SP4?

[micky]

Anyone hear about this?

"Still in beta but worth keeping an eye on...


Windows XP Updates 2014: New Download Will Provide Unofficial Service
Pack 4
<http://www.inquisitr.com/1457310/wi...nofficial-service-pack-4/#VlzlbPmDKw54bg5z.99>http://www.inquisitr.com/1457310/wi...nofficial-service-pack-4/#VlzlbPmDKw54bg5z.99
"

Oh darn. I thought it was to implement new features, but the url says
"an unofficial Windows XP Service Pack 4 download that pulls together
all the official Windows XP updates into one installation."

Even that would be good, of course.

It continues:

"According to NetMarkShare, Windows XP still clings onto an amazing 24
percent of all the market share among the various Windows OS
installations. Windows 7 is the most popular, with 51 percent, but
Windows XP still retains a user base that is more than double the number
of users using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 combined.

Perhaps because of this continued popularity, a Greece-based developer
called harkaz started the “Unofficial Service Pack 4? project back in
September of 2013. Harkaz has already released a third beta of Win XP
SP4 and they’re currently readying a Release Candidate just like
Microsoft would have done.

“Many users – including me – who won’t be able to upgrade their old
machines to a newer OS would like to easily install all Windows updates
in one convenient package. For this reason, I started working on a
Service Pack 4 package,” said harkaz on the RyanVM discussion boards.
“Windows XP Unofficial SP4 ENU is a cumulative update rollup for Windows
XP (x86) English. It can be applied to a live Windows XP system which
has SP1, at minimum, installed or it can be slipstreamed (integrated) in
any Windows XP installation media.”

But just how necessary are continued Windows XP updates? CNET looked
into whether or not using WinXP was still considered “safe” in regards
to security issues and they found that third party support has kept the
operating system alive as a legit platform.

“AV-Test found that the majority of security vendors have been able
to defend against most of the known or recently discovered exploits.
Vulnerabilities and other issues no longer being fixed by Windows
updates are the best way to test if security suites are able to patch
the problem…. The major Internet security players are making good on
their promise to keep supporting users beyond the life of Windows XP.
Vendors continue to encourage their customers to update software like
Java and Flash as soon as new versions are available, and to migrate to
a newer OS when feasible.”

Would you install these Windows XP updates even if though they are
completely unofficial and untested by Microsoft? "

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>,

I suppose if this is nothing but a rollup of all the official updates
from MS it would be ok.

I had a look at "SP4" some months ago, but got the strong feeling it
_wasn't_ _just_ a rollup of all the official ones since: not to say it
had any extra ones that _aren't_ "official", but I got the strong
impression that the person behind it had some axe to grind (beyond just
frustration that MS hadn't done it), to the extent that I didn't feel
confident in it. (Where's soporific when we need him? His "tenth
anniversary" edition of W98 was IMO great!)

I might be a little nervous about the ones they got with the POS hack.

Hmm. Well, touch wood, I've not experienced any ill-effects yet - unless
my keyboard funny is one, but since no-one else has mentioned that and
there must be quite a few others who're trying the POS thing, I don't
think it _is_ that.

(Keyboard thing: keystrokes not doing what they should - either doing
nothing [spacebar being the most irritating!], or behaving as if Ctrl or
something is stuck. It comes and goes - and it isn't hardware: I've had
it with netbook's own keyboard, external USB one, USB one with internal
one disconnected, and most bizarrely, even with the on-screen keyboard!
Restarting the app. in which it's showing up often, but not always,
cures it. No, it isn't num lock on [that can confuse a laptop/netbook
user!], or Sticky Keys in the accessibility panel.)

 

[micky]

These words were not mine, the OP's, just part of the quote from the
webpage. If 100 people had installed "SP4" and 3 months later no one
was complaining, I'd figure it's good.

When Tylenol was poisoned, I figured what one shoudl do is buy his
over-the-counter drugs a few weeks in advance, watch the news to see if
anyone is poisoned, and then one can take what he bought weeks ago with
high odds he'll be safe. Of course they shrink-wrapped all the OTC
drugs and put tamper-evident caps on a lot of jars of food, but there
are still tomatoes and potatoes and bananas to poison if one wants to do
that.

I suppose if this is nothing but a rollup of all the official updates
from MS it would be ok.

I had a look at "SP4" some months ago, but got the strong feeling it
_wasn't_ _just_ a rollup of all the official ones since: not to say it
had any extra ones that _aren't_ "official", but I got the strong
impression that the person behind it had some axe to grind (beyond just
frustration that MS hadn't done it), to the extent that I didn't feel
confident in it. (Where's soporific when we need him? His "tenth
anniversary" edition of W98 was IMO great!)

I might be a little nervous about the ones they got with the POS hack.

Hmm. Well, touch wood, I've not experienced any ill-effects yet - unless
my keyboard funny is one, but since no-one else has mentioned that and
there must be quite a few others who're trying the POS thing, I don't
think it _is_ that.

(Keyboard thing: keystrokes not doing what they should - either doing
nothing [spacebar being the most irritating!], or behaving as if Ctrl or
something is stuck. It comes and goes - and it isn't hardware: I've had
it with netbook's own keyboard, external USB one, USB one with internal
one disconnected, and most bizarrely, even with the on-screen keyboard!
Restarting the app. in which it's showing up often, but not always,
cures it. No, it isn't num lock on [that can confuse a laptop/netbook
user!], or Sticky Keys in the accessibility panel.)

 

[DK]

Would you install these Windows XP updates even if though they are
completely unofficial and untested by Microsoft? "

YES. I do it regularly on two machines and have absolutely no
problems.

I've implemented all of the harkaz's procedures to modify patches
myself. It might look involved but for anyone with basic computer
literacy it's quite straightforward:

***************************************************************************
1. Get the relevant POSReady update(s).
1a. Go to the Microsoft Update Catalog using Internet Explorer and search
for POSReady: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/ - download anything
all you want.
1b. The *.EXE files that it downloads are NOT cabs! I unpack them this way:
Run command filename.exe /p - this will unpack filename.exe in the rubbish
directory like 8a8260e4cb334ff39a3b3b in the root of the drive and stop
with an popup error. While the error promt is still open, copy unpacked
files from that directory elsewhere (for example, F:\SP4\), then hit OK
for setup to end with an error and the temporary directory will be deleted.

2. Get patched update.exe from any of the harkaz files.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7k-l_4omFECY3RSR2JETWNwNVE&usp=sharing#list
Download any file, rename it to *.CAB, unpack and copy /update/update.exe
somewhere else on your system. (Paranoid ones can check the patched
version again the original file version 6.3.15.0 found in, for example,
IE8 installtion).

3. Make two modification to the extracted files:
3a. Overwrite \update\update.exe with the patched version
3b. Open \update\update_*.inf and comment out (put semicolon in front)
one lines in the [Prerequisite] section:
;condition=CompositeOp,OrOp,Prereq.XPInstallEmbedded.Section
Save the commented file.

4. One time procedure only - get an SFX header from MS SFX cabs:
Open any MS self-extractable update or install file in hex editor and
search for a third MSCF string. Delete everything from that place down
(including that last MSCF string). Save the file as sp4.sfx - it should
be 37888 bytes in size and in a long string of hex zeros (832, to be
precise).

5. Built CAB update archive.
5a. One time only: download Microsoft's CABARC.exe version 5.2 and
put it anywhere in the path on your system (e.g. \Windows\):
http://www.easy-xl.com/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads&view=file&id=6:cabarc
5b. Assuming that the files and directories unpacked in 1b) above
are in the F:\SP4\, issue a command prompt command:
cabarc -m LZX:21 -p -P SP4\ -r N F:\sp4.cab F:\SP4\*.*
This will compress all files into a file called sp4.cab and place it
in the root: F:\sp4.cab

6. Build self-extractable update archive.
Copy sp4.sfx created in 4) above into the same location as the sp4.cab
made in 5a). Assuming that both of them are in the root of drive F:\,
issue command prompt command:
copy /b F:\sp4.sfx+F:\sp4.cab F:\filename_update_file.exe
(this is simple binary join).

That's it! The filename_update_file.exe is your Windows XP file update.
(Hint: including original KB number in its filename is a good idea).

As far as I am concerned, these are all official MS updates - just
modified slightly for my convenience