Windows XP Service Pack 3

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

In case you hadn't heard, Windows XP Service Pack 3 is now available through Windows Update.

Bob Bair · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 274

I believe this is still a Release Candidate (RC2). The last one had a time bomb on Remote Desktop, so be aware that you will probably have to uninstall this when it comes out as a final release.

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

I think this is the real thing. It isn't labelled as RC2. SP3 was RTMd several days ago. There was a bug related to the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System which has been fixed:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2297848,00.asp

There will no doubt be hot fixes in the coming weeks and months.

Bob Bair · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 274

Huh. I went to Microsoft's site right after reading the post and didn't find anything on a search. That link does go to an RTM download though. I stand corrected.

I have been gun shy since RC1 caused me issues.

Jordan Reynolds · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 35

Unfortunately there are absolutely no enhancements, new features, etc in SP3. All SP3 contains is almost 100 hotfixes/patches that have been released for SP2 users over the past few years. This will just make it easier to install one big patch versus downloading hundreds of windows updates for an out-dated XP SP2 installation.

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Jordan Reynolds · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 35

Bob Bair · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 274

Anyhow, if they produced a service pack that made it like Vista, you would have no reason to BUY Vista.

Wait, I already don't have any reason to buy Vista...

Nevermind. Move along.

Bob Bair · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 274

FYI...
This week, Redmond notified the world that updating to WinXP SP3 means they won't be able to downgrade from IE7 to the older IE6 without uninstalling SP3 itself.

This juicy bit of technical news appeared in a blog written by the IE dev team. It states: "If you choose to install XP SP3, Internet Explorer 7 will remain on your system after the install is complete,... Your preferences will be retained. However, you will no longer be able to uninstall IE7. If you go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, the Remove option will be grayed out."

The first major problem also seems to have surfaced. Some machines with AMD CPUs seem to go into endless reboots. Blogger Johansson said there are two separate issues. One is AMD-equipped PCs sold by HP. "The problem is that HP, apparently along with other OEMs, deploys the same image to Intel-based computers that they do to AMD-based computers," said Johansson. "Because the image for both Intel and AMD is the same, all have the intelppm.sys driver installed and running. That driver provides power management on Intel-based computers. On an AMD-based computer, amdk8.sys provides the same functionality." The other problem, according to Johansson, also seems to affect only AMD machines, and involves an error message indicating trouble with the PC's BIOS.

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Reading Larry Osterman's blog you find that they designed the Vista audio stack for a flawless gaming and playback experience. Then it occurred to them, "Hey, wait a minute! This is supposed to record audio too." Audio recording was an afterthought in Vista from the accounts I've read.

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Jacob Ekstroem · **Voice Talent** Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 721

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Jacob -

Henceforth I'll make sure you are good and drunk when I start talking about CF recorders Very Happy

Seriously, on another board I had a guy from Australia who did some audio recording for a paying client on his laptop. When he played back his audio it was full of pops and clicks. Right away I suspected what the problem was and asked him if he had wireless networking enabled on his (Windows) laptop. Sure enough, he did! The more stories I hear like this the more I favor dedicated recorders over regular computers for recording. I have several CF recorders here which I will be spec-ing out and posting the results on my web site, so it's not the last you'll be hearing from me on the subject. Wink

Trey Thomas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 27

Chris,

I think you may be onto something with the whole solid state recorder thing. My last broadcasting gig was as a reporter at a news/talk radio station in Seattle. My mini-disc recorder (a newsradio field recording staple in the 90's) went kaput during the Christmas shopping season of '06 and I was given an Edirol R-09 to experiment with. So I can tell you a lot about that particular model when used as a field recorder. I look forward to responding to your solid state recorder posting.

Trey

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Trey -

I don't have an Edirol R-09 yet. I have a Fostex FR-2LE, a Zoom H4, a Sony PCM-D50, and a poor little M-Audio Microtrack II.

First, STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM THE MICROTRACK II! I love its form factor but it has all kinds of maladies including non-field-replaceable batteries and the ever-popular "sprinkler sound". Caveat emptor.

With dedicated recorders, a lot depends on whether you're using it for studio or field recording. In the field you're concerned with the quality of the internal mic preamps and whether they'll give your RE50 enough oomph. The Sony recorder has unbalanced, yes, unbalanced mic inputs and as we all know that is an invitation to disaster. In the studio you have the luxury of being able to use outboard preamps and go into the line (or mic) input.

In this era of integrated circuits it is not a big challenge to build high-spec audio gear using off-the-shelf components. In fact there is an entire web site devoted to just such things. Some units suffer from boneheaded hardware design where things like the USB clock get into the audio. That could just as well happen on a consumer sound card or prosumer audio interface, too.