Maximum PC XP SP3 RSS Feed

Some Windows 7 Editions to Offer Free Virtualized Windows XP [Support!] - Updated

Mark Edward Soper — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:13:29 -0500

Once Windows 7 ships, Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate edition users will be able to download a free Windows XP Mode upgrade from Microsoft, WinSuperSite's Paul Thurrott reports. What Thurrott calls XP Mode will enable these versions of Windows 7 to be almost perfectly compatible with Windows XP applications. Essentially, Windows 7 will have "Windows XP inside" when XP Mode is installed.

What is XP Mode? Officially known as Virtual Windows XP, it combines a hardware-accelerated host virtualizer based on Virtual PC with a fully licensed copy of Windows XP Professional SP3 which the user must supply [updated 4-29-09]. While, at first glance, this might sound like little more than a more convenient replacement for downloading a copy of Virtual PC 2007 and scrounging up a Windows XP Pro disc and license from a dead PC, there's a lot more to Virtual Windows XP.

As the WinSuperSite screenshow reveals, Virtual Windows XP will be able to share your system's USB drives, and when you install apps to Virtual Windows XP, your Windows 7 menu will automatically be updated with shortcuts, enabling you to run Windows XP programs in separate virtualized windows on your desktop. Although the virtualizer used by Virtual Windows XP is a host-based virtualizer, these features put it miles ahead in usability compared to Virtual PC 2007 plus Windows XP. And, because Virtual Windows XP's virtualizer requires hardware virtualization support, it won't bog down your system the way an unaccelerated virtualization host will do.

Any catches? Unless Microsoft changes its mind between now and when Windows 7 is released, it looks as if most home users who want a fast virtualized Windows XP running on Windows 7 will need to pony up for an upgrade to Windows 7 Professional. The good news is that Windows 7 Professional includes all of the multimedia goodness of Home Premium plus essential business features.

The second possible catch is the need for hardware virtualization support. Make sure your system includes a processor with hardware virtualization support. The Core i7 family includes VT-x hardware virtualization, but support in other processor families is spotty, and the low-end Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron processors don't support VT-x at all. Over on the AMD side, current versions of the Turion 64, Phenom, and some older Athlon 64 and X2 processors include AMD-V hardware virtualization.

If you've been on the fence about moving your personal or business PCs to Windows 7, how does Virtual Windows XP change the picture for you? Hit Comment and sound off!

Update 4-29-09: For more information, see our latest story http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/more_about_xp_mode_windows_7.

Hotfix Here for Vanishing Device Manager and Network Connection After XP SP3 Upgrade

Mark Edward Soper — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:53:57 -0500

What happens if you blow off Microsoft's advice to disable antivirus applications before upgrading Windows XP to SP3? If you're lucky - nothing. If you're not lucky, you might not be able to finish the installation, or if it finished, you might have a system with an empty Device Manager listing and/or an empty Network Connections listing.

Hey, What Happened?

According to KB953979, this happens when the Fixccs.exe process, which creates and then cleans up temporary registry keys during the upgrade, can't remove some registry keys because an antivirus program says, "U can't touch this". The entries aren't actually missing from Device Manager and Network Connections - but if you can't see them, you can't touch them, either.

Many reports fingered Norton Antivirus as the cause, but it can happen with other antivirus programs if they're running during the upgrade process.

Hey, How Do I Fix This?

Microsoft provides a downloadable hotfix at KB953979, or you can click here and get it immediately. The hotfix is only for XP SP3.

If you still have XP SP2, follow the advice in KB949377 and in our comprehensive coverage of XP SP3 installation problems and solutions - and have a good upgrade!

Image courtesy Techmixer.com

XP SP3 Installation Woes? More Light on Redmond's Top Reasons - And Solutions

Mark Soper — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:56:11 -0500

Most Windows XP users are sailing easily through SP3 updates, but there are always some exceptions. That shouldn't surprise anyone, since Windows XP can be run on an unfathomable number of hardware and software configurations. Fortunately, the XP team in Redmond's been keeping track of what's going wrong. Here's a roundup of what they found out.

Super Six Solutions to "STATUS_PREREQUISITE_FAILED" Error

If you can't install Windows XP SP3 and the service pack installation log (typical location: C:\Windows\svcpack.log) lists an 8007F0F4 - STATUS_PREREQUISITE_FAILED error along with additional information, there are six causes - and, thankfully, six solutions.

1. If your laptop is on battery power, plug it in. You cannot install XP SP3 on a system that is not running on AC power. If you see this message on a desktop system connected to a UPS, check to make sure the UPS is properly switching back to AC power after a power outage. You might also discover that the AC wall outlet the UPS is plugged into has failed or is unreliable.

2. If your computer has the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP installed, you must uninstall it before installing SP3. The Shared Computer Toolkit was designed to preserve the configuration of a shared computer in lab, school or cybercafe-type environments. Although it's no longer available, it's been replaced by Windows SteadyState.

3. If your computer's running the KB 925877 update (which includes the Multilingual User Interface Pack for Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 [Terminal Services 6.0], you must uninstall it before you can upgrade to SP3. If you can't uninstall it, see this newsgroup thread for help.

4. Windows XP SP3 will not install over the Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs (aka WinFLP) operating system, a stripped-down version of Windows XP SP2 made for older systems running Terminal Services or third-party clients. Never heard of it? Unless your company has Microsoft Software Assurance and uses various client apps on older PCs, you'll probably never see it.

5. Windows XP SP3 will not install over the Windows Embedded for Point of Service (aka WEPOS) operating system, another stripped-down version of Windows XP SP2, but optimized for retail POS systems. If you fall into categories 4 or 5, Microsoft promises that there will be a specific version of SP3 for these operating systems made available at a later date.

6. If you have Windows XP Media Center Edition (original version) or Windows XP Media Center Edition 2003, you need to install Windows XP SP2 first before you can install SP3. You can get SP2 via Windows Update, or here.

Get more information about these problems by reading KB 949388.

Windows XP SP3 - Here at Last!? (the latest updates)

Mark Soper — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:40:02 -0500

Windows XP SP3 Download Links

The Neowin website reports this morning that some XP users are already seeing SP3 in Windows Update. However, you don't need to wait until WU offers it to you. You can download the standalone installer for Windows XP SP3 (32-bit) here. It weighs in at 316MB.

What About Windows XP Professional x64?

Keep in mind that the x64 version is based on Windows Server 2003 - you won't see SP3 for XP Pro x64 until Windows Server 2003 is updated to SP3.

Wondering What's New in SP3?

Still have questions about what's new and different in Windows XP SP3? See our comprehensive coverage.

What to Do If You Have Problems with XP SP3

Want to avoid problems? Be careful.

If you run into the Blue Screen of Death endless reboot loop reported by some users at the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP SP3 forums, Neowin.net recommends this guide for repairing your installation.

Stay Clicked Here!

Once SP3 becomes available via the Microsoft Download Center, the links will be posted as updates to this story. Happy Downloading!

Update 4-29-08: Windows XP SP3 Release to Web Delayed - Here's Why

ZDNet All About Microsoft blogger MaryJo Foley reports that Microsoft has pulled the plug on releasing SP3 to the Web today due to a compatibility problem with Microsoft's own Dynamics Retail Management System (aka Dynamics RMS), a small to medium-size business retail management system. She also reports that Microsoft is temporarily halting automatic downloads of Vista SP1. However, you can still download Vista SP1 manually.

What about the direct link ferreted out this morning by Neowin.net (see first paragraph for link)? Microsoft does not advise using direct links for downloads. However, if you don't want to wait for Redmond to officially release XP SP3, ZDNet Hardware 2.0 blogger Adrain Kingsley-Hughes has compared the digital signatures and MD5 hashes of the direct-link download with a TechNet Plus download and XP SP3 CD sent from Microsoft - and they match.

What now? According to a posting today at Microsoft's TechNet forum by Microsoftie Chris Keroack:

To help protect customers, we plan to put filtering in place shortly to prevent Windows Update from offering both service packs [XP SP3 and Vista SP1] to systems running Microsoft Dynamics RMS. Once filtering is in place, we expect to release Windows XP SP3 to the web.

No timeline was given, but everyone's hoping that the filtering process won't take too long. In the meantime, stop hitting the F5 (Refresh) key on your web browser, stop running Windows Update incessantly, and decide whether you want to wait for the official release of Windows XP SP3.

Windows XP SP3 Hits Tuesday - But It Could Hit You Back

Mark Soper — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:07:06 -0500

Windows XP SP3 will be released to existing Windows XP users tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29. It's been in the works for a very long time, but despite its protracted development time, some users, such as cNet's Michael Horowitz, are advising users to wait before installing SP3.

Why Wait?

Horowitz, author of the Defensive Computing blog at cNet, suggests that not being the first one on the block to install SP3 has its benefits:

A fundamental tenant of Defensive Computing is not to install newly released software. With Windows XP SP3, the reason to wait is software incompatibilities. Even though SP3 has underdone much testing, it's a big world and there are bound to be problems with some software. By waiting, you let everyone else find and fix the problems before you face them.

Sounds like good advice, but does Horowitz have any specific reasons to be cautious about SP3? Actually, yes. He points out that Mac users running Windows XP (you know who you are) must upgrade to new versions of Apple's BootCamp boot loader and VMWare's Fusion virtualization software to use SP3, and notes that the April 23rd edition of The Personal Computer Show included a discussion by host Joe King of how SP3 'broke' his Trend Micro product until a 90MB+ "patch" was installed and a revised serial number was provided.

These aren't the only examples, either. A check of the TechNet XP SP3 forums revealed a detailed list of programs that should be uninstalled before installing SP3 (they can be reinstalled later), problems installing Intel motherboard drivers, and numerous examples of systems getting stuck in endless loops, unable to boot, and so on.

How to Be Careful When Installing SP3

Horowitz recommends creating an image of your XP SP2 installation before installing SP3. You can use Norton Ghost 12.0 or higher (new version is 14.0), Acronis TrueImage 11, or others. He also recommends creating a restore point with System Restore.

Additional Precautions

Unfortunately, application vendors might not yet know that some of their products don't work properly with XP SP3 until after it's released to the mass computing public. While you're downloading SP3, check with vendors to see if they have any updates or application notes posted before you install SP3.

Get Ready for Windows XP SP3 (and Learn More About Vista SP1)

Mark 'Marcus_Soperus' Soper — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:42:55 -0500

Getting Up to Speed on What's New in XP SP3

There are numerous signs that Windows XP Service Pack 3 is about to go live, very possibly on Monday (however, the Tech ARP website claims the release is being delayed until mid-April). Whether it launches this month or next, one of the best signs that XP SP3 is about to become a reality is Microsoft's reposting of the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview. It's become a Microsoft tradition to post operating system overviews shortly before a new operating system or service pack goes live. It's available in either PDF (requires Adobe Reader or other PDF reader) or XPS (requires XPS Viewer or XPS Essentials pack, both available here.

Here are a few highlights:

- SP3 consolidates previously-released updates into a single package (for more information, see our original article on Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate)
- SP3 is a cumulative release (you can install it over any previous Windows XP version)
- SP3 is for 32-bit versions of Windows XP only; the x64 edition of Windows XP Professional was updated by Windows Server 2003 SP2.
- SP3 takes about 70MB to download via Windows Update, or about 580MB via the download center
- SP3 introduces Network Access Protection (NAP) to help Windows XP users to use new features in Windows Server 2008
- IE7 haters can rejoice at this news: XP SP3 does not include Internet Explorer 7.

Keep clicked to this website for news of the official release of Windows XP SP3.

Updated Information for Windows Vista Users

Microsoft has rolled out a new release of its Windows Vista Product Guide that includes the changes made in SP1. This 334-page magnum opus includes seven sections:

- An introduction to Windows Vista
- Windows Vista versions
- Features for all users
- Features for home users
- Features for business users
- Features for IT professionals
- Appendices

You can download it in your choice of XPS or PDF formats. If you're just now considering Windows Vista, it might be worth reading "cover to cover".

For existing Vista users who are mainly focusing on Vista SP1 changes, download the companion, Windows Vista Product Guide Revision Document, a relatively svelte 63-pager that covers only the changes from the original product guide.

Happy updating!

Why Vista SP1 "RTM" Doesn't Mean "Ready to Download" - Yet

Mark 'Marcus_Soperus' Soper — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:18:18 -0600

Here's the good news about Windows Vista SP1: it's now on its way to manufacturing ('RTM' in geek-speak). So, why can't existing we existing Vista users point our browsers to the Download portion of the Microsoft website and get it now?

Bad Drivers, Bad! You Stopped Team Vista from Immediate Download of SP1!

According to the Vista team blog announcement (emphasis mine):

Our beta testing identified an issue with a small set of device drivers. These drivers do not follow our guidelines for driver installation and as a result, some beta participants who were using Windows Vista and updated to Service Pack 1 reported issues with these devices. Because the issue was with the way the drivers were installed and not the drivers themselves, the solution was simply to reinstall the drivers. While this worked fine for our more technical beta testers, we want to deliver a better experience for customers as we make the update broadly available.

So, what can we expect? The Vista team blog spells out the timeline thus.

Mid-March - Downloads for the Daring, Windows Update for Clean Machines

Vista SP1 versions in English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese will show up on Windows Update, Microsoft Update and the Microsoft Downloads site. Windows Update will check to see if any of the installed drivers don't work properly with SP1. If so, then no SP1 for you! However, the downloadable version can be installed whether you have driver problems or not. If some of your drivers go out to lunch after installing SP1, reinstall them.

April - SP1 for All Languages, OEM Preloads

Vista SP1 for other languages becomes available. Vista SP1 will be available for OEM preloads as well, according to Mary Jo Foley's All About Microsoft blog.

Mid-April - SP1 Automatically Via WU

Vista SP1 will be downloaded automatically via Windows Update to systems configured for automatic updating (and don't have driver problems).

Dealing with Problem Drivers

Problem drivers will be replaced by updated drivers through Windows Update, enabling more users to get SP1 over time.

I Love Quality, But...

While I'm glad Microsoft is making sure that users with driver problems will have them resolved before they get SP1 automatically, I sure hate waiting another six weeks for the final version. Grrr. Here's hoping Microsoft will realize that leaks will make the delay for downloadable versions useless (except for those of us who always follow the rules).

For Those of You with Automatic Updating That Want to Opt Out...

...of either Vista SP1 or XP SP3, you can block either SP from being installed with a simple registry fix or by using the IntelliAdmin Service Pack Blocker. Get details here. The opt-out period is 12 months, which should be enough time for even the paranoid among us to decide they're worth installing.

Refresh 2 Out for Vista and XP Beta Testers, but Users Wait (Officially)

Mark Soper — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:02:42 -0600

Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2 Arrives - In More Places than Redmond Intended

Neowin.net reports that Microsoft has rolled out Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2 - but only for the lucky 15K Vista beta testers - at least officially. According to the My Digital Life website, a registry key hack is available to enable you to install Refresh 2 on your Vista system via Windows Update.

The "new" hack is similar to the one we discussed in our article Hack Your Vista System and Get SP1 Beta - Today! back in October, but adds commands to remove existing keys created by previous Vista SP1 RC installations. Or, you could just wait another 2 or 3 weeks - or so - for the real thing. Rumors abound that the final release of Vista SP1 may arrive early in February.

XP SP3 RC Refresh 2 Arrives as Well

Microsoft has also released RC Refresh 2 for Windows XP SP3 to beta testers. However, there are no scripts available to persuade Redmond that your system is part of the elite 15K-strong beta testing corps. The rumor mill for XP SP3 suggests it might turn up in April. Let's hope that rumor isn't just an early April Fool's joke.