Just loaded an old XP Home system, with no SP.

Do you have to load SP1 first then progress to SP2?

Or can a person just load SP2 right off?

Thanks,Fordtruckmaniac  ..... I believe you must start with SP1 first

dl65  Thanks dl65

I thought that I had read that somewhere. But wanted to double check.

I have SP2 on a disk but not SP1.

Fordtruckmaniac ..... You should be able to get it here.......
http://labmice.techtarget.com/ServicePacks/winxpsp1.htm

Theres a link to it on this page.

dl65  Thanks for the link.

Can I UPDATE the SP's before I validate my product key?

I have to grab a dialup modem before I can get online to validate my product key.Fordtruckmaniac.... are we talking about product activation or product key code ?  You have 15 days to activate XP .  I dont think that will effect getting the SP1 download.
Usually you would enter the 25 digit key during the intallation of XP .
Activation come after its installed .

dl65  Sorry about that. The proper WORD totally escaped me when I sat down to write you back.

Yes I was meaning activating Windows.

I did enter the product key number during the installation of Windows.

I did not know if I could just go ahead and install SP1 then on to SP2 before activating Windows.

Thanks,SP2 contains all updates which are in SP1 so no need to load SP1

This is extracted from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389

Quote

Microsoft Windows XP updates are distributed in service packs. Service packs help keep Windows XP current, and extend and update the functionality of your computer. Service packs are cumulative. Each new service pack contains all the fixes that are included with earlier service packs and any new fixes. You do not have to install an earlier version of a service pack before you install the latest version. For example, if you have already installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), you do not have to install Windows XP Service Pack 1a (SP1a).