Thank you Stoat! I am the de-facto system administrator for my clan and I will be sure to burn an updated XP install cd soonest to save myself from all of the pestering of "can you fix my computer (without installing linux)?"...
Awww... I don't think humor constitutes calling someone a bigot, even if you are including yourself. I sometimes have a need for Windows XP, usually to run some random program.
I understand that, but this thread didn't leave much room for discussion since it was a how-to, not a how-do-i.
OK, here is a valuable suggestion from a fellow home system admin - one I learned from personal experience in installing SP2:
Make sure you have easy alternate access to the Internet before upgrading. If something goes terribly wrong, there is no substitute for having ready access to the net's helpful resources.
I upgraded two systems. One seemed to go well (but had problems that showed up later) and the other resulted in a BSOD. As it was, it was a major pain in the rear but if I hadn't had the other system with a working Internet connection, it would have graduated to an absolute nightmare.
If you have a single point of access to the net, do yourself a favor and burn a bootable system CD that will give you a lifeline to the Internet. Something like Knoppix come to mind.