Setupp.ini

Discussion in 'Windows XP / Older OS' started by KenOath, Jan 5, 2010.

  1. KenOath

    KenOath MDL Novice

    Jan 3, 2010
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    Hello folks...
    Been modding/Hacking/playing around with xp media for some time, have a
    very good collection of genuine media in various languages, & have a good
    repository of oembios files pulled from the various media...

    The one file I always kept along with the oembios files, was the setupp.ini...
    There's 2 lines of text in these .ini files...

    The "ExtraData" line
    & the "Pid" line...

    I know that the 1st 3 numbers in the "Pid" line are the designated language,
    numbers 4 & 5 are the designated client type numbers{pro/home} etc,
    numbers 6,7 & 8 are whether it's a retail, OEM or VLK, but the 1st line
    that says "ExtraData",,, has anyone ever fully understood the meaning of the
    entire row of numbers/letters, or even part of it..?

    The one thing I've always noticed too on the various OEM CDs I have here, is
    that every CD with different branding, has an entirely different 1st line = "ExtraData",
    & for that reason, every time I made my own OEM CDs/ISO's in the past, I
    always used the original OEMs setupp.ini, though judging by the posts here, it
    doesn't appear as though it's stopping too many people from acheiving their
    goals with successful activation after ISO modding, though I doubt the 1st
    line is insignificant...
     
  2. Pooh the Pirate

    Pooh the Pirate MDL Junior Member

    Sep 30, 2009
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    #2 Pooh the Pirate, Jan 5, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2010
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  3. KenOath

    KenOath MDL Novice

    Jan 3, 2010
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    That was my thought on the matter which is why I finished off with the
    last paragraph of
    & the link you provided only gives an insight into the last 3 digits regarding the
    "PID" line in the setupp.ini, not the "ExtraData" line...
    & if the ExtraData line is indeed related to the pid generated during the setup,
    then why aren't the setup.ini's packed along with the oembios files hosted
    here...

    I own more than one genuine copy of XP pro oem, bought from a retail outlet,
    & they all contain the same "ExtraData" numbers/letters in the line, so I was
    thinking that this ExtraData line was unique to each OEM supplier, as each
    "different" branding of XP I have here, have different ExtraData lines...
     
  4. Pooh the Pirate

    Pooh the Pirate MDL Junior Member

    Sep 30, 2009
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    You maybe right with it being bound to the OEM, only way to know is to check if different DELL, HP etc have the same ExtraData string.
    Is that what you meant when you wrote this ?
    I don't think that is the case, ExtraData is sometimes used as a count of some sort. If mixing them up doesn't cause issues then it's not critical.
     
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  5. KenOath

    KenOath MDL Novice

    Jan 3, 2010
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    #5 KenOath, Jan 7, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2010
    (OP)
    Yeah that part I wrote was a bit confusing, what I meant from that
    statement was, the various OEM copies brought from a retail outlet, all had
    the exact same setupp.ini's, however, the various OEM branded CDs I have
    that came with a manufacturer's pre-installed laptop or main box,
    Dell, HP, toshiba etc etc, all have varying setupp.ini's as far as the ExtraData
    is concerned...



    Well, I've read the forum here on & off
    for about 6 months before joining, & one thing I did notice when reading the
    posts regarding the building of OEM branded disks, was that the success here
    for some wasn't always 100%, even though it read as though they followed the
    right procedure involving the building of thier CDs...

    For the sake of giving back for the files i've downloaded from here in the past,
    when time permits i'll dig out the entire setupp.ini's I have collected from
    my own genuine media, & place them in corresponding folder names & post a
    link to them here, for the sake of just in case there is something in this
    ExtraData line in these Setupp.ini's, can't hurt to...
     
  6. tumbleweed_biff

    tumbleweed_biff MDL Novice

    Apr 13, 2011
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    Hello Ken,

    Did you ever track down a meaning to the "ExtraData" field? Likewise, did you ever get to the point of listing the various values you found in the various disks to which you have access?

    Thanks,

    Mike
     
  7. MaJo24

    MaJo24 MDL Junior Member

    Aug 19, 2008
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    Just a small note: I wondered about the meaning of the ExtraData field myself and tried to track down its usage during the setup process by disassembling some of the relevant files.

    The last time I looked at this was some years ago, so I might remember some of the details wrong, but nevertheless:

    As far as I could find out, the field doesn't have much use, but seems only to act as an additional control to distinguish between full and upgrade media.

    The ExtraData field consists of a hexadecimal string representing 15 bytes. As it follows the standard of a certain Windows API function for binary data in INI files, the last four bytes are actually a checksum -- I'd have to lookup the exact name of the function responsible.

    So, the interesting data is actually contained within the first 11 bytes. (Side note: If interpreted as ASCII values, these bytes are lower-case characters ("a"-"z"). The Windows setup DLL files subtract 61 ("a") from each byte, but that step does not seem to have any particular interesting effect.)

    The only thing that setup seems to care about is whether two of the bytes (I think it was the third and the fifth) have the same parity (i.e. are both even or both uneven) or not. One of the two constellations causes setup to assume a full installation media, while the other leads to an upgrade installation.

    Other that that, the ExtraData field does not seem to have any particular effect. I played around with several self-constructed values, and I didn't notice any effects beside the above-mentioned full/upgrade distinction.
     
  8. Oz

    Oz MDL Expert

    Sep 1, 2009
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    #8 Oz, Oct 26, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
    Hi MaJo24, long time no see

    Looking at, say SP2b:

    Code:
    VX2HFPP_EN
    [Pid]
    ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
    Pid=76477000
    
    VX2HOEM_EN
    [Pid]
    ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
    Pid=76477OEM
    
    VX2PCCP_EN
    [Pid]
    ExtraData=70656C7063627770737A9EA8ADEC29
    Pid=76488000
    
    VX2PFPP_EN
    [Pid]
    ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
    Pid=76487000
    
    VX2POEM_EN
    [Pid]
    ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
    Pid=76487OEM
    
    VX2PVOL_EN
    [Pid]
    ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
    Pid=76487270
    
    Looks like you are right, ED field is only different for upgrade, and of course 4th last number in PID is up a notch.
     
  9. MaJo24

    MaJo24 MDL Junior Member

    Aug 19, 2008
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    Hi Oz,

    thanks for looking this up. As far as I can remember, the ExtraData "786F687170637175716954806365EF" has even been used outside of Windows XP installs (Server 2003?) and different language versions, so it is most probably even not directly connected to the Pid.

    Who knows what additional information Microsoft might have encoded into this field ...