Microsoft Rant!

Okay, deep breath, head between my knees.

This isn't a request for help (although I'd take it), but I need to rant before I kill someone. This is one of those "simple" tasks that becomes a nightmare due to the evil, despicable, and short sighted practices of Microsoft. This isn't about Windows and whether it is good or bad, but simply another tale of woe related to business as usual from our Redmond friends. Here is the sad story:

One of my clients has an office machine running Windows XP Home. They have XP because two of their mission critical applications will not run on Vista. They have the Home edition of XP because it came bundled with their crappy computer. The Home edition has been okay so far, although Pro would have made my life a little easier.

Now they are switching to a new major software package that they need for their business. This package requires Pro. Bother. No big deal, they have an extra copy of Pro that belongs to a now dead computer. Plan A was to install that on the Home edition machine. That sounds simple enough, but no, the full install XP Pro disk will not allow an upgrade installation. If I use that, I will have to wipe out the current machine and reload, a task that will cost more than the value of the computer.

I told my client that they will have to pony up the $200 for a bonafide Microsoft XP Pro Upgrade CD. From my standpoint, it should make life easier since the new Upgrade CD comes with Service Pack 2. That will save the grief of having to upgrade with an earlier version, and reapply the patches.

I had to order the CD. I got it today and tried to install it. The upgrader thinks the new CD is older than the software on the computer. It refuses to do the upgrade. I can't simply tell it that I know better, and to please go ahead and upgrade anyway. My "simple" upgrade task has turned into a Mongolian Goat F**K of the first order. We paid them for the OS that came with the computer, we paid for the full install of XP, and now we have paid for the Upgrade version. What more do they want? My first child?

It shouldn't be this hard to do an upgrade from Home to Pro. It didn't used to be this hard. Even Linux isn't this hard.

I suppose I should resign myself to hours of research on the Internet, followed by having to reformat the disk and starting over. At that point the Upgrade CD becomes useless, since it requires an existing OS. Talk about Catch 22.

I'm going to go beat my head on the wall for a while. Bother!

Tom

 

ound:

 

Thanks for your sympathy. Right now I'm creating a new installation CD by slipstreaming SP3 into the existing setup files. Hopefully that will make the Repair Console happy and let me proceed. Otherwise I'm going to get a big tube of KY for those Mongolian Goats...

Tom

 

Yes, for better or worse many of us are married to Microsoft. I run mostly Linux, but I still dual boot to Windows on some of my machines, but only because some software is available only on Windows. Most of it I can run in WINE, but not all.

Part of the problem with the whole XP Home vs Pro thing is the way licenses are packaged with computers. Microsoft's byzantine licensing system makes it hard for end users to get the right option at a reasonable price, and if the end user goes cheap and decides to upgrade later, god help them.

You know, I'm starting to like those Mongolian Goats...

Tom

 

Very true. Computers are pretty much a "no user serviceable parts" appliance these days. Even at my tech rate, which is a lot less than my design engineer rate, there isn't much I can do without exceeding the cost of the machine.

Usually the kicker is the additional cost of setting up a new machine: transferring files, installing programs, printer drivers, etc. This sort of user expects everything to be exactly like it was on their old computer, and they end up paying a lot for it.

If it were a Linux system, I could just back up their home directory and be done with it, but Windows hides configuration settings here and there and everywhere.

Tom

 

I didn't install it, but I assume they put in SP3 from the automatic updates. That appears to be the root of the problem, which is why I slipstreamed SP3 into the update disk. That should eliminate the "version is older than the one installed" type of error. I'll get another shot at it in a few days and will know if that fixed it.

Yes, this is true, and I frequently hand out this advice. I didn't force them this time because upgrading to Pro didn't used to be a "major" update. It was fairly simple. Obviously Microsoft has mucked it up with all of the service patches.

Windows 2K would work, but would require a clean install. Same thing with the XP Pro full installation CD that they have sitting on the shelf. There are other advantages with doing a clean installation, but the time and aggravation level is pretty high. Most computers ship without a real installation disk, this one is no exception. You have to use some pos restore disc from the vendor. Often they don't even ship one of those, but instead put the files in a small partition. Typically the owner of the machine has lost them by the time they are needed, or they don't work. Either way you are screwed.

Even with the aggrivation of installing an OS, for me that is the easy part. After that comes hours of loading applications, adjusting settings, copying files, searching for compatible drivers, and so on. It can take thousands of dollars worth of time. I was hoping to bypass that this time around, but I might not be that lucky.

Tom

 

Here is an update: Yesterday I started a big backup on the target machine. The woman who owns this computer is also the owner of the business, and seems to have a hard time with anything technical. It appears that she has about 14 GB of important stuff that hasn't been backed up. I started a multi-volume DVD backup, and stopped by from time to time to swap the disks. It didn't look like I would be able to get the last one before they closed for the night, so I left the blank DVD and a note, asking her to put it in when she got there in the morning. The backup program makes it easy: it sticks out the drive tray and puts I big modal dialog box across the screening telling you to insert the next disk. It's the same backup program she uses on a routine basis for their business critical data. She should know how to use it.

I underestimated this woman's incompetence. I got a call from her this morning. She said she came in, cleared off her computer screen, started working, and then read my note. She didn't read anything on the computer screen - just blew away the backup before the last disk! I think I am going to go get coffee and a dounut and ignor this for a while.

Tom

 

Okay, the goats are back under control. I have the problem solved and the update completed. Here is the scoop:

Just as I suspected, the problem comes from Service Pack 3 (SP3). Microsoft has pushed out SP3 through its automatic update system, so many XP machines have been updated to SP3. The problem comes when you want to reinstall XP, or do an update from XP Home to XP Pro. The installation program will stop and refuse to proceed with a repair or update, only offering to clean off the computer and start over. The reason stated is that the version of Windows on the computer is newer than the version on the installation disk. In other words, XP will not do an update or repair if the versions go backward.

This is a real problem since no installation disks are available with SP3. It's a Catch 22: you can't go backward, but you can't buy the new software. In the case of a repair, you can't use your existing disk nor can you buy a new one. It's amazing that Microsoft thinks this is okay.

The good news is that there is a way around the trap. You have to make your own installation CD. I downloaded SP3 as a file and saved it on one of my Windows computers. I then took the new Windows XP SP2 Upgrade disk and used it as the master to create a new Windows XP SP3 Upgrade disk by slipstreaming SP3 into the installation disk and saving the image as an ISO file. I then burned the ISO file image to a CD and vola, a brand new SP3 upgrade disk.

Armed with the new frankenware upgrade disk, the upgrade proceded normally, just as it should have from the start. The upgrade was automatic and took less than an hour of computer time.

The whole thing was pretty simple to do, but I have no idea how the average user would ever navigate through this mess.

If any of you need details, just ask.

Tom

 

I call it a stupidity surcharge. One of my friends talks about "the box", as in saying "okay, go get the box." The implication is that the user is too stupid to own a computer, so we are going to box it up and take it away.

They are standard kit for most engineers and software people. We used to import them, but I believe they are now domestically bred in large quantities somewhere outside of Seattle, Washington.

Tom