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Ben B - 31 Oct 2003 02:26 GMT

Hello,

A recent reinstall of Me over itself has resulted in
98 'items' being listed in VCM (all the same date).

I am unsure of the purpose of this file. If the items
listed in it are indicative of conflict in each and every
item/file what effect does this have on my current setup?

What action can I take to remedy these conflicts. I have
finished downloading and installing all available Updates.
These from the two main options of Windows Updates. (i.e.
after the scan {single exception I.E.6} and from the
catalogue (excepting those clearly no longer relevant).

Any guidance appreciated.

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Mike M - 31 Oct 2003 03:30 GMT

Ben,

There is little you can do about the files in the VCM folder other than take
note of them, their dates and versions. These are updated versions of files
that you had previously installed as critical updates to Win Me before you
reinstalled Win Me over itself. You now need to reinstall each of those
updates regardless of whether the WindowsUpdate says they are required or not
since the registry settings indicating that the patches had been installed
were not reset when you reinstalled Win Me. You could, at least in part, have
avoided having to reinstall some of the patches by reinstalling Win Me using
the cab files and setup.exe in either the windows\options\cabs or
windows\options\install folder rather than using the Win Me CD, since, as you
can probably see, many of the updates you had installed had placed a copy of
their files in those folders for that very purpose.

If you are satisfied that you have now installed all of the various patches
and updates you can safely delete the entire contents of the vcm folder. It
serves no purpose other than to let you know which files were replaced by
earlier versions when you (re)installed Win Me.

Signature

Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mcmaltby@hotmail.com

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Any guidance appreciated.

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Ben B - 31 Oct 2003 04:29 GMT

Hello Mike,

If the files in VCM are "updated versions of files that [I]
you had previously installed as critical updates" and if I
have succeeded in installing all the critical updates
available to the files installed from my WinMeCD, are
there then files on my HDD (duplicating those in VCM)
which are identical in every way? If the answer is yes,
can I not examine the files on the HDD (which are also in
VCM) to check whether they do duplicate the VCM ones.
Thus, if I have missed a critical update, this difference,
file to file, would be known? Make any sense, Mike? Or is
there any other way of knowing whether or not I did
install all critical updates?

And I will take my firstever look into windows\options\cabs
and into the windows\options\install\ folder.

Thank you.

Ben.

>-----Original Message-----

Ben,

There is little you can do about the files in the VCM
folder other than take note of them, their dates and
versions. These are updated versions of files
that you had previously installed as critical updates to
Win Me before you reinstalled Win Me over itself. You now
need to reinstall each of those updates regardless of
whether the WindowsUpdate says they are required or not
since the registry settings indicating that the patches
had been installed were not reset when you reinstalled Win
Me. You could, at least in part, have avoided having to
reinstall some of the patches by reinstalling Win Me using
the cab files and setup.exe in either the
windows\options\cabs or windows\options\install folder
rather than using the Win Me CD, since, as you can
probably see, many of the updates you had installed had
placed a copy of their files in those folders for that
very purpose.

If you are satisfied that you have now installed all of
the various patches and updates you can safely delete the
entire contents of the vcm folder. It serves no purpose
other than to let you know which files were replaced by
earlier versions when you (re)installed Win Me.

Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mcmaltby@hotmail.com

>> Hello,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
>.

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Mike M - 31 Oct 2003 04:47 GMT

Ben,

Yes the version information of the files in the vcm folder will reveal their
original source but only if you chose to monitor each and every install and
update and now which file was updated from which version to which other
version by which update. Now of course if you're a pedant like myself then
you will have logged all that and have no problem in checking against your
current files but if not, ....... <g>

I must admit that with nigh on a hundred such files it's unlikely I'd be
trying very hard. But again I'm fortunate in never having, other than in
testing, had the need to reinstall Win Me on any PC that I look after or come
to that to have to reinstall any other OS. I guess I'm just lucky so my only
work with the contents of the vcm folder has been following OS upgrades such
as 98SE to Win Me.

Signature

Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mcmaltby@hotmail.com

> Hello Mike,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> And I will take my firstever look into windows\options\cabs
> and into the windows\options\install\ folder.

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Ben B - 31 Oct 2003 05:59 GMT

Well Mike, that says it all. And since I probably scored
90% in the updates class and since keeping ahead of my
house-cleaning and cooking, computer worrying and caring
takes me a large slice of any day Plus the VCM file is
only a measly 25MB. I shall forget it.

Your posts much appreciated, Mike.

>-----Original Message-----
>Ben,
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>
>.

Reply to this Message

Mike M - 31 Oct 2003 13:07 GMT

Ben,

Rather than forgetting about the vcm folder I think you should regain the
space and delete the folder. You might want to check with the Belarc Adviser
that you have reinstalled all of the critical patches. Belarc uses a more
exhaustive test than the WindowsUpdate site and should be able to tell you of
any that still need to be reinstalled. Agh! From another post of yours I
seem to think you've already done just that. :-)

Signature

Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mcmaltby@hotmail.com

> Well Mike, that says it all. And since I probably scored
> 90% in the updates class and since keeping ahead of my
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Your posts much appreciated, Mike.

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