How to hide the service pack 3 'update' ?

I have Windows XP Home Edition.

When I run Microsoft Update (I have set it to notify, not download or install) I am offered service pack 3. How do I 'hide' it, just like you could with other updates ? I don't want to be offered that thing every time I run Microsoft Update (not EXACTLY the same as Windows Update). When I run it for critical updates only, it seems that I have to install it before I can get anything else.

Does anyone know ? (I have my reasons, one of them being that it seems that service pack 3 doesn't offer me anything I want, and 'if it ain't broken, don't fix it')

 

Ok, I have figured it out, please don't ask me how, I don't remember.

 

I have automatic updates turned on again but have not been offered SP3 yet. Is there something special I have to do to see the file?

I cannot remember the process but there is a window that pops up during update notification and it offers a "do not notify again" or similar wording. I have used it several times to get rid of updates that do not install time after time.

I think I found the solution on a Google search and the solution was very simple. Not simple enough to be easy to find though.

 

Well, I recall reading on TechNet that SP3 "Automatic Update" distribution will begin in early summer.

Of course, you can download it now via the MS Download Center (among other places) and will be offered SP3 if you run MS Update manually.

 

You just untick the update then click ok and it'll bring up the option to not show the update again.

 

I 'm afraid it's not simple. Microsoft is acting up again.

I thought I had figured it out, but when I ran Microsoft Update for critical updates again, service pack 3 was very noticable. I was urged to immediately install service pack 3. I presume that if I want to check for any real critical updates I'll have to check for all available updates !

Customer service and Microsoft don't go together.

 

Here is a registry entry that will block SP3 from downloading via WU for 12 months from the date of SP3's release. You can still download SP3 manually and install it whenever you wish. The registry entry only affects WU.

Just download the file, rename it to
DoNotAllowSP.reg
and import it into your registry.

 

It showed up in my auto updates right away, I just unchecked the box, and when the popup showed up, I told it to not ask me again. And it hasn't asked since.. So I'm not sure what's going on there....

I have Win Updates set to automatic, but do not download and do not install until asked.

 

I know this is late but I was surifing Google and came across this forum discussing the same problem I had. By accident, this is what I found.

I use automatic updates but request that I be notified before downloading and installing them. A yellow shield appears in the taskbar when updates surface. Click on the shield and hit the first button in the pop-up. It will give you the option not to notify you about this update anymore; hence, it becomes a hidden update which you can reclaim and install later if you wish. I did this with IE7 after an install which wreaked havoc with my desktop icons.

So, if this doesn't help the originator, I am sure it will save someone else the time searching for a way to hide a priority update until you are ready for it. Funny, the answers provided in a Microsoft search tell you how to undo a hidden update but not how to hide it. Think they need a woman's intuition behind some of their visionary theorizations.