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Questions tagged [windows-xp]

For questions specific to Windows XP. Use [windows] instead for questions involving Windows in general.

Questions with this tag should refer specifically to versions of Windows XP. Anything related in general (non-version specific) to Windows OS should be tagged with .

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Additional Info

  • The name "XP" is short for "eXPerience."
  • During development, the project was codenamed "Whistler", after Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort.

  • Three service packs were released for Windows XP, containing various bug fixes and the addition of certain features. Each service pack is a superset of all previous service packs and patches so that only the latest service pack needs to be installed, and also includes new revisions.

    Service Pack 1

    Service Pack 2

    Service Pack 3

Popular Questions

9213 questions
229
votes
15 answers

How do I know what proxy server I'm using?

I need to know what the address for my proxy server is so I can configure another program to also use it. If I go into IE, Internet Properties, LAN Settings, then all I see is an automatic configuration script but not the actual proxy address. How…
Mike Christensen
  • 4,060
186
votes
12 answers

Apostrophes and double quotes don't show up until I type the next letter

in Windows XP, when I type an apostrophe ', or dumb/typewriter quote ", no character is displayed. If I type another character, the apostrophe or dumb quote and the next character appear at the same time. This happens with double quotes ",…
fastmultiplication
  • 2,255
148
votes
9 answers

Is it safe to delete from C:\Windows\Installer?

I've been looking on an XP machine what is using all that diskspace, and it turns out C:\Windows\Installer is high up there on the list of directories that use the most diskspace. It seems to contain a cache of msi and msp files. Is it safe to…
Stijn Sanders
  • 2,496
135
votes
9 answers

Can I delete the folder "C:\WINDOWS\Installer\$PatchCache$"?

This folder is taking up nearly a GB of my C partition. Is it possible to just delete it?
James
  • 1,501
128
votes
4 answers

How to add command line options to shortcut?

How can I add command line options to an executable in a shortcut in Windows XP? For example in the shortcut properties in target I have: "c:\path\to\exe\pogram.exe" I want to add some options: "c:\path\to\exe\program.exe -option1…
Karl Voigtland
  • 1,411
118
votes
11 answers

Does an equivalent of Time Machine exist for Windows?

A simple Google search for "Time Machine for Windows" results in a flurry of different little apps. But instead of relying on forum anecdotes and advertisements, I call on the much wiser Super User beta community for some depth on this one. Having…
Kevin L.
  • 1,594
113
votes
10 answers

How to make a shortcut from CMD?

How can I create a shortcut file (.lnk) to another file or executable, using command line utilities?
Shantanu
  • 1,405
113
votes
12 answers

How to pick a color from an image

How can I pick a color from an image? When I move the cursor to any particular point in the image, I want the hex code of the color at the cursor to be displayed. I would like to be able to do that with anything displayed on the screen even if it…
Ananth
  • 1,321
110
votes
6 answers

How do I activate WindowsXP now that support has ended?

What Options are there to activate Windows XP nowadays? The "regular" methods provided with XP (phone and online) don't work anymore. The phone number is not valid for activation anymore (I tried the German one) and the online activation does not…
Albin
  • 11,950
109
votes
5 answers

How do I do comments at a Windows command prompt?

What's the equivalent of # for Windows cmd console sessions, to create a comment? The operating system is Windows XP.
Andrew Grimm
  • 2,830
105
votes
4 answers

How to check the exit code of the last command in batch file?

Inside a batch file on Windows, I use 7-zip like this: ...\right_path\7z a output_file_name.zip file_to_be_compressed How could I check the exit code of 7z and take the appropriate action ?
Misha Moroshko
  • 8,023
103
votes
11 answers

How can I split a large file on Windows?

Is there a tool to split large text file (9 GB) into smaller files, so that I can open it and look through? Is there anything usable from the command line that comes with Windows (XP)? Or what's the best way to split it? Can I use 7-Zip to create…
stefanB
  • 1,173
100
votes
12 answers

How to avoid keyboard layout automatically changing on windows

I have two input languages in my language bar (windows xp). The problem is that windows likes changing between them without any intervention. That's really annoying! I know about the shortcuts and already turned off Word language detection, but the…
andrecarlucci
  • 1,185
90
votes
7 answers

Is there a way to xcopy just changed or new files?

I am trying to deploy a website from my desktop to my webserver and so right now I am doing this: xcopy C:\source X:\destination /s My desktop is a Windows XP machine, and I need to copy to a Windows Server 2008 machine, but this copies everything…
leora
  • 6,193
76
votes
17 answers

How do I find the largest files and folders on a drive?

Possible Duplicate: How can I visualize the file system usage on Windows? I am looking for a tool to tell me which files and folders are the largest as I need to do some cleanup.
leora
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