General Discussion - Windows XP Professional Dynamic Update Question?...

Author

Windows XP Professional Dynamic Update Question?...

Varder

2004-05-07, 5:10 pm

Hi,

Finally breaking down and installing a dual boot XP with my W2K Pro box.

I have a question, do most of you choose the dynamic update option upon installation and if your machine only has a dial up connection are we talking forever to grab the updates, or should I throw a wireless card in there and connect with my wireless broadband router if it gives that option?

Also are there any downsides to using dynamic update? I thought I remember reading somewhere if you choose that option your machine will then AUTOMATICALLY get future update versus manually, which I think I prefer. Or, am I totally wrong and XP gets the update automatically, either way?

What do most of you people choose when installing XP, dynamic update or not? Any input would be apopreciated.

Thanks.....

sandy7000

2004-05-09, 12:03 pm

Grabbed my "MS Windows XP Resource Kit Doc." Pgs. 498-504 are great, plus there's a reference to Microsoft KB article Q222189 which can give you more info to help w/ your own choices. (Feeling too lazy to link..sorry).

Personally, I've installed w/ basic then converted to dynamic. According to abv book, if you're running multiple copies of Win XP/W2K (i.e. dual boot config), the registry of the other os can become out of date. Here's the quote: "If the operating systems are installed on the same disk & you use one of the operating systems to convert the disk to dynamic, the registry of the other os becomes out of date because drivers required to start the os from a dynamic disk aren't loaded. Therefore, you can no longer start the other os." pg 504. It does also state that if you want a dual boot config, install each os to a diff. disk (i.e. W2k on disk 1 & XP on disk 2. Then use W2k to convert disk 1 to dynamic & then XP to convert disk 2 to dynamic.

Hope it helps.

sandy7000

2004-05-09, 12:08 pm

Oops! I just re-read your questions & realized you meant dynamic updates, not disks..I apologize. Also, I'm not familiar enough with wireless routers to help you on that end..

Once again, I'm doing 45 in the fast lane with my blinker on....

azimuth40

2004-05-09, 4:09 pm

We are talking about forever to grab the updates. Unless you have a slipstreamed version of XP pro then service pack 1 and cumulative hot fixes are a hundred meg or so. Then thew will want to update IE and outlook express and possibly some hardware drivers. Then there is the new directX and I think a media player upgrade. If you can't do broadband it is better to order them on CD.

Varder

2004-05-10, 1:56 pm

Thanks to both of you. Well, I have a broadband wireless router connected to my other machine. I have a modem installed in the machine I am installing XP, and I have a wireless PCI card I can put in there. What I am asking is will the OS installer recognize the new wireless card, install basic drivers and link with my wireless router, or must I have a hardwired broadband router hooked up to that machine? Or must the wireless card be installed under W2k, before installing XP via winnt32.exe?

Also, if I choose dynamic updates, will the machine always be in that mode versus manual, or is XP always in dynamic mode, anyway. Do most people choose dynamic update on installation?

Any other input would be appreciated. Thanks.....

azimuth40

2004-05-10, 7:59 pm

quote:
Originally posted by Varder
Thanks to both of you. Well, I have a broadband wireless router connected to my other machine. I have a modem installed in the machine I am installing XP, and I have a wireless PCI card I can put in there. What I am asking is will the OS installer recognize the new wireless card, install basic drivers and link with my wireless router, or must I have a hardwired broadband router hooked up to that machine? Or must the wireless card be installed under W2k, before installing XP via winnt32.exe?

Windows really only cares about an IP. Anything that can generate an IP and gives a gateway address is fair game for access. Normally during install it will ask you to go dial up or lan. If you check LAN then wireless is as good as anything else. XP is fully wireless aware although some wireless cards want to install their own drivers. I have a laptop with card bus wireless, a desktop with USB wireless, a desktop with PCI wireless and several others with cat5. It has never make much difference as dynamic update does not occur until all driver and other install issues are resolved.

quote:
Originally posted by Varder
Also, if I choose dynamic updates, will the machine always be in that mode versus manual, or is XP always in dynamic mode, anyway. Do most people choose dynamic update on installation?

Any other input would be appreciated. Thanks.....

Dynamic or otherwise is your choice. Not all updates have gone smoothly. If you do not choose dynamic you will get a nag balloon over the task tray anyway which will stay there for 10 to 30 seconds unless you click on it.

The same condition happens in Win2k but it does not happen on install . You have to install service pack 2 or higher to get the privilge of being nagged. A wizard icon is in the tasktray which does this. You only have a choice of going dynamic (automatic) or puting up with the nag on every boot or restart of the desktop. Gee I must be tired I almost said work place shell

Keep in mind that Microsoft seems to have taken the position that no one puts limits on the size of the C partition because there must be a new hotfix several times a week. Each one causes your registry to grow and disk space to decrease. They never go back ans scrub the things off even after a new service pack arrives.

Varder

2004-05-10, 10:04 pm

Thanks again for the input. You confirmed what I suspected about the LAN feature but wasn't sure. Yes, I am familliar with the nag feature as I am also running W2K service pack 4. I just ignore it for now and manually update.

I think you are right. I established a 10 gig partitiopn for XP, which normally should be enough with data on another partition, but you never know any more. Fortunately the install I have for XP, already has service pack 1, so I should be ok for ahile till July when SP2 is officially released(allegedly)

Thanks again. I may just throw in my wireless card or usb card that I have and select dynamic to save time later.

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