Windows XP SP3 - update.exe extended error code 0xf00d

Every once in a while an old Windows XP machine will make its way back onto our network – most of the time it’s an old laptop that has been sitting in someone’s desk or in some storage room. Machines are checked out for missing patches or Anti-Virus dat updates prior to the machine being added back onto our domain however once in a while a machine will be missed. For this reason we are still scanning for pre Windows XP SP3 machines and if one is detected SP3 is pushed to it so that the machine can catch up on patches. (We are looking at quarantine solution for rouge machines but that’s another story) The other day a Windows XP SP2 laptop was detected but the SP3 upgrade kept failing. The only sign of a problem in Event Viewer was an entry stating that the update had been cancelled and when I ran the update interactively, same thing.  When I checked the install log (C:\Windows\svcpack.log) it had the following entry: update.exe extended error code 0xf00d 

After some searching I found that if you browse to C:\Windows\System32 and rename spupdsvc.exe to something like spupdsvc.old and then reapply the update, spupdsvc.exe will get recreated and Service Pack 3 will complete successfully. 

Office File Validation Add-in Causes Excel 2003 Workbooks to open slower over networks

In an enterprise environment this is an understatement - test KB2501584 very carefully. During each patching cycle we roll out patches to about 400 workstations for testing in order to QA the deployment. Shortly after deploying the latest round of Microsoft patches we started to get reports of Excel 2003 would stop responding when trying to open up files across the network. Local workbooks were fine. When the exact symptoms were identified it wasn’t long before I found a Microsoft knowledgebase article outlining the same symptoms and referencing the Office File Validation Add-in (OFV) as the culprit.

Office 2007 and 2010 will copy the file locally and then validate it to see if it is safe to open. Office 2003 tries to complete this process across the network. A workbook that normally takes seconds to open was taking upwards of 10 – 15 minutes if the user had Excel 2003. (Keep in mind that this is across a well connected LAN)

Microsoft has published a workaround but as I quickly found out it had little effect. The registry key that is referenced in KB2570623:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\

According to this post should be:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0

And then follow the steps outlined below:

1. After you select the key that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click Key.
2. Type Excel, and then press ENTER.
3. Select Excel, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click Key.
4. Type Security, and then press ENTER.
5. Select Security, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click Key.
6. Type FileValidation, and then press ENTER.
7. Select FileValidation, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
8. Type EnableOnLoad, and then press ENTER. (Note: The default value is 0 which disables the validation)

Once the correct key has been added to the user’s profile, workbooks will open normally using Excel 2003. Long story short upgrade to Office 2010.

Office 2010 SP1 To Be Released Soon

Microsoft is planning on releasing Office 2010 Service Pack 1 at the end of June 2011. SP1 will be available for all 40 SKU languages of Office. Each product in the suite will have updates included in SP1 and as always they will be cumulative. For a list of some of the highlights check out the Office Sustained Engineering blog.

Update: Microsoft has released Office 2010 SP1 http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26622

ConfigMgr PXE Certificate Renewal

When I originally setup my ConfigMgr environment setting up my OSD PXE certificaates was kind of a set and forget process so when my deployment team started getting a prompt about an expiring cert I thought "Oh ya I forgot about those."

In order to update your PXE certifcate you need to locate the site system that hosts the PXE Service Point where you want to update the certificate, double click the PSP role, on the database tab select create a self-signed PXE certificate and specify an appropriate date range and then click apply. As soon as you create your new certificate your old one will be blocked. It's just that simple but it's one of those tasks that you probably don't do that frequently.

If you are running in Native mode will have to import your new certificate from your root certificate authority. (CA)

Installing KB977384 ConfigMgr R3 Client Upgrade in a Task Sequence

R3 is the latest feature pack to be released for ConfigMgr 2007 – it is also the first R3 release in Microsoft’s history. The update includes a server side component as well as an upgrade for your ConfigMgr clients. Pushing the update out to your clients is one thing but when it comes to updating your OSD task sequences it gets a little tricky. If you simply attach the update as a install software step or call it from a script during your task sequence the sequence will fail because the R3 update stops the winmgmt service. In order to install the update during a task sequence you must add the correct command line to the installation properties of your ConfigMgr client install step. There are a couple of ways of doing this.

Locate the “Setup Windows and ConfigMgr” step in you task sequence and on the properties tab under Installation properties add one of the following command lines:

PATCH="%_SMSTSMDataPath%\OSD\Package ID\i386\hotfix\KB977384\SCCM2007AC-SP2-KB977384-x86-enu.msp"

Or you might need to specify a drive letter instead of using the SMSTSMDataPath variable

PATCH=”C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\Package ID\i386\hotfix\KB977384\sccm2007ac-sp2-kb977384-x86-enu.msp"

However if you have set the advertisement for your task sequence to access content directly from a distribution point when needed by the running task sequence then you’ll need to change the SMSTSMDataPath variable or your local drive reference to the network location of your R3 patch. Like this:

PATCH=”\\Network Location\ConfigMgr Client Source Files Directory\hotfix\KB977384\sccm2007ac-sp2-kb977384-x86-enu.msp"