>Using VS97 professional edition. Products installed VC++, VFP, VB.
>I wanted to install the VS service pack 3. The installation
>routine only says that VB is installed. Why is this? I wanted
>to make sure I have the latest VFP patches installed. I did
>download the full service pack not just the core.

There may be a problem with a particular registry item the SP looks for during installation of the SP. Reinstall the original release of VFP and whatever other components you want, then try applying the SP.