP3 is installed.  That’s just one example of problems found in the field in the short time SP3 has been available to the public.

Any software upgrade of this magnitude is bound to have some glitches.  Windows XP is a very complex piece of software, actually multiple pieces of software, and catching all the potential bugs in the testing process is simply impossible.  There are too many variables with PC configurations and applications for any testing program to cover every possible combination.

If you’re concerned about the end of life of Windows XP SP2, don’t be.  Microsoft will continue to support SP2 until August of 2009, so you have over a year before you have to worry about that.  By that time SP3 will be stable and you’ll probably have installed it long since.

As with most newly released software, unless there’s a feature or bug fix you absolutely have to have, it’s safer to wait until it’s been released long enough for most of the more serious bugs to be found and fixed.  SP3 adds some features, but the vast majority of those features aren’t things that the average user will even notice.  In short, if you’re not sure you need SP3, you don’t, yet.

Here are some related posts from the blogosphere:

Windows XP Service Pack 3 woes – Windows XP holdouts were blinded by a ray of hope with the release of Service Pack 3, a major update consisting of existing patches with a few enhancements thrown in that has been widely reported to significantly boost significant …

Does your AMD-based computer boot after installing XP SP3? – Last night WSUS deployed XP Service Pack 3 to the sole remaining computer running XP that I have. This morning, I came down and was greeted with incessant reboots. The computer booted, apologized for not being able to boot properly, …

HP recommends against installing Windows XP SP3 – Both HP and Microsoft are working to fix problems causing AMD-based PCs to reboot repeatedly after XP Service Pack 3 is loaded. In the meantime, security expert Dr. Jesper Johansson has beaten the companies to the punch by devising a …

XP Change Corrupts Data, Halts SP3 Rollout – XP Change Corrupts Data, Halts SP3 Rollout Microsoft also suspends autodelivery of Windows Vista SP1. Computerworld — Microsoft Corp. confirmed on Wednesday that it delayed the rollout of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) because changes …

Fix for Restart Bug after installing Windows XP SP3 – You can only use the following information if you use a non-Intel processor and encounter the previously mentioned restart bug after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. I’m going to list two possible solutions, one from Microsoft and …

Microsoft blocks Windows XP SP3 update to HP PCs Running AMD CPU’s – The recent Windows XP Service Pack 3 update has left certain AMD-based PCs manufactured by Hewlett-Packard caught in an endless reboot (here) cycle caused by an Intel-specific disk image mistakenly being used with AMD hardware. …

[bit-tech] XP SP3 breaks WHS RDP – According to a post on the Windows Home Server Forums provided by Microsoft, users with Service Pack 3 installed on their Windows XP desktop may well find themselves unable to connect to their Windows Home Server box via the Remote …

John The Geek

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