I’m collecting all my SP2 questions and answering them on this site. Got a question? Send me a note. I’ll try to answer the most interesting questions here.

Ken Gardner asks:

What is the difference between “automatic download” available on August 4 (today) and SP2 being available on August 25 at the Windows Update site? Where do I need to go to get an “automatic download” if somewhere other than Windows Update?

Well, my guess is that the “automatic download” refers to Windows XP’s Automatic Updates feature, which downloads in the background if AU is turned on. I’ve never really checked to see whether patches appear on AU before they appear on Windows Update for manual download. But that’s the implication of this report.

I’ve seen nothing official on Microsoft’s Web site yet, so this is still just a guess. Paul Thurrott has a story on WinInfo this morning that agrees with the broad outlines of Neowin’s report but has a different set of dates:

As with previous service packs, Microsoft will stage the release of SP2. First, the product will be made available for download to its premier customers and then the general public via the company’s Web site (the so-called release to Web, or RTW), and Microsoft will begin taking orders for the free CD-based version of the product. Two weeks later, SP2 will be made available to customers through Windows Update and Automatic Updates. And by early September, PC makers will begin shipping new PCs with the software installed.

Update: This is an old post. More recent posts have details on the release of Windows XP Starter Edition and my opinion on how Microsoft should market it in North America and Europe.

OK, I’m confused. AP reports that Microsoft plans to offer a “starter” version of Windows in Asia later this year:

Microsoft Corp. plans to offer a version of its Windows operating system geared toward beginning computer users in Thailand and Malaysia starting this September.

The offering, dubbed Windows XP Starter Edition, will be part of government-sponsored programs aimed at providing more affordable personal computers in those countries.

The system will have the full functionality of Windows XP, spokeswoman Alex Mercer said Wednesday, but will be tailored to appeal to less tech-savvy users in those countries.

Can anyone figure out what that last sentence means? Or is this really just a ploy to sell Windows at a reasonable price without officially cutting the price by 95%?

Oh, and props to Woody for calling this one a long time ago.

Scoble asks: Who else loves their Tablet PC?

Me, me, me! I took my Toshiba 3500 to WinHEC last week (more about that a little later) and used it in every meeting. The key is that I’ve installed the latest build of Windows XP Service Pack 2, which updates the machine to Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 (formerly code-named Lonestar). Amazing improvements over the original release. It recognizes my crappy handwriting with accuracy that’s almost shocking.

Oh, and it really rocks when you install the OneNote Service Pack 1 Preview.

Jim Eshelman’s Windows Support Center is an absolutely top-notch source of reliable information about every aspect of every version of Windows. I particularly like his Favorite Freeware list, which contains up-to-date links to free and useful programs. Highly recommended.

For years, I’ve been a fan of Tom Koch’s Inside Outlook Express page. Although I don’t use Outlook Express, just about everyone I know does, and this site has answers to questions you probably didn’t even know to ask!

Case in point: A friend called a few days ago. He’d been trying to move his wife’s e-mail messages and address book to a new computer, and he was getting a baffling series of error messages. We walked through the usual troubleshooting steps, and he was able to set up Outlook Express so that her email account worked just fine with a clean set of OE folders.

But… as soon as he restored her backed-up messages, everything went kerblooey. Trying to start Outlook Express produced nothing but a mystifying error message. After a little more experimentation, we determined that one of the e-mail folders was corrupted.

That’s when I decided to check Tom’s site. There I found a pointer to Steve Cochran’s OEHelp site and a marvelous free utility called DBXtract. I’ve recommended DBXtract for years, but I hadn’t seen it lately. It works directly with the DBX files that store Outlook Express error messages, allowing you to recover the saved messages when Outlook Express can’t.

If you’re having a problem with Outlook Express, check out Tom’s site. He’s spent a tremendous amount of time on it in the past year, and the effort shows. In fact, when I have OE questions, I recommend you skip Microsoft’s Knowledge Base and start with Inside Outlook Express instead. If you can’t find the answer here, maybe it doesn’t exist.

According to The E-List News – A Windows Support E-Letter, Microsoft has dropped the price of extra licenses for Windows XP. If you already own a copy of Windows XP, you can buy up to three additional licenses directly from Microsoft for a 15% discount. That cuts the price of your second and subsequent copy of Windows XP Home Edition upgrade, for instance, from $99 to $84, and knocks the $299 retail price of a full version of Windows XP Professional down to about $254.

Some caveats: These discounts don’t apply to OEM copies of Windows XP, such as those that come with a new computer or other hardware. They also have to match your existing version exactly. So if you own an upgrade edition, your second license will also be for an upgrade edition. If you need a full edition, you won’t save any money.

Of course, if you’re comfortable installing Windows from scratch, you can get the best deal on Windows by buying the software with a new hard drive or other hardware. At Newegg.com, for instance, you can purchase a full OEM version of Windows for less than the price of a retail upgrade: $93 for Home Edition, $143 for Professional. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a new hard drive, this is it.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE CAREFULLY:

If you are looking for someone to provide you with a product key for Microsoft Windows or Office, because you’re using a pirated copy or you lost the key that came with your legally purchased copy, I CANNOT HELP YOU. I’ve locked this entry for comments, because too many people seem to think that it’s OK to post here asking for this information. It’s not.

However, if you have a legally installed copy of Windows XP or most versions of Office and you’ve lost the product key, this page can help. This 25-character code, which is impossible to memorize unless you’re The Amazing Kreskin, is required if you need to reinstall Windows. Normally, it’s found on the holder for your Windows CD. If you lost the CD case, you’re locked out. But help is finally available. You can dig up this value from the Registry using a cool tool called Keyfinder, from Magical Jellybean Software. It works with every version of Windows, and with Office 97 and Office XP (but not with Office 2000). Best of all, it’s free.

Note that this software works ONLY if you have Windows or Office already installed and activated using a legal product key. If the software isn’t installed, you’ll have to call Microsoft and explain that you lost the key.