Latest Version of Software Running on XP

[UCyborg]

Links to official installers for last XP compatible Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable (version 14.28.29213):

x64 - https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/566435ac-4e1c-434b-b93f-aecc71e8cffc/B75590149FA14B37997C35724BC93776F67E08BFF9BD5A69FACBF41B3846D084/VC_redist.x64.exe

x86 - https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/566435ac-4e1c-434b-b93f-aecc71e8cffc/0D59EC7FDBF05DE813736BF875CEA5C894FFF4769F60E32E87BD48406BBF0A3A/VC_redist.x86.exe

Edit: I reported the post, moderator may delete this, I overlooked they were already posted.

Edited February 27, 2021 by UCyborg

[Dave-H]

I thought the last XP version was 14.28.29812.0?

[UCyborg]

5 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

I thought the last XP version was 14.28.29812.0?

I could try if I find it, they say 14.28.29213 is the last.

[UCyborg]

It's true, 14.28.29213.0 is the last, even on XP x64, newer versions give errors about missing APIs when loaded by applications.

[Dave-H]

I sent you a PM.

[Dave-H]

OK, after testing with @UCyborg I've finally confirmed that version 14.28.29812.0, although it apparently installs fine with no errors, does not in fact work on XP!
14.28.29213.0 is indeed the last XP compatible version.

[VistaLover]

25 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

14.28.29213.0 is indeed the last XP compatible version.

... Yes, this fact was posted already on Feb 6th by @George King , so nothing revolutionary here (no disrespect meant) ...

2 hours ago, UCyborg said:

Links to official installers for last XP compatible Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable (version 14.28.29213):

As you belatedly found out, I posted these already on Feb 6th, but I guess having the last post on a thread's page is a safe bet others will miss noticing it...

33 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

version 14.28.29812.0, although it apparently installs fine with no errors, does not in fact work on XP!

OT, of course, for this thread, but 14.28.29812.0 installs and runs perfectly fine under Vista SP2 32-bit (CPython 3.7.10 x86 launches fine with it, doesn't launch without it! )

Kind regards

[Dave-H]

The error I got when trying to launch Firefox 52.9 ESR using the system runtime with 14.28.29812.0 installed was -

"FIREFOX.EXE - Entry Point Not Found : The procedure entry point CloseThreadpoolWork could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll."

So I guess that entry point is probably there on Vista but not XP. There may well be others of course.

I wish I could remember exactly why I thought that 14.28.29812.0 worked on XP!

[VistaLover]

3 hours ago, Dave-H said:

when trying to launch Firefox 52.9 ESR using the system runtime with 14.28.29812.0 installed

... Does that test imply first deleting the copies of MSVCP140.dll & VCRUNTIME140.dll (v14.0.24210.0) that were originally shipped with FxESR 52?

4 hours ago, Dave-H said:

"... The procedure entry point CloseThreadpoolWork could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll."
So I guess that entry point is probably there on Vista but not XP.

Yes:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/threadpoolapiset/nf-threadpoolapiset-closethreadpoolwork#requirements

Quote

Minimum supported client: Windows Vista [desktop apps | UWP apps]
Library: Kernel32.lib
DLL: Kernel32.dll

[Dave-H]

Yes, on advice from @UCyborg I deleted all the api-ms-win-core-xx.dll files, plus ucrtbase.dll, vcruntime140.dll and msvcp140.dll from the Firefox program folder.

This resulted in the error message when 14.28.29812.0 was installed.

I then uninstalled 14.28.29812.0 and installed 14.28.29213.0, which appeared to work fine, but made no difference!
When I checked I found that the files in system32 were still version 14.28.29812.0, so the uninstall hadn't actually worked at all!
I had to uninstall 14.28.29213.0 again, and then delete all the files manually, and then reinstall 14.28.29213.0 again, after which the files were finally the correct version and the Firefox error message changed to "Can't load XPCOM", which is a different issue. Maybe it does actually need the earlier version that was bundled with it, but at least now it's not an operating system error message.

[VistaLover]

10 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

I then uninstalled 14.28.29812.0 and installed 14.28.29213.0, which appeared to work fine, but made no difference!
When I checked I found that the files in system32 were still version 14.28.29812.0, so the uninstall hadn't actually worked at all!

Did you take care to also restart the machine between uninstallation of 14.28.29812.0 and installation of 14.28.29213.0 ?

14 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

the Firefox error message changed to "Can't load XPCOM", which is a different issue. Maybe it does actually need the earlier version that was bundled with it

Firefox specifically comes with a dependentlibs.list file inside its main appDir, whose content reads:

MSVCP140.dll
api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-string-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll
VCRUNTIME140.dll
api-ms-win-crt-math-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-filesystem-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-environment-l1-1-0.dll
mozglue.dll
api-ms-win-crt-utility-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-time-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-crt-multibyte-l1-1-0.dll
nss3.dll
lgpllibs.dll
api-ms-win-crt-locale-l1-1-0.dll
xul.dll

So, firefox.exe is instructed to forcibly look for these DLLs (12 api-ms-win-crt-*.dll that are part of Windows 10 Universal C Runtime, 2 that are part of VC++2015-2019, 4 that are part of Firefox itself) only there, not in system directories...

If you remove just the Win10UCRT dlls without also removing them from inside dependentlibs.list, then you'll get the "Can't load XPCOM" launch error...

For Vista SP2 and higher, we have KB2999226 (Win10UCRT), so if I modify dependentlibs.list to

MSVCP140.dll
VCRUNTIME140.dll
mozglue.dll
nss3.dll
lgpllibs.dll
xul.dll

... I can launch Firefox without any api-* DLLs present adjacent to it (they are loaded from within system32); likewise, trimming down dependentlibs.list to just:

mozglue.dll
nss3.dll
lgpllibs.dll
xul.dll

will force firefox.exe to look for dependent DLLs (Win10UCRT + VC++) in the system dirs, if they're absent in appDir; if you don't have them installed either, then you'll get the following launch error:

Because KB2999226 doesn't exist for XP, VC_redist.x86.exe does bundle/install these Win10UCRT DLLs under XP...

Are things any clearer now?

[Dave-H]

Yes, that's very clear, thanks.

Anyway, I'm happy that I really have got the last XP version of the runtime now!
I certainly rebooted after installing 14.28.29213.0, but I can't swear that I had also rebooted after uninstalling 14.28.29812.0.
Maybe it needed that to actually uninstall the files, but there was no prompt to that effect.
You would think that even if that was the case the 14.28.29213.0 installer would have just overwritten them, or thrown an error if it couldn't, they didn't seem to be locked when I deleted them manually. Bit of a rubbish install and uninstall system really, everything looked absolutely fine in the Add/Remove programs list!

[gerwin]

This last version of Open Hardware Monitor that I recommend for Windows XP x86:

v0.9.2 Dated 01-03-2020 https://openhardwaremonitor.org/files/openhardwaremonitor-v0.9.2.zip

 

You can forget about these later versions:

v0.9.3 and v0.9.3.1-alpha will run in windows XP but gives me a CPU core no.4 load that is obviously wrong at +90%. Not matching the task manager.

v0.9.3.5-alpha, v0.9.4, v0.9.5 and  v0.9.6 are not Windows XP compatible. Requires .NET Framework version 4.5.

 

 

[Dave-H]

FWIW I use HWiNFO.
The latest version of that still works on Windows 98, believe it or not!

[RainyShadow]

Well, believe it or not, CPU-Z has a Vintage Edition that is still being  updated occasionally