Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Windows XP is coming soon. Release Candidate 2 of the update has been circulating for a while, and will soon be ready for general release.

You will see few visible changes to your after the update. Instead, improvements have been made to security, including the pseudo-random number generator (PRNG). Last year, Israeli researchers said they could exploit a flaw in the PRNG to predict encryption keys, and thus make an end run around Windows encryption. Go here for more details on that story:
http://mypcsecurityblog.com/security/windows-encryption-cracked

The PRNG flaw is supposedly fixed in SP3. There is also an improvement in wireless network security. The other big change will be in the anti-piracy program, which has caused users a lot of grief. When you first try to install XP, you are required to enter your product key, or you could not proceed.

With SP3, Windows XP will work for 30 days without any key at all. Of course, if you presently have XP and are upgrading to , you will not need any key. So most users should not be affected.

A research firm also claims that there will be a small increase in overall speed, although Microsoft makes no such claim. The actual SP3 upgrade weighs in at a hefty 65MB. Once downloaded, it can take up to 30 minutes to install, so you will have to be patient.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here:
= > http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

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