couple of questions for our XP gurus

[DGW]

I recently did a clean re-install of 32 bit sp3, and downloaded all the
current updates.

1. Looks like all the updates are contained in individual
sub-directories under the parent dir - \windows\$hf_mig$ If I move them
to some CD's, will they self-install if needed at some future date? or
perhaps from a batch file?

2. There is also a large number of uninstall sub-directories -
\windows\$NtUninstallKB9_____$

Is there any reason to keep them; or can they be deleted?

 

[Nil]

I recently did a clean re-install of 32 bit sp3, and downloaded
all the current updates.

1. Looks like all the updates are contained in individual
sub-directories under the parent dir - \windows\$hf_mig$ If I
move them to some CD's, will they self-install if needed at some
future date? or perhaps from a batch file?

They won't "self-install" under any circumstances. If you want to
uninstall the update, you'd have to move the $ directory back into
place.

2. There is also a large number of uninstall sub-directories -
\windows\$NtUninstallKB9_____$

Is there any reason to keep them; or can they be deleted?

I'd keep them for a few weeks or months, until I felt confident that
everything was working OK, then I might remove them. There are
utilities out there that can be helpful with this, to remove the update
uninstall directory and various references in the system to it.

 

[Paul]

I recently did a clean re-install of 32 bit sp3, and downloaded all the
current updates.

1. Looks like all the updates are contained in individual
sub-directories under the parent dir - \windows\$hf_mig$ If I move them
to some CD's, will they self-install if needed at some future date? or
perhaps from a batch file?

2. There is also a large number of uninstall sub-directories -
\windows\$NtUninstallKB9_____$

Is there any reason to keep them; or can they be deleted?

If you seek to archive Windows Update, for the era after April 2014 (end of
extended support), you should be using a tool like this.

http://download.wsusoffline.net/

http://forums.wsusoffline.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=411

What that tool does, is use Microsoft download servers, and it
collects all the security updates in a folder for you. You can
store them on a CD, for a rainy day. Then, if in 2015, you need
to reinstall WinXP SP3, you can use the WSUSOffline package,
to install all the security updates that were delivered after SP3.
You would run the WSUSOffline tool in Mar 2014, to collect most all of
the Updates, so you'd be ready for some day after April 2014.

Now, if WSUSOffline happened to be broken on a given day, you
could look at AutoPatcher as an alternative solution. But when
I needed that, to build a "bag of patches" for my Win2K machine,
they didn't have up-to-date configuration for Win2K. With any of
these tools, you need to check their forum, to see what
mood the developers are in. Tools like this, need to be checked
monthly by the developers, to make sure they still work right.

*******

One way to understand what the files are for, is to check their version.

First, pick a Windows Update from your Add/Remove list. Now, find the
matching KB article on the Microsoft site. In there, it will list
the revision of the new files.

Now, go to your actual System folder, and look for those files. The
version should match what's in the KB (because, you just ran that patch).

Now, go to the $hf_mig$ or where ever. Do Properties on a file in there,
and compare to the KB article. Are the files the same version ?
Are the files an older version ? If the files are older, then the
purpose of the folder you found, is to *undo* a Windows Update, like,
uninstall it.

So even if you can't find a good article explaining the structure, you
can do that much to determine the value of the folders, If they're there
for undo, then they're not going to be much good to you, as a *redo* option.

And that's why you want your WSUSOffline or equivalent. For a rainy day,
when you need to reinstall (and be as up to date as possible),
and no Windows Update is available.

Paul

 

[DGW]

If you seek to archive Windows Update, for the era after April 2014 (end of
extended support), you should be using a tool like this.

http://download.wsusoffline.net/

http://forums.wsusoffline.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=411

What that tool does, is use Microsoft download servers, and it
collects all the security updates in a folder for you. You can
store them on a CD, for a rainy day. Then, if in 2015, you need
to reinstall WinXP SP3, you can use the WSUSOffline package,
to install all the security updates that were delivered after SP3.
You would run the WSUSOffline tool in Mar 2014, to collect most all of
the Updates, so you'd be ready for some day after April 2014.

Now, if WSUSOffline happened to be broken on a given day, you
could look at AutoPatcher as an alternative solution. But when
I needed that, to build a "bag of patches" for my Win2K machine,
they didn't have up-to-date configuration for Win2K. With any of
these tools, you need to check their forum, to see what
mood the developers are in. Tools like this, need to be checked
monthly by the developers, to make sure they still work right.

*******

One way to understand what the files are for, is to check their version.

First, pick a Windows Update from your Add/Remove list. Now, find the
matching KB article on the Microsoft site. In there, it will list
the revision of the new files.

Now, go to your actual System folder, and look for those files. The
version should match what's in the KB (because, you just ran that patch).

Now, go to the $hf_mig$ or where ever. Do Properties on a file in there,
and compare to the KB article. Are the files the same version ?
Are the files an older version ? If the files are older, then the
purpose of the folder you found, is to *undo* a Windows Update, like,
uninstall it.

So even if you can't find a good article explaining the structure, you
can do that much to determine the value of the folders, If they're there
for undo, then they're not going to be much good to you, as a *redo*
option.

And that's why you want your WSUSOffline or equivalent. For a rainy day,
when you need to reinstall (and be as up to date as possible),
and no Windows Update is available.

Paul

I'd just like to say "Thanks" for all the good advice. Now I have a
better picture of how to proceed.

My long term objective is obviously to continue with XP for the
foreseeable future. I'm not planning on any significant hardware
upgrades because have a nice stable platform and everything continues
to work very well.

What I don't need is all the ad-ware, eye candy, daily updates, snooping
and spoofing that seems to have evolved with the more current crop of
microsoft products.