List of features removed in Windows XP

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.

Part of a series on
Windows XP

Shell
  • The balloon notification 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 is no longer available. It is 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]:47
  • The Minimize all windows command on the taskbar is hidden.[3]:76 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 ⊞ Win+M 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 is no longer available. 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, but Microsoft states that this workaround is unsupported.[5]
  • In the Command Prompt, QuickEdit mode and Insert mode are disabled by default and can only be re-enabled per window title.[6]
  • Links to Phone Dialer[7] and NetMeeting[8] were removed from the Start menu.

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 both the options to select what parts of a theme to apply and the previews for parts of a theme were removed.
  • The previous wallpapers and tiles from Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 including the Plus! wallpaper were removed.
  • 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.
  • The 3D Maze (possibly due to the Windows logo having been changed, although the Wingdings font with the old Windows logo is still present) and Flying Windows screensavers were removed. The 3D Pipes teapot easter egg also no longer works on Windows XP.

Windows Explorer
  • Small Icons view is no longer available in Windows Explorer.[9]
  • Web view in folders was disabled by default but can be reinstated by editing the registry. Additionally, the Customize This Folder Wizard was removed.[10] Due to the removal of Web view, pie charts showing disk space are no longer available immediately upon opening a drive.[11]
  • The status bar no longer shows the free space remaining on the given disk when browsing through folder paths of shell namespace extensions,[12] removable drives,[13] 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.[14]
  • The default sort order in Windows Explorer has changed but can be restored by editing the registry.[15]

Bundled applications

Protocols

Subsystems

Hardware support

Windows 9x

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]
  • The number of TCP half-open connections was restricted.[36]
  • Program Manager was removed.
  • 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 original release of Windows XP came with unique boot screens that identified the edition of Windows XP currently running, including a green progress bar for Home Edition and a blue progress bar for Professional, Embedded, Tablet PC Edition, and Media Center Edition. These unique boot screens were removed in Service Pack 2 and replaced with a single generic "Windows XP" boot screen with a blue progress bar.

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 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 2003).[42][43] Cumulative slipstreaming, however, is still possible and supported.[44]
  • The Energy Star logo in the Display Properties dialog was removed.[45]

Media Center Edition 2005

See also

References
  1. Chen, Raymond (December 16, 2003). "The unsafe device removal dialog". The Old New Thing. Microsoft. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  2. "Line Up Icons Command Is Missing on Windows XP Desktop". Support. Microsoft. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  3. Karp, David A.; O'Reilly, Tim; Mott, Troy (2005). Windows XP in a Nutshell (2nd ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN 0596009003. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  4. ""Show icons using all possible colors" Option Is Not Available". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on January 12, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  5. "Cannot Change Display Setting to 640 X 480 or 256 Color". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  6. "Command Prompt QuickEdit Mode Is Disabled by Default in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  7. "Phone Dialer Is Not Available in the Communications Menu". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  8. "NetMeeting Is Not Available on the Windows XP "Communications" Menu". Support. Microsoft. January 25, 2006. Archived from the original on December 8, 2006. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  9. Thurrott, Paul (October 6, 2010). "Windows 7 Feature Focus: Windows Explorer". SuperSite for Windows. Penton. Archived from the original on January 7, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  10. "Windows Explorer no longer displays Web view templates or HTML customizations (using Folder.htt)". Support. Microsoft. October 10, 2003. Archived from the original on October 20, 2004. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  11. JCMIT (September 6, 2004). "Free space pie chart missing?". Annoyances.org. Archived from the original on January 26, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  12. aeneas kaolin (December 29, 2004). "'Disk Free Space' not displayed in Windows Explorer UNLESS viewing files under Desktop > My Computer > C:". Annoyances.org. Archived from the original on January 6, 2005. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  13. ranvel (June 11, 2006). "Free space no listed in status bar for removable drives". derkeiler.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  14. "The Directory icon in Entire Network in My Network Places is missing". Support. Microsoft. March 15, 2005. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  15. "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". Support. Microsoft. August 28, 2007. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  16. "Unable to Locate Either CD Deluxe or CD Player Playlists in Windows Media Player". Support (6.3 ed.). Microsoft. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  17. Thurrott, Paul (June 25, 1998). "Plus! for Windows 98 Review". SuperSite for Windows. Penton. Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  18. "Kodak imaging for Windows is not included with Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. March 22, 2007. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  19. "Kodak/Wang Image OCX Controls | Some History". Ilixis. February 29, 2012. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  20. "Understanding Application Compatibility". TechNet. Microsoft. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  21. "How to install NetBEUI on Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. June 23, 2005. Archived from the original on September 13, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  22. "The DLC Protocol Is Not Available in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 11, 2002. Archived from the original on April 9, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  23. "The AppleTalk Protocol Is Not Available in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 18, 2001. Archived from the original on April 9, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  24. "Kernel Enhancements for Windows XP". MSDN. Microsoft. January 13, 2003. Archived from the original on May 27, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  25. "POSIX and OS/2 are not supported in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003". Support. Microsoft. May 12, 2004. Archived from the original on October 19, 2004. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  26. Mark Edward Soper (2004). Absolute Beginner's Guide to A+ Certification. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. p. 519. ISBN 0789730626. Retrieved February 3, 2020. Other size options are also available in Windows 2000; the /f:size option is not supported in Windows XP.
  27. "Floppy Disk Formats That Are Supported in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 30, 2001. Archived from the original on May 8, 2005. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  28. "You Cannot Format 720 KB Floppy Disks in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. January 31, 2007. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  29. "Non-Plug and Play Network Device Support in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 18, 2001. Archived from the original on October 30, 2004. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  30. "SCSI Host Adapters Removed from Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  31. "TV and Broadcast Driver Architecture". WHDC. Microsoft. Archived from the original on July 25, 2004. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  32. "How to prepare to upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition to Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. March 5, 2013. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  33. "Cannot Restore Backups That You Create in Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me with the Windows XP Ntbackup Tool". Support. Microsoft. May 7, 2007. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  34. "New ways to do familiar tasks". Windows XP Product Documentation. Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 3, 2006. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  35. "TCP/IP Raw Sockets (Windows)". MSDN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  36. "Source: Tcpip ID: 4226 (Windows Operating System ) - Events And Errors Message Center: Message Details". Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  37. "The Radio Toolbar Is Unavailable in Internet Explorer 6". Support. Microsoft. January 31, 2007. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  38. "Media Bar". MSDN. Microsoft. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  39. Koch, Tom (April 29, 2006). "Inside Outlook Express - Files and Settings - Maintenance Part I". Inside Outlook Express. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  40. "The Address toolbar no longer appears on the taskbar after you install Windows XP Service Pack 3". Support. Microsoft. May 6, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  41. "Restore Missing or Disappeared IE (Internet Explorer) Desktop Icon in Windows XP SP3". Tip and Trick. May 11, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  42. "Installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)". TechNet. Microsoft. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
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  44. "After you create Windows XP Service Pack 3 slipstreamed media, your product key is not accepted". Support. Microsoft. January 18, 2010. Archived from the original on January 27, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  45. "List of fixes that are included in Windows XP Service Pack 3". Support. Microsoft. September 23, 2011. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  46. "You cannot join your computer to a domain in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005". Support. Microsoft. November 19, 2004. Archived from the original on November 1, 2005. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
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