Slipstreaming XP and SP2

[Sarrkazztic]

I have been doing some reading on this...and wanted opinions of anyone who has actually tried it.....and tips or suggestions?? I have to rebuild my mothers computer next weekend as she managed to fry her mobo in the last one I built her......ordered her a new one and a new case.....thought this would be a perfect time to try this since her previous board had via chipset in it and the new one has nforce 2 I will not even think about trying to let XP just find new drivers and the over the top install to fix it.....so format and clean install is the choice on this one....and slipstreaming would make it nice and smooth if it works like the articles I read.....



Gimme your thoughts and suggestions....

[Steve R Jones]

Everyone's doing it except me

Guess if you had a punch of computers to do it'd be worthwhile.

Here's a pretty popular guide with pictures




Slipstreaming Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Create Bootable CD
http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsX...p2-bootcd.html

[Philgo]

Slipstreaming works well for me.

With the new Nforce2 mobo most people don't use IDE drivers they leave the Microsoft versions.

So I'd download the latest Nvidia system drivers first and un tick the IDE option when installing.

[Ridgerunr]

I use the Elder Geek's method and it works very well. Only software you need is the free version of ISO buster to get the .img file off the XP cd...

http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm

[Vernon Frazee]

More:

• Langa Letter: How To Save an Hour (Or More) On XP
  Installs Sept. 20, 2004
  http://www.informationweek.com/story...cleID=47212312
  
• Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
  http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...slipstream.asp
  
• Universal Windows Slipstreaming and Bootable CD Guide
  http://www.msfn.org/articles.php?act...showarticle=49
  
• Slipstreaming Windows 2000/XP [SP1,SP1a,SP2]
  http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=295
  
• Updating Your Windows XP Install CD: A Slipstream & Bootable CD Guide
  http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/a...m-Guide_1.html

[Shinma]

I create them manually, like example shown in Steve R Jones' provided link.

Found them to be really handy since it saves time of not having to deal separately with Service Packs.
Capability of adding extra folder on the CD with drivers/sofware is nice too.

Very handy when testing alot of software and/or revisions of software.
If time is of the essence, clean install option is always available.

[Brily]

It works great and will save you a lot of time in the long run. Instead of sitting there watching Windows update, you could be outside drinking a beer....endless possibilities.

[DuaneB]

Many major retailers, including Amazon, Fry's, CompUSA, Best Buy, Circuit City and others, are offering both Home and Professional Editions of XP with SP2 already on them.

Retailers Push Windows XP SP2
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/artic...1669968,00.asp

[LotusAstra]

I'd say it's worth doing even if just for one PC... I wouldn't install in any other way, no sense wasting time and disk space doing upgrades when MS kindly make it possible to update your XP Install CD to perform clean installs with far less hassle, ya only have to create the CD once (each time a new service pack is released), it's a very quick process and the only cost is the price of a blank CD-R...

I can't see any reason to NOT slipstream (providing you have a burner of-course ), reinstalls, repairs, or if you're going to use it on multiple systems etc, the more you use it the greater the benefit (as in time savings), quicker overall installation times and a secure PC right out of the box, so no need to worry about blaster/sasser or all them other vulnerabilities one would normally patch before going online...

You can do it manually like in the link posted above by Steve, (which involves a bit of reading and use of the command line), or the easy way you can use something like AutoStreamer to automate the process and do it with ease..

Also another automated way of doing it is to use nLite... nLite has many other features so you can easily create an unattended install, integrate hot-fixes and/or drivers and also remove components of XP that you don't want, using nLite it's possible to create an XP install that will use under 300MB of disk space with less than 50MB of RAM usage, great for those older PC's or a dedicated gaming box, just have to find the balance between lightness and functionality that you need... Once u created the CD, to install ya just boot the XP CD, select the partition to install to and then you can go and drink beer (or something) while the PC gets on with the rest of the installation without bugging you, so you don't need to sit in front the PC answering sporadically placed questions about CD-Key, Username, language and networks settings etc...

More complex Unattended installs can also be created manually like in the link in my signature, you can again add hotfixes, drivers and also add software to be automatically installed, include all your tweaks, themes, skins, wallpapers, explorer and IE views/settings and much much more so you can perform clean installs that are the way YOU want... I used that guide several months ago to create myself an unattended Install CD and wouldn't go back to my previous methods, it's a great time saver, plus i no longer need to worry about OS backups because it's just as easy to reinstall, so it saves all the hassle and disk space used by Ghosting too. One disk is all you need for the ultimate backup for every PC you own, love it!

Regards

EDIT: Changed link for nLite so it points to the discription page, also decided to add it to my sig, along with another cool utility i found a few weeks ago

[Chief]

This is somthing you may be interested in, http://mhtools.knoware.nl/raptor/aut...toStreamer.zip
It will make the slipstreamed CD for you all you need to do is answer a couple of questions about what you want on the CD, It was made available thru the Langa letter also, very easy to do this way.

[Byan]

I used this site- http://unattended.msfn.org/

it tells you to do just about anything you want to do..., including automation of much of the options...

dont forget that you can put your hacked files on the disk as well..., such as your hacked shell32.dll, explorer..., uxtheme.dll(allows you so apply Visual Styles not made by microsoft...), ect. comes in handy cause it can be a pain to manually change these files...

on my disk I have-
all 'critical hotfixes'
SP1a
MSJM
hacked explorer and uxtheme



this tutorial could really come in handy for people who need to install the same liciense on many computers and install the same software as well, cause you can put the software installs on the CD as well and have all your programs and setting installed on the PC without hardly any human action at all...
this would be even easier if you were to just put this on a network share...

I hope this helps,
Byan

[LotusAstra]

...and then there was silence??? Sarr, we haven't scared ya off with all these possibilities have we?

[Sarrkazztic]

nope...Im going to give it a try.....the machine I am building for my mother is on hiatus....diagnosed as bad motherboard in hers.....then her cpu gave up the ghost when I got the new motherboard.....she is a heavy smoker.....choked the thing to death.....pretty gross taking the heatsink and fan off that thing......got her a new gigabyte mobo...and a sempron 2400 processor on the way.....all this going into a thermaltake xaser v case.....as soon as I get the processor mounted....and the wires all tucked neatly out of the way so the case window looks good....then I will begin the work....will keep ya all posted.

[I'm at 28356]

I didn't notice any mention of "Autostreamer" by Neowin in the above posts. I used it the other night to slipstream SP2 into my Dell XP,sp1. It makes slipstreaming XP very easy and fast.