{"id":437,"date":"2005-01-28T14:12:00","date_gmt":"2005-01-28T14:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwilson.me.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm"},"modified":"2007-06-11T21:57:52","modified_gmt":"2007-06-11T20:57:52","slug":"troubleshooting-ms-dos-application","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm","title":{"rendered":"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been working on an intriguing (and frustrating) issue for a few weeks now and a couple of days back we finally resolved the issue.<\/p>\n

My client has an MS-DOS (FoxPro 2.6a database) application running within an NTVDM on Windows XP. Every now and then, the application will hang – seemingly randomly. Windows XP did have service pack 2 applied, but the issue also occurs on service pack 1 PCs (I didn’t try the RTM version). Only the application hangs – it is possible to terminate the NTVDM process and carry on working as normally.<\/p>\n

Normal actions for troubleshooting MS-DOS applications in Windows XP<\/a> were not helping to resolve the issue, but the software vendor managed to narrow the issue down to FoxPro waiting for input. Occasionally, the input does not timeout and return control to the calling program – it seems that this is the root cause of the NTVDM hang. Identifying this allowed them to construct a test program which polled for input, timing out every few seconds and would reliably hang an NTVDM at a seemingly random time, but always within an hour.<\/p>\n

Using their test program on a variety of PCs, the software vendor found that the problem was related to the Intel hyper-threading technology<\/a> (my client has standardised on a version of the IBM ThinkCentre M50<\/a> which includes a single 3GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with HT technology<\/a>). Whilst disabling hyper-threading is unlikely to result in any significant performance degradation (hyper-threading only provides an average 10-20% performance gain<\/a> as most applications do not fit completely with the hyper-threading model), it was still considered by IBM, Microsoft, my client and myself as a tactical workaround, rather than a strategic fix.<\/p>\n

After seeking advice from Microsoft, I ran the test program on a Compaq ProLiant DL380 G2<\/a> server with two Pentium III 1.26GHz processors and found that the issue is not limited to Windows XP and hyper-threading<\/a>, but to both Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 when running with an ACPI Multiprocessor PC HAL<\/a>. Turning off hyper-threading on the PCs was no longer good enough as we can expect to see multiple processor cores constructed on a single die in the near future<\/a>, leading to a rise in the use of multi-threaded applications (the logical processor provided by the hyper-threading technology in the Intel Pentium 4 processor<\/a> is simply a precursor to this).<\/p>\n

So why does an MS-DOS application running within an NTVDM on a 32-bit version of Windows use multiple processors? The answer it seems is that although the MS-DOS application is not multi-threaded, modern versions of Windows are, and can allocate parts of the NTVDM process to any available processor. With that in mind we re-ran the test program with processor affinity set to use only CPU0 in Task Manager. The results were the same as disabling hyper-threading – no NTVDM hang! Obviously, setting processor affinity manually is not sustainable outside the test environment, and short of running the application on Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition (with the Windows System Resource Monitor to control processor affinity) we needed to find an alternative solution.<\/p>\n

That solution came in the form of the imagecfg.exe<\/code> tool provided with the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit (supplement one<\/a>). This can be used to edit an executable file and permanently set the processor affinity for a given application<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Using the imagecfg -a 0x1 c:\\windows\\system32\\ntvdm.exe<\/code> command did the trick, although Windows File Protection\/System File Checker quickly restored the original ntvdm.exe file so I needed to perform this on a copy of ntvdm.exe in a temporary folder, and then overwrite both c:\\windows\\system32\\ntvdm.exe and c:\\windows\\system32\\dllcache\\ntvdm.exe.<\/p>\n

Once updated, the NTVDM process runs on CPU0. Of course, this limits all programs under the control of the NTVDM subsystem but it is far more preferable to disabling logical or physical processors in the BIOS; however, as this is a change to an operating system file, it must be considered alongside the implementation of any service packs and\/or hotfixes from now on. Reversing the change is simply a case of restoring the original ntvdm.exe file.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been working on an intriguing (and frustrating) issue for a few weeks now and a couple of days back we finally resolved the issue. My client has an MS-DOS (FoxPro 2.6a database) application running within an NTVDM on Windows XP. Every now and then, the application will hang – seemingly randomly. Windows XP did … Continue reading Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[126,101,99],"class_list":["post-437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-ms-dos","tag-windows-server-2003","tag-windows-xp"],"yoast_head":"\nTroubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 - markwilson.it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 - markwilson.it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve been working on an intriguing (and frustrating) issue for a few weeks now and a couple of days back we finally resolved the issue. My client has an MS-DOS (FoxPro 2.6a database) application running within an NTVDM on Windows XP. Every now and then, the application will hang – seemingly randomly. Windows XP did … Continue reading Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"markwilson.it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-01-28T14:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2007-06-11T20:57:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Wilson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@markwilsonit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@markwilsonit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Wilson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Wilson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468\"},\"headline\":\"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003\",\"datePublished\":\"2005-01-28T14:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-06-11T20:57:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm\"},\"wordCount\":696,\"commentCount\":99,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468\"},\"keywords\":[\"Microsoft DOS (MS-DOS)\",\"Microsoft Windows Server 2003\",\"Microsoft Windows XP\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm\",\"name\":\"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 - markwilson.it\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-01-28T14:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-06-11T20:57:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2005\\\/01\\\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"markwilson.it\",\"description\":\"get-info -class technology | write-output > \\\/dev\\\/web\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468\",\"name\":\"Mark Wilson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/uploads\\\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/uploads\\\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/uploads\\\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1\",\"width\":800,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Mark Wilson\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/uploads\\\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"A Chartered IT Professional, with recent experience in technology leadership, IT strategy and practice management roles, Mark Wilson is an Enterprise Architect in the Advisory and Management Group at risual. During a career spanning more than two decades, Mark has gained widespread recognition as an expert in his field including both industry and national press exposure. In addition to certifications from Microsoft, VMware, Red Hat, The Open Group and Axelos, Mark held a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for three years and is now part of the MVP Reconnect programme. Mark is also well-known on social media and maintains an award-winning blog.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/markwilsonuk\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/markawilson\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/markwilsonit\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCWHlZCoHRTocdvtrOJ2IL4A\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/mark-wilson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 - markwilson.it","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 - markwilson.it","og_description":"I’ve been working on an intriguing (and frustrating) issue for a few weeks now and a couple of days back we finally resolved the issue. My client has an MS-DOS (FoxPro 2.6a database) application running within an NTVDM on Windows XP. Every now and then, the application will hang – seemingly randomly. Windows XP did … Continue reading Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003","og_url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm","og_site_name":"markwilson.it","article_published_time":"2005-01-28T14:12:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2007-06-11T20:57:52+00:00","author":"Mark Wilson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@markwilsonit","twitter_site":"@markwilsonit","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Wilson","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm"},"author":{"name":"Mark Wilson","@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468"},"headline":"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003","datePublished":"2005-01-28T14:12:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-06-11T20:57:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm"},"wordCount":696,"commentCount":99,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468"},"keywords":["Microsoft DOS (MS-DOS)","Microsoft Windows Server 2003","Microsoft Windows XP"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm","url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm","name":"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 - markwilson.it","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2005-01-28T14:12:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-06-11T20:57:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/troubleshooting-ms-dos-application.htm#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Troubleshooting an MS-DOS application which hangs the NTVDM subsystem in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"markwilson.it","description":"get-info -class technology | write-output > \/dev\/web","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468","name":"Mark Wilson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/uploads\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/uploads\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/uploads\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1","width":800,"height":800,"caption":"Mark Wilson"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/uploads\/image-4.png?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1"},"description":"A Chartered IT Professional, with recent experience in technology leadership, IT strategy and practice management roles, Mark Wilson is an Enterprise Architect in the Advisory and Management Group at risual. During a career spanning more than two decades, Mark has gained widespread recognition as an expert in his field including both industry and national press exposure. In addition to certifications from Microsoft, VMware, Red Hat, The Open Group and Axelos, Mark held a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for three years and is now part of the MVP Reconnect programme. Mark is also well-known on social media and maintains an award-winning blog.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/markwilsonuk\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/markawilson\/","https:\/\/x.com\/markwilsonit","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCWHlZCoHRTocdvtrOJ2IL4A"],"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/author\/mark-wilson"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1412,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/04\/the-sun-sets-on-windows-xp-office-2003-and-windows-server-2003-sp1-vista-sp1-and-xp-sp3-will-soon-be-unblocked-office-2007-sp2-to-ship-at-the-end-of-april-office-14-is-given-a-name-and-wil.htm","url_meta":{"origin":437,"position":0},"title":"The sun sets on Windows XP, Office 2003 and Windows Server 2003 SP1 – Vista SP1 and XP SP3 will soon be unblocked – Office 2007 SP2 to ship at the end of April – Office “14” is given a name (and will be available in both 32- and 64-bit versions)","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Tuesday 14 April 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Just in case you hadn't noticed, today is the day that Windows XP and Office 2003 end their mainstream support phase and move onto extended support - it's security hotfixes only from now on, unless you are prepared to pay. Security updates for Windows XP will continue to be issued\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Microsoft Office\"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft Office","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/tag\/office"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":271,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/03\/microsoft-application-compatibility.htm","url_meta":{"origin":437,"position":1},"title":"Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit v4.0 is finally released","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Thursday 24 March 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the last few months I've been critical of the time its taken for Microsoft to ship an SP2-aware update to their application compatibility toolkit. Last week, one of the consultants from Microsoft UK e-mailed me to let me know that the Microsoft application compatibility toolkit v4.0 is now available\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Microsoft Windows Server 2003\"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft Windows Server 2003","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/tag\/windows-server-2003"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1719,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/windows-support-lifecycle-reminders.htm","url_meta":{"origin":437,"position":2},"title":"Windows support lifecycle reminders","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Tuesday 23 March 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I wrote about the forthcoming service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.\u00c2\u00a0 At the other end of its support lifecycle, is Windows 2000, which finally reaches end of life (i.e. the end of extended support) on 13 July 2010. Windows XP remains on extended support\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Microsoft Windows Server 2003\"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft Windows Server 2003","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/tag\/windows-server-2003"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":503,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2004\/09\/application-issues-with-windows-xp-sp2.htm","url_meta":{"origin":437,"position":3},"title":"Application issues with Windows XP SP2","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Tuesday 28 September 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"In an earlier post, I defended Windows XP service pack 2 against the negative publicity it has gained and that opinion still stands - SP2 is a critical update with benefits far outweighing risks in today's ever more security-conscious environment. I also stand by my comments that SP2 should be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Microsoft Windows XP\"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft Windows XP","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/tag\/windows-xp"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":917,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2007\/10\/windows-service-pack-roadmap.htm","url_meta":{"origin":437,"position":4},"title":"Windows service pack roadmap","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Monday 15 October 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Those of us whose history goes back to Windows NT remember when a service pack was exactly what its name suggests - no new features, just bug fixes, thoroughly tested (usually) - and when application of the latest service pack was no big deal (application of any other updates was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Microsoft\"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/tag\/microsoft"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":472,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2004\/06\/microsoft-windows-xp-service-pack-2.htm","url_meta":{"origin":437,"position":5},"title":"Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 overview","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Tuesday 8 June 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple of weeks back I was at a Microsoft-hosted event to prepare partners for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). The invitation to the event had intrigued me - after all I seem to remember Microsoft making a statement that there would be no new functionality in service packs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Microsoft Windows XP\"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft Windows XP","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/tag\/windows-xp"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}