Can you explain the patch naming convention?

Windows 2000 hotfixes are named according to the following convention:

Q######_XXX_YYY_ZZZ_LL.exe

where:

Q###### = the Microsoft Knowledge Base article number (for example, Q123456)

XXX = the operating system

YYY = the service pack level

ZZZ = the hardware platform

LL = the language

This name, Q######_W2K_SP4_x86_en.exe, indicates a Windows 2000 patch, released after or "post" service-pack 3, for intel-based hardware, english language.

For Windows XP, the format will be very similar, but slightly different:

Q######_WXP_SP2_X86_LLL.exe for 32-bit Windows XP Professional

Q######_WXP_SP2_IA64_LLL.exe for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition

Note that people will usually refer to a patch by this name, or the "Q" number or also by security fix reference number (MSxx-xxx).

In the UpdateEXPERT download directory, you may notice files with hexadecimal format names. These are patches that have been renamed by UpdateEXPERT for security reasons.