Applying XPe Updates; Can it be done with DUA and without?

[Scott Kelly]

I have an XPe device that has almost a full load of XPe (WinLogon, Shells,
etc). I have read that Windows Update does not work for XPe.

I have also read that you can use Device Update Agent (DUA) to have the XPe
device poll some remote server and pull down updates and apply them.

I would like to do something a little different. My device has a hard drive
and we have software that allows us to place files on the system hard drive.

1-- Can you simply copy the file (like Q811279_XPE_SP2_X86_ENU.exe) to the
XPe system and run it? I know I can take that file and run it on my
development machine and then manage the project with .SLDs. I was hoping
for a way to just apply them to the device.

2-- If not, then can I copy the file to the device's hard drive and then run
a simply update command script to apply it.
//Execute the QFE installer in quiet mode with no reboot
15,0,0,0,d:\dua\Q811279_XPE_SP2_X86_ENU.exe,0,/q:a /r:n,1,
4294967295,,1,,,,1,,,,0,,,1,0,WinSta0\Default
//Delete the QFE installer
8,0,,d:\dua\Q811279_XPE_SP2_X86_ENU.exe

3-- Can DUA be set to poll a local hard drive? I believe it can. Or, can
we instead just start the DUA service when we have copied an update to the
hard drive? This seems to make more sense. Less CPU wastage when no updates
are around.

To throw another variable into the mix... we are running EWF to protect my
C: drive where the XPe is loaded. My application is running on D: drive.
By default, on every boot, we set:
ewfmgr c: -restore

4-- It would seem like in the update command script we would need to set EWF
to commit before running the update and then have the system reboot. Any
thoughts?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Andy Allred [MS]]

We are working with the WinSE team for a kind of universal installer that
will allow you to just run the same installer on your embedded desktop that
you'd use for XP-Pro. This is different from the installers we will continue
to ship that update your development machine's dependency database and
repository. That installer can not be run on your runtime, it will always
fail.

Andy

 

[Scott Kelly]

I had tried to open the Qxxx.EXE files with WinZip and it failed. Found out
I was using too old of WinZip. Now that I can open them, I see the files
that get loaded with the EXE. For instance, on Q825119 I see the following.
It is pretty obvious that the files in the "rep" folder need to be put into
the appropriate Windows area. But what about new registry entries? How will
they appear in the Q files. I have seen some Microsoft folks post the
breakdown of the Q files here and there - but I do not see a list for each
of the updates on the MS web site. I see that the .SLD file is some sort of
XML - but it is not clear which portions are support to update the Target
Designer and which get applied to the actual XPe system.

Any thoughts?

| data.txt
| weupdate.exe
| weupdate.inf
|
+---doc
| import instructions.rtf
| readme.rtf
| readme.txt
|
+---rep
| 825119_itircl.dll
| q323255_hh.exe
| q323255_hhctrl.ocx
| q323255_hhsetup.dll
| q323255_itss.dll
|
\---sld
html_help_{d520743f-d8ab-4f44-81a7-d4eb6e89736d}.sld

 

[Andy Allred [MS]]

Scroll to the bottom of the download page for a particular QFE, there is a
doc to download as well called "Additional Info Qxxxxx.RTF". It lists all
files and registry keys requiring changes.

For instance, see this sample page:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...988-85ce-8479501c8682&displaylang=en#filelist

Andy

--

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
==========================================================

 

[Scott Kelly]

Fantastic - just what I was looking for.

One last question, where is the definitive place to go look up the updates
available for XPe. I found these two pages:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/downloads/xp/critQFE/default.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/downloads/list/winxpembed
ded.asp

Are do they both always list the exact same things?

Scott

 

[Andy Allred [MS]]

They've been out of sync by a couple days in the past with MSDN getting
their Download Center page updated faster than we could update our old page.
Now that our main pages are a part of MSDN, i would expect this to remain in
sync beginning in a week or so. Our marketing folks are diligently working
on smoothing the process so the Embedded downloads page is in sync with the
embedded section of the Download Center for the rest of Microsoft.

Andy

 

[Murf]

Any ideas on when this "universal installer" will be available?

In researching DUA and its use in applying patches, we have seen mixed
messages/documentation on applying QFEs. Some say writing scripts for
certain QFEs doesn't always affectively apply necessary changes included
within. We will end up with 400 unique images and would like to be
comfortable with our ability to patch our runtime images. How can we be
sure that a QFE is just dll files and registry key changes and not something
more? Documentation from the MS site and Sean Liming's book indicate that
executing the QFE using a script is an acceptable way to update an image.
This newsgroup has many discussions, however, saying that it depends on the
QFE. Are we just looking at threads that are to old? Meaning, MS has fixed
this problem?

Thanks
SNS Embedded Team