I have mentioned that Windows XP Service Pack 3 over the last couple of weeks. If you have a Hewlett-Packard computer with Windows XP, you may have problems if you try to install SP3. Your machine may crash, or reboot endlessly. If you have not yet installed SP3, and you have a computer possibly with an microprocessor, go to the HP site to get the fix for this problem. Click here.

Here are a few more notes on this Service Pack. It contains 1,174 updates. That is why it is so humongous, at about 67MB. But don’t worry. You probably have almost all of them already, if you have been doing your regular monthly updates. There is really not much new.

Back up your files and data before going for the Service Pack. Make a Restore Point; if you have problems, you will be able to go back to the way your PC worked before the update.

If you have Internet Explorer (IE) 7, you will not be able to uninstall it and go back to IE 6 after installing the Service Pack. If you are one of the beta testers for IE 8, you must uninstall IE 8 before installing the Service Pack.

You can still sign the petition to save Windows XP. Most sales of XP will end on June 30, although some PC manufacturers have found a way around that deadline. They can continue to sell computers with XP pre-installed, provided they include an upgrade to Vista in the box and make the customer pay for the upgrade.

Microsoft has taken note of the online petitions to save XP. It has issued a confusing corporatespeak statement that essentially says it is taking a wait-and-see attitude. That in turn means it is waiting to see if enough people sign the to make it worthwhile listening to them, and extending XP sales past June 30.

You can sign the petition here: http://www.savexp.com/ Please take a minute to do it.

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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