Windows XP Pro receiving updates for Windows NT

[Guest]

Hi,

I have Windows XP Pro, SP2. For the past 6 months, I've been noticing files
in my computer for Windows NT. I've had my pc for 4 years and I never had
them before and my pc and I are practically joined at the hip. I think that
they're coming from Windows updates but I can't be sure. Is there a reason
why I should have these files in my pc or can I delete them?

 

[Christopher Kurtis Koeber]

Windows XP is essentially a much newer version of Windows NT. Are you
running out of hard disk space? If not and the files don't show up as any
sort of malware then I don't see a reason why you need to delete them. They
are there most likely to ensure the proper operation of your system.

Where do they show up, BTW?
Regards,
Christopher Koeber

 

[V Green]

Hi,

I have Windows XP Pro, SP2. For the past 6 months, I've been noticing files
in my computer for Windows NT. I've had my pc for 4 years and I never had
them before and my pc and I are practically joined at the hip. I think that
they're coming from Windows updates but I can't be sure. Is there a reason
why I should have these files in my pc or can I delete them?

Do you mean stuff like this:

$NtUninstallKB823182$

in the Windows folder?

Those are XP updates, it's just MS's
way of naming the folder they're in.

It's normal.

 

[Rock]

Hi,

I have Windows XP Pro, SP2. For the past 6 months, I've been noticing
files
in my computer for Windows NT. I've had my pc for 4 years and I never had
them before and my pc and I are practically joined at the hip. I think
that
they're coming from Windows updates but I can't be sure. Is there a
reason
why I should have these files in my pc or can I delete them?

What files? You need to provide some specifics if you want focused help.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have Windows XP Pro, SP2. For the past 6 months, I've been
noticing files in my computer for Windows NT.

Windows XP *is* windows NT. WIndows XP is simply Microsoft's marketing name
for what, under the hood, is Windows NT 5.1

I've had my pc for 4
years and I never had them before and my pc and I are practically
joined at the hip. I think that they're coming from Windows updates
but I can't be sure. Is there a reason why I should have these files
in my pc or can I delete them?

If anybody were to tell you whether or not you could safely delete them on
the basis of so little information, you would be very foolish if you
believed them. If you want advice about whether to delete a file you need to
tell us exactly what its name (or names) is.

 

[Guest]

Hi Christopher,

One Windows NT folder is located in C:\Documents and
Settings\owner\Application Data\Microsoft that contains subfolder NTBackup,
which contains data and temp folders.

A second folder is located in C:\Program Files. It contains subfolders
Accessories which contains files mswrd6.wpc, mswrd8.wpc, wordpad, and
write.wpc. It also contains folder Pinball that contains files FONT,
pinball, PINBALL, PINBALL (MIDI Sequence), PINBALL2 (MIDI Sequence), and
about 20 SOUND files. It also contains files dialer, htrn_jis.dll, and
hypertrm.

I have enough room on my hard drive for these files but it doesn't seem
reasonable that Microsoft would install Windows NT version updates instead of
Windows XP. Since I'm having a number of problems with my computer, I
thought that I would look into all of these inconsistencies and problem areas
today.

In another post at the Microsoft Forums, I started a post about problems
that I'm having with .NETFramework and ASP.NET. My computer freezes when I
receive the error messages and I have to use the reset button on my tower to
reboot.

I've run a number of anti-virus/trojan/malware programs (BitDefender,
Ad-Aware SE Personal, Microsoft Malicious Antivirus ActiveScan, Spybot S&D,
Windows Defender, Panda, AVG and Trend Micro, in regular mode, Safe Mode, and
Safe Mode with Networking) but no instances were found, so I ruled out a
problem in this area.

I'm trying to pinpoint the problem and I'm looking into anything that seems
to be out of the ordinary.

 

[Guest]

They're not those type of files. I posted a response to Christopher Kurtis
Koeber that explains the Windows NT folders and files that I have and my
reason for looking into this matter. It's a long post so I didn't paste the
response more than once.

 

[Guest]

Hi Rock,

I posted a response to Christopher Kurtis Koeber that explains the Windows
NT folders and files that I have and my reason for looking into this matter.
It's a long post so I didn't paste the response more than once, but I'd
appreciate it if you would read it and let me know what you think.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

In another post at the Microsoft Forums, I started a post about problems
that I'm having with .NETFramework and ASP.NET. My computer freezes when I
receive the error messages and I have to use the reset button on my tower to
reboot.

You should imeediately backup your own data (the ones you have created
yourself like letters, emails, photos etc). I thought I better mention
this first just in case Ken Blake - Most Valuable Professional - is
reading this and telling me off!! for not warning you!!.

Now since you have had problems with your system, do you know roughly
how long yu have been runningthe system?

You have two options to recover from problems:

1) Try repair install of OS and doing a Windows update to bring your
system to current state but without the problems;
2) To a clean install of the OS - this wipes the disk clean so you lose
everything!!!

In both cases you will need the original CD of XP to bootup from. I
personally prefer to do the Clean Install but I have ways of doing it
quickly from images I keep.

You will also need the original Application CDs - such as Office,
Antivirus, Roxio, etc etc, to reinstall all of them. For repair install
you may not need the application CDs but the application themselves may
have been corrupted.

In clean install, you will notice marked improvement in bootup/shutdown
time etc including faster access to data and applications.

hth

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks for letting me know that Microsoft uses NT for XP.

You're welcome. Glad to help. But rather than say it that way, I would say
that XP is just a particular version of NT.

It should
be something that they let everyone know or change the names of the
files/folders.

I'm with you. Microsoft does some things well, and others not so well. One
of things they don't do well is give clear non-confusing names to things.

I have XP Pro. My daughter has XP Home. They work
differently (from a user's point of view)

I'm curious as to how you think they work differently. In the very great
majority of situations, they work absolutely identically. The only real
differences have to do with XP Professional having a few extra features
missing from XP Home.

So I suspect that the differences you see have to do with the way the two of
you have things configured, not with any intrinsic differences between the
two.

so it would be a good
assumption to think that NT files are different from XP files.

Yes, you're far from the first person to be confused by this.

I haven't received a response in which anyone has told me to delete
files/folders. I included a list of the folders and files that are
NT in the post for Christopher Kurtis Koeber. It's a lengthy
response so instead of including it several times in this topic, I'd
appreciate it if you would look at my response and reply if you have
any suggestions.

I looked at your list, and my advice is not to delete anything there. As a
matter of fact, I would urge you to be extremely careful about deleting
*anything* unless you are absolutely sure that it's safe, and you have
confirmation from someone else you trust that it's safe. You clearly seem to
be a beginner at this, and as a beginner, it's better to be safe (and keep
something you perhaps might have been able to delete) than sorry.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Rock]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for letting me know that Microsoft uses NT for XP. It should be
something that they let everyone know or change the names of the
files/folders. I have XP Pro. My daughter has XP Home. They work
differently (from a user's point of view) so it would be a good assumption
to
think that NT files are different from XP files.

I haven't received a response in which anyone has told me to delete
files/folders. I included a list of the folders and files that are NT in
the
post for Christopher Kurtis Koeber. It's a lengthy response so instead of
including it several times in this topic, I'd appreciate it if you would
look
at my response and reply if you have any suggestions.

You are confusing things. Microsoft doesn't "use NT for XP". Windows XP is
named Windows NT 5.1. It is an evolution of the NT series of Operation
Systems as was Windows 2000.

It is not "a good assumption that NT files are different from XP files",
because that statement does not make sense to begin with. Windows NT was an
earlier operating system. XP is based on it. There are many files in XP
that were not in NT and there may be some files common to both. XP Home and
XP Pro have the same core operating system. Certain functions work a bit
different in the two, and Pro has some things that Home does not but the
core components are the same, and some of the same files

The files and programs you listed in your post to Christopher are normal for
XP Pro and some are also in the XP Home installation, and were there when it
was installed. They have not been added by updates. Ntbackup is the backup
program. It is installed by default in XP Pro but not in Home. It is a
legacy app with it's origins in the NT OS, but I don't think it's exactly
the same file. For whatever reason in some cases the designation of NT was
kept on some files and folders. Updates are not being made to "NT" files.

 

[Guest]

Hi Ken,

It may be a couple of those differences that I discovered. Off the top of
my head, I can't think of the services that are different. I used her
computer when I was visiting her a few times and things were either in
different places or had different names. Sorry I can't be more specific.

I won't be changing or deleting anything. Knowing that NT and XP are
basically the same, I'm no longer concerned that my computer is having
problems because I have NT files. Thanks for clearing it up for me.

 

[Guest]

Hi Anonymous,

Thanks for the tips. I have all of my documents, pictures and other files
backed up on an external hard drive, along with the zipped versions of
programs that I downloaded. I also have my Windows XP disk and the disks
that came with other hardware.

My computer was made for me and the person who made it is no long available
to answer questions about it. I was going to try to repair Windows first and
I have half of it started. I'm procrastinating because I still have to back
up my drivers but I don't know where to look for them. I'm sure my printer,
keyboard, mouse, etc, have their drivers on their disks but I don't know
about anything else, ie, mobo, etc. And I don't want to even get into the
subject of BIOS. The word itself sends a shiver down my spine.

So the long and short of it is that I'm looking to fix things that might be
causing my computer to have problems instead of doing a more invasive
procedure. I know, I'm a chicken.

 

[Guest]

I can tell you for a certainty that they weren't in my computer a year ago.
If I did a reinstall of Windows, they wouldn't be there again. I believe
that the NT files were placed in my computer when I downloaded and installed
..NETFramework 2.0. I didn't like 2.0 so I uninstalled it and kept 1.1.

I'm having problems with my computer and I'm looking to fix things that
might be causing the problems. If the NT files are causing no problems, I'll
leave them there.

To the average person, there is a distinct difference between XP Pro, XP
Home and NT because the names are different. A different name equates to a
different program. When I download a program from the internet, I have to
chose the program for XP Pro, which enforces the fact that the three programs
are different, even though they're basically not (as you've said). My
computer, with XP Pro, can't open a floppy disk that was created on my
daughter's computer. She has XP Home. But her computer can open a floppy
disk that was created on mine. This is probably not the way it's supposed to
work, but there you have it . . . it doesn't work.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi Ken,

It may be a couple of those differences that I discovered. Off the
top of my head, I can't think of the services that are different. I
used her computer when I was visiting her a few times and things were
either in different places or had different names. Sorry I can't be
more specific.

I won't be changing or deleting anything. Knowing that NT and XP are
basically the same, I'm no longer concerned that my computer is having
problems because I have NT files. Thanks for clearing it up for me.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

So the long and short of it is that I'm looking to fix things that
might be causing my computer to have problems instead of doing a more
invasive procedure. I know, I'm a chicken.

Are you experiencing problems? If not, I strongly urge you, "don't fix what
ain't broke."

You're clearly a beginner (I don't mean to be derogatory; we were all
beginners once). If you fool around fixing things that "ain't broke," you
are far more likely to do serious damage than to make anything better.

Being chicken is good, especially for beginners.

 

[Rock]

I can tell you for a certainty that they weren't in my computer a year ago.
If I did a reinstall of Windows, they wouldn't be there again. I believe
that the NT files were placed in my computer when I downloaded and
installed
.NETFramework 2.0. I didn't like 2.0 so I uninstalled it and kept 1.1.

I'm having problems with my computer and I'm looking to fix things that
might be causing the problems. If the NT files are causing no problems,
I'll
leave them there.

To the average person, there is a distinct difference between XP Pro, XP
Home and NT because the names are different. A different name equates to
a
different program. When I download a program from the internet, I have to
chose the program for XP Pro, which enforces the fact that the three
programs
are different, even though they're basically not (as you've said). My
computer, with XP Pro, can't open a floppy disk that was created on my
daughter's computer. She has XP Home. But her computer can open a floppy
disk that was created on mine. This is probably not the way it's supposed
to
work, but there you have it . . . it doesn't work.
--
Denise
~ It's difficult to know where you're going if you don't know where you
came
from.

The games folder and ntbackup and wordpad, are all there on the initial
install. They were not added by .net or any updates.

 

[Guest]

Hi Ken,

Because I came here for advice prior to changing/deleting any files shows
that I already know that I shouldn't without expert advice. I'm having
several problems with my computer so I'm looking for the problem. Since it's
not NT files, I'm looking elsewhere. I'm here to zero in on the problem(s).
However, if I can't find a specific problem that's causing my computer to
freeze up, I will attempt to repair Windows. The worst result is that I
botch it up and have to take it to a tech to fix it, the best being that I do
it right and my pc no longer freezes up, or it continues to freeze up because
it needs a reformat.

Thanks for your advice and support.
--
Denise
~ It's difficult to know where you're going if you don't know where you came
from.