General information about Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes

Microsoft develops software updates for Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition to resolve critical customer situations. This article includes general information about Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes. The topics in this article include:

• Windows Millennium Edition hotfix version information
• Identifying Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes
• Windows Millennium Edition hotfix package naming
• The Windows Millennium Edition Hotfix Information tool (Qfecheck.exe)
• Installing Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes
• Removing Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes
• Obtaining Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes
• Microsoft Knowledge Base query tips

Windows Millennium Edition hotfix version information

The original release version of Windows Millennium Edition has the following version number. Generally, files that are included with Windows Millennium Edition have this version stamp: To view a file's version information, right-clicking the file in Windows Explorer, click Properties, and then click the Version tab. If the properties for the file do not contain a Version tab, there is no version information available for that file.

With few exceptions, Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes are stamped with a version number of 4.90.3001 or later. This version number indicates that the file is a newer version than the version that was originally included with Windows Millennium Edition.

Multiple hotfixes may have been applied to the same component. With some rare exceptions, these fixes are cumulative. Later versions of components include changes from earlier versions of that component and subsequent changes to later versions of that component. For example, version 4.90.3002 contains the change that was implemented in version 4.90.3001 and the new change.

The cumulative nature of these changes together with the incremented version numbers means that there is almost always one "current" version of a component that containing all the hotfixes that have been made to that component to date. There may be rare exceptions.

Identifying Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes

You can identify Windows Millennium Edition hotfix files by a version number that is later than the product release version. The version number of the file is available on the Version tab of the file's properties. Unlike Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition hotfixes, Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes do not contain a "Special Build Description" resource that is set to a value of "QFE" to identify the hotfix version of the file.

Some Windows Millennium Edition files do not contain version information to identify the file. In these cases, you can examine the modified date and size of the file and compare them to the original release version of the file. However, these are not conclusive indicators because the modified date can be affected by various conditions, and changes in a file may not cause a change in the file's size.

Windows Millennium Edition hotfix package naming

Each Windows Millennium Edition hotfix has a numeric identifier that corresponds to the Microsoft Knowledge Base article that documents the problem that the hotfix resolves. For example, a hotfix that resolves a problem documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 123456 is identified as hotfix number 123456.

Each Windows Millennium Edition hotfix also has a language identifier that corresponds to the language of the hotfix or the hotfix package. Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes use the following language identifiers:

• EAR: Arabic - Enabled
• LAR: Arabic - Localized
• CHH: Chinese - Hong Kong
• CHS: Chinese - Simplified
• CHT: Chinese - Traditional
• CZE: Czech
• DAN: Danish
• DUT: Dutch - Netherlands
• USA: English
• FIN: Finnish
• FRN: French
• GER: German
• GRK: Greek
• GR7: Greek - code page 737
• GR8: Greek - code page 869
• EHE: Hebrew - Enabled
• LHE: Hebrew - Localized
• HUN: Hungarian
• ITN: Italian
• JPN: Japanese
• KOR: Korean
• NOR: Norwegian
• POL: Polish
• POR: Portuguese
• BRZ: Portuguese - Brazilian
• RUS: Russian
• SVK: Slovak
• SLO: Slovenian
• SPA: Spanish
• SWE: Swedish
• THA: Thai
• TRK: Turkish

Each Windows Millennium Edition hotfix package name includes three parts:

• A 6-character numeric identifier (that is based on the associated article number)
• A 3-character language identifier (that is described in the earlier list)
• A 1-character operating-system identifier (5 for Windows 95, 8 for Windows 98/Windows 98 Second Edition, or M for Windows Millennium Edition)

For example, the package to install the U.S. English Windows Millennium Edition version of a hotfix that is documented in article number 123456 has a name of 123456usam.exe. If there were a Windows 98/Windows 98 Second Edition hotfix for the same problem, the Japanese package would be named 123456jpn8.exe.

The Windows Millennium Edition Hotfix Information tool (Qfecheck.exe)

The Windows Millennium Edition Hotfix Information tool (Qfecheck.exe) is installed with each Windows Millennium Edition hotfix. This tool uses information that is stored in the registry together with version and special build information in the files to identify installed Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes. You can use this tool to identify which Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes have been installed on a computer.

To run the Qfecheck tool, run the Qfecheck.exe file in the Windows folder. The tool contains online help.

Installing Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes

Before you install a Windows Millennium Edition hotfix, it is a good idea to use the System Restore tool to create a manual restore point. This makes it easier to remove the hotfix if you encounter a problem after you install the hotfix.

For additional information about using the System Restore tool to create a manual restore point, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To install a Windows Millennium Edition hotfix on a single computer, run the self-extracting installer. The installer performs the following actions:

1. It unpacks the files that it must use to install to a temporary folder. Typically, these files include the following files:
   • The updated component (hotfix binary) files
   • The Qfecheck tool (Qfecheck.exe and Qfecheck.hlp)
   • One or more .inf files that run the installation A digital signature file (.cat) that digitally signs the hotfix binary file(s)
   • Other helper files for the self-extracting installer (such as example, Advpack.dll, W95inf16.dll, and W95inf32.dll)
2. It uses the Windows Millennium Edition built-in Setup library (Advpack.dll) to install the specified hotfix according to the directives in the provided .inf file. This .inf file contains directives to copy files to their correct locations and to add registry settings. Some installer packages may use multiple .inf files to let a single package install a specific version of an updated file, depending on the version of Windows Millennium Edition that is installed.
   
   If a newer version of the updated component has already been installed, the older version is not installed. The installation occurs silently.
3. It registers the digital signature for the updated hotfix files.
4. It informs you when the update is completed and prompts you to restart the computer. When you click OK, the temporary files are removed and the installation program quits.

Removing Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes

Because of the availability of the System Restore feature in Windows Millennium Edition, there is no separate removal tool for Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes. It is a good idea to use the System Restore tool to create a manual restore point before you install a hotfix. This makes it easier to remove the hotfix if you encounter a problem after you install the hotfix.

For additional information about using the System Restore tool to create a manual restore point, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you did not create a restore point before you install the Windows Millennium Edition hotfix that you want to remove, or you have made other changes to your computer configuration that you do not want to lose by restoring the computer to its state before you install the hotfix, you can use the System Configuration Utility tool to manually restore a specific file.

For additional information using the System Configuration tool to manually restore a specific file, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Obtaining Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes

Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes fall into two primary categories according to availability and to distribution method. The first category contains hotfixes that are available publicly from online sources. The second category contains hotfixes that are not available publicly but are available only by contacting Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS).

Publicly distributed Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes are available for download through links in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article that documents the problem that the hotfix resolves. In some cases, these hotfix files may also be available for download from the Microsoft Download Center or from the Microsoft Windows Update Web site.

To obtain Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes that are not publicly distributed, contact Microsoft Product Support Services. For information about how to contact Product Support Services, visit the following Microsoft Web page:

Microsoft Knowledge Base query tips

To locate information about specific Windows Millennium Edition hotfixes and issues that are resolved by these hotfixes, visit the Microsoft Knowledge Base and query on the issue's symptoms. To locate Microsoft Knowledge Base articles that document Windows Millennium Edition updates, query on the Windows Millennium Edition product and on the keyword "hotfix." To locate all the articles about a particular updated component, also include the component file name in your query. For example, File.vxd.

For additional information about Windows 95 hotfixes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition hotfixes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: