Gurgelmeyer

Hi I finally tamed the three headed nineteen-legged IE6SP1 thingy - so here is the status on the Option Pack: 1) MDAC 2.7 Post-SP1 - done. 2) MSXML 3.0 SP5 - done. 3) JET Post-SP8 - done. 4) KB824151+Q832483 - done. 5) KB837001+KB829558 (DAO 3.60) - done. 6) JET40REPL update - done. 7) Script 5.6 - done. 8) IE6SP1+OE6SP1+WAB + hotfixes - done. 9) MSI 3.1 v2 - tbd. 10) WMP9+WMP9 Codecs + hotfixes - tbd. 11) DX9c + hotfixes - tbd. 12) .NET 1.1 + SP1 - tbd. 13) RDP Client - tbd. 14) RDP "Server" - postponed. 15) MSJVM 3810 - tbd. 16) Various runtimes (VC, VB, etc) - tbd. 17) ...all the stuff I forgot in the above list (except MDAC 2.8 SP0 + Messenger) - tbd. 18) Shell icon update - to be researched. 19) SLIPSTREAMING TOOL for "deep integration" of Update Pack and/or Option Pack - tbd. I don't expect 9-17 to take nearly as long as IE6SP1 - so hopefully it will soon be BETA TIME B) Best Regards, Gurgelmeyer

Hi - I haven't posted for awhile, but I'm alive and working harder than ever before on the Option Pack. IE6 repacking has turned out to be complicated beyond belief - but that just makes me work even harder. A quick recap (for those who read this for the first time): 1) I'm doing an Update Pack with all the W2k Post-SP4 hotfixes NOT included in the MS URP - I finished that a long time ago, but it is not publicly availble just yet. No security catalogs are broken, and no "hacked files" are installed. Also it may be safely uninstalled. 2) I'm doing an Option Pack with all the latest 'good' components, such as MDAC 2.7 Post-SP1, MSXML 3.0 SP5, MSI 3.0, WMP 9.0, WMP Codecs, IE 6.0 Post-SP1, MS RDP Client, Script Engines 5.6, and many more things - all hotfixes/updates are of course built-in, so you don't have to download a thing from WU. No security catalogs are broken, and no "hacked files" are installed. Also it may be safely uninstalled. (There is a more comprehensive list of components in one of my previous posts) 3) I'm going to do a slipstreamer capable of doing a "deep slipstream" of both the Update Pack and the Option Pack. (Not a "lazy slipstream" like the MS hotfix /integrate option does - yuck!) Both the Update Pack and the Option Pack are "Type 1 hotfixes" (SFXCAB's). No more IE6SETUP.EXE, WM_SETUP.EXE, KB131233.EXE, MDAC_TYP.EXE, etc. Just one file with all hotfixes merged, and a similar one with all the optional components. OK - gotta get back to IE6 for now - or maybe I'll relax and do DX9c or WMP9 instead - none of the other components are nearly as complicated to repack as IE6 - I've checked Hopefully I'll have some "real news" soon - just wanted you to know that the project is alive and well B) Best regards, Gurgelmeyer

Here is a thing which annoys the crap out of me and my colleagues every day: Disable Script Debugging in IE 5.x or 6.0 often stops working after you install some of Microsoft's C compilers. For the 117th time: NO, I DON'T WANT TO DEBUG SCRIPTS ON OTHER PEOPLES WEB SITES. If that C compiler installed a script debugger (although I carefully unselected everything even remotely associated with web-development during setup), then PLEASE KILL IT! PS - Actually I just found the stupid reg entry which keeps overriding the Disable Script Debugging checkbox. THANK GOD.

I looked into this once. The executables link to functions in the windows kernel which are simply not available in W2k - some of those have to do with WPA, and are of course undocumented. Making it run requires significantly more than just cheating the version check - trust me. You'd need to either modify the binaries (it would be REALLY cute to make an Application Compatibility thingy which does this on the fly - modifying binaries at load time is a built in feature in W2k) - or you'd need to make a special edition of some NT kernel files, which "implements" the missing DLL entry points, and redirects all other entry points to the actual NT kernel DLL's. Not a simple task - but definately not impossible either. B) Best regards, Gurgelmeyer

netstat -a It doesn't give any PID's though - only listening/active connections (protocol, machine, port). But that's the only built-in command that comes to mind I'm afraid. Check out the links from it_ybd - those proggies got PID's

What do you want to do exactly?

Thanks B) Option Pack Beta is running a bit late - but it's coming along. Just had to adjust the hotfix analyzer for the Update Pack a bit more, so it can auto-correct the UPDATE.INF from the MS URP. If that URP wasn't digitally signed, I wouldn't believe that MS did it - IMHO: it's a mess. Best regards, Gurgelmeyer (working hard )

@FAT64 is right. I've seen this many times - if there isn't a NAT router to "protect" you from the outside world until you've installed a FW (and maybe an AV), your computer can have its first virus in less than a minute. Even if you just boot it up and don't touch it. So: pull the network cable, set up your OS with a firewall, and don't use blank passwords. Best regards Gurgelmeyer

Hi, @JPry565 - Mainstream support (no-charge incident support) for Windows 2000 ends June 30, 2005. Extended support for Windows 2000 ends June 30, 2010. Security hotfixes/updates for Windows 2000 ends March 31, 2010. Service Pack 4 is the last Service Pack for Windows 2000. The Update Rollup will be the last publicly availabe update which fixes any bugs that are not security related. @soldier1st - my Option Pack will require SP3 only. My Update Pack will require SP4. Best, Gurgelmeyer

Thanks a lot

Yes, usually Windows will just renew the lease. But I was wondering if something "got in the way" so to speak. I once had a similar problem, because my desktop firewall wasn't properly configured. It's a long shot - I know

Hi, Time for a quick update on slipstreaming: I think I'm gonna go for the gold here - just spent two days doing a manual "deep slipstream" of the update pack into W2K Pro. This technique involves replacing files in .CAB's, reverse renaming, editing DOSNET/TXTSETUP/SVCPACK and more like this, but I just wanted to check if it could be done - and it could. No hotfix exe's in any svcpack folder, no security catalogs broken - no hacks - just hard work. I'm still checking if any registry updates are necessary (I'm only expecting a few), but this is definately the way I want people to be able to integrate the Update Pack and maybe even the Option Pack. Well - I better finish the IE6 "monster repack" right now. B)

Just a thought: how long is your DHCP lease? It might not be renewed properly. Try typing ipconfig /all from a command prompt and look at the "Lease obtained" and "Lease expired" timestamps. Are those timestamps two hours apart?

Yeah - most of the MS support is in India, and they do speak english with quite an accent - but they are really nice people. Good thing that you got the right hotfix B)

In Win2k you can just run gpedit.msc (Group Policy) - navigate to "User Configuration" -> "Administrative Templates" -> "Windows Components" -> "Internet Explorer" -> "Toolbars"

Fortunately it's a documented problem - check out KB316116, KB323061, and KB325666. You can get the fixes by calling MS - make sure to explicitly ask for the SP1 version of Q316116, which is the one with Admparse.dll 6.0.2800.1284.

Thanks I'm still planning first beta of the Option Pack this month btw B)

Hi - yep it's about time for an update: I've obtained one of the beta versions of the MS URP (thanx to, well you know who you are), and I've been doing some work to prepare to merge the URP with the other hotfixes. Not too tough really, I had to update my UPDATE.INF analyzer/generator since the UPDATE.INF in the URP is slightly more sophisticated than the usual ones. Also I've found two more hotfixes which are now in the Update Pack too, and I'm about to include some bugfixes documented by Microsoft as well (no hotfixes exist for those). About the IE6 package I've got it right now - it installs and uninstalls perfectly without those silly exception packages. It's not final yet, because I haven't manually verified all 6186 registry changes, and a few icons aren't refreshed properly, but I'm getting there. Also fixed a few obvious MS IE6 registry bugs while I were at it - hope you guys don't mind? Btw I have an idea on how to do a more efficient automated slipstream than /integrate usually does - but I haven't tested it myself yet. The thing is, that it's kinda silly to both update the files in the distribution share AND add the entire hotfix just to copy a few extra files and do a few registry changes. But I'll get back to this later B) Best regards, Gurgelmeyer

Hi, SFXCAB's are created only by Microsoft, and there are no tools, no documentation or anything else available to help others create SFXCAB's. The /integrate option btw is passed to UPDATE.EXE, which then examines the UPDATE.INF and does the slipstream - SFXCAB.EXE doesn't do much itself really. /integrate will FAIL if UPDATE.INF is not "signed" - that is, if it does not contain a reference to a Microsoft signed .CAT file with a checksum of the .INF itself. You'll need to "help" UPDATE.EXE overcome this and similar other "shortcomings" just to make it do anything at all btw. Is /integrate the only reason that you want to create SFXCAB's in the first place? Best regards, Gurgelmeyer

... OR: you haven't installed the drivers for the motherboard (I often forget myself) B) - but that's only be necessary for AGP. DX9 works without AGP acceleration too - actually it often works better for me without AGP...

Okay - so it's on msdn.microsoft.com too - I'll buy myself a new brain - must be tired - sry.

Finally found some hardcore reference to .inf's: MICROSOFT DDK INF REFERENCE. I need that to get IE6 right - the Update Pack and the DA + SE packs are still 100% correct btw Just wanted to share this valuable link PS - It's from a DDK (haven't got any of those).

TweakUI 1.33 can do the trick. It's just 1-3 values in the registry, but I don't remember which.

28.238.848 bytes B)

@thundernetbr - Thanx OK, I know ya guys wanna slipstream things - and so do I - so I'll do the slipstreamer when IE6 is repacked. - you'll just have to make do with the english packages I make, however at some point I'll do more languages - that's a promise. Things are going very well btw. Best regards, Gurgelmeyer