xp updates

i have been getting more updates lately,and they seem to take up a lot of harddrive space.What does service pack 3 contain other than better security?
Also my outlook express has stop working? any fixes,i can send mail out,but cannot receive any.


thanks

Rtottie, Microsoft do seem to have been ultra productive of late and yes you do need SP3. You don't need to keep the installation files though and if you are happy, you can remove the uninstall information as well (I quite often do that).

OE stopped working is a little light on the explanation side.
Are you using POP3, imap or accessing hotmail with it?
Who is your email provider and have you checked that they haven't changed their security recently?