There was a total of three service packs that were issued for XP the later being quite general meaning there was no major issues resolved. Autoupdate was able to solve most issues and if you know you have SP2 installed you do not need the SP3 which wastes your time downloading it and installing it to your system.
Should you have no Service Packs installed like with a fresh install, then you can go straight to downloading SP3 from the Microsoft website which contains all of the updates necessary contained within the previous ones. You do not need all three to ensure your computer is updated(unless you have a bootleg copy of the OS which would be very unlikely) for the updates sent though the internet may be sufficient to keep you safe online.

Well except for the fact that the admin is the highest rated user to have access to the computer but have you ever wanted a way to modify your XP installation without having to use regedit and doing it manually (that can be so confusing and a mistake can send you running out of the room pulling out your hair).

The program that is available on professional versions of XP is called gpedit.msc (Group Policy Editor) that allows you to modify most of the settings in the OS. This way, you get down and serious with getting the things you need where you want them and things you don’t need to not bother loading at all making for a streamlined computer OS. You can access the program by using the Run Command and then edit your preferred changes.(Be sure to know what the hell you are doing for making a big mistake can result in the same situation mentioned above!!)

People in offices and even at home do a lot of small things that can have grave consequences such as leaving your desk without locking out your computer’s access to the internet or network. It can give a co-worker/other users access to the system with your credentials being the logged in user thus are most likely the liable party should any problems arise from your actions.
Use the create shortcut wizard and type “%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe
user32.dll” LockWorkStation in the TYPE and then give a name for your shortcut and click next(the LockWorkStation part is case sensitive so be precise). Select the shortcut tab and click change icon, enter “%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll” and then click on okay. Select your icon that would be known to employees as the auto lock button.
To gain access, use the ctrl-alt-del keys and login again to gain access to your workstation.

Windows XP has been retired by the developer/maker Microsoft for quite sometime and they have limited their updates on their auto update website. You may be surprised to see updates being installed automatically which is part of their continuing limited support to users of the OS that still amounts to a huge number of computers worldwide.
You could let windows update itself through the autoupdate feature but going to the website for a specific driver would be best. For driver issues you could try the installer cd’s that came with the device or use the built-in program that is designed to auto install itself along with all the programs necessary for it to operate with your computer whatever OS you may have. Go to the manufacturer’s site and search for drivers you need, download and install. Should you not find them, try searching for retired models as part of your search to get more results. Knowing what to do when the norm is almost two generations ahead is quite hard but keeping your head and searching for valid resources online can help you a lot indeed.