It’s a well-known fact that the Windows XP’s SP2 patch is working fine for most users; and that with caution (make a full backup or image beforehand; read and follow all of Microsoft’s pre-SP2 installation tips), even potentially troublesome installations can be handled smoothly.
But not swiftly: The update process can take a considerable chunk of your workday, even if you don’t count the download time or install from the free SP2 CD. Twenty to 40 minutes seems about the norm for installs on faster PCs; older, slower systems can take well over an hour.
There’s not a lot that can be done about that, but you can achieve a huge time savings on future installations and reinstallations of XP by integrating SP2’s files with those of your original XP setup CD. Your hybrid install CD will work exactly as the original one did, even to the point of using the same 25-character Product Key, but it will be completely up to date with all patches and updates, up to and including SP2. Any system you set up with the hybrid CD will be pre-patched to current levels, in one step. You’ll be totally up to date from the start, rather than facing maybe an hour or more of additional downloads to bring the new installation or reinstallation to SP2 levels.
Creating a new hybrid installation CD is surprisingly easy–a point and click exercise with only a few geeky parts. And it works very well. In fact, in most ways, this method of pre-patching an installation CD is basically the same process software vendors use to produce an updated version of their installation software; indeed, starting this fall, Microsoft will offer for sale fully prepatched versions of XP on CD. But you don’t have to wait: You can create your own totally legitimate prepatched copy of XP on CD today.
Before you begin, you’ll need the following:
1) A legitimate XP setup CD (almost any variation will work: Pro or Home; retail or OEM; full install CD or upgrade CD; etc.)
2) A CD/DVD burner, blank CD, and software capable of creating a bootable CD (eg. Nero, Roxio, etc.)
3) About a gigabyte of free space on your hard drive for temporary file storage. (This space can be recovered after you’ve made your new CD.)
Ready? Let’s dig in, step by step:
[Follow these steps EXACTLY!!!]
The Steps Required
Step 1: Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the top level of your hard drive, or to some other suitable location that’s easy to get back to.
Step 2: Create a new folder. We’ll use this new folder to hold the components of your CD project. You can give it any name, but for clarity, let’s call it XPSP2 in this working example.
Step 3: Open the newly created XPSP2 folder. Inside, create three new (empty) folders; name them Root, Boot, and SP2. These folders will house various components that later will be combined into a new, pre-patched setup CD.
Step 2:
Create a working folder for your CD project in a convenient location (e.g. c:\) and with an obvious name. The disk you select to host the project should have at least about one gigabyte free.
Step 3:
Create these three empty folders inside your main project folder. These subfolders will be used to store the working pieces of the new CD you’re building.
Copying Files, Folders
Step 4: Put your original, unpatched XP installation CD in the CD drive; copy all of its files and folders to the new “Root” folder you just created in Step Three. (i.e. C:\XPSP2\ROOT )
Step 5: Open the Root folder; you’ll see the files that have just been copied from the installation CD. Click to open the Support folder; then click to open the Tools folder inside that. Delete the file named “deploy.cab” inside the Tools folder. (In other words, delete: C:\XPSP2\ROOT\SUPPORT\TOOLS\DEPLOY.CAB )
Step 4:
Copying the contents of your original read-only setup CD to a normal read/writable hard drive makes the setup files patchable. Getting the files off the CD can take a long time on older, slower systems, but isn’t too onerous on newer PCs.
Step 5:
The original Deploy.Cab, in the \ROOT\SUPPORT\TOOLS\ folder, must be deleted. Later, we’ll replace it with an updated Deploy.Cab.
Step 6: Download the (free) “Windows XP Service Pack 2 Deployment Tools” from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3e90dc91-ac56-4665-949b-beda3080e0f6&displaylang=en
Download an Install Package
Step 7: The file you download In Step Six will have a name like “WindowsXP-KB838080-SP2-DeployTools-ENU.cab”. Rename this to “deploy.cab” and copy it into the C:\XPSP2\ROOT\SUPPORT\TOOLS\ folder, replacing the “deploy.cab” you previously deleted there.
Step 6:
Microsoft’s free ”Windows XP Service Pack 2 Deployment Tools” can be downloaded for free, and will become the basis of the new ”Deploy.Cab” you’ll need for your prepatched setup CD.
Step 7:
Rename the Deployment Tools to ”deploy.cab” and copy them to the \ROOT\SUPPORT\TOOLS\ folder.
Step 8: Download the (free) “Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers” from Microsoft. Download the file to the C:\XPSP2 folder; or if you downloaded it elsewhere, copy it into the C:\XPSP2 folder. Once it’s there, rename the downloaded file (which is named something like WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe ) to “SP2.EXE”
Step 8:
Download a (free) copy of the complete SP2 patch from Microsoft.
Step 8:
Rename the downloaded SP2 file to ”SP2.EXE” and place it in the C:\XPSP2 folder.
Step 9: Extract the Service pack files to the SP2 folder: Click Start/Run, and then type this command in the Run box:
C:\XPSP2\SP2.EXE /U /X:C:\XPSP2\SP2
Click OK, and the self-extracting SP2.exe file will unpack its contents into the SP2 folder.
Step 10: Use XP’s built-in “Update” tool to apply the SP2 patches to the original XP setup files. Click Start/Run and type the following command in the Run box:
C:\XPSP2\SP2\I386\UPDATE\UPDATE.EXE /S:C:\XPSP2\ROOT
Windows will open an “Updating Your Windows Share” dialog, and will show you the progress of the patching. When it’s done, the SP2 patches will be seamlessly integrated with the original XP setup files.
Step 9:
The SP2 patch will self-extract to the folder of your choice. See the Step Nine text for specifics on how to get the files ready for integration with the original setup files.
Step 10:
A single command typed on the ”Run” line (see Step Ten) merges the SP2 files with those on the original setup CD, making the setup files fully up to date and ready for use.
Making It Bootable
Most original XP setup CDs are bootable; and your new patched setup files will be most useful if they likewise reside on a bootable CD. Then, you can use the prepatched setup CD on any PC— even one where the hard drive is completely unformatted. (Of course, the PC must be capable of booting from a CD in the first place; we’ll assume that’s a given.)
Different CD-burning tools have different ways of setting up a bootable CD. I’ll walk you through using CDBurnerXP Pro, as it’s a great free open source CD-burning tool. Many of the concepts will apply to other tools, although the menu items and dialog names will be different. (I’ll also link to additional step-by-step guides for other CD tools at the end of this article.)
Step 11: In addition to the content files, which you created in steps 1-10 above, you also need the actual boot code. The good folks at TackTech, in addition to offering a wealth of information, also make available, free, CD boot code files. Grab a copy at http://www.tacktech.com/pub/microsoft/bootfiles/bootfiles.zip . It’s a standard ZIP file; open the file and copy the compressed file inside, called “boot.ima” to the folder C:\XPSP2\BOOT you previously created.
Step 12: Start your CD burner utility— in this example, CDBurnerXP Pro:
(By the way, you can download a copy of CDBurnerXP Pro here: http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ )
[from here on in the picture files are .png, so if you are having trouble viewing them, or your browser doesn’t support it, just drag the ‘undisplayed box’ up to your browser address window and drop it]
Step 13: Select the top option:
Create a new Data-CD/RW,Data-DVD/RW,Video-DVD or create and/or burn an ISO image…
Step 14: Select Disc > Boot Options… from the menu.
Step 15: Check the Make Disc Bootable check box.
Step 16: Click the … button.
Step 17: Locate the BootSector file (boot.ima) in the folder C:\XPSP2\BOOT.
Step 18: Click the Open button.
Step 19: Set Emulation Type: to NoEmulation (NT/2000/XP boot images)
Step 20: Set Load Segment: to 0000.
Step 21: Set Sectors: to 4.
Step 22: Check the Disable ISO File Delimeters (;1) checkbox.
Step 23: Check the Enforce ISO Level1 (8+3 char max.) checkbox.
Step 24: Click the OK button.
Step 25: Select Disc > Set ISOImage Labels… from the menu.
Step 26: Enter in the Volume Label:
View Windows XP SP0 CD Labels
View Windows XP SP1 CD Labels
View Windows XP SP1a CD Labels
View Windows XP SP2 CD Labels
Step 27: Enter in the Volume Set: (Same as the Volume Label).
Step 28: Enter in the Publisher textbox MICROSOFT CORPORATION.
Step 29: Enter in the Data Preparer textbox MICROSOFT CORPORATION.
Step 30: Click the Set Labels button.
Step 31: Locate the folder C:\XPSP2\ROOT.
Step 32: Select everything in the C:\XPSP2\ROOT folder and drag it to the compilation panel.
Step 33: Select Disc > Write Disc… from the menu.
Step 34: Check the Mode2XA instead of Mode1 (CDR/W Only) checkbox.
Step 35: Check the Finalize Disc (No Further Writing Possible) checkbox.
Step 36: (Optional) Check the Verify data after burn checkbox.
Step 37: (Optional) Check the Use Buffer Protection (Burn Proof,JustLink,etc.) checkbox.
Step 38: Click the Write Disc button.
Step 39: Wait for the Disc to be created…
Step 40: Click the OK button.
Step 41: Click the Done button.
Process complete. You’re done.
More Options and Alternatives
Of course, there are many variations on the process, and these sites cover most of them:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/winxp-sp2-bootcd.html
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/articles/guides/Windows-Slipstream-Guide_1.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=Create+Bootable+CD+xp+sp2
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Disclaimer: If you freak your computer out bc you don’t know how to follow directions, don’t come bitching at me! However, if you find a slight discrepancy in this article, please let me know below.
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