Hard disk space requirements for Windows XP Service Pack 3

This article describes the hard disk space that is required to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) from a shared folder on the network, from the Windows XP SP3 CD, or from the Microsoft Download Center. This article is intended for an intermediate computer user.

Windows XP SP3 can be installed on one or more computers that are already running one of the following versions of Windows XP:

• Windows XP Home Edition
• Windows XP Home N
• Windows XP Home Edition K
• Windows XP Home Edition KN
• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
• Windows XP Pro Edition K
• Windows XP Pro Edition KN
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Professional N
• Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
• Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005

Before you start

Important Apart from the hard disk space mentioned in this article, the computer’s first primary system partition must also have 30 MB of free hard disk space. The first primary system partition is the disk volume that contains the hardware-specific files that are required to start Windows. For example, the primary system partition contains the Ntldr file, the Boot.ini file, and the Ntdetect.com file.

If you are installing Windows XP SP3 on one computer, you can select from several installation methods. Each method has different space requirements, depending on the location from which you want to install the service pack.

• To install Windows XP SP3from a shared folder on the network to one computer, go the "Hard disk space required if you install Windows XP SP3 from a shared folder on the network" section.
• To install Windows XP SP3from the Windows XP SP3 CD to one computer, go to the "Hard disk space required if you install Windows XP SP3 from the Windows XP SP3 CD" section.
• To install Windows XP SP3from the Microsoft Download Center to one computer, go to the "Hard disk space required if you install Windows XP SP3 from the Microsoft Download Center" section.
• To install Windows XP SP3 on more than one computer over a local network, use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) mode of installation. The UNC mode lets you save space on the local computer by running the installation files from the local network. When you use the UNC mode to install Windows XP SP3, you can save the hard disk space that is normally required to extract Windows XP SP3 files on the local computer.
• To install Windows XP SP3 from a local network to more than one computer using the UNC mode, go to the "To install Windows XP SP3 on more than one computer" section.

Hard disk space required for installing Windows XP SP3 on one computer

The following tables list the hard disk space that is required to install Windows XP SP3 on one computer. Space requirements vary depending on the location from which you want to download or install the service pack, and whether you enable or disable System Restore.

Note We recommend that you read the "Notes" section for table descriptions and more information that you may have to have to install Windows XP SP3.

Hard disk space required if you install Windows XP SP3 from a shared folder on the network

To install Windows XP SP3 from a shared folder on the network, make sure that the computer meets the minimal space requirements shown in the following table:

Hard disk space required if you install Windows XP SP3 from the Windows XP SP3 CD

To install Windows XP SP3 from the Windows XP SP3 CD, make sure that the computer meets the minimal space requirements shown in the following table:

Hard disk space required if you install Windows XP SP3 from the Microsoft Download Center

To install Windows XP SP3 from the Microsoft Download Center, make sure that you have a minimum of 1500 MB of free hard disk space if you install Windows XP SP3 from a shared folder on the network.

You can safely install Windows XP SP3 on a computer that has only 700 MB of free hard disk space on the active partition, if the remaining 800 MB of free hard disk space is available on some other partition on the computer. The 800 MB of disk space is used mainly to store the temporary folder that contains the extracted service pack files.

Notes to install Windows XP SP3 on one computer

• The numbers that are listed in these tables are estimates only. Your system may vary significantly. Therefore, these numbers provide guidelines to let you know approximately how much free space is required.
• In these tables, Working space describes the hard disk space that is required for files that are used only during the installation process. The working space requirement is temporary and does not contribute to the total hard disk space requirement.
• The actual size of the %Windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Temporary_folder_name folder is approximately 600 MB.
• In these tables, Files that remove Windows XP SP3 describes the hard disk space that is used for storing the files and the settings that are changed during the installation of the service pack. You can automatically back up the files during the installation of the service pack. These files are required if you want to remove the service pack later.
• The Windows XP SP3 download size, as obtained from the Windows Update Web site, is approximately 70 MB. However, the download size may be larger depending on the updates that are already installed on the computer.

Hard disk space required for installing Windows XP SP3 on more than one computer

If you want to install Windows XP SP3 on more than one computer over a local network, you can use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) mode of installation.

To install Windows XP SP3 by using the UNC mode of installation, follow these steps:

1. Copy the contents of the Windows XP SP3 CD to a shared folder on the network.
2. Click Start, click Run.
3. Type cmd, and then press ENTER.
4. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu.exe /x:shared folder name
   Note In this command, shared folder name is a placeholder for the folder on the network to which you want to extract Windows XP SP3.
5. Under the shared folder on the network, locate and then double-click the Update folder.
   
   Note The Update folder is located under the i386 folder.
6. Double-click the Update.exe file to install Windows XP SP3.

If for some reason these steps do not work for you, click the following link to contact Support.

For more information about the hard disk space requirements for Windows XP Service Pack 1, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about the hard disk space requirements for Windows XP Service Pack 2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about the system requirements for Windows XP operating systems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: