I recently dowloaded this automatic update (against my better judgement); and it appears now as if my computer may be worse off:

Start-up takes much longer than it usually does... with many different Windows screens (i.e. "Please wait" in the upper left corner, etc.) and aesthetics. First of all... is this normal with those who have installed the update (I have not actually tested the performance of the computer since the update)?

If this is not normal then the following - I do not have the original XP Start-up disc and cannot revert back Service Pack 2. From here I have two questions:

1) If I choose to just remove the Service Pack 3 (Add/Remove Programs); will my computer run smoothly without any of the earlier Service Packs?

2) I believe that there was a restore point created (automatic) before the update took place; is this correct? If so... would this be a good idea to do?

Thanks...