Slashdot Mirror
Windows XP Update Library On a CD
KrispyKofta sends us to APC Magazine for a writeup on Project Dakota, a one-man effort to provide all Windows XP SP2 updates on one downloadable CD. It's poor man's XP SP3, but even when SP3 is out, the project will continue to offer a CD that will install all patches offline. "When was the last time you installed a fresh copy of Windows XP SP2? The process is still straightforward and relatively quick... but then you think 'I'll just make sure the patches are up to date,' and proceed to stare in horror at the 100+ security updates and critical fixes that Windows Update or WSUS demands you install. And it takes forever. A better option which we've just discovered is the innovative work of Alek Patsouris... it's a self-contained boot CD which contains all the necessary updates to automatically patch a Windows XP SP2 system with all the patches available at the CD's build time."
Those who don't know history...
Reknowned IT publisher Heise is already offering an even better solution: c't Offline Update. Update W2K, XP, Vista, Office in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and some 20 more languages by using Microsofts update catalog to download all chosen updates, then creates an ISO image per OS (CD-sized) or for everything (DVD needed). The included scripts allow for a fully automated install of all updates from the CD or DVD, even including any necessary intervening reboots.
c't Offline Update Project Download Page
Honestly why is the latest revelation in documented common Microsoft software practices news on /. ? I mean you don't see "Latest yum library that that comes to you downloaded all rpms in one safe ISO!!1!" as a headline...
This is a nice idea for individuals who only have to do this once. However, the RyanVM and Xable update packs have been offered for years and integrate into your installation disc. No need to run another lengthly installation after the install is done.
Although it seems pretty silly, I can see MS's point of view. Autopatcher is essentially becoming a Windows patch "distro" and the more people that use this the less control MS have over patch roll out.
Say in the future MS want to push out a patch that is so mean and so unethical that Autopatcher refuse to include it (kids, don't say that's impossible - we all know MS has infinite Evilness). Suddenly MS has a large body of people that won't swallow the patch.
Less tinfoil-hat-wearing is that Autopatcher shows up MS's own ineptness.MS have shown for a long time that Windows users are their assets ("our install base") and don't treat them as customers. Customer service is secondary to asset control.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Does Microsoft allow third parties to distribute official patches? If not, this sounds like a copyright violation.
Why use WindizUpdate?
Not only will it keep you up to date with the latest updates from Microsoft, it will also keep software and drivers from other vendors updated. However, that functionality is currently missing.
Good reasons to use WindizUpdate
* No personally identifiable information is collected from your computer.
* No more unwanted spyware -- Microsoft Internet Explorer can finally be removed from your computer (if that were possible).
* It lists just the updates you need. If an update has been superceded by a newer one, it will not ask you to install the older one.
* Using enhanced data from MBSA, WindizUpdate will find more security patches needed for your O/S than the "other" website.
* If there is a security issue with a component that is not yet installed, it will not ask you to update it. For example, if you have not installed hyperterminal, it will not update it.
* It is not restricted to just Microsoft products. Software from other vendors can also be updated.
* Upgrading to the latest version of Internet Explorer is not considered a Critical Update!
* Works on Windows versions no longer supported by Microsoft -- Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95
* Our plugin is not an ActiveX control.
* Integrated download manager with error detection -- you can cancel downloads at any time, and the next time you wish to install the cancelled update, it will continue from where it left off. Only corrupted sections of the file are redownloaded.
If you are still not convinced that WindizUpdate is the site for you, please check out our page titled "do we need to say any more?"
Disadvantages
* There is a delay from when new updates are released from Microsoft to when they appear on this site.
* If you're using Internet Explorer, you will need to use Microsoft's Windows Update site for updates -- this site will be of no use to you.
* You'll need to upgrade your browser if you're using MSIE 4.xx -- This site won't work, neither will Microsoft's. http://windizupdate.com/
The "do we need to say any more?" link is: http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/whywelovems.php
Sure, it's not an AIO CD, but it's a great alternative to Windows Update.
"While you're watching the quiet ones, a noisy one will fucking kill you!" - George Carlin
C'mon! I know there must be one out there.
"The Dakota Project"
"A one-man effort to provide all Windows XP SP2 updates on one downloadable CD."
With:
Bruce Willis as The Architect
Jennifer Lopez as Dakota
Will Smith as Bill Gates
I decided a few days ago to dual-boot XP and Vista, since one of my devices isn't supported under Vista (its manufacturer hasn't existed for a while). I had to, of course, install all of the necessary updates for XP, but it only took one reset for over 100 patches. It's really not that bad a process.
How do you propose to make inefficiency illegal exactly? All OSes provide patches. Microsoft weren't even going to do an SP3 and it's good that they are still releasing updates (can't believe I'm defending MS there...). Releasing the updates on CD ROM is wasting oil and probably a lot more energy than it takes to download the patches (have no idea how much electricity either process uses, but the amount of plastic we waste is incredible). What you said sounds like it could be a joke, but for some reason you seem serious. For the sake of humanity, will someone pass an anthropology law making stupidity illegal?
which is totally what she said
There already a freeware tool out there which does most of this task.
"Offline Update" (http://www.heise.de/ct/projekte/offlineupdate/download_uk.shtml) was created by Heise, a German publisher of several serious IT magazines.
You simply choose a MS product and it will then download all updates and patches and generate an ISO image for a bootable CD/DVD. Once finished, simply put that disk into the destination computer's drive and the the rest will be done via autostart. Reboots and related stuff will be handled by creating a temporary local admin account automatically, which will be deleted again once the program finishes its run.
A nice solution for smaller companies who don't want to set up their own WSUS node.
Project North Dakota and Project South Dakota?
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
... then all you'll need is a patch for Ubuntu and another patch for Gnome.
As are some of the security updates. I know it's a bit of an unreasonable demand, but I'd rather see a list of questionable updates than yet another offline patcher.
I just read Slashdot for the articles.
I frequently find myself in the exact situation for which this project was intended: I've just done a clean build of Windows XP SP2, and it's time to bring it up to date.
However, I prefer to change the sequence up a bit:
-- Run a scripted build from a modified SP2 CD.
-- Install all the 'inside-the-case' hardware drivers: IMHO, Windows Setup isn't complete until Device Manager is clean.
-- Install the Micro$oft Java VM, and its latest updated version (must be done as two steps, thanks to $un).
-- Install a Google-tweaked version of IE7.
-- Install the latest versions of Flash Player, QuickTime, Real Alternative, and Nero.
-- Install Media Player 10 (which reclaims all the file associations that Media Player can handle).
-- If the machine will get Office, install it.
-- Finally, open the Windows Update page, and immediately click over to Micro$oft Update. Choose the options to hide Media Player 11, and any video driver updates from M$ (they usually break things). Launch the process. Go to lunch.
If the project included an option for starting with a machine that already has IE7, has the M$ Java, and is meant to be left with MP10, it would be perfect for me.
Use Heise Security Offline-Update to patch any installation of Windows XP with the latest service packs and security updates.
.ISO file
which you burn to a CD or DVD. To use Heise Offline-Update, you insert the
CD or DVD, start the program, and let it run.
:)" (2008-02-12). Before, Autopatcher provided patches directly from their servers; Microsoft stopped that, due to security risks, it said. But Microsoft did not provide its own solution.
Why? Heise Offline-Update handles everything. It comes from a reputable company that makes money selling other security services; they have a strong incentive to do it right. To make the CD or DVD, it downloads all the patches from Microsoft's servers, and makes an
Shortcomings of Heise Offline-Update? 1) It does only security updates. 2) The web site is mostly in German, although there is an older English explanation.
Why not the others? 1) Autopatcher and others were much more amateurish. Autopatcher is now back with a scheme like Heise Offline-Update, but that is after months of experimentation. The volunteers at Autopatcher don't seem to have the resources necessary. See the Autopatcher downloads page which says "This page will be back very soon
Problems with Slashdot: 1) Bad stories create bad discussions. Slashdot editors apparently don't know much about Microsoft Windows. Almost all Slashdot readers have to deal with Windows, even if only to help family and neighbors. Sloppy stories that have not been researched waste reader's time. 2) Lots of readers comment when they don't have much to say.
That said, Slashdot is by far the best web site I know for computer-oriented news.
Problems with Microsoft: What Microsoft offers is not complete, so volunteers try to help. In my opinion, Microsoft is often extremely adversarial toward its customers.
It has been more than 3 years since Microsoft issued a Service Pack for Windows XP; that has wasted the time of hundreds of thousands because Windows XP is so unstable and buggy and malware-prone that it often needs re-loading. Often malware replaces a system file, and the only way to recover is to re-load the operating system. Re-loading Windows XP preserves all the programs and settings; however, the latest Windows XP CD from Microsoft has only Windows XP Service Pack 2; there have been hundreds of megabytes of updates since then, making updating over a dial-up connection extremely slow.
Microsoft does have a system for updating, but the system requires the very expensive Windows Server 2003, which requires a network and at least one other computer. Obviously requiring all that creates problems in helping someone with his or her home computer, or with a cash register computer in a small store, for example.
More problems with Microsoft -- Windows Update often fails. Amazingly, Microsoft is unable to deliver an updating system that works reliably. I just worked on a friend's computer, for example, and running Windows Update gives a long numerical error message with no help for fixing the error.
There have been many, many different kinds of problems with Windows Update. See, for example, Microsoft's Windows Update Discussion Group.
I guess that millions of hours are lost every year because of Microsoft's sloppy programming. Bill Gates deserves his title, Chief of Grief, although soon the chair-throwing, bad-mouthing Steve Ballmer will be the Chief, apparently. (The