Windows Vista back to XP SP2

  • Thread starter Thread starter dkhyland
  • Start date Start date
D

dkhyland

I "upgraded" an HP dv1000 laptop from Win XP to Vista Premium with the
upgrade disc not realizing the laptop was not "Vista capable". Is there
anyway to get Win XP back as the OS?

Thanks, Devin
 
dkhyland said:
I "upgraded" an HP dv1000 laptop from Win XP to Vista Premium with the
upgrade disc not realizing the laptop was not "Vista capable". Is there
anyway to get Win XP back as the OS?

Next time - check to make sure you can do the upgrade(s) - there's always
some sort of tester...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/51ff932f-a9b4-4015-a847-09bfac51a18f1033.mspx
In this case:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Clean installation is your only way back...

** You may want to print this **

1) Download and install Belarc Advisor onto the current Windows
machine. Use it to get a list of hardware from the
machine as well as the CD Key used to install it. Print it if you like.
http://www.belarc.com/

You may be able to obtain other product keys from here as well.
You will see everything that is installed listed here - so you have
a record of what you will be putting back - if you have the
installation media. Now is the time to find the installation media!

2) Using the list of hardware you obtained - visit the hardware
manufacturer(s) web page(s) and download the software drivers
for each of the components.

If it is a "vendor" computer (Dell, HP, IBM, Gateway, etc..) - simply
visit the vendor's page and go to the support/downloads for the
particular model and download all hardware drivers. Write those
to external (to that computer) media. CD/DVD/USB/Network.

If it is a piece-meal computer, take the Belarc list and visit each
manufacturer's web page. Be sure - at a minimum - to obtain the
motherboard chipset drivers, the hard drive controller card drivers,
the video card drivers, the modem drivers, the network card
drivers and the sound card drivers. Technically - if you have the
drivers for the hardware that will allow you to access the Internet,
everything else can be gotten later. However - there is something
to be said about going in prepared.

3) Now that you have the software and hardware drivers covered -
you can get to the business of obtaining Service Pack 2 and most
of the post-sp2 updates you will need. I have a list with links
below this - if you grabbed everything on this list - installed them
(after installing Windows XP) in numerical (by KB Article #) order
- rebooting when asked to - before ever connecting to the Internet
- you might (at this time) have 5-10 more to grab from the update
web page.

Essentially - visit each of these pages, download the update for
Windows XP (32bit) w/SP2 and save them to an external location.
CD/DVD/USB/Network. Consider yourself an "IT Professional" in
order to get to the page with the actual file download link for each
update.

You could get away with (pretty much) installing them in the order
given.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Critical Updates
----------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885626 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
11/22/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887742 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885835 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885836 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886185 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873339 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891781 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888302 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887472 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Messenger
4/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890859 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/18/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
5/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896344 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896358 ]
-- Security Update for Microsoft Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896428 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900930 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/27/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898461 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
7/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901214 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896423 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899587 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899591 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893756 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901017 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902400 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905749 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900725 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/12/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910437 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904706 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
1/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908519 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911927 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911562 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/18/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904942 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900485 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908531 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913580 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/6/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916595 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/8/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918439 ]
-- Vulnerability in ART Image Rendering Could Allow Remote Code
Execution in Internet Explorer for Windows XP SP2
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914389 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917953 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917344 ]
-- JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2
6/27/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911280 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917159 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914388 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917422 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920670 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922616 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920683 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/17/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920872 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920685 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922582 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919007 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922819 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924496 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923191 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920213 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent could allow remote code
execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923789 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in Macromedia Flash Player from Adobe
could allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924270 ]
-- Vulnerability in Workstation Service could allow
remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928088 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services could
allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923980 ]
-- Vulnerability in the Client Service could allow remote code
execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926247 ]
-- Vulnerability in Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
could allow remote code execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows could allow elevation of privilege
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923694 ]
-- Cumulative security update for Outlook Express
1/9/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929969 ]
-- Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
* If you have installed IE7, also install the IE7 version
of this patch!
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Elevation
of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927802 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition Service
Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928843 ]
-- Vulnerability in HTML Help ActiveX Control Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927779 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Data Access Components
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926436 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft OLE Dialog Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924667 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft MFC Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918118 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft RichEdit Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928090 ]
-- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
* If you have IE7, obtain that version of this update.
4/3/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925902 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in GDI Could Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931261 ]
-- Vulnerability in Universal Plug and Play Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932168 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930178 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in CSRSS Could Allow Remote Code
Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931784 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow
Elevation of Privilege

Media Player:
-------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/2/2004 -- [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=30984 ]
-- Windows Media Player 10
11/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902344 ]
-- Update for WMDRM-enabled Media Players
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911564 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player Plug-in
4/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911565 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917734 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923689 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Media Format Could Allow Remote
Code Execution

..NET Framework:
------------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
3/30/2004 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bde ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable Package
8/30/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885055 ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1
2/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887219 ]
-- ASP.NET Security Update for Microsoft NET Framework 1.1
Service Pack 1
3/22/2006 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bdv ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable
Package (x86)
7/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917283 ]
-- NDP 2.0 ASP.Net Security Update
10/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922770 ]
-- NET Framework 2.0 SYSTEM.WEB.DLL Security Update

Other Updates:
---------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873374 ]
-- Microsoft GDI+ Detection Tool
9/2/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893803 ]
-- Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2)
10/14/2005 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bex ]
-- Windows Media Connect 2.0
11/29/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909520 ]
-- Microsoft Base Smart Card Cryptographic Service Provider
Package: x86
10/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890830 ]
-- Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool
- November 2006

Purely OPTIONAL:
----------------------
10/18/2006 -- [ http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/ ]
-- Internet Explorer 7.0
10/30/2006 -- [ http://snipurl.com/167ea ]
-- Media Player 11
12/8/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925876 ]
-- Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 client


4) Now that you have all the updates you will need to install Windows
XP, all the hardware drivers you will need to get the
operating system to communicate with your hardware, all your
installation media and product keys in a pile - you can install
Windows XP by simply changing the boot order in
the system BIOS to CD first, putting in your Windows XP
CD and following the prompts. When it asks where you
would like to install - delete the partitions shown and create a new
partition to install on. Format it NTFS. Continue following the
prompts.

Want something a little more pictographic?
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

5) Once the installation is done - break out whatever external media
you saved all the 2nd & 3rd list items to and connect/insert it into
the system and begin installing all the hardware drivers (1st) and
then all the patches and such. It'll take a while and probably 10+
reboots.

6) Install your favorite AntiVirus software (I am including a tips list that
has several free alternatives as tip (9)) and immunize your system
against most spyware (see tip (10) in the same list below) and connect
to the Internet. Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and scan
your system for more updates. Do not install hardware drivers from
here.

7) Install whatever other software you need this system to have. Plugins
like quicktime, flash, shockwave, real player (or real alternative),
acrobat reader and so on... Full applications like Microsoft Office,
WordPerfect, Photoshop, etc. Any special software for
cameras/scanners/printers. Anything and everything you want this
computer to have.

8) Create an additional administrative user. Log out and log in as that
user. Make sure it has a password that is good and that you can
remember. Log out and log back in as the original user. That new
user is your 'just in case' account.


Good luck to you!

Microsoft has these suggestions for Protecting your computer from the
various things that could happen to you/it:

Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/

Outfitting an XP computer for the Net
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/xppc.mspx

Getting started with a new PC
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/yournewpc.mspx

Although those tips are fantastic, there are many things you should
know above and beyond that. Below I have detailed out many tips
that can not only help you clean-up a problem PC but keep it clean,
secure and running at its best.

I know this text can seem intimidating - it is quite long and a lot
to take in for a novice - however I can assure you that one pass
through this list and you will understand your computer and the
options available to you for protecting your data much better -
and that the next time you go through these steps, the time it
takes will be greatly reduced - since many things can be setup
to automatically protect you.

Let's take the cleanup/securing of your computer step-by-step.
Yes, it will take up some of your time - but consider what you use
your computer for and how much you would dislike it if all of your
stuff on your computer went away because you did not "feel like"
performing some simple maintenance tasks - think of it like taking
out your garbage, collecting and sorting your postal mail, paying
your bills on time, etc.

Now is a great time to point you to one of the easiest ways to find
information on problems you may be having and solutions others have found:

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )


Now, let's go through some maintenance first that should only have to be
done once (for the most part):

Tip (1):
Locate all of the software you have installed on your computer.
(the installation media - CDs, downloaded files, etc)
Collect these CD/DVDs and files together in a central and safe
place along with their CD keys and such. Make backups of these
installation media sets using your favorite copying method (CD/DVD Burner
and application, Disk copier, etc.) You'll be glad to know that if you
have a CD/DVD burner, you may be able to use a free application to make a
duplicate copy of your CDs. One such application is ISORecorder:

ISORecorder page (with general instructions on use):
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

More full function applications (free) for CD/DVD burning would be:

CDBurnerXP Pro
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

DeepBurner Free
http://www.deepburner.com/

ImgBurn (burn ISO images)
http://www.imgburn.com/

Final Burner Free
http://www.protectedsoft.com/descr_fb.php

BWGBurn
http://sourceforge.net/projects/bwgburn

BurnAware FREE Edition
http://www.glorylogic.com/

Another Option would be to search the web with Pricewatch.com or
Dealsites.net and find deals on Products like Ahead Nero and/or Roxio.

Ahead Nero
http://www.nero.com/

Roxio Easy Media Creator
http://www.roxio.com/

Tip (2):
Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 128MB and 256MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 128MB and 256MB.
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

Tip (3):
If things are running a bit sluggish and/or you have an older system
(1.8GHz or less and less than 512MB RAM) then you may want to look into
tweaking the performance by turning off some of the 'resource hogging'
Windows XP "prettifications". The fastest method is:

Control Panel --> System --> Advanced tab --> Performance section,
Settings button. Then choose "adjust for best performance" and you
now have a Windows 2000/98 look which turned off most of the annoying
"prettifications" in one swift action. You can play with the last
three checkboxes to get more of an XP look without many of the
other annoyances. You could also grab and install/use one
(or more) of the Microsoft Powertoys - TweakUI in particular:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Another viable (decently inexpensive) option is to increase the amount
of memory (RAM) your computer has. You can get an idea of what you
need by visiting:

Crucial Memory AdvisorT Tool
http://www.crucial.com/

Then either buy direct from there or write down the specs you get and
visit: http://www.pricewatch.com/ and locate the best price on what you
need. 512MB up to 1GB total memory should be more than enough for
the normal home user.

Tip (4):
Understanding what a good password might be is vital to your
personal and system security. You may think you do not need to password
your home computer, as you may have it in a locked area (your home) where
no one else has access to it. Remember, however, you aren't always
"in that locked area" when using your computer online - meaning you likely
have usernames and passwords associated with web sites and the likes that
you would prefer other people do not discover/use. This is why you should
understand and utilize good passwords.

Good passwords are those that meet these general rules
(mileage may vary):

Passwords should contain at least six characters, and the character
string should contain at least three of these four character types:
- uppercase letters
- lowercase letters
- numerals
- nonalphanumeric characters (e.g., *, %, &, !, :)

Passwords should not contain your name/username.
Passwords should be unique to you and easy to remember.

One method many people are using today is to make up a phrase that
describes a point in their life and then turning that phrase into their
password by using only certain letters out of each word in that phrase.
It's much better than using your birthday month/year or your anniversary
in a pure sense. For example, let's say my phrase is:
'Great Thanksgiving in 2007!'
I could come up with this password from that:
'Gr8Thanksgiving2007!'

The password tip is in the one time section, but I highly
recommend you periodically change your passwords. The suggested time
varies, but I will throw out a 'once in every 3 to 6 months for
every account you have.'

Also - many people complain that they just cannot remember the passwords
for all the sites they have - so they choose one password and use it for
everything. Not a good idea. A much better method would be to use a
Password Management tool - so you only have to remember one password,
but it opens an application that stores your username/passwords for
everything else - plus other valuable information. One that I can
recommend:

KeePass Password Safe
http://keepass.sourceforge.net/

It can even generate passwords for you.


Tip (5):
This tip is also 'questionable' in the one time section; however -
if properly setup - this one can be pretty well ignored for most people
after the initial 'fiddle-with' time.

Why you should use a computer firewall..
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/firewall/choosing.mspx

You should, in some way, use a firewall. Hardware (like a nice
Cable Modem/DSL router) or software is up to you. Many use both of
these. The simplest one to use is the hardware one, as most people
don't do anything that they will need to configure their NAT device
for and those who do certainly will not mind fiddling with the equipment
to make things work for them. Next in the line of simplicity would
have to be the built-in Windows Firewall of Windows XP. In SP2 it
is turned on by default. It is not difficult to turn on in any
case, however:

More information on the Internet Connection Firewall (Pre-SP2):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320855

Post-SP2 Windows Firewall Information/guidance:
http://snipurl.com/atal

The trouble with the Windows Firewall is that it only keeps things
out. For most people who maintain their system in other ways, this is
MORE than sufficient. You may feel otherwise. If you want to
know when one of your applications is trying to obtain access to the
outside world so you can stop it, then you will have to install a
third-party application and configure/maintain it. I have compiled a
list with links of some of the better known/free firewalls you can choose
from:

Comodo Free Fireall (Free)
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Jetico Personal Firewall (Free)
http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/jpfirewall.htm

Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpostfree/

Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html

ZoneAlarm (Free and up)
http://www.zonelabs.com/

You should find the right firewall for your situation in that
list and set it up if you feel the Windows XP firewall is
insufficient.

Every firewall WILL require some maintenance. Essentially checking for
patches or upgrades (this goes for hardware and software solutions) is
the extent of this maintenance - you may also have to configure your
firewall to allow some traffic depending on your needs.

** Don't stack the software firewalls! Running more than one software
firewall will not make you safer - it would possibly negate some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewall you run. It is
fine (and in many ways better) to have the software firewall as well
as a NAT router.


Now that you have some of the more basic things down..
Let's go through some of the steps you should take periodically to
maintain a healthy and stable windows computer. If you have not
done some of these things in the past, they may seem tedious - however,
they will become routine and some can even be scheduled.


Tip (6):
The system restore feature is only a useful feature if you keep it
maintained and use it to your advantage. Remember that the system
restore pretty much tells you in the name what it protects which is
'system' files. Your documents, your pictures, your stuff is NOT
system files - so you should also look into some backup solution.

Whenever you think about it (after doing a once-over on your machine
once a month or so would be optimal) - clear out your System Restore
and create a manual restoration point.

'Why?'

Too many times have I seen the system restore files go corrupt or get
a virus in them, meaning you could not or did not want to restore from
them. By clearing it out periodically you help prevent any corruption
from happening and you make sure you have at least one good "snapshot".
(*This, of course, will erase any previous restore point you have.*)

- Turn off System Restore.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405
- Reboot the Computer.
- Review the first bullet to turn on System Restore
- Make a Manual Restoration Point.
http://snipurl.com/68nx

Don't want to remove ALL the system restore points? Don't. Simply
utilize "Disk Cleanup" (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312) to
remove all but the last system restore point.

Also - I suggest changing how much space System Restore can utilize.
When it was first released, Windows XP didn't have to deal with hard
disk drives of quite the bulk of today's drives. So, it may be a bit
ambitious in setting the System Restore sizing. I personally suggest
you set it to approximately 1GB, total.

See "Disk Space for System Restore" on how to change this:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/getstarted/ballew_03may19.mspx

That covers your system files, but doesn't do anything for the files
that you are REALLY worried about - yours! For that you need to look
into backups. You can either manually copy your important files, folders,
documents, spreadsheets, emails, contacts, pictures, drawings and so on
to an external location (CD/DVD - any disk of some sort, etc) or you can
use the backup tool that comes with Windows XP:

How To Use Backup to Back Up Files and Folders on Your Computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308422

Yes - you still need some sort of external media to store the results
on, but you could schedule the backup to occur when you are not around,
then burn the resultant data onto CD or DVD or something when you are
(while you do other things!)

Another option that seems to still be going strong:

Cobian Backup
http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

A lot of people have wondered about how to completely backup their system
so that they would not have to go through the trouble of a reinstall..
I'm going to voice my opinion here and say that it would be worthless to
do for MOST people. Unless you plan on periodically updating the image
backup of your system (remaking it) - then by the time you use it
(something goes wrong) - it will be so outdated as to be more trouble than
performing a full install of the operating system and all applications.

Having said my part against it, you can clone/backup your hard drive
completely using many methods - by far the simplest are using disk cloning
applications:

Symantec/Norton Ghost
http://snipurl.com/13e00

Acronis True Image
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

BootIt NG
http://terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

Tip (7):
You should sometimes look through the list of applications that are
installed on your computer. The list may surprise you. There are more
than likely things in there you know you never use - so why have them
there? There may even be things you know you did *not* install and
certainly do not use (maybe don't WANT to use.)

This web site should help you get started at looking through this list:

How to Uninstall Programs
http://snipurl.com/8v6b

How to change or remove a program in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307895

A word of warning - Do NOT uninstall anything you think you MIGHT need
in the future unless you have completed Tip (1) and have the installation
media and proper keys for use backed up somewhere safe!

Tip (8):
Patches and Updates!

This one cannot be stressed enough. It is SO simple, yet so neglected
by many people. It is really simple for the critical Microsoft patches!
Microsoft put in an AUTOMATED feature for you to utilize so that you do
NOT have to worry yourself about the patching of the Operating System:

How to configure and use Automatic Updates in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306525

However, not everyone wants to be a slave to automation, and that is
fine. Admittedly, I prefer this method on some of my more critical
systems.

Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones
as you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when
selecting the updates and if you have trouble over the next few days,
go into your control panel (Add/Remove Programs), insure that the
'Show Updates' checkbox is checked and match up the latest numbers you
downloaded recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall
them. If there was more than one (usually is), uninstall them one by one
with a few hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns.
Yes - the process is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I
mentioned - but as you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is
MUCH better than the alternatives.

Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates. New versions
of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some are pay
and some you can only download if you are registered - but it is best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections. For example, for Microsoft Office you should visit:

Microsoft Office Updates
http://office.microsoft.com/
(and select 'Downloads' for more - note that Microsoft Update does
handle MS Office products too.)

You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always get the manufacturers'
hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows Update site I
mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware drivers - no matter
how tempting.

How do you know what hardware you have in your computer? Break out the
invoice or if it is up and working now - take inventory:

Belarc Advisor
http://belarc.com/free_download.html

Once you know what you have, what next? Go get the latest driver for your
hardware/OS from the manufacturer's web page. For example, let's say you
have an NVidia chipset video card or ATI video card, perhaps a Creative
Labs sound card or C-Media chipset sound card...

NVidia Video Card Drivers
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

ATI Video Card Drivers
http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

Creative Labs Sound Device
http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/

C-Media Sound Device
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/driver

Then install these drivers. Updated drivers are usually more stable and
may provide extra benefits/features that you really wished you had before.

As for Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP, Microsoft has made this
particular patch available in a number of ways. First, there is the
Windows Update web page above. Then there is a direct download site.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD
http://snipurl.com/d41v

If all else fails - grab the full download above and try to use that.
In this case - consider yourself a 'IT professional or developer'.

Tip (9):
What about the dreaded word in the computer world, VIRUS?

Well, there are many products to choose from that will help you prevent
infections from these horrid little applications. Many are FREE to the
home user and which you choose is a matter of taste, really. Many people
have emotional attachments or performance issues with one or another
AntiVirus software. Try some out, read reviews and decide for yourself
which you like more:

( Good Comparison Page for AV software: http://www.av-comparatives.org/ )

AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/

avast! (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/

AVG Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://free.grisoft.com/

eset NOD32 (~$39.00 and up)
http://www.eset.com/products/

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/kaspersky_anti-virus

McAfee VirusScan (~$39.99 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/

Panda Antivirus (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/antivirus/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/)

Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$39.99 and up)
http://snipurl.com/13e12



Most of them have automatic update capabilities. You will have to
look into the features of the one you choose. Whatever one you finally
settle with - be SURE to keep it updated (I recommend at least daily) and
perform a full scan periodically (yes, most protect you actively, but a
full scan once a month at 4AM probably won't bother you.)

Tip (10):
The most rampant infestation at the current time concerns SPYWARE/ADWARE.
You need to eliminate it from your machine.

There is no one software that cleans and immunizes you against
everything. Antivirus software - you only needed one. Firewall, you
only needed one. AntiSpyware - you will need several. I have a list and
I recommend you use at least the first five.

First - make sure you have NOT installed "Rogue AntiSpyware". There are
people out there who created AntiSpyware products that actually install
spyware of their own! You need to avoid these:

Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Also, you can always visit this site..
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
For more updated information.

Install several of these: (Install, Run, Update, Scan with..)
(If you already have one or more - uninstall them and download the
LATEST version from the page given!)

SuperAntiSpyware (Free and up)
http://www.superantispyware.com/

Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 Free (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de/products/ad_aware_free.php
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/atdn )

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/en/download/
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/atdk )

SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/ate6 )

CWShredder Stand-Alone (Free!)
http://www.trendmicro.com/cwshredder/

Hijack This! (Free!)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
(Log Analyzer: http://hjt.networktechs.com/ )

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/ate3 )

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
(I suggest the 'slim' version: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds )

Browser Security Tests (Free Tester)
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

Popup Tester (Free Tester)
http://www.popuptest.com/

The Cleaner (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/

Sometimes you need to install the application and reboot into SAFE MODE in
order to thoroughly clean your computer. Many applications also have
(or are) immunization applications. Spybot Search and Destroy and
SpywareBlaster are two that currently do the best job at passively
protecting your system from malware. None of these programs (in these
editions) run in the background unless you TELL them to. The space they
take up and how easy they are to use greatly makes up for any inconvenience
you may be feeling.

Please notice that Windows XP SP2 does help stop popups as well.

Another option is to use an alternative Web browser. I suggest
'Mozilla Firefox', as it has some great features and is very easy to use:

Mozilla Firefox
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

This does not replace the need for the above applications and an
occassional scan of your system - but it does help somewhat.

Also - Internet Explorer 7.x is much better with the security than
6.x was. If you have not gone to Internet Explorer 7.0 and you are having
trouble with spyware/adware - consider going now. Cleanup with the
tools above *first* however.


So your machine is pretty clean and up to date now. If you use the sections
above as a guide, it should stay that way! There are still a few
more things you can do to keep your machine running in top shape.

Tip (11):
You should periodically check your hard drive(s) for errors and defragment
them. Only defragment after you have cleaned up your machine of
outside parasites and never defragment as a solution to a quirkiness in
your system. It may help speed up your system, but it should be clean
before you do this. Do these things IN ORDER...

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848

I would personally perform the above steps at least once every three months.
For most people this should be sufficient, but if the difference you notice
afterwards is greater than you think it should be, lessen the time in
between its schedule.. If the difference you notice is negligible, you can
increase the time.

Tip (12):
SPAM! JUNK MAIL!
This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
maker on what is spam and what is not. I have a few products to suggest
to you, look at them and see if any of them suite your needs. Again, if
they don't, Google is free and available for your perusal.

SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/

Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/

MailWasher
http://www.mailwasher.net/

Another option - utilze some service that already does a FINE JOB on
eliminating the spam from your mailbox (plus a number of other benefits.)

Google Mail (gmail):
http://www.gmail.com/
(Set it up for your email client of choice - using POP:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=13273 )

Windows Live Hotmail (formerly just "Hotmail"):
http://get.live.com/mail/options

There are many others. Email from anywhere with a computer, lots of
space for your emails/attachments, free services and if you change ISPs -
your email doesn't change!

As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
seen function for hundreds+ people. Feel free to search for your own
solutions!

Tip (13):
ADVANCED TIP! Only do this once you are comfortable under the hood of your
computer!

There are lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default
you don't use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all
of the services you might find on your computer are and set them according
to your personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed
and write down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance
increase or anything - especially on today's 2+ GHz machines, however - I
look at each service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry
about someone exploiting.

Service Configuration Tips
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm

Configuring Services
http://smallvoid.com/tweak/winnt/services.html

Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/

There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle these
I have found here:

Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php


If you follow the advice laid out above (and do some of your own research as
well, so you understand what you are doing) - your computer will stay fairly
stable and secure and you will have a more trouble-free system.
 
sure....you place the XP Cd in and start the installation formatting your
hard drive in the process...be sure you are not connected to the net
You phone the Activation Center and explain why so you can activate
Then you reload the HP motherboard drivers and other drivers required..found
on HP website...which you will need to down load and safe to a CD...if SATA
drivers are needed be sure to expand them to a floppy...you will need them
during the XP install
Unless you have a HP recovery CD..run that and it will format and install
putting your system back to "first purchased" status
Then you reinstall your Anti Virus....and configure your Internet Connection
as well as Email
then connect to the NET and do all of those lovely time consuming XP
updates.
then reinstall all of your programs......and from the backups you made
reinstall your saved work/personal files
Then customise it to the way you want it
..........and thats it ...You will be back to running XP in about 12 hours

peter
 
I can't thank you enough for this info. 1) If I can find the recovery CD, do
I have to install the Belarc Advisor? 2) I do not have a Windows XP CD, it
was preinstalled on the laptop. I will attempt to follow these explicit
instructions and install the drivers in the order you sent them and cross my
fingers in the process. May the force be with me...

Shenan Stanley said:
dkhyland said:
I "upgraded" an HP dv1000 laptop from Win XP to Vista Premium with the
upgrade disc not realizing the laptop was not "Vista capable". Is there
anyway to get Win XP back as the OS?

Next time - check to make sure you can do the upgrade(s) - there's always
some sort of tester...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/51ff932f-a9b4-4015-a847-09bfac51a18f1033.mspx
In this case:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Clean installation is your only way back...

** You may want to print this **

1) Download and install Belarc Advisor onto the current Windows
machine. Use it to get a list of hardware from the
machine as well as the CD Key used to install it. Print it if you like.
http://www.belarc.com/

You may be able to obtain other product keys from here as well.
You will see everything that is installed listed here - so you have
a record of what you will be putting back - if you have the
installation media. Now is the time to find the installation media!

2) Using the list of hardware you obtained - visit the hardware
manufacturer(s) web page(s) and download the software drivers
for each of the components.

If it is a "vendor" computer (Dell, HP, IBM, Gateway, etc..) - simply
visit the vendor's page and go to the support/downloads for the
particular model and download all hardware drivers. Write those
to external (to that computer) media. CD/DVD/USB/Network.

If it is a piece-meal computer, take the Belarc list and visit each
manufacturer's web page. Be sure - at a minimum - to obtain the
motherboard chipset drivers, the hard drive controller card drivers,
the video card drivers, the modem drivers, the network card
drivers and the sound card drivers. Technically - if you have the
drivers for the hardware that will allow you to access the Internet,
everything else can be gotten later. However - there is something
to be said about going in prepared.

3) Now that you have the software and hardware drivers covered -
you can get to the business of obtaining Service Pack 2 and most
of the post-sp2 updates you will need. I have a list with links
below this - if you grabbed everything on this list - installed them
(after installing Windows XP) in numerical (by KB Article #) order
- rebooting when asked to - before ever connecting to the Internet
- you might (at this time) have 5-10 more to grab from the update
web page.

Essentially - visit each of these pages, download the update for
Windows XP (32bit) w/SP2 and save them to an external location.
CD/DVD/USB/Network. Consider yourself an "IT Professional" in
order to get to the page with the actual file download link for each
update.

You could get away with (pretty much) installing them in the order
given.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Critical Updates
----------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885626 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
11/22/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887742 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885835 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885836 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886185 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873339 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891781 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888302 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887472 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Messenger
4/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890859 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/18/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
5/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896344 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896358 ]
-- Security Update for Microsoft Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896428 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900930 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/27/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898461 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
7/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901214 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896423 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899587 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899591 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893756 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901017 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902400 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905749 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900725 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/12/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910437 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904706 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
1/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908519 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911927 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911562 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/18/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904942 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900485 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908531 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913580 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/6/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916595 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/8/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918439 ]
-- Vulnerability in ART Image Rendering Could Allow Remote Code
Execution in Internet Explorer for Windows XP SP2
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914389 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917953 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917344 ]
-- JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2
6/27/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911280 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917159 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914388 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917422 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920670 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922616 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920683 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/17/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920872 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920685 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922582 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919007 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922819 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924496 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923191 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920213 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent could allow remote code
execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923789 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in Macromedia Flash Player from Adobe
could allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924270 ]
-- Vulnerability in Workstation Service could allow
remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928088 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services could
allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923980 ]
-- Vulnerability in the Client Service could allow remote code
execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926247 ]
-- Vulnerability in Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
could allow remote code execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows could allow elevation of privilege
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923694 ]
-- Cumulative security update for Outlook Express
1/9/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929969 ]
-- Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
* If you have installed IE7, also install the IE7 version
of this patch!
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Elevation
of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927802 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition Service
Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928843 ]
-- Vulnerability in HTML Help ActiveX Control Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927779 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Data Access Components
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926436 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft OLE Dialog Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924667 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft MFC Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918118 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft RichEdit Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928090 ]
-- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
* If you have IE7, obtain that version of this update.
4/3/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925902 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in GDI Could Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931261 ]
-- Vulnerability in Universal Plug and Play Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932168 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930178 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in CSRSS Could Allow Remote Code
Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931784 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow
Elevation of Privilege

Media Player:
-------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/2/2004 -- [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=30984 ]
-- Windows Media Player 10
11/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902344 ]
-- Update for WMDRM-enabled Media Players
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911564 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player Plug-in
4/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911565 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917734 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923689 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Media Format Could Allow Remote
Code Execution

..NET Framework:
------------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
3/30/2004 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bde ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable Package
8/30/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885055 ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1
2/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887219 ]
-- ASP.NET Security Update for Microsoft NET Framework 1.1
Service Pack 1
3/22/2006 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bdv ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable
Package (x86)
7/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917283 ]
-- NDP 2.0 ASP.Net Security Update
10/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922770 ]
-- NET Framework 2.0 SYSTEM.WEB.DLL Security Update

Other Updates:
---------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873374 ]
-- Microsoft GDI+ Detection Tool
9/2/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893803 ]
-- Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2)
10/14/2005 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bex ]
-- Windows Media Connect 2.0
11/29/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909520 ]
-- Microsoft Base Smart Card Cryptographic Service Provider
Package: x86
10/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890830 ]
-- Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool
- November 2006

Purely OPTIONAL:
 
Depending on how old the laptop is (assuming XP came with the laptop), HP (as
well as Dell and others) provide a partition on the hard disk which is a
recovery partition. Check with HP's website on how to access and restore XP.

If you killed off the partition or you don't have a copy of the CD, contact
HP to see if they still have recovery CDs. Be prepared to give the model,
serial number, etc. Note that they don't keep many of the older models.

WARNING: When you run the recovery utility off the recovery partition, it
wipes off everything in the partition that had Windows. BACK UP YOU DATA!

The recovery CD restores your OS as if you just bought it. Did one on a Dell
desktop and Windows XP was up within 10 minutes. Will need to install any
service pack required plus all the security updates



dkhyland said:
I can't thank you enough for this info. 1) If I can find the recovery CD, do
I have to install the Belarc Advisor? 2) I do not have a Windows XP CD, it
was preinstalled on the laptop. I will attempt to follow these explicit
instructions and install the drivers in the order you sent them and cross my
fingers in the process. May the force be with me...

Shenan Stanley said:
dkhyland said:
I "upgraded" an HP dv1000 laptop from Win XP to Vista Premium with the
upgrade disc not realizing the laptop was not "Vista capable". Is there
anyway to get Win XP back as the OS?

Next time - check to make sure you can do the upgrade(s) - there's always
some sort of tester...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/51ff932f-a9b4-4015-a847-09bfac51a18f1033.mspx
In this case:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Clean installation is your only way back...

** You may want to print this **

1) Download and install Belarc Advisor onto the current Windows
machine. Use it to get a list of hardware from the
machine as well as the CD Key used to install it. Print it if you like.
http://www.belarc.com/

You may be able to obtain other product keys from here as well.
You will see everything that is installed listed here - so you have
a record of what you will be putting back - if you have the
installation media. Now is the time to find the installation media!

2) Using the list of hardware you obtained - visit the hardware
manufacturer(s) web page(s) and download the software drivers
for each of the components.

If it is a "vendor" computer (Dell, HP, IBM, Gateway, etc..) - simply
visit the vendor's page and go to the support/downloads for the
particular model and download all hardware drivers. Write those
to external (to that computer) media. CD/DVD/USB/Network.

If it is a piece-meal computer, take the Belarc list and visit each
manufacturer's web page. Be sure - at a minimum - to obtain the
motherboard chipset drivers, the hard drive controller card drivers,
the video card drivers, the modem drivers, the network card
drivers and the sound card drivers. Technically - if you have the
drivers for the hardware that will allow you to access the Internet,
everything else can be gotten later. However - there is something
to be said about going in prepared.

3) Now that you have the software and hardware drivers covered -
you can get to the business of obtaining Service Pack 2 and most
of the post-sp2 updates you will need. I have a list with links
below this - if you grabbed everything on this list - installed them
(after installing Windows XP) in numerical (by KB Article #) order
- rebooting when asked to - before ever connecting to the Internet
- you might (at this time) have 5-10 more to grab from the update
web page.

Essentially - visit each of these pages, download the update for
Windows XP (32bit) w/SP2 and save them to an external location.
CD/DVD/USB/Network. Consider yourself an "IT Professional" in
order to get to the page with the actual file download link for each
update.

You could get away with (pretty much) installing them in the order
given.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Critical Updates
----------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885626 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
11/22/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887742 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885835 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885836 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886185 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873339 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891781 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888302 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887472 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Messenger
4/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890859 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/18/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
5/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896344 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896358 ]
-- Security Update for Microsoft Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896428 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900930 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/27/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898461 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
7/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901214 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896423 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899587 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899591 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893756 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901017 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902400 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905749 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900725 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/12/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910437 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904706 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
1/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908519 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911927 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911562 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/18/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904942 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900485 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908531 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913580 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/6/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916595 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/8/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918439 ]
-- Vulnerability in ART Image Rendering Could Allow Remote Code
Execution in Internet Explorer for Windows XP SP2
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914389 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917953 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917344 ]
-- JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2
6/27/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911280 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917159 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914388 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917422 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920670 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922616 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920683 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/17/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920872 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920685 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922582 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919007 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922819 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924496 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923191 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920213 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent could allow remote code
execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923789 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in Macromedia Flash Player from Adobe
could allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924270 ]
-- Vulnerability in Workstation Service could allow
remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928088 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services could
allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923980 ]
-- Vulnerability in the Client Service could allow remote code
execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926247 ]
-- Vulnerability in Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
could allow remote code execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows could allow elevation of privilege
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923694 ]
-- Cumulative security update for Outlook Express
1/9/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929969 ]
-- Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
* If you have installed IE7, also install the IE7 version
of this patch!
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Elevation
of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927802 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition Service
Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928843 ]
-- Vulnerability in HTML Help ActiveX Control Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927779 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Data Access Components
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926436 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft OLE Dialog Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924667 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft MFC Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918118 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft RichEdit Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928090 ]
-- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
* If you have IE7, obtain that version of this update.
4/3/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925902 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in GDI Could Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931261 ]
-- Vulnerability in Universal Plug and Play Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932168 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930178 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in CSRSS Could Allow Remote Code
Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931784 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow
Elevation of Privilege

Media Player:
-------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/2/2004 -- [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=30984 ]
-- Windows Media Player 10
11/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902344 ]
-- Update for WMDRM-enabled Media Players
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911564 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player Plug-in
4/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911565 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917734 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923689 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Media Format Could Allow Remote
Code Execution

..NET Framework:
------------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
3/30/2004 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bde ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable Package
8/30/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885055 ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1
2/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887219 ]
-- ASP.NET Security Update for Microsoft NET Framework 1.1
Service Pack 1
3/22/2006 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bdv ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable
Package (x86)
7/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917283 ]
-- NDP 2.0 ASP.Net Security Update
10/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922770 ]
-- NET Framework 2.0 SYSTEM.WEB.DLL Security Update

Other Updates:
---------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873374 ]
-- Microsoft GDI+ Detection Tool
9/2/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893803 ]
-- Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2)
10/14/2005 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bex ]
-- Windows Media Connect 2.0
11/29/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909520 ]
-- Microsoft Base Smart Card Cryptographic Service Provider
Package: x86
10/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890830 ]
 
Gis Bun,

I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just put in the
CD, follow the instructions and then download any Windows updates afterwards?
I have backed up all data so to restore the laptop to "out of the box" status
is not a problem.

Thanks, Devin

Gis Bun said:
Depending on how old the laptop is (assuming XP came with the laptop), HP (as
well as Dell and others) provide a partition on the hard disk which is a
recovery partition. Check with HP's website on how to access and restore XP.

If you killed off the partition or you don't have a copy of the CD, contact
HP to see if they still have recovery CDs. Be prepared to give the model,
serial number, etc. Note that they don't keep many of the older models.

WARNING: When you run the recovery utility off the recovery partition, it
wipes off everything in the partition that had Windows. BACK UP YOU DATA!

The recovery CD restores your OS as if you just bought it. Did one on a Dell
desktop and Windows XP was up within 10 minutes. Will need to install any
service pack required plus all the security updates



dkhyland said:
I can't thank you enough for this info. 1) If I can find the recovery CD, do
I have to install the Belarc Advisor? 2) I do not have a Windows XP CD, it
was preinstalled on the laptop. I will attempt to follow these explicit
instructions and install the drivers in the order you sent them and cross my
fingers in the process. May the force be with me...

Shenan Stanley said:
dkhyland wrote:
I "upgraded" an HP dv1000 laptop from Win XP to Vista Premium with the
upgrade disc not realizing the laptop was not "Vista capable". Is there
anyway to get Win XP back as the OS?

Next time - check to make sure you can do the upgrade(s) - there's always
some sort of tester...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/51ff932f-a9b4-4015-a847-09bfac51a18f1033.mspx
In this case:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Clean installation is your only way back...

** You may want to print this **

1) Download and install Belarc Advisor onto the current Windows
machine. Use it to get a list of hardware from the
machine as well as the CD Key used to install it. Print it if you like.
http://www.belarc.com/

You may be able to obtain other product keys from here as well.
You will see everything that is installed listed here - so you have
a record of what you will be putting back - if you have the
installation media. Now is the time to find the installation media!

2) Using the list of hardware you obtained - visit the hardware
manufacturer(s) web page(s) and download the software drivers
for each of the components.

If it is a "vendor" computer (Dell, HP, IBM, Gateway, etc..) - simply
visit the vendor's page and go to the support/downloads for the
particular model and download all hardware drivers. Write those
to external (to that computer) media. CD/DVD/USB/Network.

If it is a piece-meal computer, take the Belarc list and visit each
manufacturer's web page. Be sure - at a minimum - to obtain the
motherboard chipset drivers, the hard drive controller card drivers,
the video card drivers, the modem drivers, the network card
drivers and the sound card drivers. Technically - if you have the
drivers for the hardware that will allow you to access the Internet,
everything else can be gotten later. However - there is something
to be said about going in prepared.

3) Now that you have the software and hardware drivers covered -
you can get to the business of obtaining Service Pack 2 and most
of the post-sp2 updates you will need. I have a list with links
below this - if you grabbed everything on this list - installed them
(after installing Windows XP) in numerical (by KB Article #) order
- rebooting when asked to - before ever connecting to the Internet
- you might (at this time) have 5-10 more to grab from the update
web page.

Essentially - visit each of these pages, download the update for
Windows XP (32bit) w/SP2 and save them to an external location.
CD/DVD/USB/Network. Consider yourself an "IT Professional" in
order to get to the page with the actual file download link for each
update.

You could get away with (pretty much) installing them in the order
given.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Critical Updates
----------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885626 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
11/22/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887742 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885835 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885836 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886185 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873339 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891781 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888302 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887472 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Messenger
4/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890859 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/18/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
5/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896344 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896358 ]
-- Security Update for Microsoft Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896428 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900930 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/27/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898461 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
7/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901214 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896423 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899587 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899591 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893756 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901017 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902400 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905749 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900725 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/12/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910437 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904706 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
1/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908519 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911927 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911562 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/18/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904942 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900485 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908531 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913580 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/6/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916595 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/8/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918439 ]
-- Vulnerability in ART Image Rendering Could Allow Remote Code
Execution in Internet Explorer for Windows XP SP2
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914389 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917953 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917344 ]
-- JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2
6/27/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911280 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917159 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914388 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917422 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920670 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922616 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920683 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/17/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920872 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920685 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922582 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919007 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922819 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924496 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923191 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920213 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent could allow remote code
execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923789 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in Macromedia Flash Player from Adobe
could allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924270 ]
-- Vulnerability in Workstation Service could allow
remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928088 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services could
allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923980 ]
-- Vulnerability in the Client Service could allow remote code
execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926247 ]
-- Vulnerability in Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
could allow remote code execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows could allow elevation of privilege
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923694 ]
-- Cumulative security update for Outlook Express
1/9/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929969 ]
-- Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
* If you have installed IE7, also install the IE7 version
of this patch!
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Elevation
of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927802 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition Service
Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928843 ]
-- Vulnerability in HTML Help ActiveX Control Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927779 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Data Access Components
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926436 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft OLE Dialog Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924667 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft MFC Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918118 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft RichEdit Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928090 ]
-- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
* If you have IE7, obtain that version of this update.
4/3/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925902 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in GDI Could Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931261 ]
-- Vulnerability in Universal Plug and Play Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932168 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930178 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in CSRSS Could Allow Remote Code
Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931784 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow
Elevation of Privilege

Media Player:
-------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/2/2004 -- [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=30984 ]
-- Windows Media Player 10
11/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902344 ]
-- Update for WMDRM-enabled Media Players
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911564 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player Plug-in
4/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911565 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917734 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923689 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Media Format Could Allow Remote
Code Execution

..NET Framework:
------------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
3/30/2004 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bde ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable Package
8/30/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885055 ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1
2/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887219 ]
-- ASP.NET Security Update for Microsoft NET Framework 1.1
Service Pack 1
3/22/2006 -- [ http://snipurl.com/10bdv ]
-- Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable
 
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that are not
needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall and anti-virus,
download the latest drivers for your devices and then plug in each device one
at a time (and installing the corresponding drivers). Note that some require
you to install the software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD may be not
recently updated. So you may need to download quite a bit of updates.
[Someone I know just got Vista and it required 146MB in 26 updates to get it
up to date. System build was in May.]

Good luck!

Gis


dkhyland said:
Gis Bun,

I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just put in the
CD, follow the instructions and then download any Windows updates afterwards?
I have backed up all data so to restore the laptop to "out of the box" status
is not a problem.

Thanks, Devin

Gis Bun said:
Depending on how old the laptop is (assuming XP came with the laptop), HP (as
well as Dell and others) provide a partition on the hard disk which is a
recovery partition. Check with HP's website on how to access and restore XP.

If you killed off the partition or you don't have a copy of the CD, contact
HP to see if they still have recovery CDs. Be prepared to give the model,
serial number, etc. Note that they don't keep many of the older models.

WARNING: When you run the recovery utility off the recovery partition, it
wipes off everything in the partition that had Windows. BACK UP YOU DATA!

The recovery CD restores your OS as if you just bought it. Did one on a Dell
desktop and Windows XP was up within 10 minutes. Will need to install any
service pack required plus all the security updates



dkhyland said:
I can't thank you enough for this info. 1) If I can find the recovery CD, do
I have to install the Belarc Advisor? 2) I do not have a Windows XP CD, it
was preinstalled on the laptop. I will attempt to follow these explicit
instructions and install the drivers in the order you sent them and cross my
fingers in the process. May the force be with me...

:

dkhyland wrote:
I "upgraded" an HP dv1000 laptop from Win XP to Vista Premium with the
upgrade disc not realizing the laptop was not "Vista capable". Is there
anyway to get Win XP back as the OS?

Next time - check to make sure you can do the upgrade(s) - there's always
some sort of tester...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/51ff932f-a9b4-4015-a847-09bfac51a18f1033.mspx
In this case:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Clean installation is your only way back...

** You may want to print this **

1) Download and install Belarc Advisor onto the current Windows
machine. Use it to get a list of hardware from the
machine as well as the CD Key used to install it. Print it if you like.
http://www.belarc.com/

You may be able to obtain other product keys from here as well.
You will see everything that is installed listed here - so you have
a record of what you will be putting back - if you have the
installation media. Now is the time to find the installation media!

2) Using the list of hardware you obtained - visit the hardware
manufacturer(s) web page(s) and download the software drivers
for each of the components.

If it is a "vendor" computer (Dell, HP, IBM, Gateway, etc..) - simply
visit the vendor's page and go to the support/downloads for the
particular model and download all hardware drivers. Write those
to external (to that computer) media. CD/DVD/USB/Network.

If it is a piece-meal computer, take the Belarc list and visit each
manufacturer's web page. Be sure - at a minimum - to obtain the
motherboard chipset drivers, the hard drive controller card drivers,
the video card drivers, the modem drivers, the network card
drivers and the sound card drivers. Technically - if you have the
drivers for the hardware that will allow you to access the Internet,
everything else can be gotten later. However - there is something
to be said about going in prepared.

3) Now that you have the software and hardware drivers covered -
you can get to the business of obtaining Service Pack 2 and most
of the post-sp2 updates you will need. I have a list with links
below this - if you grabbed everything on this list - installed them
(after installing Windows XP) in numerical (by KB Article #) order
- rebooting when asked to - before ever connecting to the Internet
- you might (at this time) have 5-10 more to grab from the update
web page.

Essentially - visit each of these pages, download the update for
Windows XP (32bit) w/SP2 and save them to an external location.
CD/DVD/USB/Network. Consider yourself an "IT Professional" in
order to get to the page with the actual file download link for each
update.

You could get away with (pretty much) installing them in the order
given.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Critical Updates
----------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address ] -- Description:
9/14/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885626 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
11/22/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887742 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885835 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885836 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886185 ]
-- Critical Update for Windows XP
12/13/2004 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873339 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891781 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888302 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887472 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Messenger
4/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890859 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/18/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
5/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896344 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896358 ]
-- Security Update for Microsoft Windows XP
6/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896428 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/24/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900930 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/27/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898461 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
7/11/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901214 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896423 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899587 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899591 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/8/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893756 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901017 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902400 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905749 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/10/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900725 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
12/12/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910437 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
12/13/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904706 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
1/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908519 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911927 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911562 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
4/18/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904942 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900485 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
4/25/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908531 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
5/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913580 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/6/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916595 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
6/8/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918439 ]
-- Vulnerability in ART Image Rendering Could Allow Remote Code
Execution in Internet Explorer for Windows XP SP2
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914389 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917953 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
6/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917344 ]
-- JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2
6/27/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911280 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917159 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
7/10/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914388 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917422 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920670 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922616 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/7/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920683 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
8/17/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920872 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920685 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922582 ]
-- Update for Windows XP
9/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919007 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922819 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924496 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923414 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
10/9/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923191 ]
-- Security Update for Windows XP
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920213 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent could allow remote code
execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923789 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in Macromedia Flash Player from Adobe
could allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924270 ]
-- Vulnerability in Workstation Service could allow
remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928088 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services could
allow remote code execution
11/14/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923980 ]
-- Vulnerability in the Client Service could allow remote code
execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926247 ]
-- Vulnerability in Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
could allow remote code execution
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows could allow elevation of privilege
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923694 ]
-- Cumulative security update for Outlook Express
1/9/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929969 ]
-- Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
* If you have installed IE7, also install the IE7 version
of this patch!
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928255 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Elevation
of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927802 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition Service
Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928843 ]
-- Vulnerability in HTML Help ActiveX Control Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927779 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Data Access Components
Could Allow Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926436 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft OLE Dialog Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924667 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft MFC Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918118 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft RichEdit Could Allow
Remote Code Execution
2/13/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928090 ]
-- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
* If you have IE7, obtain that version of this update.
4/3/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925902 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in GDI Could Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931261 ]
-- Vulnerability in Universal Plug and Play Could
Allow Remote Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932168 ]
-- Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent Could Allow Remote
Code Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930178 ]
-- Vulnerabilities in CSRSS Could Allow Remote Code
Execution
4/10/2007 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931784 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow
Elevation of Privilege

Media Player:
-------------------
Released: -- [ Web Page Address: ] -- Description:
9/2/2004 -- [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=30984 ]
-- Windows Media Player 10
11/7/2005 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902344 ]
-- Update for WMDRM-enabled Media Players
2/13/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911564 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player Plug-in
4/11/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911565 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
6/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917734 ]
-- Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP
12/12/2006 -- [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923689 ]
-- Vulnerability in Windows Media Format Could Allow Remote
Code Execution

..NET Framework:
 
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that are not
needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall and anti-virus,
download the latest drivers for your devices and then plug in each device one
at a time (and installing the corresponding drivers). Note that some require
you to install the software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD may be not
recently updated. So you may need to download quite a bit of updates.
[Someone I know just got Vista and it required 146MB in 26 updates to get it
up to date. System build was in May.]

Good luck!

Gis


I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully up-to-date, as
well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed connection, I
would wait till next week and purchase the disk from Microsoft for about $10.
 
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b



I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just
put in the CD, follow the instructions and then download any
Windows updates afterwards? I have backed up all data so to restore
the laptop to "out of the box" status is not a problem.

Gis said:
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that
are not needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall
and anti-virus, download the latest drivers for your devices and
then plug in each device one at a time (and installing the
corresponding drivers). Note that some require you to install the
software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD
may be not recently updated. So you may need to download quite a
bit of updates. [Someone I know just got Vista and it required
146MB in 26 updates to get it up to date. System build was in May.]
I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully
up-to-date, as well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed
connection, I would wait till next week and purchase the disk from
Microsoft for about $10.

I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best.

First - Windows XP SP3 *is* 366MB.

Second - as you stated - it is an RC.. Release Candidate. In fact it is
"Release Candidate 1" and when the final version comes out (supposedly
sometime next year) the RC version (if installed) will likely need to be
uninstalled before the final release should be installed. Not to mention -
being "RC1" - there may very well be an RC2, RC3, etc before it is finally
release.
 
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b



I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just
put in the CD, follow the instructions and then download any
Windows updates afterwards? I have backed up all data so to restore
the laptop to "out of the box" status is not a problem.

Gis said:
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that
are not needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall
and anti-virus, download the latest drivers for your devices and
then plug in each device one at a time (and installing the
corresponding drivers). Note that some require you to install the
software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD
may be not recently updated. So you may need to download quite a
bit of updates. [Someone I know just got Vista and it required
146MB in 26 updates to get it up to date. System build was in May.]
I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully
up-to-date, as well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed
connection, I would wait till next week and purchase the disk from
Microsoft for about $10.

I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best.

First - Windows XP SP3 *is* 366MB.

Sorry, got the wrong size.
However, I am in NO WAY "uninformed", as you claim. I gave good advice.
Basically, the same advice everyone else gave the OP.

In any case, he should be able to purchase a disk for about $10 when Microsoft
gets ready. Sometime next week, hopefully (or maybe that's just for the Vista
SP1 RC).
Second - as you stated - it is an RC.. Release Candidate. In fact it is
"Release Candidate 1" and when the final version comes out (supposedly
sometime next year) the RC version (if installed) will likely need to be
uninstalled before the final release should be installed. Not to mention -
being "RC1" - there may very well be an RC2, RC3, etc before it is finally
release.

How is my suggestion to install XP SP3 Release Candidate "uninformed"? I spoke
pretty much the truth -- It does improve XP's performance muchly. And if he
installs it, he will only have to download a few updates (5 or 6 at most.
Considering that a clean install of XP even with Service Pack 2 will require
over 100 updates to be downloaded, I believe I've given good advice.)

Because I confused the size of the XP SP3 Release Candidate download with the
Vista SP1 Release Candidate, I am somehow "uninformed"? Get real bud.
 
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b



I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just
put in the CD, follow the instructions and then download any
Windows updates afterwards? I have backed up all data so to restore
the laptop to "out of the box" status is not a problem.

Gis said:
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that
are not needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall
and anti-virus, download the latest drivers for your devices and
then plug in each device one at a time (and installing the
corresponding drivers). Note that some require you to install the
software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD
may be not recently updated. So you may need to download quite a
bit of updates. [Someone I know just got Vista and it required
146MB in 26 updates to get it up to date. System build was in May.]
I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully
up-to-date, as well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed
connection, I would wait till next week and purchase the disk from
Microsoft for about $10.

Shenan said:
I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best.

First - Windows XP SP3 *is* 366MB.

Second - as you stated - it is an RC.. Release Candidate. In fact
it is "Release Candidate 1" and when the final version comes out
(supposedly sometime next year) the RC version (if installed) will
likely need to be uninstalled before the final release should be
installed. Not to mention - being "RC1" - there may very well be
an RC2, RC3, etc before it is finally release.
Sorry, got the wrong size.
However, I am in NO WAY "uninformed", as you claim. I gave good
advice. Basically, the same advice everyone else gave the OP.

In any case, he should be able to purchase a disk for about $10
when Microsoft gets ready. Sometime next week, hopefully (or
maybe that's just for the Vista SP1 RC).

How is my suggestion to install XP SP3 Release Candidate
"uninformed"? I spoke pretty much the truth -- It does improve
XP's performance muchly. And if he installs it, he will only have
to download a few updates (5 or 6 at most. Considering that a clean
install of XP even with Service Pack 2 will require over 100
updates to be downloaded, I believe I've given good advice.)

Because I confused the size of the XP SP3 Release Candidate
download with the Vista SP1 Release Candidate, I am somehow
"uninformed"? Get real bud.

The last statement is uncalled for...

As I clearly stated, "I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best." <-
So *I* think it is uninformed for the following reasons:

I think it is 'uninformed' because you are recommending to a ordinary
computer user they install a product *from Microsoft* that is ADMITTEDLY
unfinished. If you think the products they release/support have the
possibilities for issues (you would be correct) then the products they
release for testing/provide no support for would be even worse and
recommending that as a solution to any problem is wreckless...

I think it is uninformed because Microsoft has not actually said much about
it other than this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936929

And to download it direct from Microsoft, you have to 'stumble across' the
link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._a2ca583dedcd86837796111a632efa29a23f4cc0.exe

.... and as far as I know - they have made no announcement of making Windows
XP SP3 available by CD at this time (they will likely make the final
available in this way - but not the Release Candidate - and likely in the
same way they did SP2 - free at first - just for shipping later.) I also
have not seen any such announcement about Vista SP1 RCs... I think that
would be a monumentally bad choice by Microsoft - to make PUBLICALLY
available by CD/DVD a release candidate/beta version of a service pack. The
download - I can understand... It steers fairly clear of the people who rely
strictly on built-in mechanisms (or they wouldn't likely update at all.)
However - presenting it in CD/DVD format could cause those who would not
normally test such things to 'test it' without thinking/knowing they are
'testing'.

I think it is uninformed because you did not bother to explain to the OP
that Windows XP SP3 RC1 was beta/pre-release. You did not use the knowledge
you have to warn the OP that what you are suggesting is to install
unfinished and unsupported updates to their operating system which could
change things drastically and cause more problems than it solves.

Perhaps you believe that SP3 is nothing but a rollup of the 90+ post-sp2
updates? Perhaps you have a representative of every software/hardware
package/device available in the world at your place of business/home and
have tried it with all possible combinations so you are actually making an
informed recommendation to the OP... I somehow doubt/doubted that, however.

If you were trying to help - you would not recommend that a novice computer
user install unsupported software that changes the entire architecture of
their computer and that they most likely will have to uninstall at some
future date in order to get the fully released/fully supported product.
It's going by the incorrect assumption that, "It works on my stuff - should
be fine on everyone elses..." That assumption - especially when it comes to
the millions of possibilities such as can be found here - is normally a bad
one to make.
 
Itruly appreciate the advice from the both of you. Yes, I am a novice user,
to a point. Since I am not in any timeframe to complete this long task, I
think I'll play it safe and install the Win XP recovery discs, follow the
instructions and unfortunately go through the XP updates one by one. I
consider it my penalty for jumping the gun on Windows Vista and installing it
on my laptop so soon. I have that tendency especially with techie stuff.

Devin

Shenan Stanley said:
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b



I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just
put in the CD, follow the instructions and then download any
Windows updates afterwards? I have backed up all data so to restore
the laptop to "out of the box" status is not a problem.

Gis said:
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that
are not needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall
and anti-virus, download the latest drivers for your devices and
then plug in each device one at a time (and installing the
corresponding drivers). Note that some require you to install the
software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD
may be not recently updated. So you may need to download quite a
bit of updates. [Someone I know just got Vista and it required
146MB in 26 updates to get it up to date. System build was in May.]
I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully
up-to-date, as well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed
connection, I would wait till next week and purchase the disk from
Microsoft for about $10.

Shenan said:
I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best.

First - Windows XP SP3 *is* 366MB.

Second - as you stated - it is an RC.. Release Candidate. In fact
it is "Release Candidate 1" and when the final version comes out
(supposedly sometime next year) the RC version (if installed) will
likely need to be uninstalled before the final release should be
installed. Not to mention - being "RC1" - there may very well be
an RC2, RC3, etc before it is finally release.
Sorry, got the wrong size.
However, I am in NO WAY "uninformed", as you claim. I gave good
advice. Basically, the same advice everyone else gave the OP.

In any case, he should be able to purchase a disk for about $10
when Microsoft gets ready. Sometime next week, hopefully (or
maybe that's just for the Vista SP1 RC).

How is my suggestion to install XP SP3 Release Candidate
"uninformed"? I spoke pretty much the truth -- It does improve
XP's performance muchly. And if he installs it, he will only have
to download a few updates (5 or 6 at most. Considering that a clean
install of XP even with Service Pack 2 will require over 100
updates to be downloaded, I believe I've given good advice.)

Because I confused the size of the XP SP3 Release Candidate
download with the Vista SP1 Release Candidate, I am somehow
"uninformed"? Get real bud.

The last statement is uncalled for...

As I clearly stated, "I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best." <-
So *I* think it is uninformed for the following reasons:

I think it is 'uninformed' because you are recommending to a ordinary
computer user they install a product *from Microsoft* that is ADMITTEDLY
unfinished. If you think the products they release/support have the
possibilities for issues (you would be correct) then the products they
release for testing/provide no support for would be even worse and
recommending that as a solution to any problem is wreckless...

I think it is uninformed because Microsoft has not actually said much about
it other than this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936929

And to download it direct from Microsoft, you have to 'stumble across' the
link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._a2ca583dedcd86837796111a632efa29a23f4cc0.exe

.... and as far as I know - they have made no announcement of making Windows
XP SP3 available by CD at this time (they will likely make the final
available in this way - but not the Release Candidate - and likely in the
same way they did SP2 - free at first - just for shipping later.) I also
have not seen any such announcement about Vista SP1 RCs... I think that
would be a monumentally bad choice by Microsoft - to make PUBLICALLY
available by CD/DVD a release candidate/beta version of a service pack. The
download - I can understand... It steers fairly clear of the people who rely
strictly on built-in mechanisms (or they wouldn't likely update at all.)
However - presenting it in CD/DVD format could cause those who would not
normally test such things to 'test it' without thinking/knowing they are
'testing'.

I think it is uninformed because you did not bother to explain to the OP
that Windows XP SP3 RC1 was beta/pre-release. You did not use the knowledge
you have to warn the OP that what you are suggesting is to install
unfinished and unsupported updates to their operating system which could
change things drastically and cause more problems than it solves.

Perhaps you believe that SP3 is nothing but a rollup of the 90+ post-sp2
updates? Perhaps you have a representative of every software/hardware
package/device available in the world at your place of business/home and
have tried it with all possible combinations so you are actually making an
informed recommendation to the OP... I somehow doubt/doubted that, however.

If you were trying to help - you would not recommend that a novice computer
user install unsupported software that changes the entire architecture of
their computer and that they most likely will have to uninstall at some
future date in order to get the fully released/fully supported product.
It's going by the incorrect assumption that, "It works on my stuff - should
be fine on everyone elses..." That assumption - especially when it comes to
the millions of possibilities such as can be found here - is normally a bad
one to make.
 
Itruly appreciate the advice from the both of you. Yes, I am a novice user,
to a point. Since I am not in any timeframe to complete this long task, I
think I'll play it safe and install the Win XP recovery discs, follow the
instructions and unfortunately go through the XP updates one by one. I
consider it my penalty for jumping the gun on Windows Vista and installing it
on my laptop so soon. I have that tendency especially with techie stuff.

Devin

And I recognized that. Which is why I suggested you download and install XP
SP3. However, if your laptop is a "cheapie" model, I do not suggest installing
a release candidate on it. In this, Mr. Stanley is correct.

But Mr. Stanley, apparently, has little respect for anyone but his friends and
co-workers.

This is the problem with most of the Microsoft shills who regularly post here:
They have huge egos (and some of them even have a right to have such huge egos,
because they have huge knowledge and understanding to go along with it), but
little true concern for the people they claim to be "helping". And they have
absolutely no respect for anyone who is not in their little "clique". In this,
they are much like Mac Fanatics.
 
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b



I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just
put in the CD, follow the instructions and then download any
Windows updates afterwards? I have backed up all data so to restore
the laptop to "out of the box" status is not a problem.

Gis said:
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that
are not needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall
and anti-virus, download the latest drivers for your devices and
then plug in each device one at a time (and installing the
corresponding drivers). Note that some require you to install the
software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD
may be not recently updated. So you may need to download quite a
bit of updates. [Someone I know just got Vista and it required
146MB in 26 updates to get it up to date. System build was in May.]
I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully
up-to-date, as well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed
connection, I would wait till next week and purchase the disk from
Microsoft for about $10.

Shenan said:
I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best.

First - Windows XP SP3 *is* 366MB.

Second - as you stated - it is an RC.. Release Candidate. In fact
it is "Release Candidate 1" and when the final version comes out
(supposedly sometime next year) the RC version (if installed) will
likely need to be uninstalled before the final release should be
installed. Not to mention - being "RC1" - there may very well be
an RC2, RC3, etc before it is finally release.
Sorry, got the wrong size.
However, I am in NO WAY "uninformed", as you claim. I gave good
advice. Basically, the same advice everyone else gave the OP.

In any case, he should be able to purchase a disk for about $10
when Microsoft gets ready. Sometime next week, hopefully (or
maybe that's just for the Vista SP1 RC).

How is my suggestion to install XP SP3 Release Candidate
"uninformed"? I spoke pretty much the truth -- It does improve
XP's performance muchly. And if he installs it, he will only have
to download a few updates (5 or 6 at most. Considering that a clean
install of XP even with Service Pack 2 will require over 100
updates to be downloaded, I believe I've given good advice.)

Because I confused the size of the XP SP3 Release Candidate
download with the Vista SP1 Release Candidate, I am somehow
"uninformed"? Get real bud.

Shenan said:
The last statement is uncalled for...

As I clearly stated, "I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best."
<-
So *I* think it is uninformed for the following reasons:

I think it is 'uninformed' because you are recommending to a ordinary
computer user they install a product *from Microsoft* that is ADMITTEDLY
unfinished. If you think the products they release/support have the
possibilities for issues (you would be correct) then the products they
release for testing/provide no support for would be even worse and
recommending that as a solution to any problem is wreckless...

I think it is uninformed because Microsoft has not actually said much
about
it other than this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936929

And to download it direct from Microsoft, you have to 'stumble across' the
link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._a2ca583dedcd86837796111a632efa29a23f4cc0.exe

.... and as far as I know - they have made no announcement of making
Windows
XP SP3 available by CD at this time (they will likely make the final
available in this way - but not the Release Candidate - and likely in the
same way they did SP2 - free at first - just for shipping later.) I also
have not seen any such announcement about Vista SP1 RCs... I think that
would be a monumentally bad choice by Microsoft - to make PUBLICALLY
available by CD/DVD a release candidate/beta version of a service pack.
The
download - I can understand... It steers fairly clear of the people who
rely
strictly on built-in mechanisms (or they wouldn't likely update at all.)
However - presenting it in CD/DVD format could cause those who would not
normally test such things to 'test it' without thinking/knowing they are
'testing'.

I think it is uninformed because you did not bother to explain to the OP
that Windows XP SP3 RC1 was beta/pre-release. You did not use the
knowledge
you have to warn the OP that what you are suggesting is to install
unfinished and unsupported updates to their operating system which could
change things drastically and cause more problems than it solves.

Perhaps you believe that SP3 is nothing but a rollup of the 90+ post-sp2
updates? Perhaps you have a representative of every software/hardware
package/device available in the world at your place of business/home and
have tried it with all possible combinations so you are actually making an
informed recommendation to the OP... I somehow doubt/doubted that,
however.

If you were trying to help - you would not recommend that a novice
computer
user install unsupported software that changes the entire architecture of
their computer and that they most likely will have to uninstall at some
future date in order to get the fully released/fully supported product.
It's going by the incorrect assumption that, "It works on my stuff -
should
be fine on everyone elses..." That assumption - especially when it comes
to
the millions of possibilities such as can be found here - is normally a
bad
one to make.
Itruly appreciate the advice from the both of you. Yes, I am a
novice user, to a point. Since I am not in any timeframe to
complete this long task, I think I'll play it safe and install the
Win XP recovery discs, follow the instructions and unfortunately go
through the XP updates one by one. I consider it my penalty for
jumping the gun on Windows Vista and installing it on my laptop so
soon. I have that tendency especially with techie stuff.
And I recognized that. Which is why I suggested you download and
install XP SP3. However, if your laptop is a "cheapie" model, I do
not suggest installing a release candidate on it. In this, Mr.
Stanley is correct.

But Mr. Stanley, apparently, has little respect for anyone but his
friends and co-workers.

This is the problem with most of the Microsoft shills who regularly
post here: They have huge egos (and some of them even have a right
to have such huge egos, because they have huge knowledge and
understanding to go along with it), but little true concern for the
people they claim to be "helping". And they have absolutely no
respect for anyone who is not in their little "clique". In this,
they are much like Mac Fanatics.

Donald L McDaniel, I welcome your opinion. I encourage you to present it.
I gave you mine - but instead of point and counter-point, you have decided
to ignore my response and only reply elsewhere, making a personal attack
upon me for which you have no basis. I would have hoped that someone
willing to help would be willing to backup the advice they have given when a
differing opinion is presented. It would not have mattered who you were -
my response would not have differed.

Microsoft means very little to me. If they go away today - my life only
changes a little. If these newsgroups disappear - there are other places to
help. I don't work for Microsoft, have never worked for Microsoft and most
likely will not work for Microsoft in my lifetime. I do use some of their
software and understand some of their software and willingly and freely
share that understanding here. I can just as easily (and do) help people
with OS X, *nix, etc. I choose the Microsoft stuff for the most part
because it has the most people utilizing it and is the most prevalent around
me at the moment.

I respect the fact that you are trying to help people, Donald L McDaniel.
That's fine.

I find it difficult to believe that you think telling someone to install a
pre-release Microsoft product that is unsupported (and is advertised as
such) is helping someone. They don't save any download time, they might
save effort,but there are other ways to save them effort and make sure that
the material they get is supported...



The simplest suggest I can make, dkhyland, is to install your new Operating
System and make sure the Windows XP firewall is enabled. Hopfully it will
come with at least SP2 out of the box - but if it does not - please obtain
and install that before placing that machine on the Internet.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
(You can download it and bring it to the machine using any means you have.)
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD
http://snipurl.com/d41v

After you have Windows XP SP2 installed (which will mean by default the
Windows XP Firewall is enabled) - then you can connect it to the Internet
and visit:

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Where you can use the custom scan option (after a couple of installs
probably) to select and install all the critical updates you desirte (If
Internet Explorer 7 is still listed there - I consider that one 'optional'
on a per-person basis. You don't *have* to get that right now if you don't
want it.) After you have downloaded all the critical updates and rebooted -
visit the site again and custom scan again... There may be more critical.
If so, get those. Keep repeating this until you at least run out of
critical updates.

Then you can revisit that website and get the optional updates if you
desire... I recommend most of them - however - you may not want to get
Media Player 11 just yet. Depends on what software is installed on your
computer after the restoration. If an older versionn of Roxio Easy CD
Creator) is installed - (v8.x or before) then avoid it for now. They don't
get along. Otherwise - everything in the Optional category is game for
you - download and install away.

Do not get any of the hardware drivers from the site.

Once you have visited, rebooted, visited, rebooted and cleaned the site of
all updates you wanted to get... You are done with the Microsoft portion
and can install your other stuff.

The rest is a lot of information - but it is laid out in a manner that is
easy to understand - I hope...



Since I don't know much about the computer you are installing on - perhaps
you need to free up some space at this point as well...

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 256MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 256MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

DX Hog Hunt
http://www.dvxp.com/en/Downloads.aspx

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.



I have a list of tips I have put together that have helped quite a few
people over the years that Windows XP has been out there. Maybe they will
help you some...

For the future - you and your friend may want to print and review this. It
may take some initial time to do - but if your friend had read and followed
it a year ago (or less) - they would likely not be in the situation they are
now. :-(

Microsoft has these suggestions for Protecting your computer from the
various things that could happen to you/it:

Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/

Outfitting an XP computer for the Net
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/xppc.mspx

Getting started with a new PC
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/yournewpc.mspx

Although those tips are fantastic, there are many things you should
know above and beyond that. Below I have detailed out many tips
that can not only help you clean-up a problem PC but keep it clean,
secure and running at its best.

I know this text can seem intimidating - it is quite long and a lot
to take in for a novice - however I can assure you that one pass
through this list and you will understand your computer and the
options available to you for protecting your data much better -
and that the next time you go through these steps, the time it
takes will be greatly reduced - since many things can be setup
to automatically protect you.

Let's take the cleanup/securing of your computer step-by-step.
Yes, it will take up some of your time - but consider what you use
your computer for and how much you would dislike it if all of your
stuff on your computer went away because you did not "feel like"
performing some simple maintenance tasks - think of it like taking
out your garbage, collecting and sorting your postal mail, paying
your bills on time, etc.

Now is a great time to point you to one of the easiest ways to find
information on problems you may be having and solutions others have found:

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )


Now, let's go through some maintenance first that should only have to be
done once (for the most part):

Tip (1):
Locate all of the software you have installed on your computer.
(the installation media - CDs, downloaded files, etc)
Collect these CD/DVDs and files together in a central and safe
place along with their CD keys and such. Make backups of these
installation media sets using your favorite copying method (CD/DVD Burner
and application, Disk copier, etc.) You'll be glad to know that if you
have a CD/DVD burner, you may be able to use a free application to make a
duplicate copy of your CDs. One such application is ISORecorder:

ISORecorder page (with general instructions on use):
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

More full function applications (free) for CD/DVD burning would be:

CDBurnerXP Pro
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

DeepBurner Free
http://www.deepburner.com/

ImgBurn (burn ISO images)
http://www.imgburn.com/

Final Burner Free
http://www.protectedsoft.com/descr_fb.php

BWGBurn
http://sourceforge.net/projects/bwgburn

BurnAware FREE Edition
http://www.glorylogic.com/

Another Option would be to search the web with Pricewatch.com or
Dealsites.net and find deals on Products like Ahead Nero and/or Roxio.

Ahead Nero
http://www.nero.com/

Roxio Easy Media Creator
http://www.roxio.com/

Tip (2):
Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 256MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 256MB.
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

Tip (3):
If things are running a bit sluggish and/or you have an older system
(1.8GHz or less and less than 512MB RAM) then you may want to look into
tweaking the performance by turning off some of the 'resource hogging'
Windows XP "prettifications". The fastest method is:

Control Panel --> System --> Advanced tab --> Performance section,
Settings button. Then choose "adjust for best performance" and you
now have a Windows 2000/98 look which turned off most of the annoying
"prettifications" in one swift action. You can play with the last
three checkboxes to get more of an XP look without many of the
other annoyances. You could also grab and install/use one
(or more) of the Microsoft Powertoys - TweakUI in particular:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Another viable (decently inexpensive) option is to increase the amount
of memory (RAM) your computer has. You can get an idea of what you
need by visiting:

Crucial Memory AdvisorT Tool
http://www.crucial.com/

Then either buy direct from there or write down the specs you get and
visit: http://www.pricewatch.com/ and locate the best price on what you
need. 512MB up to 1GB total memory should be more than enough for
the normal home user.

Tip (4):
Understanding what a good password might be is vital to your
personal and system security. You may think you do not need to password
your home computer, as you may have it in a locked area (your home) where
no one else has access to it. Remember, however, you aren't always
"in that locked area" when using your computer online - meaning you likely
have usernames and passwords associated with web sites and the likes that
you would prefer other people do not discover/use. This is why you should
understand and utilize good passwords.

Good passwords are those that meet these general rules
(mileage may vary):

Passwords should contain at least six characters, and the character
string should contain at least three of these four character types:
- uppercase letters
- lowercase letters
- numerals
- nonalphanumeric characters (e.g., *, %, &, !, :)

Passwords should not contain your name/username.
Passwords should be unique to you and easy to remember.

One method many people are using today is to make up a phrase that
describes a point in their life and then turning that phrase into their
password by using only certain letters out of each word in that phrase.
It's much better than using your birthday month/year or your anniversary
in a pure sense. For example, let's say my phrase is:
'Great Thanksgiving in 2007!'
I could come up with this password from that:
'Gr8Thanksgiving2007!'

The password tip is in the one time section, but I highly
recommend you periodically change your passwords. The suggested time
varies, but I will throw out a 'once in every 3 to 6 months for
every account you have.'

Also - many people complain that they just cannot remember the passwords
for all the sites they have - so they choose one password and use it for
everything. Not a good idea. A much better method would be to use a
Password Management tool - so you only have to remember one password,
but it opens an application that stores your username/passwords for
everything else - plus other valuable information. One that I can
recommend:

KeePass Password Safe
http://keepass.sourceforge.net/

It can even generate passwords for you.


Tip (5):
This tip is also 'questionable' in the one time section; however -
if properly setup - this one can be pretty well ignored for most people
after the initial 'fiddle-with' time.

Why you should use a computer firewall..
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/firewall/choosing.mspx

You should, in some way, use a firewall. Hardware (like a nice
Cable Modem/DSL router) or software is up to you. Many use both of
these. The simplest one to use is the hardware one, as most people
don't do anything that they will need to configure their NAT device
for and those who do certainly will not mind fiddling with the equipment
to make things work for them. Next in the line of simplicity would
have to be the built-in Windows Firewall of Windows XP. In SP2 it
is turned on by default. It is not difficult to turn on in any
case, however:

More information on the Internet Connection Firewall (Pre-SP2):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320855

Post-SP2 Windows Firewall Information/guidance:
http://snipurl.com/atal

The trouble with the Windows Firewall is that it only keeps things
out. For most people who maintain their system in other ways, this is
MORE than sufficient. You may feel otherwise. If you want to
know when one of your applications is trying to obtain access to the
outside world so you can stop it, then you will have to install a
third-party application and configure/maintain it. I have compiled a
list with links of some of the better known/free firewalls you can choose
from:

Comodo Free Fireall (Free)
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Jetico Personal Firewall (Free)
http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/jpfirewall.htm

Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpostfree/

Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html

ZoneAlarm (Free and up)
http://www.zonelabs.com/

You should find the right firewall for your situation in that
list and set it up if you feel the Windows XP firewall is
insufficient.

Every firewall WILL require some maintenance. Essentially checking for
patches or upgrades (this goes for hardware and software solutions) is
the extent of this maintenance - you may also have to configure your
firewall to allow some traffic depending on your needs.

** Don't stack the software firewalls! Running more than one software
firewall will not make you safer - it would possibly negate some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewall you run. It is
fine (and in many ways better) to have the software firewall as well
as a NAT router.


Now that you have some of the more basic things down..
Let's go through some of the steps you should take periodically to
maintain a healthy and stable windows computer. If you have not
done some of these things in the past, they may seem tedious - however,
they will become routine and some can even be scheduled.


Tip (6):
The system restore feature is only a useful feature if you keep it
maintained and use it to your advantage. Remember that the system
restore pretty much tells you in the name what it protects which is
'system' files. Your documents, your pictures, your stuff is NOT
system files - so you should also look into some backup solution.

Whenever you think about it (after doing a once-over on your machine
once a month or so would be optimal) - clear out your System Restore
and create a manual restoration point.

'Why?'

Too many times have I seen the system restore files go corrupt or get
a virus in them, meaning you could not or did not want to restore from
them. By clearing it out periodically you help prevent any corruption
from happening and you make sure you have at least one good "snapshot".
(*This, of course, will erase any previous restore point you have.*)

- Turn off System Restore.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405
- Reboot the Computer.
- Review the first bullet to turn on System Restore
- Make a Manual Restoration Point.
http://snipurl.com/68nx

Don't want to remove ALL the system restore points? Don't. Simply
utilize "Disk Cleanup" (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312) to
remove all but the last system restore point.

Also - I suggest changing how much space System Restore can utilize.
When it was first released, Windows XP didn't have to deal with hard
disk drives of quite the bulk of today's drives. So, it may be a bit
ambitious in setting the System Restore sizing. I personally suggest
you set it to approximately 1GB, total.

See "Disk Space for System Restore" on how to change this:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/getstarted/ballew_03may19.mspx

That covers your system files, but doesn't do anything for the files
that you are REALLY worried about - yours! For that you need to look
into backups. You can either manually copy your important files, folders,
documents, spreadsheets, emails, contacts, pictures, drawings and so on
to an external location (CD/DVD - any disk of some sort, etc) or you can
use the backup tool that comes with Windows XP:

How To Use Backup to Back Up Files and Folders on Your Computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308422

Yes - you still need some sort of external media to store the results
on, but you could schedule the backup to occur when you are not around,
then burn the resultant data onto CD or DVD or something when you are
(while you do other things!)

Another option that seems to still be going strong:

Cobian Backup
http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

A lot of people have wondered about how to completely backup their system
so that they would not have to go through the trouble of a reinstall..
I'm going to voice my opinion here and say that it would be worthless to
do for MOST people. Unless you plan on periodically updating the image
backup of your system (remaking it) - then by the time you use it
(something goes wrong) - it will be so outdated as to be more trouble than
performing a full install of the operating system and all applications.

Having said my part against it, you can clone/backup your hard drive
completely using many methods - by far the simplest are using disk cloning
applications:

Symantec/Norton Ghost
http://snipurl.com/13e00

Acronis True Image
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

BootIt NG
http://terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

Tip (7):
You should sometimes look through the list of applications that are
installed on your computer. The list may surprise you. There are more
than likely things in there you know you never use - so why have them
there? There may even be things you know you did *not* install and
certainly do not use (maybe don't WANT to use.)

This web site should help you get started at looking through this list:

How to Uninstall Programs
http://snipurl.com/8v6b

How to change or remove a program in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307895

A word of warning - Do NOT uninstall anything you think you MIGHT need
in the future unless you have completed Tip (1) and have the installation
media and proper keys for use backed up somewhere safe!

Tip (8):
Patches and Updates!

This one cannot be stressed enough. It is SO simple, yet so neglected
by many people. It is really simple for the critical Microsoft patches!
Microsoft put in an AUTOMATED feature for you to utilize so that you do
NOT have to worry yourself about the patching of the Operating System:

How to configure and use Automatic Updates in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306525

However, not everyone wants to be a slave to automation, and that is
fine. Admittedly, I prefer this method on some of my more critical
systems.

Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones
as you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when
selecting the updates and if you have trouble over the next few days,
go into your control panel (Add/Remove Programs), insure that the
'Show Updates' checkbox is checked and match up the latest numbers you
downloaded recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall
them. If there was more than one (usually is), uninstall them one by one
with a few hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns.
Yes - the process is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I
mentioned - but as you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is
MUCH better than the alternatives.

Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates. New versions
of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some are pay
and some you can only download if you are registered - but it is best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections. For example, for Microsoft Office you should visit:

Microsoft Office Updates
http://office.microsoft.com/
(and select 'Downloads' for more - note that Microsoft Update does
handle MS Office products too.)

You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always get the manufacturers'
hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows Update site I
mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware drivers - no matter
how tempting.

How do you know what hardware you have in your computer? Break out the
invoice or if it is up and working now - take inventory:

Belarc Advisor
http://belarc.com/free_download.html

Once you know what you have, what next? Go get the latest driver for your
hardware/OS from the manufacturer's web page. For example, let's say you
have an NVidia chipset video card or ATI video card, perhaps a Creative
Labs sound card or C-Media chipset sound card...

NVidia Video Card Drivers
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

ATI Video Card Drivers
http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

Creative Labs Sound Device
http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/

C-Media Sound Device
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/driver

Then install these drivers. Updated drivers are usually more stable and
may provide extra benefits/features that you really wished you had before.

As for Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP, Microsoft has made this
particular patch available in a number of ways. First, there is the
Windows Update web page above. Then there is a direct download site.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD
http://snipurl.com/d41v

If all else fails - grab the full download above and try to use that.
In this case - consider yourself a 'IT professional or developer'.

Tip (9):
What about the dreaded word in the computer world, VIRUS?

Well, there are many products to choose from that will help you prevent
infections from these horrid little applications. Many are FREE to the
home user and which you choose is a matter of taste, really. Many people
have emotional attachments or performance issues with one or another
AntiVirus software. Try some out, read reviews and decide for yourself
which you like more:

( Good Comparison Page for AV software: http://www.av-comparatives.org/ )

AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/

avast! (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/

AVG Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://free.grisoft.com/

eset NOD32 (~$39.00 and up)
http://www.eset.com/products/

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/kaspersky_anti-virus

McAfee VirusScan (~$39.99 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/

Panda Antivirus (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/antivirus/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/)

Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$39.99 and up)
http://snipurl.com/13e12



Most of them have automatic update capabilities. You will have to
look into the features of the one you choose. Whatever one you finally
settle with - be SURE to keep it updated (I recommend at least daily) and
perform a full scan periodically (yes, most protect you actively, but a
full scan once a month at 4AM probably won't bother you.)

Tip (10):
The most rampant infestation at the current time concerns SPYWARE/ADWARE.
You need to eliminate it from your machine.

There is no one software that cleans and immunizes you against
everything. Antivirus software - you only needed one. Firewall, you
only needed one. AntiSpyware - you will need several. I have a list and
I recommend you use at least the first five.

First - make sure you have NOT installed "Rogue AntiSpyware". There are
people out there who created AntiSpyware products that actually install
spyware of their own! You need to avoid these:

Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Also, you can always visit this site..
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
For more updated information.

Install several of these: (Install, Run, Update, Scan with..)
(If you already have one or more - uninstall them and download the
LATEST version from the page given!)

SuperAntiSpyware (Free and up)
http://www.superantispyware.com/

Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 Free (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de/products/ad_aware_free.php
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/atdn )

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/en/download/
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/atdk )

SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/ate6 )

CWShredder Stand-Alone (Free!)
http://www.trendmicro.com/cwshredder/

Hijack This! (Free!)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
(Log Analyzer: http://hjt.networktechs.com/ )

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/
(How-to: http://snipurl.com/ate3 )

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
(I suggest the 'slim' version: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds )

Browser Security Tests (Free Tester)
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

Popup Tester (Free Tester)
http://www.popuptest.com/

The Cleaner (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/

Sometimes you need to install the application and reboot into SAFE MODE in
order to thoroughly clean your computer. Many applications also have
(or are) immunization applications. Spybot Search and Destroy and
SpywareBlaster are two that currently do the best job at passively
protecting your system from malware. None of these programs (in these
editions) run in the background unless you TELL them to. The space they
take up and how easy they are to use greatly makes up for any inconvenience
you may be feeling.

Please notice that Windows XP SP2 does help stop popups as well.

Another option is to use an alternative Web browser. I suggest
'Mozilla Firefox', as it has some great features and is very easy to use:

Mozilla Firefox
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

This does not replace the need for the above applications and an
occassional scan of your system - but it does help somewhat.

Also - Internet Explorer 7.x is much better with the security than
6.x was. If you have not gone to Internet Explorer 7.0 and you are having
trouble with spyware/adware - consider going now. Cleanup with the
tools above *first* however.


So your machine is pretty clean and up to date now. If you use the sections
above as a guide, it should stay that way! There are still a few
more things you can do to keep your machine running in top shape.

Tip (11):
You should periodically check your hard drive(s) for errors and defragment
them. Only defragment after you have cleaned up your machine of
outside parasites and never defragment as a solution to a quirkiness in
your system. It may help speed up your system, but it should be clean
before you do this. Do these things IN ORDER...

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848

I would personally perform the above steps at least once every three months.
For most people this should be sufficient, but if the difference you notice
afterwards is greater than you think it should be, lessen the time in
between its schedule.. If the difference you notice is negligible, you can
increase the time.

Tip (12):
SPAM! JUNK MAIL!
This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
maker on what is spam and what is not. I have a few products to suggest
to you, look at them and see if any of them suite your needs. Again, if
they don't, Google is free and available for your perusal.

SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/

Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/

MailWasher
http://www.mailwasher.net/

Another option - utilze some service that already does a FINE JOB on
eliminating the spam from your mailbox (plus a number of other benefits.)

Google Mail (gmail):
http://www.gmail.com/
(Set it up for your email client of choice - using POP:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=13273 )

Windows Live Hotmail (formerly just "Hotmail"):
http://get.live.com/mail/options

There are many others. Email from anywhere with a computer, lots of
space for your emails/attachments, free services and if you change ISPs -
your email doesn't change!

As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
seen function for hundreds+ people. Feel free to search for your own
solutions!

Tip (13):
ADVANCED TIP! Only do this once you are comfortable under the hood of your
computer!

There are lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default
you don't use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all
of the services you might find on your computer are and set them according
to your personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed
and write down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance
increase or anything - especially on today's 2+ GHz machines, however - I
look at each service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry
about someone exploiting.

Service Configuration Tips
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm

Configuring Services
http://smallvoid.com/tweak/winnt/services.html

Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/

There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle these
I have found here:

Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php


If you follow the advice laid out above (and do some of your own research as
well, so you understand what you are doing) - your computer will stay fairly
stable and secure and you will have a more trouble-free system.
 
I will research Win XP SP3 and see what I can find. I have an HP dv1000 which
I would not consider a "cheapie" laptop so if it seems risky, I'll go the
other route. You said in an earlier note that a disc may be available next
week from MS, is this true? Mr. Stanley didn't think this was the case and a
potential reinstallation of the OS to obtain a final version down the road
would frankly be a pain the a** to me. Do you have any links for this Win XP
SP3?

Devin
 
<conversation snipped at this point>
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b


I will research Win XP SP3 and see what I can find. I have an HP
dv1000 which I would not consider a "cheapie" laptop so if it seems
risky, I'll go the other route. You said in an earlier note that a
disc may be available next week from MS, is this true? Mr. Stanley
didn't think this was the case and a potential reinstallation of
the OS to obtain a final version down the road would frankly be a
pain the a** to me. Do you have any links for this Win XP SP3?

SP3 Information (current information):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936929

And to download it direct from Microsoft,
you have to 'stumble across' the link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._a2ca583dedcd86837796111a632efa29a23f4cc0.exe

Othrwise you can download it from sites such as "BetaNews"...
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Microsoft_Windows_XP_Service_Pack_3/1197391546/1

My last response in this thread has a whole list of tips for you, dkhyland.
In there is how to update the machine after you 'restore it' as well as some
general maintenance tips and links to free software alternatives to many
'for pay' software you may need.

Enjoy and Good Luck!
 
Mr. Stanley and Mr. McDaniel, again, I really appreciate all of your help.
I'm sure with all of this valuable info my laptop will be working just fine.
I hope you guys work out your differences down the road. Just know both of
your threads were very helpful and it is interesting to see 2 opinions. When
I get the Win XP restoration discs from HP and this thread is still visible,
I will post a status update. Hope you both have a safe and happy holiday.

Devin

Shenan Stanley said:
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b



I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just
put in the CD, follow the instructions and then download any
Windows updates afterwards? I have backed up all data so to restore
the laptop to "out of the box" status is not a problem.

Gis said:
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that
are not needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall
and anti-virus, download the latest drivers for your devices and
then plug in each device one at a time (and installing the
corresponding drivers). Note that some require you to install the
software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD
may be not recently updated. So you may need to download quite a
bit of updates. [Someone I know just got Vista and it required
146MB in 26 updates to get it up to date. System build was in May.]
I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully
up-to-date, as well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed
connection, I would wait till next week and purchase the disk from
Microsoft for about $10.

Shenan said:
I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best.

First - Windows XP SP3 *is* 366MB.

Second - as you stated - it is an RC.. Release Candidate. In fact
it is "Release Candidate 1" and when the final version comes out
(supposedly sometime next year) the RC version (if installed) will
likely need to be uninstalled before the final release should be
installed. Not to mention - being "RC1" - there may very well be
an RC2, RC3, etc before it is finally release.
Sorry, got the wrong size.
However, I am in NO WAY "uninformed", as you claim. I gave good
advice. Basically, the same advice everyone else gave the OP.

In any case, he should be able to purchase a disk for about $10
when Microsoft gets ready. Sometime next week, hopefully (or
maybe that's just for the Vista SP1 RC).

How is my suggestion to install XP SP3 Release Candidate
"uninformed"? I spoke pretty much the truth -- It does improve
XP's performance muchly. And if he installs it, he will only have
to download a few updates (5 or 6 at most. Considering that a clean
install of XP even with Service Pack 2 will require over 100
updates to be downloaded, I believe I've given good advice.)

Because I confused the size of the XP SP3 Release Candidate
download with the Vista SP1 Release Candidate, I am somehow
"uninformed"? Get real bud.

Shenan said:
The last statement is uncalled for...

As I clearly stated, "I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best."
<-
So *I* think it is uninformed for the following reasons:

I think it is 'uninformed' because you are recommending to a ordinary
computer user they install a product *from Microsoft* that is ADMITTEDLY
unfinished. If you think the products they release/support have the
possibilities for issues (you would be correct) then the products they
release for testing/provide no support for would be even worse and
recommending that as a solution to any problem is wreckless...

I think it is uninformed because Microsoft has not actually said much
about
it other than this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936929

And to download it direct from Microsoft, you have to 'stumble across' the
link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._a2ca583dedcd86837796111a632efa29a23f4cc0.exe

.... and as far as I know - they have made no announcement of making
Windows
XP SP3 available by CD at this time (they will likely make the final
available in this way - but not the Release Candidate - and likely in the
same way they did SP2 - free at first - just for shipping later.) I also
have not seen any such announcement about Vista SP1 RCs... I think that
would be a monumentally bad choice by Microsoft - to make PUBLICALLY
available by CD/DVD a release candidate/beta version of a service pack.
The
download - I can understand... It steers fairly clear of the people who
rely
strictly on built-in mechanisms (or they wouldn't likely update at all.)
However - presenting it in CD/DVD format could cause those who would not
normally test such things to 'test it' without thinking/knowing they are
'testing'.

I think it is uninformed because you did not bother to explain to the OP
that Windows XP SP3 RC1 was beta/pre-release. You did not use the
knowledge
you have to warn the OP that what you are suggesting is to install
unfinished and unsupported updates to their operating system which could
change things drastically and cause more problems than it solves.

Perhaps you believe that SP3 is nothing but a rollup of the 90+ post-sp2
updates? Perhaps you have a representative of every software/hardware
package/device available in the world at your place of business/home and
have tried it with all possible combinations so you are actually making an
informed recommendation to the OP... I somehow doubt/doubted that,
however.

If you were trying to help - you would not recommend that a novice
computer
user install unsupported software that changes the entire architecture of
their computer and that they most likely will have to uninstall at some
future date in order to get the fully released/fully supported product.
It's going by the incorrect assumption that, "It works on my stuff -
should
be fine on everyone elses..." That assumption - especially when it comes
to
the millions of possibilities such as can be found here - is normally a
bad
one to make.
Itruly appreciate the advice from the both of you. Yes, I am a
novice user, to a point. Since I am not in any timeframe to
complete this long task, I think I'll play it safe and install the
Win XP recovery discs, follow the instructions and unfortunately go
through the XP updates one by one. I consider it my penalty for
jumping the gun on Windows Vista and installing it on my laptop so
soon. I have that tendency especially with techie stuff.
And I recognized that. Which is why I suggested you download and
install XP SP3. However, if your laptop is a "cheapie" model, I do
not suggest installing a release candidate on it. In this, Mr.
Stanley is correct.

But Mr. Stanley, apparently, has little respect for anyone but his
friends and co-workers.

This is the problem with most of the Microsoft shills who regularly
post here: They have huge egos (and some of them even have a right
to have such huge egos, because they have huge knowledge and
understanding to go along with it), but little true concern for the
people they claim to be "helping". And they have absolutely no
respect for anyone who is not in their little "clique". In this,
they are much like Mac Fanatics.

Donald L McDaniel, I welcome your opinion. I encourage you to present it.
I gave you mine - but instead of point and counter-point, you have decided
to ignore my response and only reply elsewhere, making a personal attack
upon me for which you have no basis. I would have hoped that someone
willing to help would be willing to backup the advice they have given when a
differing opinion is presented. It would not have mattered who you were -
my response would not have differed.

Microsoft means very little to me. If they go away today - my life only
changes a little. If these newsgroups disappear - there are other places to
help. I don't work for Microsoft, have never worked for Microsoft and most
likely will not work for Microsoft in my lifetime. I do use some of their
software and understand some of their software and willingly and freely
share that understanding here. I can just as easily (and do) help people
with OS X, *nix, etc. I choose the Microsoft stuff for the most part
because it has the most people utilizing it and is the most prevalent around
me at the moment.

I respect the fact that you are trying to help people, Donald L McDaniel.
That's fine.

I find it difficult to believe that you think telling someone to install a
pre-release Microsoft product that is unsupported (and is advertised as
such) is helping someone. They don't save any download time, they might
save effort,but there are other ways to save them effort and make sure that
the material they get is supported...



The simplest suggest I can make, dkhyland, is to install your new Operating
System and make sure the Windows XP firewall is enabled. Hopfully it will
come with at least SP2 out of the box - but if it does not - please obtain
and install that before placing that machine on the Internet.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
(You can download it and bring it to the machine using any means you have.)
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD
http://snipurl.com/d41v

After you have Windows XP SP2 installed (which will mean by default the
Windows XP Firewall is enabled) - then you can connect it to the Internet
and visit:

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Where you can use the custom scan option (after a couple of installs
probably) to select and install all the critical updates you desirte (If
Internet Explorer 7 is still listed there - I consider that one 'optional'
on a per-person basis. You don't *have* to get that right now if you don't
want it.) After you have downloaded all the critical updates and rebooted -
visit the site again and custom scan again... There may be more critical.
If so, get those. Keep repeating this until you at least run out of
critical updates.

Then you can revisit that website and get the optional updates if you
desire... I recommend most of them - however - you may not want to get
Media Player 11 just yet. Depends on what software is installed on your
computer after the restoration. If an older versionn of Roxio Easy CD
Creator) is installed - (v8.x or before) then avoid it for now. They don't
get along. Otherwise - everything in the Optional category is game for
you - download and install away.

Do not get any of the hardware drivers from the site.

Once you have visited, rebooted, visited, rebooted and cleaned the site of
all updates you wanted to get... You are done with the Microsoft portion
and can install your other stuff.

The rest is a lot of information - but it is laid out in a manner that is
easy to understand - I hope...



Since I don't know much about the computer you are installing on - perhaps
you need to free up some space at this point as well...

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 256MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 256MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
 
Question: I have received 2 discs from HP. 1) Operating System CD Win XP Pro
SP2 and 2) Aplication and Driver Recovery DVD. When I run the OS CD, it tells
me that it's blocked due to compatibility issues. I can't go any further.
Please advise. Thanks, Devin

dkhyland said:
Mr. Stanley and Mr. McDaniel, again, I really appreciate all of your help.
I'm sure with all of this valuable info my laptop will be working just fine.
I hope you guys work out your differences down the road. Just know both of
your threads were very helpful and it is interesting to see 2 opinions. When
I get the Win XP restoration discs from HP and this thread is still visible,
I will post a status update. Hope you both have a safe and happy holiday.

Devin

Shenan Stanley said:
Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b



I ordered a Windows XP Pro recovery disc set from HP. Can I just
put in the CD, follow the instructions and then download any
Windows updates afterwards? I have backed up all data so to restore
the laptop to "out of the box" status is not a problem.

Gis said:
Just follow the instructions. Hopefully they should give some basic
information.

A good suggestion would be to unplug any USB or other devices that
are not needed. Once you have Windows up to date plus any firewall
and anti-virus, download the latest drivers for your devices and
then plug in each device one at a time (and installing the
corresponding drivers). Note that some require you to install the
software and then connect the device when instructed to.

Only downside with HP usually is the fact that their recovery CD
may be not recently updated. So you may need to download quite a
bit of updates. [Someone I know just got Vista and it required
146MB in 26 updates to get it up to date. System build was in May.]
I would just download XP SP3 RC. It will make your OS fully
up-to-date, as well as make it run MUCH better.

It is rather large (about 450MB), so unless you have a high-speed
connection, I would wait till next week and purchase the disk from
Microsoft for about $10.

Shenan said:
I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best.

First - Windows XP SP3 *is* 366MB.

Second - as you stated - it is an RC.. Release Candidate. In fact
it is "Release Candidate 1" and when the final version comes out
(supposedly sometime next year) the RC version (if installed) will
likely need to be uninstalled before the final release should be
installed. Not to mention - being "RC1" - there may very well be
an RC2, RC3, etc before it is finally release.
Sorry, got the wrong size.
However, I am in NO WAY "uninformed", as you claim. I gave good
advice. Basically, the same advice everyone else gave the OP.

In any case, he should be able to purchase a disk for about $10
when Microsoft gets ready. Sometime next week, hopefully (or
maybe that's just for the Vista SP1 RC).

How is my suggestion to install XP SP3 Release Candidate
"uninformed"? I spoke pretty much the truth -- It does improve
XP's performance muchly. And if he installs it, he will only have
to download a few updates (5 or 6 at most. Considering that a clean
install of XP even with Service Pack 2 will require over 100
updates to be downloaded, I believe I've given good advice.)

Because I confused the size of the XP SP3 Release Candidate
download with the Vista SP1 Release Candidate, I am somehow
"uninformed"? Get real bud.

Shenan said:
The last statement is uncalled for...

As I clearly stated, "I would call that 'uninformed advice' - at best."
<-
So *I* think it is uninformed for the following reasons:

I think it is 'uninformed' because you are recommending to a ordinary
computer user they install a product *from Microsoft* that is ADMITTEDLY
unfinished. If you think the products they release/support have the
possibilities for issues (you would be correct) then the products they
release for testing/provide no support for would be even worse and
recommending that as a solution to any problem is wreckless...

I think it is uninformed because Microsoft has not actually said much
about
it other than this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936929

And to download it direct from Microsoft, you have to 'stumble across' the
link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._a2ca583dedcd86837796111a632efa29a23f4cc0.exe

.... and as far as I know - they have made no announcement of making
Windows
XP SP3 available by CD at this time (they will likely make the final
available in this way - but not the Release Candidate - and likely in the
same way they did SP2 - free at first - just for shipping later.) I also
have not seen any such announcement about Vista SP1 RCs... I think that
would be a monumentally bad choice by Microsoft - to make PUBLICALLY
available by CD/DVD a release candidate/beta version of a service pack.
The
download - I can understand... It steers fairly clear of the people who
rely
strictly on built-in mechanisms (or they wouldn't likely update at all.)
However - presenting it in CD/DVD format could cause those who would not
normally test such things to 'test it' without thinking/knowing they are
'testing'.

I think it is uninformed because you did not bother to explain to the OP
that Windows XP SP3 RC1 was beta/pre-release. You did not use the
knowledge
you have to warn the OP that what you are suggesting is to install
unfinished and unsupported updates to their operating system which could
change things drastically and cause more problems than it solves.

Perhaps you believe that SP3 is nothing but a rollup of the 90+ post-sp2
updates? Perhaps you have a representative of every software/hardware
package/device available in the world at your place of business/home and
have tried it with all possible combinations so you are actually making an
informed recommendation to the OP... I somehow doubt/doubted that,
however.

If you were trying to help - you would not recommend that a novice
computer
user install unsupported software that changes the entire architecture of
their computer and that they most likely will have to uninstall at some
future date in order to get the fully released/fully supported product.
It's going by the incorrect assumption that, "It works on my stuff -
should
be fine on everyone elses..." That assumption - especially when it comes
to
the millions of possibilities such as can be found here - is normally a
bad
one to make.
Itruly appreciate the advice from the both of you. Yes, I am a
novice user, to a point. Since I am not in any timeframe to
complete this long task, I think I'll play it safe and install the
Win XP recovery discs, follow the instructions and unfortunately go
through the XP updates one by one. I consider it my penalty for
jumping the gun on Windows Vista and installing it on my laptop so
soon. I have that tendency especially with techie stuff.
And I recognized that. Which is why I suggested you download and
install XP SP3. However, if your laptop is a "cheapie" model, I do
not suggest installing a release candidate on it. In this, Mr.
Stanley is correct.

But Mr. Stanley, apparently, has little respect for anyone but his
friends and co-workers.

This is the problem with most of the Microsoft shills who regularly
post here: They have huge egos (and some of them even have a right
to have such huge egos, because they have huge knowledge and
understanding to go along with it), but little true concern for the
people they claim to be "helping". And they have absolutely no
respect for anyone who is not in their little "clique". In this,
they are much like Mac Fanatics.

Donald L McDaniel, I welcome your opinion. I encourage you to present it.
I gave you mine - but instead of point and counter-point, you have decided
to ignore my response and only reply elsewhere, making a personal attack
upon me for which you have no basis. I would have hoped that someone
willing to help would be willing to backup the advice they have given when a
differing opinion is presented. It would not have mattered who you were -
my response would not have differed.

Microsoft means very little to me. If they go away today - my life only
changes a little. If these newsgroups disappear - there are other places to
help. I don't work for Microsoft, have never worked for Microsoft and most
likely will not work for Microsoft in my lifetime. I do use some of their
software and understand some of their software and willingly and freely
share that understanding here. I can just as easily (and do) help people
with OS X, *nix, etc. I choose the Microsoft stuff for the most part
because it has the most people utilizing it and is the most prevalent around
me at the moment.

I respect the fact that you are trying to help people, Donald L McDaniel.
That's fine.

I find it difficult to believe that you think telling someone to install a
pre-release Microsoft product that is unsupported (and is advertised as
such) is helping someone. They don't save any download time, they might
save effort,but there are other ways to save them effort and make sure that
the material they get is supported...



The simplest suggest I can make, dkhyland, is to install your new Operating
System and make sure the Windows XP firewall is enabled. Hopfully it will
come with at least SP2 out of the box - but if it does not - please obtain
and install that before placing that machine on the Internet.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
(You can download it and bring it to the machine using any means you have.)
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD
http://snipurl.com/d41v

After you have Windows XP SP2 installed (which will mean by default the
Windows XP Firewall is enabled) - then you can connect it to the Internet
and visit:

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Where you can use the custom scan option (after a couple of installs
probably) to select and install all the critical updates you desirte (If
Internet Explorer 7 is still listed there - I consider that one 'optional'
on a per-person basis. You don't *have* to get that right now if you don't
want it.) After you have downloaded all the critical updates and rebooted -
visit the site again and custom scan again... There may be more critical.
If so, get those. Keep repeating this until you at least run out of
critical updates.

Then you can revisit that website and get the optional updates if you
desire... I recommend most of them - however - you may not want to get
Media Player 11 just yet. Depends on what software is installed on your
computer after the restoration. If an older versionn of Roxio Easy CD
Creator) is installed - (v8.x or before) then avoid it for now. They don't
get along. Otherwise - everything in the Optional category is game for
you - download and install away.

Do not get any of the hardware drivers from the site.

Once you have visited, rebooted, visited, rebooted and cleaned the site of
all updates you wanted to get... You are done with the Microsoft portion
and can install your other stuff.

The rest is a lot of information - but it is laid out in a manner that is
easy to understand - I hope...



Since I don't know much about the computer you are installing on - perhaps
you need to free up some space at this point as well...

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 256MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
 
dkhyland said:
Question: I have received 2 discs from HP. 1) Operating System CD
Win XP Pro SP2 and 2) Aplication and Driver Recovery DVD. When I
run the OS CD, it tells me that it's blocked due to compatibility
issues. I can't go any further. Please advise. Thanks, Devin

You are - I am guessing from the message - trying to run it from *inside*
windows?

That's not how this works... You are standing on a rug and trying to pick
it up/roll it up without getting off it first.

Boot from the CD.
(Be sure you backed everything up first.)

In fact - review the instructions I gave *way* early in the thread...

Complete conversation:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...1/e965a73e3d06244b?lnk=st&q=#e965a73e3d06244b

( My first response gives you a link that will explain how to perform a
clean install - assuming that Windows XP CD they sent you is a true
installation CD. If it is not - booting from it will just wipe everything
and do everything for you anyway. ;-) #4 in the steps has a link to a
pictographical step-by-step of a clean installation. )
 
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