Victory...
The Windows Update version of Service Pack 2 is a piece of crap....
however, the 266 MB Network Install of Service Pack 2 is worth the download.. makes XP much stabler...
the Windows Update version is ~ 80 MB ... it messes up 1 in 5 computers.. the network Install basically reinstalls XP on your system and makes Home version practically into Pro version (only system will still state Home version, but will contain all of Pro's features)..
As for the firewall.. the XP firewall is good, but takes a long time to configure for SFC games because Win Firewall does not allow for port ranges.. as such, you will have to open almost 1000 ports for SFC 3 to work with Win Firewall... it is easier to get Zone Alarm and use it instead of Win Firewall.. that means turning off Win Firewall and dling Zone Alarm and then configuring according to the Network.rtf in the SFC 3 Docs\help folder...
hope that this helps.