How to fake/pretend to have service packs installed?

[Daniel]

Hey

Does anyone here know how to fake having service packs installed in XP?
I mean, so that programs that check if you have a certain service pack
installed before proceeding with the installation will think that you
have a service pack installed when in fact you have not?

I'm asking because I'm using VMware to run a number of specialized
virtual machines with XP installed, and I'd like for these machines to
be as light as possible, and SP2 for instance adds a lot of extra
memory consumption not to mention disk space! And, when a program
"requires" a service pack, most of the time it just needs a specific
hotfix that's included in a service pack, and not the rest, so I could
get away with installing just the hotfix if only the program would
think that the service pack was installed.

So, with hopes of someone having a good trick, thanks in advance,
Daniel

 

[Guest]

SP2 does not take up alot of space, the actual installation replaces more
data than it does install new data, once you are happy that SP2 is working
you can delete the backup files, much easier than trying to work out a way
around not installing them on your test installations.

Andy W

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

What is your reference for the statement
"SP2 for instance adds a lot of extra memory consumption not to mention disk space!"

I've not noticed additional memory usage. And as for disk space, you can recover space after the SP is applied.
See "Tidying Up After Installing SP2" by Alex Nichol at
http://aumha.org/win5/a/sp2faq.htm

 

[Kerry Brown]

Hey

Does anyone here know how to fake having service packs installed in
XP? I mean, so that programs that check if you have a certain service
pack installed before proceeding with the installation will think
that you have a service pack installed when in fact you have not?

I'm asking because I'm using VMware to run a number of specialized
virtual machines with XP installed, and I'd like for these machines to
be as light as possible, and SP2 for instance adds a lot of extra
memory consumption not to mention disk space! And, when a program
"requires" a service pack, most of the time it just needs a specific
hotfix that's included in a service pack, and not the rest, so I could
get away with installing just the hotfix if only the program would
think that the service pack was installed.

So, with hopes of someone having a good trick, thanks in advance,
Daniel

Create a XP CD that is slipstreamed with SP2 and use it to install XP to the
virtual machines. This will minimize the extra disk space used. I don't
notice that SP2 requires more memory. I use Microsoft virtual PC and usually
specify 256 MB for each virtual machine. I don't see any difference in
performance with SP1 or SP2. I don't know of any way to fake that SP2 is
installed.

 

[Daniel]

What is your reference for the statement
"SP2 for instance adds a lot of extra memory consumption not to mention disk space!"

Well, after using a slipstreamed version, it seems to use less. But
still, I have a so-called "Barenaked" version of XP that I'd like to
use, because it uses just under 32 MB RAM when loaded, and when I
install SP2 on this one, the usage jumps quite a lot.

I've not noticed additional memory usage. And as for disk space, you can recover space after the SP is applied.

I haven't been able to do that successfully myself. I went from ~300MB
to way over a gigabyte, even after removing the $spuninstall$ folder
under \windows. With a slipstreamed sp2, it uses way less, not sure why
though... But I'd still like to be able to fake it

 

[Daniel]

Create a XP CD that is slipstreamed with SP2 and use it to install XP to the
virtual machines. This will minimize the extra disk space used. I don't
notice that SP2 requires more memory. I use Microsoft virtual PC and usually
specify 256 MB for each virtual machine. I don't see any difference in
performance with SP1 or SP2. I don't know of any way to fake that SP2 is
installed.

If I'm unable to fake this thing, this is the way I'll go. I just tried
it, and noticed how much space is saved, and also memory consumption
seems lower than before, although not anyway near the 32 MB used by the
barenaked version...

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

"Barenaked" version of XP ? ehh? ?

 

[Kerry Brown]

Create a XP CD that is slipstreamed with SP2 and use it to install
XP to the virtual machines. This will minimize the extra disk space
used. I don't notice that SP2 requires more memory. I use Microsoft
virtual PC and usually specify 256 MB for each virtual machine. I
don't see any difference in performance with SP1 or SP2. I don't
know of any way to fake that SP2 is installed.

If I'm unable to fake this thing, this is the way I'll go. I just
tried it, and noticed how much space is saved, and also memory
consumption seems lower than before, although not anyway near the 32
MB used by the barenaked version...

You could try using nLite to create the slipstreamed disk. It allows you to
remove many components from Windows.

http://www.nliteos.com/index.html

Kerry

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Daniel,

Others have talked about the space issue, and there is no memory issue. What
I wanted to point out is that there is a reason some software requires a
specific service pack to be installed, and that is that there is some
reliance within the software upon updated versions of supporting files.
Fooling the installer would be useless, as when you try to load the program
the proper support will not be there and it will crash anyways. How would
you possibly know which specific hotfixes should be installed? Most programs
do not document well which supporting library files and the versions they
rely upon, only that they require - guess what? - a certain service pack to
be installed.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Daniel: I agree with the Other support on this issue. What do you Mean by XP
with 32 Mg install? You can take XP PRO down to a Mini/System of about 1.2
Gigs. As far as I know. Otherwise your O/S would not be useful. Other's on
this issue correct me if I'm wrong. Respectfully: Woz

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Woz,
Frankly, I too was mystified by Daniel's references to "32 meg" !
If he's talking about a memory footprint, then it's not the real XP.

 

[Daniel]

Hey again

Just to clear things up, this 32MB version is a version I downloaded
from the net. It's made by some crazy guy who's stripped off everything
"unnecessary" to make this "Barenaked" version that uses a minimum of
resources. It's stripped down to the point where it's even missing
Danish keyboard layout, so I had to create one myself with MSKLC. Only
problem is that it's some stolen corporate version that doesn't even
allow you to enter your own key, and the key I have is for a single
user pro version (from MSDN Academic Alliance), so I can't update it or
anything (and in reality, I suppose I'm breaking the law using it even
though I own an XP key (well, actually I own three, plus an OEM
installation on my laptop, though none of the keys can be used here)).
Then again, I don't want to update, I downloaded it exactly because
it's basic and small. But yes, the memory footprint is just shy of 32
MB after a clean install.