Installing Windows Service Packs

These instructions apply to Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, and Windows XP Home systems and screen shots are from a Windows 2000 system.

  1. Right click “My Computer” to see what service pack you have installled on your system.
  2. Download the appropriate service pack for your OS. Save it on your hard drive where you can find it later. No matter which operating system you have (Windows XP, Vista, Windows7 or Windows 8), you should be able to find the download site using one of the links below:
  3. Back up your system using the Backing up your Windows System instructions. If you have not created an emergency boot disk lately use the instructions called Making a Windows Emergency Boot Disk to create one.
  4. After downloading and saving the service pack file on your hard drive, double click the file and it will begin to extract the service pack files. It will first verify files, then extract them.
    When the service pack installer has completed the extraction of the files, the Windows Service Pack Setup Wizard will appear. It will tell you to back up your system and update your system repair disk which you should have already done in a previous step. Close any running programs as instructed and click the “Next” button.
  5. Accept the license terms.
  6. It is recommended that you select the “Archive Files” option in case you need to revert to the original service pack if something during the installation fails. If there is a failure during the installation, you may not recover it you did not select this option.
  7. Cilck the “Next” button to begin the installation. The installer will go through several phases as shown by the images below. These phases are:
    1. Inspecting your current configuration.
    2. Backing up your files.
    3. Installing your files.
  8. The Service pack setup wizard will indicate that the setup is complete. You must reboot the computer for the new system configuration to take effect. You have the option of not rebooting upon completion if you check the “Do not restart now” checkbox. Normally, the checkbox is left unchecked. Click the “Finish” button.If you did not check the “Do not restart now” checkbox, your system will reboot and your service pack installation is complete.