Collecting updates/patches on BA

[Beluga]

Is there a special reason why we do not collect updates/patches/hotfixes on the BA FTP?

I am writing this because I am (once again) looking for several patches for Windows NT4 that were on the Microsoft website once.

These things are pretty important for people who want to set up a fully patched system, but at the same time they seem to completely disappear from the internet.

We already collect the major service packs; why not also collect non-major patches? Especially (but not only) those that were released after the last service pack.

[mrpijey]

We've not collected them probably because there's not been a reliable way to obtain them or to sort them properly into the archive structure. And since they are just that, patches.... it's been easier with service packs since they would come with an installer etc, and also easily obtainable from the original source. But if you got any idea on how to download, sort and keep it updated then let's hear it.

[3155ffGd]

But if you got any idea on how to download, sort and keep it updated then let's hear it.

Some of the TechNet CDs might have security updates/patches (specifically, those labeled "Security Updates" and "Downloads") but I've never checked out the contents of those. Otherwise we gotta do it the hard way as with betas that pop up every now and then.

Sorting them, if we were to do this, would probably go by product -> knowledge base number -> language. The Knowledge Base number can easily be looked up either online or in the archive and is probably the most reliable way to do this as it is both sort-of chronological and easy to identify.

If we apply abandonware rules to patches then anything post-2008 can't be archived yet anyway, so prime targets would be Windows 95/98/Me, NT4, Office 97/2000. There are lists on the Internet for most/all of these.

[mrpijey]

Sounds good, but then we would need someone that can manage all this, and verify that the patches are genuine etc. I won't have the time to micromanage each tiny patch....

[DOS]

TechNet CDs definitely contain patches, see e.g. this post of mine (which will be quite useful if the patch you're after is DSCLIENT ).

It would be great if we had a text file with the file listings from every TechNet .iso. In the case above, knowing you want "DSCLIENT" for Windows NT, if you find that a particular .iso contains a "samples\windows\winnt\ntwrkstn\dsclient\dsclient.exe" file then you can tell which OS it's for at least. I'd be more than happy to help with writing a little script to generate a usefully-searchable file listing (one that has the path to the .iso at the start of every line so 'grep' gives you what you need in terms of results) which could be made available on the FTP or something.

I keep meaning to set up a proper search engine for my own files but it's all too hard, but a simple file list like this would really work fine.

[mrpijey]

The file listings are already in the works, not just for the Technet discs but for everything on BetaArchive.

[mrpijey]

I also want to point out that we do preserve patches and updates for games and apps in general, so if you see any of those send them up. And do label them after the original title, or they will be discarded.

[ATeamInc]

Well then I can get Windows NT 4.0 patches, post them up, and you will add them to the archive? These are getting kinda rare nowadays.

[mrpijey]

Yes if you can organize them for me properly. And with the upload please include the source where you got these patches.

However make sure the patches are all official and unmodified. No user modded patches will be allowed.

[Beluga]

Thanks for all this input and also please excuse my late reply!

I would be more than happy to help with this, but I agree that there needs to be some kind of system to organize all of these patches.
I think it would be awesome to create some kind of list/database with all patches that are known to exist. Then we would know what we still need to look for or what patch from an unknown source needs to be verified original or replaced.

[mrpijey]

Yeah, as long as we store it in the same internal format as the rest of the releases we can easily incorporate it with our lists and databases. And we can make a category for it as well. I just need to know what kind of data we have on each patch. I.e how the filenames look like etc so I can figure out a way to name and store it.

If we have some patches from various OSes someone can send up I can take a look.