Windows XP System Startup
If you’re looking for a great article on the Windows XP boot process check out The PC Boot Process – Windows XP
Tag Archives: Windows
Can my computer run Vista?
Can your computer run Windows Vista? If you’re trying to find out or need to start budgeting for that video card upgrade try the new Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. It looks like all my computers are out of luck when it comes to Vista. But perhaps you’ll fair better.
According to the Microsoft Vista site, “The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor is a small beta application that you can run on your current Windows XP-based computer to find out if it’s ready for an upgrade to Windows Vista. When you run the Upgrade Advisor, it will scan your computer and generate an easy-to-understand report of any known system and device compatibility issues, along with recommendations on how you can get your PC ready for Windows Vista. Microsoft plans to add functionality to Upgrade Advisor, such as checking how your software applications will run with Windows Vista. Download the beta version today and check this site in a few months for a new version.”
Switches for Windows Update Packages
If you find yourself waiting half an hour for an update such as Service Pack 2 for Windows XP to make the required backup before the installation process actually begins try using the /n switch with the update to indicate that you do not want files backed up. The last time I ran WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe /n I probably saved about 15 minutes. The trade of with using a switch such as /n is that uninstalling the backup now is totally out of question.
For other switches and version information visit the Command-line switches for Windows software update packages
The following lists the command-line switches that are supported by the Update.exe program:
/help – Displays command-line help
/passive – Unattended Setup mode. No user interaction is required, but installation status is displayed. If a restart is required at the end of Setup, a dialog box will be presented to the user with a timer warning that the computer will restart in 30 seconds.
/quiet – Quiet mode – same as unattended mode, but no status or error messages are displayed.
/norestart – Do not restart the computer when the installation is finished.
/warnrestart – Presents a dialog box with a timer warning the user that the computer will restart in x seconds. (Default is 30 sec). Intended for use with either /quiet or /passive switches.
/forcerestart – Restart the computer after installation and force other applications to close at shutdown without saving open files first.
/promptrestart – Presents a dialog box to prompt user to restart if required. Intended for use with /quiet.
/forceappsclose – Forces other programs to close when the computer shuts down.
/nobackup – Do not back up files for uninstall.
/overwriteoem – Overwrite OEM files without prompting.
/integrate:path – Integrates the software updates into the Windows installation source files located at the path specified. Note that :path refers to the folder that contains the i386 folder.
/log:path – Allows user to specify where to create the log file.
/ER – Enable extended error reporting.
/verbose – Enable verbose logging. Creates %Windir%\CabBuild.log upon install that details files to be copied. Using this switch may cause the installation to occur much slower.
/d:path – Specifies a backup directory for Windows Service Pack installation. :path indicates the destination folder for the backup files. The default backup location is %Systemdrive%\$ntservicepackuninstall$.
/extract[:path] – Extracts files without starting Setup. If “:path” is not included, you are prompted for the path of a destination folder to extract the files. If “:path” is used, the files are extracted to the specified destination folder.
/hotpatch:disable – Disables hotpatching functionality, and installs the cold patch only.
The following lists the command-line switches that are supported by the Hotfix.exe program:
/f – Force other programs to quit at shutdown
/l – List installed software updates
/m – Unattended mode
/n – Do not back up files for uninstallation
/q – Quiet mode – no user interaction required
/y – Perform uninstallation (must be used with /m or /q)
/z – Do not restart the computer after the installation
All XP Drivers on CD
DriverPacks is a project to provide all XP drivers slipstreamed onto a single CD. There are currently 8 DriverPacks available for download:
- DriverPack Chipset
- DriverPack CPU
- DriverPack Graphics
- DriverPack LAN
- DriverPack MassStorage
- DriverPack Sound
- DriverPack WLAN
Related Links:
Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP
Earlier this week I was trying to install the Office 2007 Technical Refresh in preparation for further beta testing and started looking around for a way to mount the 1 GB .iso file as a virtual disk. Hat tip to Donny Mack for pointing out the Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP. From Donny’s blog:
Mounting ISO Files Virtually
The following tool for Windows XP allows image files to be mounted virtually as CD-ROM devices. This tool is provided here for your convenience, and is unsupported by Microsoft Product Support Services.
You have no idea how much time this saved me.
The application has failed to start because wininet.dll was not found
Earlier this afternoon I had to help a student with a typical spyware/ virus issue. At least that’s what I initially thought the service call would entail. Boy was I wrong. The problems started with the error message “The application has failed to start because wininet.dll was not found” and led to the Task Manager not loading and various Windows XP services not loading.
To work around this problem I had to find a copy of WinInet.dll (The file contains components for Internet related operations) and then re-register the file to ensure that Windows XP would recognize the new file.
Below is a summary of the steps I took to resolve the problem:
1) Download WinInet.dll from an online source or computer. Thanks to the wonderful service of Dll-files, I was able to find a compressed version of WinInet.dll However, part of the problem is that the shell extensions for Compressed Folders was also disabled.
2) From another computer I extracted the WinInet.dll file and then saved the file to an external disk. The extracted WinInet.dll file was then copied to \Windows\System32\
3) Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and select Task Manager.
4) Click on File and then on New Task and then type regsvr32 C:\Windows\System32\WinInet.dll
After running the above steps I was able to restart the computer. Obviously, the above error was caused by some variant of spyware. After further research the problem appears to be fairly common and various removal tools such as SmitRem can help with the removal of the spyware and also replace the WinInet.dll file.
Removing Internet Explorer Beta 2 Preview
To uninstall Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview or Internet Explorer Beta 1, follow the steps listed below:
- Click on Start, and then click on Control Panel
- Click on Add or Remove Programs
- Check Show Updates. (This is a small checkbox located at the top of the Add or Remove Programs box)
- Select Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview or Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 which is located under Windows XP – Software Updates
- Click Change/ Remove
Thanks to the Frequently Asked Questions for the IE7 Beta 2 Preview, if Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview does not exist follow the steps listed below to remove IE7 Beta 2:
- Click on Run
- Type %windir%\$NtUninstallie7bet2p$\spuninst\spuninst.exe (You need to be able to view hidden folders)
- Click OK
Windows Update Keeps Turning Off
This post is a simple reminder to Don to start blogging. Earlier this week a student had asked for advice on how to prevent Windows Update from turning off. I asked the student to run Microsoft Antispyware and call back, hoping that this would give me enough time to research the issue ( a.k.a Google the solution ). Spyware detection programs like Spybot are now able to detect if services in the Windows Security Center are turned off and can effectly re-enable the service. It turns out that the student decided to stop by in person and was able to obtain the LSP-Fix tool from Don. After running the LSP-Fix the problem appears to be resolved.
What’s weird to me is that the LSP-Fix typically resolves problems with the Layered Service Provider. Enabling Windows Update is a simple registry switch controlled by the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU key. Infact, LSP integrates with the TCP/ IP stack to manipulate data sent across it, so how can running the LSP-Fix tool resolve this problem?
Related Links:
How to configure automatic updates by using Group Policy or registry settings
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