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Unofficial SP 5.2 for Microsoft Windows 2000 (WIP)


tomasz86

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On 7/10/2016 at 11:08 AM, tomasz86 said:

I have just updated my website.

This is a very important update as I have finally replaced all general M$ Update Catalog links with direct URLs to the files (for all languages). This way they can be downloaded quickly with any browser and the Wayback Machine will be able to archive them too. One problem is that with all these links the website has been quickly gaining weight :(. While I am trying to do as much as much as possible to keep the load time and performance good, it may still work slower than before. Just let me know if there are any problems.

Now I am going to do the same with all the hotfixes and replace their links with direct URLs too. It is unknown for how long M$ is planning to keep the hotfix download infrastructure working...

It is great update! I think the direct-link catalog updates are great!

The site is a bit slowed down, but it can be fixed. Also, the load times aren't that bad. :)

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5 hours ago, LightAlpha263 said:

It is great update! I think the direct-link catalog updates are great!

The site is a bit slowed down, but it can be fixed. Also, the load times aren't that bad. :)

The HTML file itself is actually not that big when downloaded (just 200KB) as long as gzip is enabled (which will be unless you are either using an ancient browser or some kind of proxy or a security software that blocks it). I think the problem lies in rendering of the content which consists mainly of many lists (like the language files and lists of files for each update, etc.) that are nested in tables. All of this likely requires a lot of CPU power to render the site.

I always try to test the site in different browsers. From my observation, it performs very nicely in Chrome, decently in IE and surprisingly well in the old Opera 12 too. However, Firefox (and all other Gecko based browsers) seems to be struggling with rendering so much that it even bogs the whole system down for a few seconds :/ I also have an old Android phone (Nexus S) where I check the site and even there it is not that bad (loads in less than 5s) when using the default system browser but if I try to use Firefox on the phone then it is over - you have to wait at least 10-15s for the site to even start showing up on screen. Of course I am talking about the Updates page as the other pages are very lightweight. Right now I myself almost never use Firefox to browse the updates lists because it is so slow (despite it being my main browser -_-).

The problem is that the situation will be getting worse and worse as I keep converting more and more updates to direct links. At the moment I am thinking of hiding and displaying each table on demand as doing so should at least speed up the page initial load. I may also simplify the HTML markup a little bit. The ultimate solution would be to implement some kind of automatic pagination of the content but this is both beyond my skills and would also require a much more complicated infrastructure to work.

Edited by tomasz86
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Dear Tomasz86,

Thanks for your efforts for Windows 2000 developing.  Your site is awesome.

Can I have a question for .net Framework environment?

Now my system is still in Windows 2000 SP4 but now my boss asks me to have .net Framework 3.5 environment for ERP connector.

Should I use 20141114_NETFX101120303540 directly or I need other patches such as UURollup-v10d-x86-ENU?

Besides, please take care of yourself.  Health is so important for everyone.

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3 hours ago, Jordan Hung said:

Dear Tomasz86,

Thanks for your efforts for Windows 2000 developing.  Your site is awesome.

Can I have a question for .net Framework environment?

Now my system is still in Windows 2000 SP4 but now my boss asks me to have .net Framework 3.5 environment for ERP connector.

Should I use 20141114_NETFX101120303540 directly or I need other patches such as UURollup-v10d-x86-ENU?

Besides, please take care of yourself.  Health is so important for everyone.

You definitely need to have the unofficial kernel installed before using the .NET Framework combined installer because the .NET 3.5 and 4.0 components will not install and work properly without it.

At the moment I usually recommend going for the BlackWingCat's kernel instead of UURollup because it is much newer. However, in your case (a business setting) it may be actually better to go safe and try installing UURollup-v10 first as the package is stable and less intrusive for the system comparing to the newer ones. Please remember though that UURollup requires a fully updated system meaning SP4, IE6SP1, Update Rollup 1 and all other official updates released between 2005-2010. I also highly recommend doing a full system backup before installing any of the unofficial packages.

You should also take into account that some .NET 3.5/4.0 features may still not function in Windows 2000 even with the unofficial kernel but you will never know for sure before experimenting with it yourself.

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I have found a way to construct direct URLs to hotfixes without actually requesting them through the M$ website!

First of all, the basic Windows 2000 hotfix URL scheme is

http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows 2000/sp5/filename/2195/free/fixid_langcode_i386_zip.exe

There are three important values here: "filename", "fixid" and "langcode". The "filename" differs for each hotfix while the "fixid" differs for each language within that hotfix. The "langcode" goes together with the "fixid".

To give a simple example, let us have a look at 820227. Open the request webpage and then view its source code in your browser (usually available in the right click menu). Then search for "hfList". You will find a long list of values for each operating system, language, etc. the hotfix is available for. In order to create a direct link for the ENU version of 820227 you need to find this part:

fixid:'132359',product:'Windows 2000',language:'English',langcode:'ENU',platform:'i386',release:'sp5',filename:'PKG46402'

out of which you only need

fixid:'132359',langcode:'ENU',filename:'PKG46402'

which you can copy and paste to the original link which now becomes

http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows 2000/sp5/PKG46402/2195/free/132359_ENU_i386_zip.exe

This is all there is to it. The link actually works and is identical to the one you will (should? maybe may if you are lucky...) get in the e-mail sent by M$ (which I cannot receive for some reason). The only other value you may need to change in the URL is the "sp5" which will be different in case the hotfix is older than SP4. Otherwise you only need to look for the three values mentioned above and leave the rest intact. I do not know if anyone will find this information useful but it will definitely help myself grab all the direct links without dealing with the buggy hotfix requesting process.

Edited by tomasz86
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Really clever! This will help to archive/preserve hotfixes as I'm sure that MS will prevent older hotfixes from downloading correctly as they remove the files from their servers, but they will definitely shutdown the hotfix download system for Windows XP and earlier first before removing said files.

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Another big update to my site! :)

I have replaced most of the hotfix URLs with direct links (check the changelog for the list). I have also simplified the code (but only just a little bit) and fixed some cosmetic / visual issues.

Now the site has really become heavy... :( It will load slowly so please be patient... :( The problem is not to download the site (~ 250KB with gzip) but to render the HTML. Strangely enough the old Opera 12 seems to be the fastest when it comes to rendering large tables with a lot of content, and Firefox seems to be the worst. I am going to work on the performance once I finish replacing the remaining non-direct URLs.

Edited by tomasz86
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On 7/17/2016 at 0:02 PM, tomasz86 said:

Another big update to my site! :)

I have replaced most of the hotfix URLs with direct links (check the changelog for the list). I have also simplified the code (but only just a little bit) and fixed some cosmetic / visual issues.

Now the site has really become heavy... :( It will load slowly so please be patient... :( The problem is not to download the site (~ 250KB with gzip) but to render the HTML. Strangely enough the old Opera 12 seems to be the fastest when it comes to rendering large tables with a lot of content, and Firefox seems to be the worst. I am going to work on the performance once I finish replacing the remaining non-direct URLs.

The update is good, the slowness can be fixed. Perhaps try redirect links right on the site, for example, http://windows2000.tk/kb941569.html would be a an automatic redirect to http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/windows2000-kb941569-x86-enu_5b6495e0873468c8c65fa635992ac3e9cfd7dbd5.exe, the whole point being the redirect link would be much smaller than the direct link. Without tracking the IP/History/Personal info (like automatic redirect links usually do).

Edited by LightAlpha263
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I have updated my website again!

All hotfixes should now be available to download through direct links! There are still a few normal updates with indirect links left which I am going to change in the near future but all the rest is direct now :). There are a few other changes too so please check the changelog.

I have also been experimenting with the rendering. You may see a blank screen for a few seconds when loading the Updates Lists page but the whole page should be loaded quicker than before, especially in browsers such as Chrome, IE and the old Opera 12. On the other hand, the situation is still very bad in Firefox, and quite slow on mobile too :}. The site is downloaded pretty quickly but requires a lot of CPU power to render.

PS I have uploaded a new HFSLIP-FullPack archive too!

On 2016. 7. 23. at 5:19 AM, LightAlpha263 said:

The update is good, the slowness can be fixed. Perhaps try redirect links right on the site, for example, http://windows2000.tk/kb941569.html would be a an automatic redirect to http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/windows2000-kb941569-x86-enu_5b6495e0873468c8c65fa635992ac3e9cfd7dbd5.exe, the whole point being the redirect link would be much smaller than the direct link. Without tracking the IP/History/Personal info (like automatic redirect links usually do).

Unfortunately, redirecting is not possible as the site is completely static so I can only rely on basic HTML, CSS and JS.

Edited by tomasz86
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3 hours ago, tomasz86 said:

PS I have uploaded a new HFSLIP-FullPack archive too!

Neat! Is there a changelog somewhere?

You have done an excellent job with your site!

c

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7 hours ago, cc333 said:

Neat! Is there a changelog somewhere?

You have done an excellent job with your site!

c

I am happy that you like it :) I hope I will be able to find an easy way to solve the performance issues without having to e.g. split the tables into multiple pages, etc.

As far as the HFSLIP-FullPack is concerned, at the moment it has been strictly following all the changes made to the site itself. I always try to update the package simultaneously so you just need to check the change log on the website for everything. In case of the current release, I only added the hotfix (listed in the change log) that could not previously be slipstreamed.

My plans for now are to change all the remaining indirect URLs to direct links. I am also considering adding (actually re-adding) the .NET Framework 1.1 and 2.0 addons created by OnePiece. Although these are unofficial updates in a strict sense, what they really are are just official M$ installers and updates repacked and merged together, i.e. the files themselves are unmodified. My .NET Framework combined installer is a completely different story as 1) it is not an addon but rather an SFXCAB archive, 2) it cannot be slipstreamed, and 3) it requires the BWC kernel to work. On the other hand, the OnePiece's addons are intended for Windows 2000 and do not require any unofficial modifications to work. Apart from these addons, there are also a few other unofficial updates which simply install official M$ files that are otherwise not available for Windows 2000, and I am considering (re)adding those to the lists too.

As far as the other unofficial packages go, and especially the packages which overwrite original system files with unofficially modified versions, they are covered by UURollup and/or the BWC kernel so I have no plans to (re)add them to the updates lists. I hope I will manage to update the UURollup itself later.

I also really need to have a look at the newly released XP POSReady updates as I am sure that some of them can be applied to 2000 too.

Edited by tomasz86
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On martedì 26 luglio 2016 at 4:36 AM, Dibya said:

@tomasz86

Hi i am trying to fix newer wic files (From win7 platform update).

what about adding it to hsslip package of yours?

Dibya, sonny ;), with all due respect :), it would IMNSHO be appreciated if you first fix them "wic files" (whatever they are), then you test them thoroughly, then you publish them yourself, then a few reputable members might want to test them and finally - if they are reported working - they could be added to a hfslip package.

All these years tomasz86 has provided extremely reliable and tested/verified packages, most of the users liked them. let's not change this tradition, adding to them untested or unverified files, OK? :unsure:

Seriously, now, do you have them fixed or not?

Have you already tested them (remember, thoroughly)?

Are they ready for publication or - at the very least - in a Beta stage? :dubbio:

jaclaz




 

Edited by jaclaz
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I have recently set up a file server on Windows 2000 Advanced Server. The machine is an old Dell PowerEdge from around 2003. I installed the OS initially with an official disk. I installed the drivers. I then created an slipstream disk via a (slightly) older version of the HFSLIP2000 full pack. I then 'non-destructive' (I used a slightly different method) reinstalled through that and then installed the latest UUR. All seemed well until took my primary external HDD from my router and plugged it into the server. It installed the device, but it didn't show in "My Computer". I went to Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) and saw that the driver was "unreadable". I plugged the drive into my Windows 7 Home Premium x64 laptop and the drive worked fine. I then plugged it back into the router and it still worked.

The drive did say it was only 'compatible' with versions of Windows 7 and above, though initially I thought it was that since the HDD was 5TB and Windows 2000 isn't compatible with GPT, only MBR, which I converted the drive to earlier on limiting it's space to 2TB but getting it to work with my router (which since we changed routers, it might have worked with GPT, I don't know and I don't wanna risk reconverting).
 

So, is the drive incompatible due to a larger amount of space than Windows 2000 can handle (even with the unofficial updates)? Or is it a problem with the USB ports on the computer (I tried multiple ports, the drive is USB3 but the ports may be USB2 or hopefully not 1)? What else could it be?

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On 7/27/2016 at 3:41 PM, jaclaz said:

Dibya, sonny ;), with all due respect :), it would IMNSHO be appreciated if you first fix them "wic files" (whatever they are), then you test them thoroughly, then you publish them yourself, then a few reputable members might want to test them and finally - if they are reported working - they could be added to a hfslip package.

All these years tomasz86 has provided extremely reliable and tested/verified packages, most of the users liked them. let's not change this tradition, adding to them untested or unverified files, OK? :unsure:

Seriously, now, do you have them fixed or not?

Have you already tested them (remember, thoroughly)?

Are they ready for publication or - at the very least - in a Beta stage? :dubbio:

jaclaz




 

Tested under XP . It has some glitch . i should try to fix it.

when it will be ready, isn't it better to have a true add-on for slipstreaming?

thanks, Jaclaz

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