hoak
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Anybody know what's different about how DirectX installs on Server 2003 SP1 then how it installs on Server 2003 sans SP1 and XP?
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Could be, but it all worked before SP1... Perhaps it's Microsoft found the broad enthusiasm for 'Server 2003 As A Workstation' putting Windowws XP in well earned bad light and took steps thwart it; ATi drivers no longer install properly without a lot of manual dorking around -- and now this DX issue would seem to suggest something's amiss...
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Here's something interesting that may be related; take a look at your driver properties sheet; for NVIDIA its the top of the control panel tree; and then look at the DirectX version it reports... Many will see "DirectX 3"...
Perhaps this is a driver issue post SP1 for Server 2003 in what NVIDA drivers are able to see...
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Several multimedia applications and games have this issue (though many do not), and I'm not the first to experience it... None of the applications known to have the issue have any problem running on Server 2003 prior to SP1... In essence if you try to run the game or application on Server 2003 with SP1 installed you'll get the message:
This application requires DirectX version 8.1 or greater to run.No error messages of any kind appear in the Event Viewer.... The problem can be resolved by using a utility like DirectX Happy Uninstall, at the cost of $12, by uninstalling and reinstalling DirectX 9c... It would seem that most of the MM applications and games are older, circa DirectX 8.1 or older -- and that this must be some very simple registry entry issue that is corrected when DirecX 9c is reinstalled.
A sort of neat freak for solving problemes like this; I find uninstalling and reinstalling sort of a crude solution and wonder if anyone might know how I can troubleshoot the issue, and find out what exactly is causing it -- or knows what's going on outright and has a simple solution?
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@hoak
...it is worth mentioning that Server 2003 doesn't have an enhanced memory manager or fewer dependencies. What it does have is better security, which comes in handy with an OS that you're most likely not going to be able to patch.
That's not quite correct; Server 2003 does have enhanced memory management, a kernel that uses less resources over all, and threads better than XP... The kernel's driver interface and HAL are also supposed to have been updated in Server 2003 and offer marginally more robust and better driver performance... The differences running identical service complements to Windows XP and benchmarking real games can be measurable -- small, but measurable...
Server 2003 Web Edition also rolls with less shovelware like Movie Maker etc, making some flaky clean-up completely unnecessary, and an end product that behaves more predictably on varied hardware... This may not be what you mean by dependencies, but try doing a real uninstall of Internet Explorer, which can be managed cleanly on 2003 sans support for Windows Help... But one can decompile any essential help files to HTML, do some tidy work, and reroute system menu Help calls in the registry to the HTML documents...
Δ
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Aegis sounds like a compelling project, any chance you'd consider trying this on Server 2003 as well for the added memory manager performance and removed dependencies?
BTW I think Windows GE sounds cooler then Windows XP-GE
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Ambitious project but certainly worthwhile; if it gets off the ground -- perhaps it can integrate some of the widely fragmented work and valuable reference material buried in these forums to good effect...
One thing I'd like to see is thoroughly commented, modular, and high granularity add/remove services. There's some fantastic reference information in the form of very complete lists of Windows files and their functions on these forums, as well as feature/function integration and dependency information -- that's unmatched even in Microsoft's own 'Target Designer' for it's Windows Embedded products... Having all this integrated as interactive add/remove context sensitive help would not be too hard to offer, and would be invaluable with Windows ragged integration...
Perhaps this project can approach some of the abandoned original design premise of Windows the NT operating systems and it's modular concepts derived from OS/2 and Talegient... The Microsoft Windows NT OS was originally intended to be highly modular and componentized in manner both cleaner and more modern then UNIX -- unfortunately as is too well known this was ditched due to marketing ambitions that had absolutely nothing to do with design elegance, and everything to do with selling the home product at any expense...
What I'm getting at here is rather then taking the nLite top down approach of a feature rich "add/remove" tool, perhaps the reverse and originally intended installer design that can still be seen in some aspects of the Windows script and installer layout could be harnessed to some effect modularizing core OS systems and sub-systems, much the way modern Linux installers operate... Certainly some of the unattended setup tools do this to some extent already, but I think how thing's are 'lumped' together and where the lines of integration are drawn are very distinctive... It is possible now for example to create 50Mb XP/2003 installations that have considerable function...
Wishful thinking perhaps, as Microsoft has gone a long ways down the integration road -- with very detrimental consequences on all fronts IMHO, and not suprisingly is beating the 'modularized OS' drum again like it's some new and magical design discovery... But maybe...
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Wholly Smoke Gurgelmeyer is still going strong on this! When will the poor guy sleep!? How will he feed himself!?
Seriously Gurgelmeyer, I hope your life isn't suffering at the expense of this project; Windows 2000 has been around a while, and those of us that still need, and/or perfer it will probably still be using it for quire a while longer (thanks to you) -- so I think you have plenty of time to roll out updates; just look how long Microsoft takes...
I remember a message where you talked being in the doghouse at work because you were spending so much time on this -- I hope everything's ok, as even the smallest trouble or inconvenience is too much to suffer for one that's given so much of his time!
Chees You! And Thanks Muchly Again!
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Aorry for the rush post (I'm at work), and double sorrys if someone already posted this -- but Microsoft has released a fix for it's fixes.
Maybe there's something in there worthwhile for updates to the Hotstream Project, most likely they're already fixed.
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ghost87rulez, don't be shocked or disappointed by the pace Gurgelmeyer is taking to get to the point of a public release. Even Microsoft can't get its much less ambitions roll-up done right with a virtually bottomless budget, limitless team, and more time than the GurgleMaster has invested in doing USP5!
Gurgelmeyer is not only taking a very thorough and ambitious approach to what he's doing, he's trying to hit a moving target as Microsoft in its usual fashion can't release fixes that actually fixes things without breaking others, and he's also fixing a lot of things that are just a hokey mess in how Microsoft patches are applied, not just concatinating everything...
Considering Microsoft's re-hack of the roll-up isn't even out yet, and all that Gurgelmeyer has invested in USP5; I think he's right on track and we'll see it released at just about the best possible time. I almost don't want to see it released too soon as it will sort of bring a close to a very interesting saga and put a little too much closure on Windows 2000 -- and the end to the almost last true form that follows function generation of Microsoft Operating Systems...
Any chance you might get a head-start, lay down a blueprint and/or do something like this for Windows XP and/or Server 2003 Gurgelmeyer? That is; get going before we're steeped in the ostentatious bulk of Vista, and a bazillion patches and fixes for XP and 2003 are hard or impossible to find?
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What do I need to do with my ATi video driver install to avoid the ati2mtag error messages in the error log?
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Looks like Microsoft is gonna "Give Windows 2000 Rollup Another Try"...
One thing I was sort of wondering Gurgelmeyer as you're only one person and can't support SP5 indefinitely, or perhaps even as long as Windows 2000 is still a viable OS for many users: would it be p***ible or practical to include documentation with SP5 or offer some some manner of /rebuild switch so that new (and properly formatted) fixes can be rolled into the SP for redistribution?
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Here's another interesting and possibly pertinent tidbit...
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Are you saying that when you log off that the OS takes a greyscale screenshot, and fades that in? Sounds like an overly complex way to do it... I thought it was somthing like the alpha channel effect where we now have all these transparency applications, and could tweak this effect as well?
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This Article might be interesting...
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Bump; I've always wanted to know how this works as well and if it could be enabled as a default setting...
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Sorry, it was over two hundred not dozens; and they were impossible and not merely hard to find updates!
Having tinkered with what you're actually doing in a professional and results oriented manner I well know what an enormous chore, and how detail oriented such a project is, not to mention the headaches in reconciling all the issues and conflicts under all the circumstances you intend this SP to work -- then there's all the Microsoft SP install script and and configuration issues you've addressed and fixed as well.
I also agree emphatically and compeltely with the epistomology of keeping features and especially 3rd party 'extras' out of the service pack; and am very gald you're doing it that way.
Few may appreciate the scale of your project and the sheer volume of work involved Gurgelmeyer, but I understand it first hand and know how fortunate we are to have you, and know how lucky we are.
Cheers You!
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Sorry, having read the thread in entire I think you're trivializing what Gurgelmeyer is doing. He's not "only" doing this to "avoid a duplication of effort"; he has also run down dozens of hard/impossible to find fixes, and fixed a load of scripting errors & compatibility issues with all the different environments in which a service pack can be deployed.
I don't need a recitation of a recitation of Microsoft's documentation on it's update script, installers and rollup features; I've slipstreamed, built rollups, and even built custome installers for Microsoft updates -- I well know what's involved.
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Wow Gurgelmeyer it sounds like you're really going "balls to the walls" and that this may in fact be the best patched and most correctly updated iteration of a Microsoft OS ever!
For anyone that doesn't already know; Microsoft updates, patches, fixes, fix packs, rollups, hot fixes, and service packs employ a messy hodge-podge of installers, scripting technology and technique where a lot of cheap and dirty shortcuts have been employed just to "get it done" -- with very uneven results; a fix may not even get applied, or worse actually do more harm then the issue it was intended to address; we still see this today with even the most recent updates from Microsoft for it's most recent Operating Systems.
It would appear our quiet hero is taking the longer, harder, and less traveled road to do the job "right" and is doing it virtually single handed... The results are certain to be appealing, and will definately be a nice touch and soften the blow of Microsofts abandoning it last clean OS design.
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Your needs and perferences are going to be individual; try both -- Microsoft offers free demos of both operating systems that you can give a whirl to see how well either meets your needs.
I perfer Server 2003 but it costs a whale load more then XP for performance and stability improvements that some may consider marginal. Getting 3D graphics cards to work on Server 2003 can be a chore but it's certainly doable if you go through a few hoops and you'll likely see better performance there as well if you make the effort.
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Interesting project; do you actually have MinLogon working? Any information on how you grafted this into the OS installation? Does MinLogon work on Server 2003 as well?
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i would say the same thing about windows it is easiler then linux
Definately not true for the "Noob"; Most linux distros have complete integrated drivers, and installers now that equal surpass the best nLite integrated "Unattended" install CD's for a completely "hands off" installation... Most consumer Linux interfaces are id*** proof (or more so then Windows), and there's vrtially no risk of Vx, malware, or other exploits -- perfect for the "Noob"...
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This is a silly poll; 'best' for what? Installing and using Windows is a nightmare for the new user; my Grandmother for example could never handle or manage Windows; but Linux is effortless to install, setup and use for the uninitiated -- and requires virtually no security configuration or maintainence.
For someone that requires a slew of software, or specific software like Games, and programs that don't work Windows has an obvious niche...
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Will this work on Windows 2000?
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DirectX 9c Issues On Server 2003 SP1
in Windows 2000/2003/NT4
Posted
Ok I found a DirectX 9b redistributable install -- but what does "minish" mean?