sp2 without enough space on c drive?

[news.microsoft.com]

I have a 4 Gig hard drive separated into two partitions. each of 1.92 Gig

There is about 270 Gig of space on c and d only has the swap file on it.

I cant get SP2 to run from the CD. It gets about as far as extracting the
files into a directory on d: but then stops. I have tried the /n switch and
the /d:\sp2backup switch. It extracts and then stops on both. No error
message, it just stops. No threshing or hard drive activity, it just stops.
Once i did manage to get it to put files into the i386 directory on the d
drive but it deleted them pretty soon. Now it wont see any of the deleted
files. It seems that when it stops, it deletes all the files from that
directory. (This may be irrelevant but it wont run the /? switch without
extracting all the files before telling me available switches. It seems to
delete them all immediately you press /OK on the /? screen which then
appears)

Is there some secret way of doing this? When I tried doing it from the web
site, which only seems to require 200 Meg of spare space on c, it tells me
that I haven't got enough space. The CD installation seems to recognise that
I have over 600 Meg of free space on d but I can't understand why the CD
won't run.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

You should install XP onto a 20gb drive.. 4gb is nothing like large enough..
the SP2 file is 270mb, but that is compressed..

 

[news.microsoft.com]

Well it uncompresses all its files onto its d drive and this includes all
the i386 files AND there is supposed to be enough space on the c drive (it
says it needs 200 mb). Is this simply not true? And how come the sp2
download is only 75 megabytes?

do you know why the update simply stops?

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

You are NOT listening.. the complete SP2 download file is 270mb in
compressed form.. the 75mb file is that absolute basic SP2 that starts the
update from the Windows Update website.. depending upon the system and what
has to be installed, more is added after the initial install has started..

So I will repeat myself, and whether you like it or not, what I am saying is
true..

4Gb is NOT big enough to take a fully updated XP.. 4Gb drives were around in
Win 98/ME days.. 5gb is the absolute minimum for a Win 2000 installation..
10gb is the minimum required for XP allowing for other programs and
subsequent updates..

Your hard drive is too small.. get a new one..

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

4 GB may work if Windows is all that is on the drive.
No programs, files, Email etc.
If you do manage to install SP-2, you will be out of space:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=837783

You need a larger hard drive.

 

[news.microsoft.com]

Sorry to misread what was being told to me

I thought that sp2 overwrote xp files it was updating and deleted its
install files after it was installed. Obviously not.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

No, but the uninstall files may be safely deleted after the installation:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

 

[news.microsoft.com]

Yes, but as you comment that doesn't help me, even if there WERE some way of
installing without making backup files (the OP was a question about making
the /n switch or some /d: switch work and the install DOES install the
install files to the D drive).

I was hoping to install this updated OS on this laptop and then sell it
inexpensively to someone who only wanted to use it for some specific
purpose, like surfing the net and perhaps occasionally using WordPad etc

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

If you had said that from the beginning, you would have been given a
different answer.
The answer now is to repartition the drive as one partition and Clean
Install Windows XP:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/cleanxp.htm
Then you can install SP-2.
BUT there will still be little to no space for anything else since you are
at or below what is recommended for only Windows and the necessary Windows
Updates.
There will be little to no room for Email, Favourites or even the WordPad
files you refer.

You really need a larger hard drive if Windows XP is to be installed.

 

[news.microsoft.com]

Many thanks; I was fully aware of that. I simply thought that there was some
way of installing using the D partition and possibly no backup files to take
up space I fully accept I haven't got. I see now that there isn't. I also
posted because I thought that I couldn't get rid of the d partition because
the floppy has stopped working on this annoying Dell computer (a problem I
have had before with Dell notebooks) and no one on the Dell forums seemed to
know how to get it to work properly; it just threshes about and eventually
tells me that all discs need formatting (when I try to format, obviously it
makes no difference and the format procedure doesn't even work as the
computer isn't accessing the drive to format it!)

(I originally used partition commander to install the d partition but now,
cant use that to delete the d partition and expand the c partition into its
space because I cant access the floppy drive to boot off)

Maybe the only way is to boot into knoppix, delete both partitions and
reinstall everything having deleted all partitions (or do it off the install
cd) and then install sp2 immediately. Can I save any space by deleting ie6
and using firefox exclusively or is this still an absolute No-No even after
the litigation mandated that users must be able to do it? (I never did
figure out how to remove IE)

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

You would be doing a disservice to sell a laptop loaded with XP, and fully
updated, on a 4gb drive at any price.. there simply would not be enough room
for XP to strut it's stuff..

One would have to assume that it is fairly low powered by way of RAM and CPU
if it has only a 4gb drive installed, making it mindlessly slow in operation
even if every last bit of eye candy was removed.. if you add the constraints
of virtually no hard drive space for a pagefile or even temporary internet
files, the system becomes all but unusable..

You also mention that the diskette drive is not working!!!!!!!!!!!!..

 

[news.microsoft.com]

I would have agreed with you but curiously enough, this dell inspiron 3500
does seem to run xp reasonably well with only 128 meg of ram and a 340 meg
swap file on the d partition (which was the reason for the partitioning)

I might add that there are lots of people out there who want a very
inexpensive laptop solely to surf the net with firefox and do an occasional
letter. (The speed of this machine becomes all the more interesting when you
factor in knoppix. But all of that is beside the point). They don't even
bother with spybot or adaware, which seems to be properly loaded on this
machine. They accept before they even buy the unit that they don't need a
floppy, which isn't so unusual in the 21st century. (and I did manage to get
the cd to work by cleaning the lens so they CAN use that)

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I would have agreed with you but curiously enough, this dell
inspiron 3500 does seem to run xp reasonably well with only 128 meg
of ram and a 340 meg swap file on the d partition (which was the
reason for the partitioning)
I might add that there are lots of people out there who want a very
inexpensive laptop solely to surf the net with firefox and do an
occasional letter. (The speed of this machine becomes all the more
interesting when you factor in knoppix. But all of that is beside
the point). They don't even bother with spybot or adaware, which
seems to be properly loaded on this machine. They accept before
they even buy the unit that they don't need a floppy, which isn't
so unusual in the 21st century. (and I did manage to get the cd to
work by cleaning the lens so they CAN use that)

Create a slipstreamed (with all patches until now) CD.
Install from that - custom - getting rid of things like MSN Explorer, etc.
Make sure you install BARE MINIMUM.
Install Firefox.

That's about as good as you are going to get with those specs.

 

[news.microsoft.com]

Yes, I wondered about that course. I did carefully create a slipstreamed cd
when sp2 first came out but was never able to install from it. How much
space DOES a slipstreamed installation take up? And how do you install XP
without internet explorer? (or does 'bare minimum' do this?). Is there any
way of checking what I did wrong with my slipstreamed cd? I am reluctant to
follow the whole procedure again if I am likely to do the same thing wrong
again!

 

[news.microsoft.com]

Actually I have just noticed a problem which I am not sure is rectified by
xpcreate. This is a Dell machine which came with one of those annoying
restore CDs. I do have another Inspiron box which is fully updated and a
genuine key from the 3500 I can retrieve. Is there a way of using a fully
updated installation on another Dell machine to create a slipstreamed
install CD for this machine on which I can put the valid XP product key?
Or MUST I have a proper install CD to make a slipstreamed CD? Although I
used the instructions on the ms site, I only have a full install CD from an
independent manufacturer which is an XP pro install CD. This is probably
why my install didn't work when I tried to use it to install xphome from
that slipstreamed CD I had made

(I would like to make a new slipstreamed install CD now as there have been a
huge number of hotfixes since sp2 first came out)

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Yes, I wondered about that course. I did carefully create a
slipstreamed cd when sp2 first came out but was never able to
install from it. How much space DOES a slipstreamed installation
take up? And how do you install XP without internet explorer? (or
does 'bare minimum' do this?). Is there any way of checking what I
did wrong with my slipstreamed cd? I am reluctant to follow the
whole procedure again if I am likely to do the same thing wrong
again!

AutoStreamer will get the Service pack done at least.. the /integrate switch
will do the rest of the patches.
nLite is another option.

Rather than give you just a little information - I will tell you how to get
the updates, how to integrate them into your own CD, etc.. That way you are
better informed about your options when it comes to the Windows Updates.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx

You can download all updates and burn them to CD..

You can download each update manually - based off the KB Article number,
etc. That way you can back it up/burn a CD of them in case you need them or
use them to keep a slipstream/integrated (updated) Windows XP CD.

How to use the Windows Update Catalog
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323166
(In order to use the Windows Update Catalog, you must use IE to get the
patches..)

Windows Update Catalog
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog/en/default.asp
(In order to use the Windows Update Catalog, you must use IE to get the
patches..)

Creating an Integrated Installation
http://snipurl.com/el43

Integrate software updates into your Windows installation source files
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828930

Really customize your CD..
http://unattended.msfn.org/

Produce an up-to-date XP Distibution CD
http://xpcreate.com/

AutoPatcher
http://www.autopatcher.com/

AutoStreamer
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=223562

You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace ##
with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check by
the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
fine) - note that future months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2005's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms05-may.mspx

July 2005's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms05-jul.mspx


Once you get on the page with each month's list of patches.. You can go to
the related KB articles and grab the appropriate files from there.