List of features removed in Windows XP explained

As the next version of Windows NT after Windows 2000, as well as the successor to Windows Me, Windows XP introduced many new features but it also removed some others. Following is a list of these.

Shell

• The balloon notification (or dialog box) that warns the users when removing external flash storage devices without safe unmounting has been removed.^[1]
• The Line Up Icons command on the desktop was removed and replaced by the Align to Grid option.^[2] Due to this being a toggle, simply aligning desktop icons once without further constraining their placement requires an extra click.^[3]
• The Minimize all windows command on the taskbar was removed. The purported replacement, Show the desktop, co-existed with this feature on Windows 2000 and in any case only hides windows temporarily instead of actually minimizing them. It is still accessible through the keyboard shortcut but it is not available through the mouse.
• The Show icons using all possible colors (which was previously introduced in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0) option in Display Properties has been removed. Icons are always shown using all possible colors. Microsoft states that this is by design.^[4]
• The VGA screen resolution and 8-bit color depth options have been removed from the Settings tab of Display Properties. It is still possible to select these options using the Advanced button available under this tab, however Microsoft states that this workaround is unsupported.^[5]
• In the Command Prompt, QuickEdit mode and Insert mode are disabled by default.^[6]
• Links to Phone Dialer^[7] and NetMeeting^[8] were removed from the Start menu.

Boot

• The "Starting Windows..." message before the boot screen (which was present in Windows 2000) has been removed.
• The progress bar on the boot screen was changed from a determinate progress bar seen in Windows 2000 to an indeterminate one. The animated gradient bar seen on the boot screens of Windows 95, 98, Me and Windows 2000 was also removed, as was the text "Starting up…" which was located next to the progress bar in Windows 2000's boot screen.

Personalization

• With the Desktop Themes utility in 2000 becoming the Themes tab in Display Properties in XP, the Rotate theme monthly option in Desktop Themes, which was introduced in Microsoft Plus! 98 and later included in Windows 2000 and Me, and both the options to select what parts of a theme to apply and the previews for parts of a theme were removed.
• Some of the desktop themes that were once part of Windows 9x including Baseball, Dangerous Creatures, Inside your Computer, Jungle, Leonardo da Vinci, More Windows, Mystery, Nature, Science, Space, Sports, The 60's USA, The Golden Era, Travel, Underwater, Windows 98 and Windows Millennium were removed entirely. The Windows Default is now replaced by Windows XP and Windows Classic.
• The previous wallpapers and tiles from Windows 95–98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 including the Plus! wallpaper were removed.
• The Utopia sound scheme, first included in Windows 95 and included up to Windows Me, was removed. Despite this, the files for the sound scheme are still included on the Windows XP CD-ROM in the i386 folder and could be manually installed on Windows XP from the CD-ROM.
• Some of the sounds from Windows 2000 are The Microsoft Sound, Windows Logoff Sound and Windows Logon Sound are removed but the sounds in Media folder are stored.
• It is no longer possible to save or delete schemes under the Appearance tab of Display Properties.
• The option to select a Pattern under the Background (9x/NT)/Desktop (XP) tab of Display Properties was removed. Users can only set a pattern with the Registry Editor.^[9]
• The 3D FlowerBox, 3D Flying Objects, 3D Pipes and 3D Text screensavers have been updated and dropped support for OpenGL in favor of Direct3D.
  • The 3D Flying Objects screensaver was updated to replace the classic Windows logo in use since Windows 3.1 with the then-new Windows logo introduced with Windows XP, while the 3D Maze and Flying Windows screensavers were removed entirely as they were never updated to accommodate the aforementioned Windows logo changes. The 3D Pipes teapot easter egg was also removed from Windows XP.

Windows Explorer

• Small Icons view was removed from Windows Explorer.^[10]
• Web view in folders was disabled by default but can be reinstated by editing the registry. Additionally, the Customize This Folder Wizard was removed.^[11] Due to the removal of Web view, pie charts showing disk space are no longer available immediately upon opening a drive.^[12]
• The status bar no longer shows the free space remaining on the given disk when browsing through folder paths of shell namespace extensions,^[13] removable drives,^[14] and network shares when the navigation pane (Folders) in Windows Explorer is turned on, unlike in Windows 2000. It continues to show the free space remaining only for paths on local drives. In combination with the Web view-related lack of pie charts previously mentioned, this means it is no longer possible to immediately view the amount of space remaining in these three cases.
• The Directory icon was removed from My Network Places.^[15]
• The default sort order in Windows Explorer has changed but can be restored by editing the registry.^[16]

Media components

• Deluxe CD Player, which was also first part of Microsoft Plus! 98 before being included in Windows 2000, was removed.^[17] Some functionality, including uploading^[18] and on-demand (as opposed to automatic) downloading of audio track information and track previewing was not available in the replacement, Windows Media Player.
• DVD Player is no longer usable as it is now a stub that simply opens Windows Media Player.
• The WinMe 3D preset in the Musical Colors visualization was replaced with Ice Crystals in Windows Media Player version 8. The name still exists within the files of the visualization. Some of the previous Windows Media Player skins that were in Windows Me was removed entirely. Musical Colors was not included with Windows Media Player version 9 on clean installs of Windows XP starting with Service Pack 2, but is retained if the player is upgraded from version 8 to 9.
• Imaging for Windows was removed.^[19] It was replaced by the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer and Scanner and Camera Wizard but these two programs do not include some of its advanced functionality.^[20]

Protocols

• NetDDE^[21] and NetBEUI,^[22] which are included in earlier versions of Windows, are no longer installed by default but can still be manually installed from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
• The DLC network protocol is no longer included. A download was made available by Microsoft.^[23]
• The AppleTalk protocol is no longer included and was not made available for download from Microsoft.^[24]

Subsystems

• The Microsoft POSIX subsystem was removed.^[25] Windows Services for UNIX is available as a replacement.^[26]
• The Microsoft OS/2 subsystem, which supports 16-bit character-based OS/2 applications and emulates OS/2 1.x but not 32-bit or graphical OS/2 applications as used with OS/2 2.x or later, was removed.

Hardware support

• Both graphical and command-line formatting options for floppy disks of capacities other than 1.44 MB were removed.^{[27] [28] [29]}
• Support for non-Plug and Play networking devices, such as modems and NICs, and native support for modems slower than 28.8 kbps was removed.^[30]
• Support for serial mouse was removed.
• A number of SCSI host adapters are no longer supported.^[31]
• Support for NEC's PC-98 series, the i486 Instruction Set and Silicon Graphics' Visual Workstation 320 and 540 was removed.
• New printer installations are required to use user-mode rendering components.

Windows 9x

• WebTV for Windows was removed.^[32]
• DriveSpace was removed in favor of native NTFS compression.^[33]
• The NTBackup tool included in Windows XP does not support certain backup formats available for use in the MSBackup tool in Windows 9x.^[34]

Later versions

Service Pack 2

• The following raw socket functionality was removed: sending TCP network packets, sending UDP packets with invalid source network addresses, and associating local addresses.^[35]
• Support for TCP half-open connections was removed.^[36]
• Program Manager was removed and replaced with Windows Explorer. The executable is still present, but it was replaced with a stub that redirects to Explorer.
• Media Bar, which replaced the Radio Toolbar in Internet Explorer 6,^[37] was removed.^[38]
• Background message compaction was removed from Outlook Express.^[39] Outlook Express in Service Pack 2 automatically compacts messages every hundredth time it is run.
• The radio edit of David Byrne's "Like Humans Do", as previously included in the original and Service Pack 1 releases of Windows XP, was removed.
• The Windows Movie Maker Sample File (generated by Windows Movie Maker 1.1 when it is started for the first time), which consisted of clips of a male child riding a tricycle, playing in a playground, and then running in a field, was removed.
• The boot screens for all editions of Windows XP have been unified by Service Pack 2 for Windows XP with a new one that no longer displays the SKU, with the boot screen for Home Edition using a blue progress bar instead of green. The copyright years on the boot screen were also removed.

Service Pack 3

• The Address bar toolbar on the taskbar was removed for legal reasons, according to Microsoft. Windows Desktop Search is touted as a replacement.^[40]
• The ability to use boot disks to boot into setup was removed.
• The option to display the special Internet Explorer icon on the desktop was removed.^[41]
• The ability to install service packs cumulatively is no longer available in Service Pack 3 as it requires at least Service Pack 1 to be installed first (Service Pack 2 in the cases of the original Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004).^{[42] [43]} Cumulative slipstreaming, however, is still possible and supported.^[44]
• The Energy Star logo in the Display Properties dialog, first introduced with Windows 95 and included up to Windows XP Service Pack 2, was removed.^[45]
• The copyright information in the About Windows (winver.exe) box was updated from "1985-2001" to "2007". The banner itself remains unchanged, however.

Media Center Edition 2005

• Despite this edition being developed from Windows XP Professional, domain support is unavailable. Microsoft states that this is due to Windows Media Center Extenders requiring fast user switching.^[46] The exceptions to this are if it is selected during installation or already in use before an upgrade, but leaving the domain will still disable the feature.
• Windows Media Player 6.4, which was hidden in Windows XP and came shipped with Windows 2000 and can be installed on Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98, was removed.

See also

• Windows Server 2003

Notes and References

1. Web site: The unsafe device removal dialog. Chen. Raymond. December 16, 2003. The Old New Thing. Microsoft. July 9, 2013. March 8, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130308032608/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2003/12/16/43890.aspx. live.
2. Web site: Line Up Icons Command Is Missing on Windows XP Desktop . January 27, 2006 . Support . . November 7, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071214094553/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293478 . December 14, 2007 .
3. Book: Windows XP in a Nutshell. David A.. Karp. Tim. O'Reilly. Troy. Mott. O'Reilly Media, Inc.. Sebastopol, CA. 2005. 0596009003. November 7, 2012. registration. 2nd.
4. Web site: "Show icons using all possible colors" Option Is Not Available . . January 15, 2006 . Support . November 7, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090112125824/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282432 . January 12, 2009 .
5. Web site: Cannot Change Display Setting to 640 X 480 or 256 Color . . January 15, 2006 . Support . January 26, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070219235217/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286906 . February 19, 2007 .
6. Web site: Command Prompt QuickEdit Mode Is Disabled by Default in Windows XP . . January 15, 2006 . Support . January 26, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071216132559/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282301 . December 16, 2007 .
7. Web site: Phone Dialer Is Not Available in the Communications Menu . . January 15, 2006 . Support . January 26, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070312222148/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/285920 . March 12, 2007 .
8. Web site: NetMeeting Is Not Available on the Windows XP "Communications" Menu . . January 25, 2006 . Support . January 26, 2013 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20061208214314/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/298327 . December 8, 2006 .
9. Web site: Wempen . Faithe . April 21, 2010 . 10 cool registry edits and tweaks for Windows XP . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20170714120853/http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-cool-registry-edits-and-tweaks-for-windows-xp/ . July 14, 2017 . TechRepublic.
10. Web site: Windows 7 Feature Focus: Windows Explorer. Thurrott. Paul. October 6, 2010. SuperSite for Windows. Penton. November 30, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130107055320/http://winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/windows-7-feature-focus-windows-explorer. January 7, 2013. dead.
11. Web site: Windows Explorer no longer displays Web view templates or HTML customizations (using Folder.htt) . . October 10, 2003 . Support . November 7, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20041020044404/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/819028 . October 20, 2004 .
12. Web site: Free space pie chart missing?. JCMIT. September 6, 2004. Annoyances.org. December 15, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20050126211909/http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1094485009. January 26, 2005.
13. Web site: 'Disk Free Space' not displayed in Windows Explorer UNLESS viewing files under Desktop > My Computer > C. aeneas kaolin. December 29, 2004. Annoyances.org. December 11, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20050106062702/http://annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1104332485. January 6, 2005.
14. Web site: Free space no listed in status bar for removable drives. ranvel. June 11, 2006. derkeiler.com. January 22, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140407093151/http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.os.windows-xp/2006-06/msg00442.html. April 7, 2014. dead.
15. Web site: The Directory icon in Entire Network in My Network Places is missing . . March 15, 2005 . Support . November 8, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070629142610/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/329495 . June 29, 2007 .
16. Web site: The sort order for files and folders whose names contain numerals is different in Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 than it is in Windows 2000 . . August 28, 2007 . Support . December 4, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20071117045047/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319827 . November 17, 2007 .
17. Web site: Unable to Locate Either CD Deluxe or CD Player Playlists in Windows Media Player . . February 28, 2014 . 6.3 . Support . November 7, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140407081910/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/284971 . April 7, 2014 .
18. Web site: Plus! for Windows 98 Review. Thurrott. Paul. June 25, 1998. SuperSite for Windows. Penton. November 7, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130914230822/http://winsupersite.com/article/windows-95/plus-for-windows-98-reviewed-127376. September 14, 2013. dead.
19. Web site: Kodak imaging for Windows is not included with Windows XP . . March 22, 2007 . Support . November 7, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20071016061201/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308979 . October 16, 2007 .
20. Web site: Kodak/Wang Image OCX Controls | Some History . Ilixis . February 29, 2012 . April 16, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120229031646/http://www.ilixis.com/developer/kodak_history.html . February 29, 2012 .
21. Web site: Understanding Application Compatibility. Microsoft. TechNet. November 8, 2012. May 28, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120528045343/http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee449431.aspx. live.
22. Web site: How to install NetBEUI on Windows XP . . June 23, 2005 . Support . November 8, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20050913162658/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301041 . September 13, 2005 .
23. Web site: The DLC Protocol Is Not Available in Windows XP . . October 11, 2002 . Support . November 8, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050409045044/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306037 . April 9, 2005 .
24. Web site: The AppleTalk Protocol Is Not Available in Windows XP . . October 18, 2001 . Support . November 8, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050409044803/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305989 . April 9, 2005 .
25. Web site: Kernel Enhancements for Windows XP. Microsoft. January 13, 2003. MSDN. April 16, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20130527152554/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/gg463468.aspx. May 27, 2013.
26. Web site: POSIX and OS/2 are not supported in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003 . . May 12, 2004 . Support . May 21, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20041019061658/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308259 . October 19, 2004 .
27. Book: Absolute Beginner's Guide to A+ Certification. Mark Edward Soper. Que Publishing. Indianapolis, IN. 2004. 0789730626. February 3, 2020. 519. Other size options are also available in Windows 2000; the /f:size option is not supported in Windows XP.. January 11, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220111125103/https://books.google.com/books?id=KHCRkX5d-gAC&pg=PA519. live.
28. Web site: Floppy Disk Formats That Are Supported in Windows XP . . October 30, 2001 . Support . February 4, 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050508161405/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309623 . May 8, 2005 .
29. Web site: You Cannot Format 720 KB Floppy Disks in Windows XP . . January 31, 2007 . Support . February 4, 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070311102903/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302113 . March 11, 2007 .
30. Web site: Non-Plug and Play Network Device Support in Windows XP . . October 18, 2001 . Support . November 8, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20041030215121/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/295745 . October 30, 2004 .
31. Web site: SCSI Host Adapters Removed from Windows XP . . January 27, 2006 . Support . November 8, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070713193006/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270650 . July 13, 2007 .
32. Web site: TV and Broadcast Driver Architecture . https://web.archive.org/web/20040725120714/http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/broadcast.mspx . WHDC . . July 25, 2004 . May 21, 2014.
33. Web site: How to prepare to upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition to Windows XP . . March 5, 2013 . Support . May 21, 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130306083415/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316639 . March 6, 2013 .
34. Web site: Cannot Restore Backups That You Create in Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me with the Windows XP Ntbackup Tool . . May 7, 2007 . Support . May 21, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070818233655/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305381 . August 18, 2007 .
35. Web site: TCP/IP Raw Sockets (Windows). Microsoft. MSDN. November 7, 2012. https://archive.today/20130128183317/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms740548.aspx. January 28, 2013. live.
36. Web site: Source: Tcpip ID: 4226 (Windows Operating System) - Events And Errors Message Center: Message Details . . November 8, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140529043926/http://www.microsoft.com/products/ee/transform.aspx?ProdName=Windows%2BOperating%2BSystem&EvtID=4226&EvtSrc=Tcpip . May 29, 2014 .
37. Web site: The Radio Toolbar Is Unavailable in Internet Explorer 6 . . January 31, 2007 . Support . November 8, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080309210019/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303130 . March 9, 2008 .
38. Web site: Media Bar. Microsoft. MSDN. September 4, 2012 . November 8, 2012. February 11, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170211160218/https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533100.aspx. live.
39. Web site: Inside Outlook Express - Files and Settings - Maintenance Part I. Koch. Tom. April 29, 2006. Inside Outlook Express. November 7, 2012. November 1, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121101111328/http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm. live.
40. Web site: The Address toolbar no longer appears on the taskbar after you install Windows XP Service Pack 3 . . May 6, 2008 . Support . November 7, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080513075458/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951448 . May 13, 2008 .
41. Web site: Restore Missing or Disappeared IE (Internet Explorer) Desktop Icon in Windows XP SP3. May 11, 2008. Tip and Trick. January 22, 2013. January 12, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130112070630/http://www.tipandtrick.net/restore-missing-or-disappeared-ie-internet-explorer-desktop-icon-in-windows-xp-sp3/. live.
42. Web site: Installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3). Microsoft. TechNet. November 18, 2011 . November 7, 2012. August 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170822181613/https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc507836.aspx. live.
43. Web site: Windows XP Service Pack 3 installation fails with an error message, and the following error is logged in the service pack installation log: "8007F0F4 - STATUS_PREREQUISITE_FAILED" . . June 12, 2012 . Support . November 7, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120618022213/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949388 . June 18, 2012 .
44. Web site: After you create Windows XP Service Pack 3 slipstreamed media, your product key is not accepted . . January 18, 2010 . Support . January 22, 2013 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20100127064648/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950722 . January 27, 2010 .
45. Web site: List of fixes that are included in Windows XP Service Pack 3 . . September 23, 2011 . Support . November 7, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20111023120247/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946480 . October 23, 2011 .
46. Web site: You cannot join your computer to a domain in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 . . November 19, 2004 . Support . November 7, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20051101091747/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887212 . November 1, 2005 .