[WIP] Windows Vista Extended Kernel

[winvispixp]

11 hours ago, Jakob99 said:

and steam are in my osver.ini file

what version of steam? could you share that with us?

[Vistapocalypse]

15 hours ago, TSNH said:

Currently I use 4.6.1 (officially supported on Server 2008), but 4.6.2 is stable too. Most modern programs still support those versions.

I was almost certain that .NET 4.6.0 was the last to officially support Server 2008 SP2, but I just looked it up and and a Microsoft document now shows 4.6.2 as supported!? (But it neglects to mention 4.6.1 in connection with 2008 SP2, so quite possibly an error. This is near the bottom of https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements .) Special procedures are were required to install 4.6.2 or above on Vista. Edit: Subsequent posts reveal that installing 4.6.2 is no longer a problem, assuming that SHA-2 support has been installed. Btw updates for 4.6.1 and earlier are supposed to end on April 26.

Edited November 7, 2021 by Vistapocalypse
You live and learn.

[TSNH]

1 hour ago, TSNH said:

I tried to run Windows 8 task manager (much better that Vista/7 one) on Windows Vista with extended kernel and got this error:

 

I solved it by following this guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/6gajcs/fix_for_activation_context_generation_failed_the/

Here is my exported registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SMI\WinSxS Settings\amd64_microsoft-windows-settings_31bf3856ad364e35_none_5e7b0013834d1c8b\6.0.6000.16386\Settings]
"disableTheming"="xsd:string"
"dpiAware"="xsd:string"
"autoElevate"="xsd:string"

Note that numbers in the path might be different for you.

Many dependences are still missing:

user32.dll: CreateWindowInBand, GetCurrentImputMessageSource, GetWindowBand

and there are tons of missing API-MS-WIN-CORE files:

Edited November 7, 2021 by TSNH

[VistaLover]

1 hour ago, Vistapocalypse said:

.NET 4.6.0 was the last to officially support Server 2008 SP2, but I just looked it up
and a Microsoft document now shows 4.6.2 as supported!?
(removed for brevity)
Special procedures are required to install 4.6.2 or above on Vista.

I was intrigued by your report , so I connected an external HDD in which I had archived a copy of
NDP462-KB3151800-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe
originally downloaded Sep 14th 2016; that off-line installer was dual-signed (SHA1+SHA2) on July 15th 2016;
running that installer now, after file extraction, generates the familiar error below:

I closed that installation attempt and then went to
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-framework/thank-you/net462-offline-installer
Direct link is 
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2099468

The latter fetched file
ndp462-kb3151800-x86-x64-allos-enu.exe
(in small letters this time ) which is only SHA-2 signed on May 1st 2021;
my Vista SP2 32-bit system has SHA-2 support installed, so when I ran that second off-line installer, and after file extraction (takes a few seconds, because it scans ALL your drives to choose the one with maximum FREE disk space), I was, surprisingly, presented with:

Now, I didn't click Install to go on with the 4.6.2 installation, because I wasn't yet ready to part with my existing, perfectly working, 4.6.1 setup... Perhaps the 4.6.2 installation would have aborted at a later stage, or perhaps NOT... The thing is the updated .NF462 setup doesn't immediately barf when it detects NT6.0; another kind soul with Vista SP2 in a VM could try that new installer to explore whether it "requires special procedures" to complete the installation... 

FWIW, since this revised setup targets WS2008SP2, I expect it would require a special minimum set of WS2008SP2 updates to be present in your Vista SP2 image...

[TSNH]

1 hour ago, VistaLover said:

I was intrigued by your report , so I connected an external HDD in which I had archived a copy of
NDP462-KB3151800-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe
originally downloaded Sep 14th 2016; that off-line installer was dual-signed (SHA1+SHA2) on July 15th 2016;
running that installer now, after file extraction, generates the familiar error below:

I closed that installation attempt and then went to
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-framework/thank-you/net462-offline-installer
Direct link is 
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2099468

The latter fetched file
ndp462-kb3151800-x86-x64-allos-enu.exe
(in small letters this time ) which is only SHA-2 signed on May 1st 2021;
my Vista SP2 32-bit system has SHA-2 support installed, so when I ran that second off-line installer, and after file extraction (takes a few seconds, because it scans ALL your drives to choose the one with maximum FREE disk space), I was, surprisingly, presented with:

Now, I didn't click Install to go on with the 4.6.2 installation, because I wasn't yet ready to part with my existing, perfectly working, 4.6.1 setup... Perhaps the 4.6.2 installation would have aborted at a later stage, or perhaps NOT... The thing is the updated .NF462 setup doesn't immediately barf when it detects NT6.0; another kind soul with Vista SP2 in a VM could try that new installer to explore whether it "requires special procedures" to complete the installation... 

FWIW, since this revised setup targets WS2008SP2, I expect it would require a special minimum set of WS2008SP2 updates to be present in your Vista SP2 image...

I can confirm everything that you are saying. First I tried with my old .NET 4.6.2 offline setup that was signed on 15.07.2016 with both SHA-1 and 256 and I got the "unsupported OS" error. Than i downloaded a new installer from Microsoft, and it worked!

I'm going to try 4.7.2 next

 

[winvispixp]

2 hours ago, VistaLover said:

Now, I didn't click Install to go on with the 4.6.2 installation, because I wasn't yet ready to part with my existing, perfectly working, 4.6.1 setup... Perhaps the 4.6.2 installation would have aborted at a later stage, or perhaps NOT... The thing is the updated .NF462 setup doesn't immediately barf when it detects NT6.0; another kind soul with Vista SP2 in a VM could try that new installer to explore whether it "requires special procedures" to complete the installation... 

It does install successfully

I have the latest ex. kernel installed on the machine and all the updates that are required

However I don't have any apps installed that use it so you can suggest some

4 hours ago, Vistapocalypse said:

I was almost certain that .NET 4.6.0 was the last to officially support Server 2008 SP2, but I just looked it up and and a Microsoft document now shows 4.6.2 as supported!? (But it neglects to mention 4.6.1 in connection with 2008 SP2, so quite possibly an error. This is near the bottom of https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements .) Special procedures are required to install 4.6.2 or above on Vista.

Check the bottom of this page https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/the-net-framework-4-6-2-offline-installer-for-windows-9dce3874-a9e5-9b11-289d-5594824aafe0

I thought the last version for server 2008 sp2 was 4.6.1

[TSNH]

6 minutes ago, TSNH said:

I'm going to try 4.7.2 next

It didn't work with 4.7.2 so I think Microsoft changed the system requirements on purpose.

Updates that i had installed: all Vista updates till 2017 + KB4019478 - D3Dcompiler-x64 + SHA-2 updates KB4039648-v2,KB4493730, KB4474419 + Extended Kernel

The "4.6.2" text next to "Server 2008 SP2" was added quite recently:

http://web.archive.org/web/20210506200116/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements

http://web.archive.org/web/20211006034517/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by TSNH

[VistaLover]

1 hour ago, winvispixp said:

I don't have any apps installed that use it so you can suggest some

https://github.com/ShareX/ShareX/releases/tag/v13.0.1

default ShareX.exe.config file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <startup>
    <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.6.2" />
  </startup>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <probing privatePath="Languages" />
    </assemblyBinding>
    <AppContextSwitchOverrides value="Switch.UseLegacyAccessibilityFeatures=false;Switch.UseLegacyAccessibilityFeatures.2=false" />
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-12.0.0.0" newVersion="12.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>
  <uri>
    <idn enabled="All" />
    <iriParsing enabled="true" />
  </uri>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing" value="true" />
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

[Vistapocalypse]

3 hours ago, TSNH said:

The "4.6.2" text next to "Server 2008 SP2" was added quite recently:

http://web.archive.org/web/20210506200116/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements

Microsoft must have decided that ESU customers running 2008 SP2 deserve to have a supported .NET version after April 26, 2022.  (Looks like I was formerly correct that 4.6.0 was the last officially supported version.) Thanks to all who have investigated this interesting development! 

[VistaLover]

5 hours ago, TSNH said:

I can confirm everything that you are saying.
(snipped)
i downloaded a new installer from Microsoft, and it worked!

5 hours ago, winvispixp said:

It does install successfully

Thank you both for testing and confirming

5 hours ago, TSNH said:

The "4.6.2" text next to "Server 2008 SP2" was added quite recently:

http://web.archive.org/web/20210506200116/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements

http://web.archive.org/web/20211006034517/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements

... Consistent with the digital SHA-2 signature date (2021-05-01) of the revised 4.6.2 setup; the page must've been edited soon after May 6th...

10 hours ago, Vistapocalypse said:

(But it neglects to mention 4.6.1 in connection with 2008 SP2, so quite possibly an error.

1 hour ago, Vistapocalypse said:

Microsoft must have decided that ESU customers running 2008 SP2 deserve to have a supported .NET version after April 26, 2022.  (Looks like I was formerly correct that 4.6.0 was the last officially supported version.)

Bingo! It's all clear now...
The ESU plan for WS2008SP2 ends in Jan 2023, however security updates support for officially sanctioned .NET FW 4.6 will end, as said, in late Apr 2022; that would've created a period of ca. 9 months, during which installed 4.6 would have stayed unpatched...
Possibly due to technical reasons, M$ deemed it easier to patch 4.6.2 (still supported past Apr 2022) to also install under WS2008SP2, rather than modify and offer 4.7.x (or higher) to existing WS2008SP2 ESU customers...
And the omission of 4.6.1 from the linked article isn't an error; we already know that 4.6.1 installs successfully under NT 6.0, but it was never officially supported (as in via MU) there ; M$'s plan is to migrate WS2008SP2 ESU paying customers from 4.6 directly to 4.6.2 before/soon after Apr 2022 (till Jan 2023, when ESU ends); since 4.6.1 EOLs at the same time as 4.6, no reason for M$ to even mention it in that scenario...

But another thing bugs me now: How is the revised (2021) 4.6.2 setup different internally to the first (2016) release? Does it embed ALL security updates issued for 4.6.2 from Jul 2016 to May 2021? File sizes are almost identical, so this fact isn't revealing anything ... Of course, MU would never work for 4.6.2 under Vista SP2, still, one has to know what updates to download manually from MUC; and then there's the "problem"/grey area of installing from local files ESU .NET FW 4.6.x updates...

In any case, I understand this is the Windows Vista Extended Kernel thread, so I'm party responsible for (slightly?) derailing it ; however, this is info important to the broader Vista Community, so if the mods decide it should be better placed elsewhere (info = series of recent posts about .NET FW 4.6.2/Vista | WS2008), feel free to do so...

Edited November 8, 2021 by VistaLover

[Jakob99]

11 hours ago, winvispixp said:

what version of steam? could you share that with us?

Here it is in the image below.

[D.Draker]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:03 AM, Vistapocalypse said:

The extended kernel does not require KB4493471 that you say caused a BSOD that once affected many Avast/AVG users, however it does require KB4474419.

Says who ? Did you try to do it yourself ? I tried , it works , because all needed files are already inside , ask win32 to open it and check. I shall tell you more , I tried to install Nvidia HD driver from 2021 and Vista said it is not signed , but right after I installed the aforementioned update , it let me proceed with the installation ! So it includes SHA2 too ?! (I'm not sure , I'm just guessing here). So don't go attacking me again , please . I only write about my personal experiences , and I don't understand why some new member is allowed to post whatever he wants and you don't have anything against  it , but with me you call it "fake news" ? Also , I'm sorry, I forgot to incude quotes in some previous post , will you forgive me please , OK ? 

[TSNH]

14 minutes ago, D.Draker said:

Says who ? Did you try to do it yourself ? I tried , it works , because all needed files are already inside , ask win32 to open it and check. I shall tell you more , I tried to install Nvidia HD driver from 2021 and Vista said it is not signed , but right after I installed the aforementioned update , it let me proceed with the installation ! So it includes SHA2 too ?! (I'm not sure , I'm just guessing here). So don't go attacking me again , please . I only write about my personal experiences , and I don't understand why some new member is allowed to post whatever he wants and you don't have anything against  it , but with me you call it "fake news" ? Also , I'm sorry, I forgot to incude quotes in some previous post , will you forgive me please , OK ? 

To avoid making Service Pack 3 for Server 2008, Microsoft was repeatedly putting those updated 6003 files in every bigger update they released. As extended kernel requires 6003 system files, not a security fix of a single update, almost any monthly rollup (or just bigger update) released around September 2019 will allow you to install the Extended Kernel (SHA-2 support might be needed too, but I'm not sure)

Edited November 8, 2021 by TSNH

[Vistapocalypse]

10 hours ago, D.Draker said:

...I don't understand why some new member is allowed to post whatever he wants and you don't have anything against  it , but with me you call it "fake news" ?

Is this a kindergarten now? It was your friend Dixel who introduced the term “fake news” into this thread. I agreed with him, and you had no objections, so it must be some other new member who you now think is “teacher’s pet.” I simply dislike implausible posts, but I will try harder to disregard yours in the future.

[burd]

On 11/7/2021 at 8:49 PM, Vistapocalypse said:

I was almost certain that .NET 4.6.0 was the last to officially support Server 2008 SP2, but I just looked it up and and a Microsoft document now shows 4.6.2 as supported!? (But it neglects to mention 4.6.1 in connection with 2008 SP2, so quite possibly an error. This is near the bottom of https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/get-started/system-requirements .) Special procedures are were required to install 4.6.2 or above on Vista. Edit: Subsequent posts reveal that installing 4.6.2 is no longer a problem, assuming that SHA-2 support has been installed. Btw updates for 4.6.1 and earlier are supposed to end on April 26.

Yes i saw this too but never posted about it here. It had to be done in my case to keep getting updates for net framework through WU. With 4.6.1 installed it wouldn't find updates anymore, i also noted that updates for net framework only stated 4.6.0 and 4.6.2 unlike before where it showed 4.6.1 aswell. Glad to see you mentioning it here eitherway.

Edited November 9, 2021 by burd