Patch XP SP1 so it can run most SP2/3 programs?

Math Geek

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once you turn off all the extras for sp3, it runs pretty quick as well. you can get it down to only a handful of services at start-up. should not see much of a difference over sp1 if you tweak it.

but as bubblehead said, to get sp3 functions, you'll need sp3. it may be possible to track down stand alone installers if you know exactly what you want to add. they did offer a lot of stuff separately for the business side of it. but you'll need to know exactly what you want to add and search for it one by one on the MS site. it may not be available anyway but it's your only shot really that i can think of
 

Math Geek

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look for the administrator installers page for win xp. they used to offer every update as a stand alone installer for network admin uses but they work fine for home use as well. have not checked in a long time but if it is still there, then you should easily be able to search for the updates.

other option could be an archive of the updates. i downloaded a couple after sp3 that had all the updates since in one zip file for easy slipstreaming. might be able to search out one of these and pick what you want to install. i got mine through the forums for a program i use called nlite. http://www.nliteos.com/ probably still an older version available that supports xp along with download packs you may be able to find.

sorry that's all i got for now. my copies of xp are fully updated to earlier this year so i don't have to install any at fresh install (i still get clients with xp machines needing work)
 

Math Geek

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yah admin downloads were part of MS site, but they may not be there anymore. probably have to search for each specific update one by one on the site.

WSUS might work as well. never tried it with xp but works for the other versions so why not xp :)