Related articles

• The PE Builder program that installs Windows XP onto your USB flash drive requires an actual Windows XP CD. If you already have a Windows XP CD that integrates Service Pack 2, skip this section and jump ahead to the heading that reads "Adding Utilities". Pre-installing Updates Create a new folder on your hard disk (something like C:\sp2\winxp will do nicely). Use Windows Explorer to copy the entire contents of your Windows CD into that folder. To make sure that hidden files and system files are also copied, make sure that you've set Folder Options in Explorer to "Show hidden files and folders" and have unchecked the box next to "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" as described earlier in this article. Create a second folder named C:\sp2\sp2 for the update files as well. Download The Service Pack Installing Service Pack 2: The Setup Assistant activates all the Setup files from Windows XP You'll either want to obtain the free Update-CD for Service Pack 2 or download the 256 MB file for this service pack from Microsoft.com/downloads . Download the version called "Windows XP Service Pack 2 for IT Professionals and Developers". If you want the download for a language other than English, select the language from the "Change Language" pull-down menu, then click "Download". Save this file (which shows up in Internet Explorer as "Windows XP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe") in a file named "xpsp2.exe" into the C:\sp2 folder. If you've got the SP2 CD, copy the file named "xpsp2.exe" into that folder instead. Open a command window using the Start, Run menu entries, then type "cmd" into the Open: text box, and click the OK button. You can then extract the contents of the service pack by typing the following instruction at the command line: C:\sp2\xpsp2.exe -u -x:c:\sp2\sp2 Updating The XP Setup Files You can update all of the XP Setup files in the "C:\sp2\winxp" folder with the following command line instruction: C:\sp2\sp2\i386\update\update.exe -s:c:\sp2\winxp The Setup Assistant activates all of the updated XP Setup files, as part of which the file named "win51ip.SP2" appears in the "C:\sp2\winxp" folder. Double-click the file named "C:\sp2\winxp\README.HTM" to open that file in your default Web browser. This file should contain the statement that "This release of Windows Microsoft Windows XP includes Service Pack 2 (SP2)" (on versions of Windows XP that integrate SP 2, and on versions of Windows MCE 2005, this text appears when you click the hyperlink that reads "Important Information About This Version of Microsoft XP".

• System Hardware CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 (2.93 GHz) Motherboard Asus P5W64 WS Pro (rev 1.01, BIOS 0802) with Intel 975X Chipset Memory 4 GB (4 x 1 GB) Corsair XMS2-6400 (CM2X10246400-C3) at CL 4.0-4-4-12 Optical Drive Samsung SH-D163A , SATA150 Power Supply Zalman, ATX 2.01, 510 Watts Hard Drive Western Digital WD1500ADFD 150 GB System Software & Drivers Operating System Windows XP Service Pack 2 3D API Update DirectX 9.0c Intel Chipset Version 8.3.1.1009 (INF Update of 24 September 2007) Driver ATI FireGL V7300 Catalyst 8.391.2.1.1.1-070924a Driver ATI FireGL V7600 Catalyst 8.42-070820m Driver Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 Forceware 162.62 Driver Nvidia Quadro FX 4600 Forceware 162.62 SPEC Benchmarks Settings Application settings according to SPEC Project Group Rules, driver using application optimizations if available SPEC Benchmarks Used SpecViewperf 10.0 SPECapc 3ds Max 9 (3D Studio Max) SPECapc Solidworks 2007 SPECapc Maya 6.5 3D Studio Max 9: Test Results 3D Studio Mac, which is now available in version 9, is one of the most popular content creation programs in the market. Tom's Hardware tests it with Service pack 2. One particular feature is that the user can choose between the two APIs Direct3D and OpenGL. While OpenGL was the clear favourite in the past, Direct3D (DirectX) is gaining the upper hand this year. Essentially, this is due to the better support of the hardware shaders. In our assessment, real application benchmarks (SPECapc 3ds Max 9) play a more important role than the synthetic tests with Viewperf 10.0. It is interesting to see that the differences in the application benchmarks are not as pronounced as they are in the synthetic test results. The FireGL V7600 takes the lead in two individual tests, while the Quadro FX 4600 takes the Graphics test.The hardware shader test produced some unexpected results. Here, the old FX 4500 pulls ahead of the newer FX 4600 - a reproducible idiosyncrasy that can probably be remedied in a future driver release.

• Of course, those folks who prefer the Windows operating system can simply install it on to their KPC. We installed Windows XP for testing purposes, and added all service packs and updates. While the KPC is a value system, not a high one, loading XP on the KPC via a USB DVD drive proved quite simple and satisfying. The install time was not noticeably different than installing off of an IDE or SATA based drive, the drivers supplied with the system worked well, and the Windows OS was responsive even after installing a trial of Norton Internet Security. This system worked flawlessly, and could prove to be a nice option for a low-cost small form factor PC. We could easily do the daily tasks that the KPC is meant for, and did not find any shortcomings in this environment. Users could not tell whether they were on the small form factor KPC or the Compaq EVO that it replaced; they generally just liked that it worked and we had no complaints during the day of Windows testing. TV tuner installed Our first thought after loading Windows XP was that the KPC could work as a media center. We broke out an old MSI Theater 550 analog TV tuner and installed it. I did not go to the trouble to install Windows Media Center or Vista Ultimate or Premium, but just used the suite of software that came with the tuner card. The system worked well enough to record live TV, pause it and play it back. Watching TV The system is very quiet as it is, and there is enough room to install some sound dampening material to further lower HDD access noise. There is also a space for a 92 mm fan that could be used to help cool the system due to the added load. The KPC could easily be used as a small PVR for those with a standard VGA connection. If you want DVI then you could install a PCI-based video card and then add a USB tuner card, but the KPC case does not seem well suited as a HTPC as it lacks internal space for a DVD drive. An external drive could of course be used, but it would ruin the unit’s clean appearance.