F2bnp wrote:

Whatever. It wasn't one machine, I had similar results on Pentium 3 machines, I just gave an example of a relatively "fast" machine.
My opinion on SP3 remains the same, it was quite a bit slower than SP2.
In the end, anybody can install whatever they like, I was voicing an opinion, only to have people jump at me. Jeez.

If you slipstream SP3 onto a SP2 install disk, the differences (installing SP3 from the 300+MB file does result in some extra clutter) between SP3 and SP2 should be reduced significantly. Personally I haven't noticed any slowdowns between the 2 SP's. SP3 is basically an updated SP2. Slipstreaming removes the outdated SP2 files with the newer SP3 ones, resulting in a slimmer install.

Give it a try 😉

Btw, I use NLite for that. You can even slipstream post-SP3 updates and stuff like SATA drivers and such, with a little more hassle.
What I also did once is creat an install disk which would do -everything- automatically.
You start the install, leave it for an hour or so and when you come back, VOILA! Desktop 😁

Only problem is, you'll install with the same key also, so it might be a good idea to change the key used, but for testing purposes it's a very nifty solution 😉

XP should install faster if you burn your image on DVD instead of CD btw.