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Microsoft

XP Service Pack Does the Impossible 633

Posted by michael from the sworn-testimony-may-have-slight-inaccuracies dept.
Peyna writes "This article over at C|net discusses the upcoming Microsoft Windows XP service pack, which will contain the normal bug fixes, but more importantly, will make XP more modular, allowing you to override their default products. I assume this means Internet Explorer and possibly some other apps as well."
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XP Service Pack Does the Impossible More

XP Service Pack Does the Impossible

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  • Now there's a shock..... (Score:4, Funny)

    by 8127972 ( 73495 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:24AM (#3578766)
    Windows is actually modular enough to allow people to add their own apps. I'm amazed!

    The next thing Microsoft will tell me is that the sky is blue.

  • Makes it more modular? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by RossyB ( 28685 )
    I'm sure a read a story this morning which said they were only 'hidden', not removed.

    So, are the core IE executables/DLLs actually deleted from the disk? Or are the just disabled?

  • Less is more... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Mattcelt ( 454751 )
    It amazes me how incredibly clever Microsoft is as they twist words. They go by the letter of the law, not the spirit, and we all suffer.

    This is a very enlightening article, I think:
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/254 23.html

    I honestly wish I were clever enough to use their own tactics against them, but looking at how difficult the courts have made it, it seems impossible. How do we keep them from doing this to us over and over again?

    • Re:Less is more... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      How do we keep them from doing this to us over and over again?

      Uhm... don't use their products?
  • It sounds to me like the update is really just allowing Windows to be shipped with third party applications links on the desktop. I guess Microsofts packaging tools used to remove these links (which would suck no doubt) and part of SP1 will change that "functionality".

    As for it making Windows more modular - thats a load of crap. I love how the editors and the submitters around here intentionally embelish just so they can get more pageviews and comments. Oh well I guess they suceeded today... :-)

    Whats really going to rock in SP1 for XP is the new Mira technology stuff. If you dont know what that is - I suggest you cruise on over to http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/mira_preview. asp and take a long hard look at some of the cool shit MS is doing.

    J
    • Whats really going to rock in SP1 for XP is the new Mira technology stuff. If you dont know what that is - I suggest you cruise on over to http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/mira_preview. asp and take a long hard look at some of the cool shit MS is doing.

      OT, but here we go:
      I frankly don't see the big deal about Mira's technology. It's really not much different from having a laptop with a 802.11 card in it; if you need to mirror your desktop's screen, open a VNC session, etc. A little lighter and fewer moving parts, but certainly not much cheaper; 15" Mira displays will be over $1000! Plus they are way too heavy to be user friendly right now.

      It is certainly not technology I want either. I don't want to lug out a screen to show off pictures like a frame, which is how they envision these devices being used. And honestly, I'm tired of wireless devices; the more wireless devices you have, the harder it is to get away from them. How long before your office makes you carry a Mira screen with you at all times?? I don't want or need to answer emails in my kitchen, and I sure as hell don't want to bring Microsoft onto my computer, let alone into my living room.
    • Hrmm... Mira looks like an X terminal with a nifty little touchsensitive LCD display. I'd be willing to bet that you could make one for linux with minimal effort if you used 802.11b for the ethernet card. Maybe using one of those existing web tablets.
    • take a long hard look at some of the cool shit MS is doing.

      Sorry, but I'm apparently not that smart. How is this ANY different from VNC or a remote X session? Actually is looks like it IS different. VNC and X allow multiple users, Mira allows -> 1?

      "Cool sh*t"? I suppose some have a lower expectation of "cool sh*t" than others...

    • While Mira is nifty, it is not that big of a deal. A tabletized X-terminal would be relatively trivial to produce. The only thing Microsoft brings to the table is traditional Microsoft marketing. This leads to the only problem I see with the Mira: Microsoft.

  • More info... (Score:2, Informative)

    by flipflapflopflup ( 311459 )
    This [theregister.co.uk] Register article has some more info on exactly what is in the update.

    It mentions are which components are replaceable:

    IE,

    Outlook Express,

    Messenger,

    Windows Media Player

    JVM.

    There will be 4 configuration options: (from the article)"You can have the Microsoft option, the original machine configuration (i.e. what the OEM decided it would ship you, but this is going to be most obviously applicable to new machines shipped by OEMs post-SP1 release), a non-Microsoft option that allows you to substitute non-Microsoft middleware, and custom configuration."

    • The article also mentions that software companies need to get on some M$ program in order to get the API for the control system disclosed to them ...
    • There will be 4 configuration options: (from the article)"You can have the Microsoft option, the original machine configuration (i.e. what the OEM decided it would ship you, but this is going to be most obviously applicable to new machines shipped by OEMs post-SP1 release), a non-Microsoft option that allows you to substitute non-Microsoft middleware, and custom configuration."

      First of all....that only lists three options...;), secondly, isn't the "non-microsoft option" the same as the "custom option" ??...therfore aren't there really only _TWO_ options? =)

    • I wonder what it would take to replace XP's version of the explorer shell with the simple plain version that 2K used. I know that there is an appearance option that does something similar, but it's not good enough.

      That said, I would love to replace IE with Mozilla 1.0 (not here yet), Outlook Express with Evolution(not possible), Messenger would be stricken from the hard disk and replaced with gAIM (not possible). Media Player would get swapped for Xine (not possible), and I would use Sun's JVM. Y'Know, I have all of these things on my Mandrake partition, and I love it! Why bother with windows?

  • It isn't anything you can't do now. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by the-banker ( 169258 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:28AM (#3578813)
    This SP does NOT make Windows more modular. It simply is a convenient interface to override default applications.

    You can't uninstall IE or its libraries - they still will load on startup. What you can do is associate URLs to Moz or whatever.

    This can all be done now, just not very conveniently for the average user. All the SP adds is a Control Panel applet to facilitate the association changing.

    Marc

    • ACK... simply hiding IE and other things is not the same as removing them. Windoze XP does NOT get modular by tweaking some Registry entries about what program to use as default.

      It's a very clever move by MS do release this SP as many people really will believe MS is moving in the right direction with this while they're in fact standing still.

      I doubt we'll see any really modular Windows ever, and even if we do than surely not because of MS changing their mind but because they are forced by the DoJ... let's see how the trial turns out.
    • So does that mean that the WMP web tracking will be on by default and be even harder to find to turn off? If there is no icon on the desktop, i think some users will be unable to stop M$ from tracking their moves. Seems to be a win-win situation for them, and another hurdle in the race for privacy for the average joe.
    • Merely hiding IE and Windows Media isn't enough. That doesn't allow a 3rd party vendor the same advantage as Microsoft for getting their product accepted. 3rd parties should get:

      1. Equal access to distribution. When MS ships new applications on by default with the OS that gives them a huge advantage.
      2. Equal access to the OS. My proposal is that if the comapny ins't broken up into an OS and an application company, then new MS applications must only use OS APIs that have been published for 6 months.
      3. Equal access to getting included by default.

        Microsoft's Windows Media Player and IE can start quickly because parts of it has been built into the OS. Sure WMP and IE starts fast, but that's because the OS starts slower (whether or not you use WMP, IE or the other tools).

        To get the Real Player to start as fast as Microsoft Windows Media Player when the users click a link, Real Networks had to resort to installing a "StartCenter" application. StartCenter is a process that is autostarted on boot up (slowing down boot up) and just waits around in case the Real Player is started. Now I can remove startcenter, but not the builtin WMP start up equivalent.

    • Control Panel Applet?

      Hell, I've had x-setup in the control panel for years. Offers all the functionality I've ever needed. At it's most basic, it helps me avoid loading what I don't want loaded, and even better is when it helps me block MS from telling me what preferences are "mandatory". Even tells the average user when not to mess with a setting (unless you're a pro) A really good FREE app, made for the people, by the people.

      http://www.xteq.com/products/xset/

      -Yo Grark

      Watzup with today's google doodle?
    • You can't uninstall IE or its libraries

      Ya, I hate how I can't remove DLL's shared by hundreds of applications and Windows features... :-)

      It simply is a convenient interface to override default applications.

      This is perfect. This promotes competition by allowing the common user to replace IE as their default browser or even an OEM (pending overthrowing MS's current draconian licensing) alowing a user to make the simple choice themselves.

  • Biting the hand that pirates it (Score:3, Redundant)

    by donnacha ( 161610 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:29AM (#3578826) Homepage


    From the Cnet article [com.com]:

    Another change seeks to curb about 90 percent of Windows XP piracy. Microsoft introduced Product Activation with the operating system, which uses a numeric key to lock the software to the hardware. But code stolen from a large Microsoft customer allowed rampant illegal Windows XP copying. People using Windows XP with the stolen key will not be able to apply the service pack or any future updates available from Microsoft's Web site.

    "Basically we're freezing their computer where it is," Cullinan said. "We're not preventing them from using it, but obviously one of the benefits of having a license is keeping your PC updated."

    Not that any /.ers would use pirated software, but interesting nonetheless

    • Re:Biting the hand that pirates it (Score:5, Informative)

      by edgrale ( 216858 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @11:03AM (#3579111)

      Quite useless really, there has been keygens on the net for quite some time now.

      They are fighting a battle they cannot win, for each key they disable 10 more will pop up on the net.

      (mod me down if you wish, this not intended as a troll/flamebait.)

    • Re:Biting the hand that pirates it (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @11:17AM (#3579224) Homepage
      • Not that any /.ers would use pirated software

      Pirated? I dunno about that, I have a shared copy of WinXP Pro, probably with one of "those" keys. I'll pay for it when my refund arrives for the OEM copy of Win98SE that I was forced to pay for on my laptop (now running SuSE), i.e. the 2nd of Never.

      If any Microserf are reading, the only reason that I still boot to Windows is to play games. Offer me a stripped down OS that presents an API subset limited to DirectX, OGL and enough of the WinAPI to let me install and start a game, at a reasonable price ($30) without any idiotic licensing or activation crap, and I'll buy it. Short of that, forget it. Every dumbed down "Telletubbies" new Windows version, every curate's egg upgrade, every bluster and threat and waved MicroFist just brings me closer to the point where I'll wipe the Windows partition and take my chance with WineX. When that happens, you lose any chance of getting any more money out of me, ever.

      • Re:Biting the hand that pirates it (Score:5, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24, 2002 @11:28AM (#3579328)
        Offer me a stripped down OS that presents an API subset limited to DirectX, OGL and enough of the WinAPI to let me install and start a game, at a reasonable price ($30) without any idiotic licensing or activation crap, and I'll buy it.

        You just described the XBox.
  • This service pack will do nothing to make windows modular, it simply will allow the user to change the default program associated with a file extension simpler. It does not remove any MS software from Windows. The default program thing isn't anything spectacular, I'm more interested in the part that says that XP won't bug you until you sign up for passport. That right now has to be the biggest pain related to XP, the damn thing just won't go away!

  • Could this keep Mozilla OUT??? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dr_funk ( 7465 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:31AM (#3578843) Homepage
    According to this [theregister.co.uk] article, XP SP1 doesn't remove the apps, it just hides them. One of the FEATURES of the middleware hiding app is that other programs need to register themselves through a new API to be the default web browser or email client or media player etc... My question is will the API documentation have the same "Anti-OpenSource" clauses that MS has grown so fond of recently??? Would this prevent Mozilla from being the default browser??

    • Closed-source solution (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cpeterso ( 19082 )

      If Microsoft tries to legally prevent open-source programs from using their helper-app registration APIs, then just write a closed-source proxy app that will register the open-source app as the helper. This is the reverse strategy that some companies try to use to create open-source proxies to dynamically load GPL libraries. :-)
  • You really don't want to upgrade, since the new SP1 will make your WinXP unusable, as MS knows about illegal keys (like the one which escaped from a company who are good friends of MS and their name starts with D) (thats according to the-register)...

    • Wrong. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by billybob ( 18401 )
      "Basically we're freezing their computer where it is," Cullinan said. "We're not preventing them from using it, but obviously one of the benefits of having a license is keeping your PC updated."

      You still be able to use your current pirated version just fine. The upgrade will not disable it from working. It's just that it won't let you upgrade.

      Dont post FUD
  • Removing some icons or suggesting that consumers can select other software is deceptive at best.

    The fake settlement still permits Microsoft to force the sale of Microsoft branded products and in fact continue to force their use.

    Read the part of the fake settlement where it talks about the OS being able to trigger Microsoft branded middlewear should special file formats or data not be supported by alternative products. And, who do you think provides that data?

    Besides, with CNet new policy on censorship (also discussed on my web site), they are not to be trusted anyway.

  • what's the big deal? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Quasar1999 ( 520073 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:32AM (#3578855) Journal
    All this does is HIDE the icons for internet explorer and outlook express and windows media player.

    I can already do that. Tweak UI does it. And as for file associations, who here thinks that if you accidentally start up windows media player even after this service pack, that it will still redo all your file associations without asking...

    This is not a plea of guilt on Microsoft's part, hell this supports their case, they aren't removing anything, they are just hiding it (since of course, windows would stop functioning if you removed it)...
  • I use Yahoo! Messenger all the time on my PC. I like it, I use it, it gives me handy access to my account there.

    But it's annoying because YM uses IE as its HTML rendering engine. If I uninstalled IE completely, YM wouldn't work. HomeSite has (or at least, had) similar problems; it advertised "experimental" Gecko integration, but I never did get it to work. If I wanted to preview my pages without launching a browser, IE needs to be installed.

    Other third-party apps do the same thing, because IE's engine is so easy for them to integrate. It's not my fault they rely entirely on MS's browser to make their application work, but there you are.

    So we keep IE installed and just deal with the memory bloat. I don't use IE anymore except for browser testing, not since Mozilla became so friendly and I convinced Windows to make it the default browser for everything. (This took some time.) But it'd be nice if third-party apps didn't agree with MS that the browser is an "integrated" part of the OS.
  • The article mentions that:

    "Another change seeks to curb about 90 percent of Windows XP piracy. Microsoft introduced Product Activation with the operating system, which uses a numeric key to lock the software to the hardware. But code stolen from a large Microsoft customer allowed rampant illegal Windows XP copying. People using Windows XP with the stolen key will not be able to apply the service pack or any future updates available from Microsoft's Web site."

    This means that the CD you have in your cube with XP written on it with a Sharpie will not take the service pack.

    Other than the security issues this service pack claims to rectify, seems like issues that the average slashdot reader can solve his/herself. I mean, do we really need help making Netscape the default rather than I.E.?
    • service pack claims to rectify...issues that the average slashdot reader can solve his/herself. I mean, do we really need help making Netscape the default rather than I.E.?

      Yes.

      You see, you might think that setting Netscape to launch when you click on a hyperlink or double-click an HTML file means you've set the default. What I call setting the default is having the OS itself decide that when an app has programmatically requested an HTML-rendering component, it gets that component from Netscape and not from IE.

      No user intervention can achieve that right now. Not even by a Slashdotter.

      Cheers,
      Ian


  • What about Windows 2000 Service Pack 3? Will it allow me to choose to uninstall the software that was mentioned?

    If the answer is no, then why is it not possible?
    Clearly it _CAN_ be done.
  • Is this a ploy so they can say things like "Only 2% of the users actually removed IE"?

    Other apps use IE within themselves using IE's API. Until there is a generalized API that will allow Netscape/Opera/etc. to work in the same places IE does now, such a feature is mostly useless.

    I can imagine MS may want to shorten that statement down to "this feature is mostly useless".

  • the service pack willnot install on those Corprate versions that were floating around becasue MS locked out that Product ID key.

    to bad for those that have it......

  • What about the EULA? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by toupsie ( 88295 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:35AM (#3578889) Homepage
    While this is a welcomed change for Microsoft to open up their operating system and play nice with third party companies, what has Microsoft done with the EULA for SP1? That is the real reason not to use XP -- not because it doesn't play nice with RealAudio. The XP EULA is affront to an individual's right to cpu privacy.
  • ...I wonder how many people currently running a pirated version of XP will reconsider and actually BUY XP to be able to apply the service pack.

    My guess: probably fewer than those who will switch to a free OS ;)

    The idea with those select versions of the OS is that no key should be required anywhere. Large organisations cannot call Microsoft every time the upgrade or reinstall a computer.

    And for those who didnt read the article and runs a pirated version of XP: M$ says 90% of you wont be able to upgrade to SP1...
    • I'll bet loads of people run pirated versions of XP that aren't well-known stolen activation keys or other cracks that attempt to override it.

      I'll bet lots of them are grey-area pirates -- people with Select agreements that have a copy that doesn't require online authorization and can be used on lots of computers. I'm sure there are other similar distributions that are in the wild that don't require this and won't get caught by XP SP1.

      Unless (when?) Microsoft starts limiting how these versions can be used, there will still be large numbers of illicit copies of XP and other software on the market. I wouldn't be suprised to see a MS licensing service in .net server that would manage (contain?) the spread of select CDs.
    • How long until Kazaa is buzzing with XPSP1Cracked.zip. I give it about three days (a week until a real version that is not 30mb of virii is 'released').

      Good luck MS.

      SD

  • Register Article is More Interesting (Score:5, Informative)

    by donnacha ( 161610 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:38AM (#3578910) Homepage


    Don't know why /. chose to use the Cnet story to highlight this subject, there's a more interesting article [theregus.com] over at The Reg [theregus.com].

  • A tad worried (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MarvinMouse ( 323641 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:39AM (#3578920) Homepage Journal
    "The control offers four different choices for changing the Windows desktop and Start Menu: "Computer Manufacturer Configuration," "Microsoft Windows," "Non-Microsoft" and "Custom."

    When I change my setting to Non-Microsoft, will microsoft know? If so, will I not get updates for certain things because I am "Non-Microsoft"? Why does the system need to know that the program is "Non-Microsoft"

    (I am not trying to flamebait or troll, just stating my worries considering previous Microsoft practices.)

  • Uhhh... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by blixel ( 158224 )
    From the article: Another change seeks to curb about 90 percent of Windows XP piracy. Microsoft introduced Product Activation with the operating system, which uses a numeric key to lock the software to the hardware. But code stolen from a large Microsoft customer allowed rampant illegal Windows XP copying. People using Windows XP with the stolen key will not be able to apply the service pack or any future updates available from Microsoft's Web site.

    Any bets on how long it takes for a crack to appear for the Service Pack? Or new ISO's of Windows XP with the Service Pack already applied?

  • I can see it now.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by MongooseCN ( 139203 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:40AM (#3578939) Homepage
    Please select the default browser you would like to use:
    • Netscape

    Please press OK to continue.

    This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. No changes will be saved.

    • Considering to the degree of stability and speed reached by Netscape 7.0 RC1, this would be a real threat to open source advocates :)

    • Re:I can see it now.. (Score:4, Funny)

      by Amazing Quantum Man ( 458715 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @01:53PM (#3580268) Homepage
      Please select the default browser you would like to use:


      Netscape

      Please press OK to continue.

      This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. No changes will be saved.


      No, it'll go:


      Please select the default browser you would like to use:

      Netscape
      Are you sure?

      Yes
      Are you really sure?

      Yes
      Microsoft products offer advanced features such as integration into the system. Wouldn't you rather use Internet Explorer instead of Netscape?

      Yes
      WARNING: Use of non-Microsoft products may lead to instability in your system. Are you sure?

      Yes
      Setting preferences.

      This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. No changes will be saved.

  • Actually this may apply to Win2K SP3 too... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by frleong ( 241095 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:45AM (#3578982)
    This link [microsoft.com] contains some API and registry changes that allow OEMs and other vendors to change the default programs from e-mail, JavaVM to media player within Windows.

  • So, Who Leaked Their Activation Key? (Score:4, Funny)

    by donnacha ( 161610 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @10:47AM (#3578993) Homepage


    ...it won't work on a widely-warezed activation key, which as we recall escaped form a large friend of Microsoft beginning with D.

    So, who was that?

    Dell?

  • This is essentially useless. Great, you can remove the icons if they were really bothering you so much...but can the OEM's?

    Doubt it.

  • http://www.eweek.com/article/0,3658,s=701&a=27311, 00.asp [eweek.com] explains that the icons are only hidden and the and the default views in the start menu are now more configurable.
    You can still run IE - the executibles and dll's are all there. That is why the rest of the 9 states didn't jump for joy and say 'good microsoft... now play dead!'
  • This is just stupid. First of all, hardly anyone is going to disable these things, and secondly I expect that the first thing that most products will do in future is make you turn them back on before they install so they know what environment they are running in.
  • Remember how you could "fuse" NT 4's and 2000's service packs into the installer so you wouldn't have to update it when you made a fresh install? How much do you want to bet that this will the next method that the piraters will use to circumvent the piracy control method?

    In a nutshell, this is quite easy to do. You extract the contents of the service pack to a directory, copy the contents of the Windows CD to some random folder, place the updated files in the appopriate places, burn a CD with the updated contents and make it bootable, and voila! You have an updated Windows CD.
  • Does MS really think that by shutting down the current crop of warezed XP's out there, that another crop won't appear?
    Come on, how much ingenuity will it take for someone to make a copy of another XP Corporate disk and/or key (I'm not sure if the disks are somehow tagged, but the keys certainly are) and put it up on an FTP server somewhere?
    It doesn't even need to be an IT guy that does it, though it will probably be an IT guy's head that rolls when MS figures out which company had it.

    I can see it now.. Bill the Janitor is declared Hero of the Warez Realms by Sir Hax0r for courage and valor above and beyond that of all janitors, for swiping an XP Corporate CD and key for a night.

  • curious (Score:2, Funny)

    by waspleg ( 316038 )
    i'm reading a lot of posts about how the new patch cripples pirated keys

    i'm wondering how this affects the different flavors of XP?

    as everyone knows that Professional is not supposed to be subject to the key bullshit whereas the home version is

    personally i'm using a pirated copy of XP pro and while it would be trivial for me to get a legal copy for $5 thanks to a collegiate cocksucking arrangement with M$ that one of my ex-colleges had, i'd rather not since that would mean re-installing and the fact that M$ might see a penny of my money (which is unacceptable)

    in fact the last legal copy of windows i think i purchased was of '98, and that wasn't by choice

    fuck M$, if they cripple my desk i'll just have another *nix desktop with a 98 SE partition for gaming, maybe eventually they will learn to stop treating their customers like criminals (although they seem to have taken a lesson from US law enforcement on that one, since you are presumed guilty until proven innocent in most cases these days)

    hopefully the DoJ will give them a vasectomy and people won't have to worry about selling their souls to .Net

  • New XP Activation Key! (Score:5, Funny)

    by teamhasnoi ( 554944 ) <teamhasnoi AT yahoo DOT com> on Friday May 24, 2002 @11:37AM (#3579393) Journal
    Y0USO-34R3A-P1R4T-1N6B45-T4RD5

  • How modular? (Score:4, Funny)

    by archen ( 447353 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @12:08PM (#3579618)
    Can I uninstall Pinball in WinXP? I was going through my Win2k machine deleting junk the other day, and looked at my logs:

    "Pinball.exe has been restored to maintain system stability"

    Me: ehh.....

  • The Reg have a good take on this (Score:3, Funny)

    by gagravarr ( 148765 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @12:23PM (#3579719) Homepage
    As ever, The Register [theregister.co.uk] have a good article [theregister.co.uk] on this. Has a bit more detail on how the modularisation will work

  • You've always been able to do this (Score:3, Informative)

    by martyn s ( 444964 ) on Friday May 24, 2002 @02:02PM (#3580333)
    There's a file called sysoc.inf. This file describes what will appear in add/remove programs pane. So what you do is hit ctrl-h (find-replace). Then put ,hide in the find box, and leave the other box empty. Hit replace all, and save the file and then you'll be able to remove annoying stuff like Windows messenger, and if you wish, IE. The ones that are not hidden by default.


    NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
    WBEM=ocg en.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,7
    Display=desk.cpl,Disp layOcSetupProc,,7
    Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc, fxsocm.inf,,7
    NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,neto c.inf,,7
    iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
    com=coms etup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
    dtc=msdtcstp.d ll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
    IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
    TerminalSer ver=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,2
    msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,, 6
    ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
    fp_extensi ons=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp4 0ext.inf,,7
    AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,7
    msmsgs=ms grocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
    RootAutoUpdat e=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
    IEAccess=ocgen. dll,OcEntry,ieaccess.inf,,7

    Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
    AccessUtil =ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
    CommApps=ocgen .dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,7
    MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEn try,multimed.inf,7
    AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,op tional.inf,7
    Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.in f,7
    MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,7
    Zo neGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7


    Basically the ones with two commas in a row are not hidden by default, but when you delete the word hide you have to also delete a comma, so there's only one comma. Don't ask me why this is what works.


    Not suprisingly, for IE, it doesn't actually allow you to remove it, it says "remove access to internet explorer". If you open up the file tree browser thing, ("windows explorer") or just any file folder, and type in a URL in the address field, it just turns into IE.

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