About This Guide |
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This guide provides instructions for administrators installing hotfixes for Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, Windows® XP Professional, and Windows® XP 64-Bit Edition. This guide includes technical details, procedures, and recommendations for successfully installing Windows XP hotfixes on multiple computers in a small business or corporate environment. Note that you can install hotfixes either alone or in combination with Windows XP (with or without a service pack).
This guide assumes a working knowledge of Windows XP and hotfix installations. Although some basic operating system information is included in the document, this is not a replacement for either the Windows XP documentation or formal training. Rather, it is intended to complement these sources of information.
This guide includes the following main sections:
You can read this section to become familiar with hotfixes. This section also provides information about additional resource material that can help you plan your hotfix deployment.
This section explains how to perform an update installation of Windows hotfixes for computers that are already running Windows XP.
This section explains how to perform an unattended installation of Windows hotfixes in combination with Windows XP.
This section explains how to remove a Windows hotfix and discusses the limitations of this process.
Before you get started, it's important to understand a few specialized terms that are used in this guide. These terms, which are specific to Windows XP or hotfix installations (or both), are defined in the following table.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| systemroot | The "root" directory of the Windows installation on the computer's hard disk. For example, on most computers, systemroot is C:\WINDOWS. If you upgraded your computer to Windows XP from another version of Windows, systemroot might be C:\WINNT. |
| systemdrive | The drive where the operating system is installed. For example, on most computers, the systemdrive is C:\. |
| integrated | Installed together as a single installation (for example, Windows XP and Service Pack 1). |
What Is a Hotfix? |
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A hotfix is a file or collection of files that you can apply to Windows XP to correct a specific problem. A hotfix is provided as a program (.exe) file. When you install a hotfix, backup files are created automatically so that you can remove the hotfix later if you want. The installation process also copies files to specific folders and updates registry settings.
Windows XP hotfix programs are named according to the following convention:
where:
Note
Examples in this document that can apply to both of the 32-bit versions and the 64-bit Edition follow the 32-bit versions format.
Hotfixes are packaged in a self-installing format. There are two main types of hotfix installations:
Use this type of installation to install Windows hotfixes on computers that are already running Windows XP.
Use this type of installation to perform an unattended installation of Windows hotfixes in combination with Windows XP or the service pack (or both).
Important
Hotfixes are applied only to software that is already installed when you apply the hotfixes. For example, if you remove a component and later reinstall it, you must reinstall any hotfixes that apply for that component. In addition, if you add further components to your computer that require this hotfix, you must install the hotfix again. Fixes included in a service pack do not work the same way. After you install a service pack, fixes are applied to all components you add or reinstall without you having to reinstall the service pack.
The Update Installation |
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During the update installation, Windows hotfixes are applied to a computer that is already running Windows XP. When you run the hotfix program, it automatically installs the updated system files and makes the necessary registry changes. After the computer is restarted (required only for some system files that are used during the installation), the installation is complete and Windows XP runs with an updated file set.
You can install the hotfixes by running the Update.exe program, which extracts the hotfix files and runs the Update.exe installation program. Update.exe then checks the service pack version you are currently using. If the service pack version was released before the hotfixes and the language is the same, the Update.exe program installs the hotfixes automatically. If your service pack version was released after the hotfixes, the installation is not completed and an error message appears, stating that the version is incorrect.
Note
If your service pack version was released after the hotfixes and you were completing an unattended installation (using either the /U or /Q option), the installation quits and no message displays.
If the language of the hotfixes does not match the language you have set up for Windows XP, Setup will be interrupted. If there are no version conflicts, Setup continues the installation. The Update.exe program registers the hotfixes under the following registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Hotfix\Q######
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows XP\SP2\Q######
During the installation, information for removing the hotfixes is stored in a hidden folder named systemroot\$NtUninstallQ######$. For information about removing hotfixes, see "Removing Windows Hotfixes" later in this document.
The following sections describe how to install the Windows hotfixes from a shared network distribution folder.
There are several methods for performing an update installation, including running the Update.exe program manually with a combination of installation options, using Systems Management Server (SMS), and using the Windows Installer. You can distribute hotfixes either by using a shared network distribution folder or by downloading the hotfixes from the Web. Because this guide is intended primarily for corporate users, the update installation procedures provided in this document focus on the shared network distribution method, which is the most common means of hotfix distribution for this audience.
The instructions in this section explain how to install hotfixes on computers that are already running Windows XP.
Windows XP SP1 and all post-SP1 hotfixes have Qchain.exe functionality built in. You can install SP1, and then install any number of post-SP1 hotfixes without having to restart the computer in between.
For more information about how the Qchain.exe tool works, see article Q296861, "Use QChain.exe to Install Multiple Hotfixes with Only One Reboot," in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
The following table identifies the command-line options that the Update.exe program supports.
| Command-line option | Description |
|---|---|
| /F | Forces other applications to close at shutdown. |
| /N | Does not back up files for removing hotfixes. |
| /Z | Does not restart the computer after the installation is completed. |
| /Q | Uses quiet mode; no user interaction is required. |
| /U | Uses unattended Setup mode. |
| /L | Lists installed hotfixes. |
To install a Windows XP hotfix on a single computer, run the hotfix program on the computer you want to update: Q######_XXX_YYY_ZZZ_LLL.exe
You can create a distribution folder on the network for the hotfix if you want to install it on more than one computer. The following procedure describes how to install one or more Windows XP hotfixes using this method.
Note
For the following procedure, "E:\" represents the drive of the network or computer where your distribution folder is located.
To install a Windows XP hotfix by running the Update.exe program
For example, to create a distribution folder named Hotfix, type the following:
mkdir E:\Hotfix
For example, to copy the Windows XP Update.exe program to the distribution folder named Hotfix, type the following:
xcopy C:\Q######_XXX_YYY_ZZZ_LLL.exe E:\Hotfix
For example, to install the hotfix from the distribution folder named Hotfix, type the following:
E:\Hotfix\Q######_XXX_YYY_ZZZ_LLL.exe
The Q######_XXX_YYY_ZZZ_LLL.exe file supports the same command-line options as the Update.exe program. You can use command-line options as described in the table preceding this procedure.
You can group multiple hotfixes together in a batch file and install them as a unit; this way, you do not need to restart your computer after each hotfix is installed. The hotfix installer provides options you can use when performing this type of installation.
The following code sample is a batch file that installs hotfixes and makes sure that the correct files get replaced after the computer is restarted.
@echo off
setlocal
set PATHTOFIXES=E:\hotfix
%PATHTOFIXES%\Q123456_Wxp_sp2_x86.exe /Z /Q
%PATHTOFIXES%\Q123321_Wxp_sp2_x86.exe /Z /Q
%PATHTOFIXES%\Q123789_Wxp_sp2_x86.exe /Z /QImportant
To make sure that the hotfixes you installed take effect, restart the computer if the batch file does not automatically restart it for you.
The Combination Installation |
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The combination installation uses both the update and integrated installation processes to install the service pack with one or more of the following:
This section provides instructions for installing Windows XP with hotfixes in unattended Setup mode.
You can perform a combination installation by including the components you want to install with the hotfixes as entries in the Svcpack.inf file. You can also choose to install the service pack at the same time.
This section explains how to perform a combination installation of Windows XP integrated with the service pack and post-service pack hotfixes in a shared distribution folder on a network. You do not need to perform separate installations of Windows XP, the service pack, or the Windows XP hotfixes. Note that if you want to install Windows XP with hotfixes, you must use this method.
Important
This process installs the Windows XP hotfixes during Windows XP Setup.
Before you run Windows XP Setup to deploy the installation of Windows XP and the Windows XP hotfixes across a network, you must copy the Windows XP and Windows XP hotfix installation files to a shared distribution folder and complete additional steps, as described in the following procedure.
If you are an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and you plan to install additional OEM files (for example, device driver, application, or component files) on the destination computers, create a \$1 subfolder within the \$OEM$ subfolder. The \$1 subfolder maps to systemdrive, the destination drive for the Windows XP installation.
Follow the procedure for either of the 32-bit versions of Windows XP or for the Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.
Note
In the following procedure, "E:\" represents the drive name of the network or computer where your distribution folder is located.
To create and set up the required folders and files for 32-bit versions of Windows XP
mkdir E:\i386
xcopy /E /I /V D:\i386 E:\i386
[OptionalSrcDirs]
svcpackmkdir E:\i386\svcpack
If you are deploying multiple hotfixes, rename all of the hotfix program files according to this naming format.
E:\i386\svcpack\Q######.exe /X:E:\<samplefolder>
For example, i386\uniproc\* files in the hotfix need to be copied to the i386\uniproc folder of the shared installation folder. There is no need to copy Update.exe, Update.inf, SPmsg.dll, SPcustom.dll, SPuninst.exe, Update.ver, or symbols files.
[Version] Signature="$Windows NT$"MajorVersion=5 MinorVersion=1 BuildNumber=2600 [SetupData] CatalogSubDir="\i386\svcpack"[ProductCatalogsToInstall] Q######.cat [SetupHotfixesToRun] Q######.exe /options
The recommended options for hotfixes are /Q /N /Z.
Important
If you will be deploying multiple hotfixes together, add an entry for each hotfix under both [ProductCatalogsToInstall] and [SetupHotfixesToRun] (as shown following this paragraph). The following lines are a sample of these sections for an installation in which multiple hotfixes are installed. If you are installing a service pack, you do not need to include details about the service pack because they are included in the installation by another process.
[ProductCatalogsToInstall]
Q123456.cat
Q123478.cat
Q123490.cat
[SetupHotfixesToRun]
Q123456.exe /options
Q123478.exe /options
Q123490.exe /options The recommended options for hotfixes are /Q /N /Z.
To create and set up the required folders and files for the Windows XP 64-Bit Edition
mkdir E:\ia64
xcopy /E /I /V D:\ia64 E:\ia64
[OptionalSrcDirs]
svcpack mkdir E:\ia64\svcpack
If you are deploying multiple hotfixes, rename all of the hotfix package files according to this naming format.
E:\ia64\svcpack\Q###### /X E:\<samplefolder>
For example, ia64\uniproc\* files in the hotfix need to be copied to the ia64\uniproc folder of the shared installation folder. There is no need to copy Update.exe, Update.inf, SPmsg.dll, SPcustom.dll, SPuninst.exe, Update.ver, or symbols files.
[Version]
Signature="$Windows NT$"
MajorVersion=5
MinorVersion=1
BuildNumber=2600
[SetupData]
CatalogSubDir="\ia64\svcpack"
[ProductCatalogsToInstall]
Q######.cat
[SetupHotfixesToRun]
Q######.exe /optionsThe recommended options for hotfixes are /Q /N /Z.
Important
If you will be deploying multiple hotfixes together, add an entry for each hotfix under both [ProductCatalogsToInstall] and [SetupHotfixesToRun] (as shown following this paragraph). The following lines are a sample of these sections for an installation in which multiple hotfixes are installed. If you are installing a service pack, you do not need to include details about the service pack because they are included in the installation by another process.
[ProductCatalogsToInstall]
Q123456.cat
Q123478.cat
Q123490.cat
[SetupHotfixesToRun]
Q123456.exe /options
Q123478.exe /options
Q123490.exe /options
The recommended options for hotfixes are /Q /N /Z.
You can deploy the installation of Windows XP and the Windows XP hotfixes to multiple computers from a shared distribution folder on a network. During the standard installation process, Windows XP Setup installs the operating system and applies the hotfixes.
For further information about the following procedure, see the Microsoft Windows Corporate Deployment Tools User's Guide (deploy.chm) included in Deploy.cab in the \Support\Tools folder on your SP1 CD.
To deploy the installation
Removing Windows XP Hotfixes |
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You can remove a Windows XP hotfix by using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.
If you install multiple hotfixes that replace the same files and you want to return your computer to its original state, you must remove the most recently installed hotfix first. For example, assume that HotfixA and HotfixB replace the same file and that you installed HotfixA before you installed HotfixB. If you want to return your computer to its state prior to the installation of HotfixA, you must remove HotfixB before you remove HotfixA.
To remove a Windows XP hotfix
Note
You cannot remove hotfixes that were installed by means of the combination installation method.
Copyright |
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