AutoPatcher December Update Wishlist

[FlishFun Veteran]

and guess what, now its TDI :D

after hearing all those things about customizing AutoPatcher i though this:

if you customize your current autopatcherxp.dat file, next month you will have to customize it again by adding all the entries again... So this is how it will work now:

AutoPatcher will be able to index from 3 database files...

1. AutoPatcherXP.dat - the usual stuff, signature authentication remains as is

2. AutoPatcherXP_Bonus.dat - this will be a bonus pack we will be releasing, now with signature authentication

3. AutoPatcherXP_Custom.dat - this will contain all custom entries, and best of all, if you download next month's release, you wont have to do over all your entries :D

So this is TDI technology now :D

/Raptor

P.S: Jason, a new exe will be ready shortly for you to test with :D

You know, after talkin' with kelsenellenelvian yesterday I was gonna ask you about that. It's like you can read my mind! :o lol

[Stunod7]

Okay how about this.... Would it be possible for you do make one for Win2k Pro one? I get to deal with a lot of Win2k Pro machines in my line of work and it gets bothersome with the updates just like XP Pro does.

[Tech_8356]

One other thing I do on a new PC is I go into the display properties, click on the Desktop tab, click on the Customize Desktop button and put a check in the box next to My Computer.

This puts the My Computer icon on the desktop. If you just create a shortcut, it doesn't offer you the same right-click options as the 'real' My Computer icon. I do this so I can quickly go to the device manager on any PC I work on.

It would be a nice option on the next version of AP.

That's an awesome idea.....could I add My Network Places, My Documents and Internet Explorer to that list as well????

[FlishFun Veteran]

Okay how about this.... Would it be possible for you do make one for Win2k Pro one? I get to deal with a lot of Win2k Pro machines in my line of work and it gets bothersome with the updates just like XP Pro does.

neopwi Yes, it's gonna be called AutoPatcher 2000 and should be out about the same time the December update is released. See the unofficial thread here: AutoPatcher 2000

@Tech_8356 - I'll see what I can do... not sure if it's possible to do, but if it is, I'll make it an option.

[junkyinny]

One other thing I do on a new PC is I go into the display properties, click on the Desktop tab, click on the Customize Desktop button and put a check in the box next to My Computer.

This puts the My Computer icon on the desktop. If you just create a shortcut, it doesn't offer you the same right-click options as the 'real' My Computer icon. I do this so I can quickly go to the device manager on any PC I work on.

It would be a nice option on the next version of AP.

That's an awesome idea.....could I add My Network Places, My Documents and Internet Explorer to that list as well????

neopwi by using active registry monitor i found the .reg keys that the show desktop icons use..

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-583907252-1677128483-1343024091-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons]

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-583907252-1677128483-1343024091-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]

"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}"=dword:00000000

"{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-583907252-1677128483-1343024091-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

"{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}"=dword:00000000

"{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

<< {871cblahblah is internet explorer icon , set to dword:00000000 to show << it, and dword:00000001 to unshow.

<< {20d04blah is my computer. same as above

<< {208dblah is network places. same as above

<< {45od is my documents. same as above.

you have to right click on the desktop and select 'refresh' after you merge them.

[FlishFun Veteran]

by using active registry monitor i found the .reg keys that the show desktop icons use..

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-583907252-1677128483-1343024091-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons]

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-583907252-1677128483-1343024091-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]

"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}"=dword:00000000

"{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-583907252-1677128483-1343024091-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

"{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}"=dword:00000000

"{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

<< {871cblahblah is internet explorer icon , set to dword:00000000 to show << it, and dword:00000001 to unshow.

<< {20d04blah is my computer. same as above

<< {208dblah is network places. same as above

<< {45od is my documents. same as above.

you have to right click on the desktop and select 'refresh' after you merge them.

Thank you thank you! :D Good work! (Y)

[junkyinny]

try it, let me know :) works for me. any way to make the desktop refresh automatically?

[akaladis Veteran]

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-583907252-1677128483-1343024091-1003

are these the same for EVERY system? Cause i dont have such a key...

/Raptor

[edit]i believe we can use HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NewStartPanel instead of that yuky string S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx.....[/edit]

[akaladis Veteran]

and btw: i would like this added:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AutoComplete]

"AlwaysUseTab"=dword:00000001

/Raptor

[FlishFun Veteran]

are these the same for EVERY system? Cause i dont have such a key...

/Raptor

[edit]i believe we can use HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NewStartPanel instead of that yuky string S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx.....[/edit]

Yes, you have to use "Current_User". It's the same as when you want to load a theme. ;)

[OptiPlex]

are these the same for EVERY system? Cause i dont have such a key...

/Raptor

[edit]i believe we can use HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NewStartPanel instead of that yuky string S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx.....[/edit]

That's the SID. Windows 2000 was once vulnerable to a bug where the SID could be forged and basically you were able to have admin rights :o

But, that's ancient stuff.

[akaladis Veteran]

also

"Start_ShowSetProgramAccessAndDefaults"=dword:0000000000

in Advanced under Explorer

[FlishFun Veteran]

Raptor, ooh... that's a good one too! Thanks man! (Y)

Edited November 18, 2003 by FlishFun

[akaladis Veteran]

also...

"HideFileExt"=dword:000000000

"FriendlyTree"=dword:00000000 (this is for Simple View in Explorer, which i personally hate...)

again in Advanced under Explorer

and btw, i remember someone once asked if you can make something to disable all those windows xp effects... well take a look at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects

/Raptor

[FlishFun Veteran]

also...

"HideFileExt"=dword:000000000

"FriendlyTree"=dword:00000000 (this is for Simple View in Explorer, which i personally hate...)

again in Advanced under Explorer

and btw, i remember someone once asked if you can make something to disable all those windows xp effects... well take a look at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects

/Raptor

Thanks, I think I'll make an Entry called "Performance" and just have two options:

1. Adjust for Best Performance

2. Adjust for best Appearance

Seems a lot of people wanted something like that. :)

[junkyinny]

speaking of reg tweaks, and i use alot of them.. if we get too many, then why not just use xsetup http://www.xteq.com/products/xset/index.html ? :) or the other tweaker tools, or create our own? free of course xsetup is ok, supposedly easy to add stuff to it , complicated gui thou..

i just use the tweaks at http://www.dougknox.com/ or kellys corner

[FlishFun Veteran]

speaking of reg tweaks, and i use alot of them.. if we get too many, then why not just use xsetup http://www.xteq.com/products/xset/index.html ? :) or the other tweaker tools, or create our own?  free of course  xsetup is ok, supposedly easy to add stuff to it , complicated gui thou..

i just use the tweaks at http://www.dougknox.com/ or kellys corner

Well I'll shoot that down right now. I'm not including X-Setup. lol If you want to download it, be my guest. And I'm just trying to compile registry tweaks that are useful, and also can't really damage a system (no memory tweaks or anything). I've used X-Setup, but for newbies, it can really mess up their system if they do the wrong thing.

[BuzzSaw]

Hello everyone, I'm new to board. Just like to say that the authors of AutoPatcherXP is doing a nice job with making a program that makes it easy for novice and advanced users alike to update there computers; considering I'm one of those people that is an advocate of formatting my computer consistently to rid of unnecessary stuff. LOL. :D

Although you need WindowsXP SP1 before you use AutoPatcherXP, you should have something scripted in AutoPatcherXP to make sure that ever user has WindowsXP SP1 installed properly. If the user doesn't have SP1 installed, you should have all the updated grayed out so that the user doesn't update there computers by mistake cause that could cause some problems. If that happens, you should redirect them to Microsoft website for SP1 or you should include SP1 in AutoPatcherXP considering it is a very important update. Once SP1 is installed, the boxes should be ungrayed to let the users know they have SP1 installed and safe to install all the updates. Just a thought.

I hope this forum doesn't die down or become inactive like the other forums I've registered within the past few months. Seems like I've been having bad luck with that. Oh well. Looking forward to Decembers update list.

Thanks!

[QuestorUK]

My main concern is security, whilst what you may release is fine what about when its coming from a third or fourth party, is it possible to have a digital signature or even crc which can be posted here and give ome confidence against tampering

[BuzzSaw]

I think the authors make sure that the files are orginal. I don't think they would release something that hasn't been checked by them personally. Perhaps a user can list all the CRC or MD5 values of all the updates or extra features in AutoPatcherXP. If that's going to make some users feel at ease to know that the files are orginal.

[FlishFun Veteran]

Allow me to answer your questions:

@QuestorUK - Welcome to Neowin! I hope you enjoy your stay!This does not have a digital signature per se, but if you run it, you'll note it says "Official Edition" on the banner. If anyone tampers with the program, one of two things will happen. One, the program won't run because it's been damaged (that's if someone tried to mess with the exe itself). Two, the banner will change to say "Custom Edition". If it doesn't say official, it's been tampered with somehow. ;) Also, in the next version I'll include the MD5 value (with a link to download the program and verify).

@Slaughter - Welcome to Neowin, too! I hope you enjoy your stay as well! :) I'd also say thanks for enjoyin' the program so much! :D As far as scripting in something, we did. If you run it on a normal Gold (non SP1) install of XP you'll get a warning message on running and a chance to exit. We may alter it to not run at all, or give a link. It's a good idea, it's something I'll consider. :)

If this forum dies I'll be very sad... and it would have to happen when I'm asleep, because I'm on this forum almost every minute I'm awake. :) And the December update will be awesome, not just for the updates, but for the new additions to the exe itself. ;)

Anywho, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask! :D

EDIT - For anyone who wants to know, the MD5 value for the Full November Install (183 MB) is: C1950FCE3C4931F6FDAD3B1FF7CE32B8

Edited November 19, 2003 by FlishFun

[BuzzSaw]

That was a quick response. You must lack sleep because you're always busy answering everyones post. LOL.

[FlishFun Veteran]

That was a quick response.? You must lack sleep because you're always busy answering everyones post.? LOL.

Trust me... you have no idea. lol And I do all this sans caffine... got a nice twitch goin' in my eye right now.:blink:k: lol But seriously, I want everyone to get the most out of this, so I'm here as much as I can to answer as many questions as I can.;);)

[BuzzSaw]

Looks like Microsoft released another update at Windows Update site.

Update for WindowsXP HighMAT Support in CD Writing Wizard (KB831240)

[FlishFun Veteran]

Looks like Microsoft released another update at Windows Update site.

Update for WindowsXP HighMAT Support in CD Writing Wizard (KB831240)

neopwi Nice, I was already gonna include the HighMAT in the Dec release, but I didn't know about the update (wonder if it's the same thing). THanks! (Y)