Slipstream Xp And Sp2

With the virtual necessity of installing SP2, you are liable to run into difficulty if you have to do a repair as you may be asked for your XP-SP2 CD. The solution is a slipstreamed XP-SP2 installation CD. The expert Gnomies will know how this is done, but I thought it might be timely to post a how-to for this task. Most of this isn't my own, but I've simplified and re-ordered the process to make it as painless as I can. You may want to print this off.

Slipstream XP and Service Pack 2

Preparation

In addition to your XP installation CD; a blank CD; and a burning program (I'm using Nero); you will need a copy of SP2, either from a CD or downloaded from here, if you don’t have a copy already (about 272MB in size). You will also need to download and install a copy of Isobuster which you can get here. The trial version will work fine for our purpose, although this program is well worth the money. We will use Isobuster to extract a file from your XP CD so that the finished slipstreamed CD will be bootable.

Integrate SP2 into XP

1. Create two folders in your C: root drive and name them XP and SP2.

2. Insert your XP installation CD, exit any autostart window, and copy the entire contents to the XP folder.

3. While you're there, write down the name of your XP CD as it shows on the CD drive.

4. Start Isobuster and point it to the drive with your XP CD. In the left-hand pane click on Bootable CD. In the right-hand pane you should see a file named Microsoft Corporation.img. Right-click on this file and extract it to your C: root drive.
Close Isobuster and eject your XP CD.

5. Copy the SP2 executable to the SP2 folder. If you are copying the file from a CD, copy just the SP2 executable, not the other files or folders. It will be named something like XPSP2.exe. If you have a downloaded version, it will be named something like WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe. Whatever the file is called, rename it to XPSP2.exe after you have copied it to the SP2 folder.

6. Open a Command prompt by going to Start => Run and typing in cmd. Type in cd.. until you're at the C:\> root drive. Type in cd SP2 to change to this folder. At the C:\SP2> prompt, type in the following:

xpsp2.exe /integrate:c:\xp. The only space in this line is before /integrate.

Press Enter. You should see the extraction process, followed by the integration process. If you have done it all correctly so far, you should get a message telling you that the integration was successful.

Burn the slipstreamed XP to CD

In this exercise I'm using Nero, but Roxio will do the job as well.
1. Open Nero Burning ROM and click on CD-ROM (Boot).

2. Click on the Boot tab, click the Image file radio button, click the Browse button and browse to the file Microsoft Corporation.img that you extracted to your C: root drive earlier. Check the Enable expert settings box and select No Emulation. Change the Number of loaded sectors to 4. Your finished window should look like this:


Error: image could not be loaded. Image is not available from server

Image URL: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/Claymore1746/Nero-CDBoot.jpg


3. Click on the Label tab and enter the name of the XP CD that you wrote down earlier.

4. Click the New button and browse to your XP folder. Drag the entire contents of this folder to the left-hand pane.

5. Before burning, the Compilation window should re-open, but just to be sure click on File => Compilation Properties. Click the Boot tab and make sure that your settings are the same as the picture above. Especially make sure that the Enable expert settings box is checked. If the Compilation window opens before you burn, re-check these entries.

6. Insert your blank CD and click the Burn button on the toolbar.

Test your finished CD

When the burn is completed, close everything, eject the CD and then put it back in your CD-ROM drive. The Windows XP menu should start automatically. Exit this window.
Leave the CD in the drive and Restart your computer. After the computer has booted through the BIOS splash screen, hit any key at the prompt to boot from CD. The XP setup routine should start. Let it run till you get to the blue setup options screen. Remove the CD and F3 to exit and restart.

Whether you put a label on your CD or not, write your Product Code on the CD just in case.