Where is Service Pack 3?

I have tried a fresh install of XP with SP2. This is an upgrade form 98.

I can run Access, Word and other programs including Explorer.

However, Explorer will find a page, but links won't work.

This includes links provided on this site.

I can't load SP3

I'm trying to load Chrome, but when the download link is clicked, I get the "This page can't ..."

How do I proceed?
 
go to a working pc and get sp3 loaded to a flash drive, then carry it to the afflicted pc and install. reboot twice

Just a note, before you ever go in line, you should have been on sp3 and had an antivirus installed, and all your drivers installed.

after that then you will open start/all programs, top right click on windows update, go to the update site and it will ask you to update to microsoft updates, click yes/continue, then scan for high priority updates and install say 50 at a time so as not to bog down the pc. Ignore the update shield at the bottom right of task bar and keep going back to updates and installing 50 updates at a time.

Note: some updates need to be installed at shutdown not restart, to check when you go to start/turn off computer - if you see a little shield icon on the turn off radio button click that and just be patient it will eventually finish, :)

============

if you receive any error messages, please give the exact message, and did you load the drivers in the correct order for a dell??
 
below link is for drivers:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/dimension-3100/drivers

these are drivers for the e310, but if you input your service tag into the box, it will give drivers specific to the original hardware setup of your pc, the service tag is on the coa (certificate of authenticity) located on the tower side or back of case.

http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN155406/en

above link is how to do a clean install, dell drivers have to be installed in a certain order which you can find in the faq's at the below link:

http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN128938

basically install the dss first and then the chipset. after that you can pretty much install in any order. :)

if you have any further questions let me know. please read through the faq's and how to do a clean install first. :)
 
On top of all that, if you're daft enough to accidentally hit the upgrade button in 'About Chrome', I guarantee that it will not work again. It'll insist that Chrome is already installed (even after you've uninstalled it), so I would guess that there's stuff in the registry that would need editing out.

I use Comodo's Internet Security Suite, and as part of that it includes Comodo's higher-security version of Chrome, called Chromodo. I've been using that for several months in a recently-reinstalled 'Black Edition'. No problems to report, other than it's a bit slower than Chrome, since Chromodo is routed thru Comodo's own DNS servers.

Wish I could agree with cammygirl about Firefox's resource usage, but it is bloated beyond recognition, compared to only a few years ago. I only used FF briefly, back in 2009/10.....been with Chrome ever since. I also run several Puppy Linux installs, and tend to use Chromium there.....I know it's sponsored by Google, but at least it doesn't come with the proprietary tracking crap they put in Chrome.

If anybody's interested, I'd recommend giving SlimJet a go. It's based on the open-source Chromium, but is way more privacy-conscious than Chrome itself.....even FireFox, for that matter. And it's far more nimble on its feet.

http://www.slimjet.com/en/dlpage.php


Mike.
 
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Will it work in following weeks on XP/Vista or not, though - Chromium is dead to me, I might consider SlimJet, if it will work, after next month.

I am lead believed Chromium also arrives with the tracking junk, however is not as much, because Opera sends data to both itself also Google which based it's on the Chromium and not Chrome.

Firefox doesn't hide its fact bloated nowadays, Chrome has some quirks to make it feel lightweight, while it decide to fry your disc space and RAM slowly.
 
Hi, Cammygirl.

Can't think of any reason why it shouldn't continue to work. I would make one recommendation, though. Don't use the full installed version. Get the Portable version, and run it from inside 'My Documents'; that's what I do. The entire thing is completely self-contained, and doesn't write to the registry at all.

Works very well for me.


Mike. ;)
 
Thanks.
Once I decide to connect my machine to the Internet, I'll download it and run the portable version - I already run a few portable applications there which I stick on a USB.
 
Hi again, Cammygirl.

That'll work just as well; I do the same thing myself. It's not so bad with most programs, but I do find that portable browsers tend to run very slowly from a USB stick. That's the main reason I run those from 'My-Documents'.

As I said, they're completely self-contained, and don't even write to the registry, since (as I understand the workings of the beast!) they have their own small version of the XP registry, with all necessary entries, contained within the package.


Mike. ;)
 
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I always assume that they would write to a specific configuration file either hidden in the program or on a file, I'll try running it in My Documents though.

I'm running SlimJet non-portable on my Vista desktop and it's working well, I especially like the special features of it.
 
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