Gurgelmeyer

Ah - I always wondered what FPP was short for - nice links, jazlac B) Anyone knows what the ExtraData in setupp.ini does? Looks like an MD5 to me

Hi, I just had a look at our corporate "Windows XP Professional Volume License Version" CD. The CD label is WXPVOL_EN. Some binaries on the volume license version are different from those on the retail version. Using a retail version CD key to install a volume license version is not possible - nor the other way round. To determine if you hold a volume license version, a retail version, or an OEM version look inside the file i386\setupp.ini. If the Pid=xxxxx270 you hold the volume license version, if Pid=xxxxxOEM it's an OEM, and if Pid=xxxxx000 it's retail. You cannot easily tell for which product a Microsoft CD key works. I have heard about some hacker tools that could do this, but unfortunately there is no documented way to the best of my knowledge. Another thing - for those wondering - Microsoft Office XP/2003 is not like Windows XP. The binaries are identical, and whether or not product activation is required depends entirely on the CD-key. Unless your company has some sort of special ageement with Microsoft, I doubt that you can legally use any volume license version/key at home. B)

Yet another hint: check sysinternals.com and/or winternals.com - they provide some very handy tools for free. B)

PS - If you just need the static dependencies, you'll need the Dependendy Walker. That's not complicated to use, and requires no expert skills

Are we talking messages or API entry points here? If you are a hardcore programmer try looking up the SetWindowsHookEx() function on MSDN. Or write a service that hooks into the NT image loader. Complicated stuff really

IMHO: AP is a "monster" - I'm trying to make somthing that appeals to professional users like myself. Anyway, my Option Pack won't require SP4.

Just a quick update: I got all hotfixes for W2K Professional. Server fixes will just have to wait. Now I'll devote my time to the Option Pack - and when the good Redmonians decide to get their update rollup RTW I'll release the whole thing (again: I don't want to give MS any opportunity to deliberately make their last major update for W2K incompatible with my update). No more chit chat for now - got stuff to do it seems...

I have absolutely no idea what "Preimere" does (apart from crashing?) Okay - I'm out of line here - of course you are 100% right about your actual point: NT/2000/XP/2003 easily survives almost any program crash - 9x usually dies along with the program, or leaves your system unstable.

Really? COOL IE6SP2/WMP10/SR just got back on my to-do list

You are right about that. Adobe software doesn't even run well on my XP.

Well, I did have a very close look at WMP10 once. It appears to use some entry points in KERNEL32.DLL, which are not available in 2k. Two of those entry points seem to be related to WPA-checking, and a third one to obtaining a GeoId (Microsoft could easily have used other API entrypoints to get that info, or at least do a GetProcAddress on it, and skip it if it's unavailable). The sad thing is, that the entrypoints required by WMP10 are not really necessary for the program to operate - they are probably there just to make sure that WMP10 does NOT operate under NT4/2K/9x. Well, so much about WMP10 - I have not examined SR and IE6SP2 yet. They might not have the same ... err.... "requirements". What conserns me the most are actually not so much the technical aspects as the legal aspects of redistributing XP binaries. I don't wanna do anything illegal.

That's a great idea for a project I'll give it a try when I find the time.

Is KB867282 available for 98 at all?

Yes. It's faster and it even looks better. And it hasn't bluescreened on me since SP 1.6.2. I use it professionally because I would have to rewrite TONS of scripts to run on 2000/XP otherwise.

It probably will - this only makes things like Solaris (and even Linux - yuck!) more interesting than ever before. Microsoft should support their products for longer if they want a serious commitment from me. I liked 98SE when it came out, and I don't like it any less just because it's old. Things become "obsolete" all the time, but I actually get better support on 98SE with Gape's SP's than I ever got from Windows Update while 98SE was "supported" by Microsoft.

Goto THIS PAGE and download GURGELSTUFF.ZIP B) Edit: I hope you got it by now, 'cause I'm gonna remove it. Edit: it's gone - so is the link.

Hmmm.... I've obtained a list of the files in the pre-beta version, and it seemed to have most security fixes (the Type1 ones) and only very few hotfixes (I spotted three). Still it's only a pre-beta, and I haven't got it myself, but >90% of all Post-SP4 files (from the individual hotfixes) are not in the Microsoft rollup. If I had it I could probably add it to my own update rollup. Does it have a filename... anyone!?

Windows 2000 SP4 is cumulative. Don't bother with the previous ones

Thanks For W2K Pro the Update is almost complete - it's a matter of collecting only a few more hotfixes. My build process is fully automated - that's what my Hotstream application is for - so adding/removing hotfixes is trivial. But I'm gonna "sit" on the update just a little longer - I need to be sure what's in the upcoming Update Rollup, and that it won't cause problems. Trust me - I am extremly motivated to finish both an Unofficial Post-SP4 Update and an Unofficial Post-SP4 Option Pack B)

Hi, Well, it turned out that the stuff I downloaded was mostly security updates. I got two more updates - but I still miss 30 updates for W2K. Voulenteers wanted I'll get back on the MDAC/DX/IE6/MSXML/NETFW/WMP component issues, one I figure out how to "repack" them as type 1 fixes B)

It's "Franklin Gothic" I believe - found it in a book

Yes - I think it's the same typeface in different weights. I'll have a look around.

Funny quote from the above link: Windows Product Activation is not needed in 64-bit versions of Windows XP. Strange, huh?

There's a nice reskit on my printed 98SE CD. Is there any new stuff on Microsoft's FTP compared to the CD? (I can't connect either btw) Greetings, Gurgelmeyer

Just a thought in case anyone from Microsoft reads this: there are many wizards for transferring files, settings and other things in Windows. Wouldn't it be a wonderful idea with a wizard for backing up the product activation - for instance making a product activation floppy? You could tie the information stored on the floppy to the CPU serial number and the BIOS date, and encrypt it beyond recognition. During installation Setup could provide two options: to enter a new 25-digit product key like usual or to read the license number and WPA info from a floppy. This way you'll still have to activate the first time but never to reactivate. Just a thought