Can
any tools identify whether a system is
missing important service packs? |
I discussed CmdInfo, a freeware utility (available
at http://www.savilltech.com/cmdinfo.html)
that you can use to test whether a hotfix is
installed on local and remote machines. Recently,
Microsoft released a new tool, hfnetchk, that
communicates with a constantly updated list
of hotfixes stored on the Microsoft Web site
and can determine whether your system is missing
any critical fixes. You can use hfnetchk to
scan one computer, a group of computers, or
a whole domain. See Microsoft
article Q303215 for further information.
You can download hfnetchk from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=31154.
Here is a sample execution:
D:\temp>hfnetchk -i 200.200.200.1
Microsoft Network Security Hotfix Checker, 3.1
Developed for Microsoft by Shavlik Technologies, LLC
info@shavlik.com (www.shavlik.com)
** Attempting to download the XML from
http://download.microsoft.com/download/x
ml/security/1.0/NT5/EN-US/mssecure.cab. **
** File was successfully downloaded. **
** Attempting to load D:\temp\mssecure.xml. **
Using XML data version = 1.0.1.137 Last modified on 8/21/2001.
Scanning 200.200.200.1
Done scanning 200.200.200.1
----------------------------
200.200.200.1
----------------------------
WINDOWS 2000 ADVANCED SERVER SP2
Patch NOT Found MS00-077 Q299796
Patch NOT Found MS00-079 Q276471
Patch NOT Found MS01-007 Q285851
Patch NOT Found MS01-013 Q285156
WARNING MS01-022 Q296441
Patch NOT Found MS01-025 Q296185
Patch NOT Found MS01-031 Q299553
Patch NOT Found MS01-036 Q299687
Patch NOT Found MS01-037 Q302755
Patch NOT Found MS01-040 Q292435
Patch NOT Found MS01-041 Q298012
Patch NOT Found MS01-043 Q303984
Patch NOT Found MS01-046 Q252795
Internet Information Services 5.0
Patch NOT Found MS01-025 Q296185
Patch NOT Found MS01-044 Q301625
Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1
Patch NOT Found MS00-093 Q279328
Patch NOT Found MS01-015 Q286043
SQL Server 2000 Gold
WARNING MS00-092 Q280380
WARNING MS01-032 Q299717
WARNING MS01-041 Q298012
It's important to note that Microsoft now offers
several utilities to analyze your machine, including
It's best to use all of these resources to ensure
your system is up-to-date.
How
can I uninstall a Windows 2000 service
pack? |
One of the great points of Windows 2000 service
packs are the improvements in the uninstall
area and to uninstall from the GUI perform
the following:
- Start the Add/Remove Programs control
panel applet (Start - Settings - Control
Panel - Add/Remove Programs)
- Select Windows 2000 SP1 (for example,
works with all versions)
- Click Change/Remove
- Follow the instructions and reboot as
needed
To uninstall from the command line perform
the following:
- Open a command prompt (cmd.exe)
- Move to %systemroot%\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst
- Run spuninstl.exe
- Close the command prompt by typing exit
- Follow the instructions
How do I create
a bootable Windows 2000 CD-ROM with
a service pack slipstreamed?
|
Win2K introduced to service packs the slipstream
ability, which lets you apply a service pack
to a Win2K installation distribution point
so that any clients you instal from that location
automatically have the service pack applied.
Without much more effort, you can burn this
slipstreamed installation to a CD-ROM to enable
Win2K installs from a bootable CD-ROM.
- Copy the entire structure of the Win2K
CD-ROM to a folder on your local disk (e.g.,
c:\temp\win2000pro).
- Slipstream the service pack to this installation
point (you must point to the root of the
CD-ROM's COPIED location and not to the
I386 folder—e.g., c:\win2ksp2\i386\update\update
-s:c:\temp\win2000pro.)
- The installation point will now have the
service pack applied, and the root will
include a couple of extra files; the important
file is the one that indicates that the
service pack is installed. This is an empty
file with a name of cdrom_sp.tst if Service
Pack 1 (SP1) is slipstreamed or cdromsp2.tst
if SP2 is slipstreamed.
- Other important files that should be in
the root of the distribution area are listed
below:
- CDROM_NT.5—Identifier indicating that
the CD-ROM contains Windows NT 5.0 (i.e.,
Win2K)
- CDROM_IP.5—Identifier indicating that
the CD-ROM contains the professional
version
- CDROM_IS.5—Identifier indicating that
the CD-ROM contains the server version
- CDROM_IA.5—Identifier indicating that
the CD-ROM contains the advanced server
version
- Create the CD-ROM.
- You need the boot sector for the CD-ROM.
- You should then burn the CD-ROM (see the
FAQ mentioned in the previous step). Steps
8 through 18 are the steps you would perform
if you use Adaptec's Easy CD Creator.
- Start Easy CD Creator.
- From the File menu, select New CD Project,
Bootable CD.
- For the boot settings, set the emulation
to No Emulation, Load Segment to 0x7c0,
and Sector Count to 4. Click Browse, and
select the boot image (e.g., w2kcdbt.bin).
Click OK.
- Add all the files in the Win2K folder
to the CD-ROM folder (so CDROM_NT.5, etc.
will be at the root of the CD-ROM).
- Right-click the root of the CD-ROM, and
select Properties.
- Change the volume label to W2PFPP_EN for
Win2K Professional, W2SFPP_EN for Win2K
Server, and W2AFPP_EN for Win2K Advanced
Server.
- Change the File System to ISO9660.
- Click OK.
- Click Record.
- Under Record Method, select Finalize CD,
and under Record Options, select Record
CD. Click Start Recording.
- When the recording is complete, remove
the CD-ROM. You can delete the temporary
Win2K local folder.
