Office XP: is SP3 necessary?

[Benzmum]

I'm running Office 2002 on vista, and the last time I downloaded updates Word
began behaving oddly - Find dialogue box came up in slow motion, and Save
executed in slow motion as well. I removed all Word-specific updates that I'd
just installed and the software was back to normal functioning again. So my
question is, now that I'm presented with the option to download SP3, do I
have to? - i.e., what risks am I taking if I don't? I'd like to leave well
enough alone now.

 

[Stefan Blom]

To decide if you need it, read about the service pack in this KB article:

Description of Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832671/en-us

 

[Benzmum]

Sorry, Stefan, but most of what I read there is gibberish to me. I see the
word "security" and that worries me. But the last time I installed SP3 on
Vista my Word software stopped working properly, and I wound up uninstalling
Office and reinstalling it. So for the time being I think I'll let it ride. I
just don't want to take the chance since things are functioning fairly well
right now. If there was a concrete risk that I could understand, as a
non-techie, I'd do it. But under the confusing circumstances, I think I'd
better pass. I appreciate you trying to help, though.

 

[Stefan Blom]

The following article deals more directly with the fixes in Word:

List of issues that are fixed in Word 2002 by Office XP Service Pack 3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836036/en-us

But I think your approach is reasonable: since you are not experiencing any
problems, you don't need to install the service pack.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


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