Pro Tools 8 on XP Service Pack 2? Service Pack 3 registry issues?

[Infiltrator]

I just bought pro tools 8 M-powered but wanted to double check if anybody running Pro Tools 8 on windows XP Service Pack 2?

Can I stay on SP2? And if not... will SP3 not make my computer slower or less efficient for Pro Tools 8? As I am only on 2 gigs of ram....

Because two years ago, when I updated to service pack 3, pro tools 7.4 m-powered no longer played on the timeline. (can any one confirm if this is because maybe it changed registry files or reset them and therefore because I maybe should have run the dual core hotfix and one other key hotfix once again, and I dont think I did??? because I am starting to think this was the issue!)

But either, way if I would have a proper SP3 on my system with modded registry for Pro Tools to run on my Dual core laptop.... then still, will there not be less efficient performance for pro tools 8 with less resources available for pro tools 8 functionality?

Basically, what I need to know is if I am I better off with Pro Tools 7.4 on SP2 considering my older sony vaio laptop, or am i better off with pro tools 8 on service pack 3?

Anyways, the way that turned out back then was by me going to system restore to the condition during SP2, I had to reformat due to a catastrophic system restore to service pack 2.

So If m-powered 8 does not work on SP2, then, If I download the SP3 update again, and if it still does not work, then is this due to needeing to do the the dual core hotfix and other hot fix all over again? Ok. fine, but in the case that its still no good, then is there a way to safely revert back to Service pack 2?

Because look what one person in another forum said?

as you've noticed there are a few problems with sp3 (one of the reasons I've not installed it yet) but I'd advise against uninstalling it because it changes system core files as well as registry entries uninstalling can cause more problems than it solves, if you want to go back to sp2 then the only way to do it safely is to format and reinstall windows
If you do decide to try to uninstall sp3 back up all your files just in case things go wrong which is very likely to happen

But this contradicts the information at the following page.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950249

Ok now I am very confused. Either there is a way to safely rollback from SP3 to go back to service pack 2 - or there is not. Both of these propositions cannot be true.

And finally, should I just try Pro tools 8 on service pack 2 or is this a bad idea?

Yikes... these are very grizzly thoughts. Please help.

[Dism]

No way to answer without a Sandra report... but SP3 should be no less efficient than SP2, but is far more compatible.

[Infiltrator]

But do you think it must have reset the registry that other time updating to SP3 or not?

[Dism]

Originally Posted by Infiltrator

But do you think it must have reset the registry that other time updating to SP3 or not?

I can't say for sure, because I don't have any experience with this.

I have always installed SP3 fresh, before installing any other software, as I have always done with major OS updates.

As always... just be diligent.

Clone your system drive before making any major updates. That way, you can go back to your clone instead of have to reinstall everything if something goes wrong.

[albee1952]

+ 1000 for cloning the system drive first

[Infiltrator]

Oh wow! I'm surprised I never heard of that. So is this a different type of snapshot than is the snapshot of a system restore point? Because last system restore I did was catastrophic going back from sp3 to sp2. I really hope this is a different type of clone. And if so, I'll be getting a computer guy to do that immediately. If you can please verify this "clone".

And I really hope pt8 will work on sp2.... or sp3 if I absolutely have to.

Interface simply looks much better than 7.4 which I'm currently on.

[Infiltrator]

OH! And I totally forgot to ask, does that clone also clone the mods to the registry too? Because these mods were key in getting PT7.4 to work.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by Infiltrator

OH! And I totally forgot to ask, does that clone also clone the mods to the registry too? Because these mods were key in getting PT7.4 to work.

I'm not sure what "mods" you're speaking of... but a clone should be an exact copy of what your system drive is, right down to the very last byte.