What is the best practice for rebuilding WinXP machine with SP3

[Daniel Small]

Awl,

Wanna rebuild an old machine (HP Pavilion 753n 2.53ghz PIV, 640MB Ram, 160GB
disk) and wonder what's the best way;

A) first install retail WinXP Pro (pre-SP1) and then use WindowsUpdate to
install SP3?

Or

B) first install WinXP Pro SP2 Dell OEM and then use WinUpdate to get SP3?

What think, are these equivalent or is there a better way that I'm
overlooking?

Mixi plitzik

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

Awl,

Wanna rebuild an old machine (HP Pavilion 753n 2.53ghz PIV, 640MB
Ram, 160GB disk) and wonder what's the best way;

A) first install retail WinXP Pro (pre-SP1) and then use
WindowsUpdate to install SP3?

Or

B) first install WinXP Pro SP2 Dell OEM and then use WinUpdate to get
SP3?

What think, are these equivalent or is there a better way that I'm
overlooking?

Mixi plitzik

You probably won't be able to use the Dell CD on the HP as Dell OEM CDs are
often specific for that particular motherboard AND it is also a violation of
the EULA.

Slipstream the Retail XP to either SP2 or SP3.

Slipstreamed Windows XP CD Using SP2
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm

How to use AutoStreamer to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/using_autostreamer/using_autostreamer.html

Combining Windows XP with Service Pack 2 for reinstallation (Part 1:
Introduction)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894947/

Windows XP Service Pack 2 - Direct Download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
or http://tinyurl.com/5bobl

You may also like to look at nLite ( http://www.nliteos.com/index.html )
and especially RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack
(http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack-sp2.html)

 

[philo]

You probably won't be able to use the Dell CD on the HP as Dell OEM CDs are
often specific for that particular motherboard AND it is also a violation of
the EULA.

Slipstream the Retail XP to either SP2 or SP3.

Slipstreamed Windows XP CD Using SP2
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm

How to use AutoStreamer to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/using_autostreamer/using_autostreamer.html

Combining Windows XP with Service Pack 2 for reinstallation (Part 1:
Introduction)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894947/

Windows XP Service Pack 2 - Direct Download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
or http://tinyurl.com/5bobl

You may also like to look at nLite ( http://www.nliteos.com/index.html )
and especially RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack
(http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack-sp2.html)

Yep I'd just go all the way and slipstream sp3 into the retail cd

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I wouldn't. SP3 is a special case. The recommendation is to slipsteam XP
Gold and SP2 and then slipstream again with SP3.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

A) is not possible. You must be at SP1 or SP2 to apply SP3 using Windows
Update. If not you will receive an error message.

B) If you could install XP SP2 then of course the easiest way is to use WU
to upgrade to SP3. However, the Dell cd is likely an OEM cd and that means
that the license is not transferrable to the HP machine. Or did you mean to
say that it is an HP cd?

 

[Eduardo Cerejo]

Awl,

Wanna rebuild an old machine (HP Pavilion 753n 2.53ghz PIV, 640MB Ram, 160GB
disk) and wonder what's the best way;

A) first install retail WinXP Pro (pre-SP1) and then use WindowsUpdate to
install SP3?

Or

B) first install WinXP Pro SP2 Dell OEM and then use WinUpdate to get SP3?

What think, are these equivalent or is there a better way that I'm
overlooking?

Mixi plitzik

Neither, I personally would make an installation cd with sp3 first then
install windows from that cd.

 

[chocobot]

Colin,

Thanks for the reply. No mistake, I meant 'Dell'. Though strictly speaking
the license may prohibit its use on non-Dell hardware I'd have no hesitation
using it--I've paid for the Dell and the Retail XP Pro (as well as the
original HP, for that matter). Unfortunately the HP machine came with no
backup WinXP CD only a backup partition which is long gone. (HP hasn't
updated the bios or other drivers for this machine since like 2002).

That's for the legal question anyway. I wonder if there are any technical
restrictions that would prevent its use. I guess the driver library on the
Dell CD may not include the right bits for the HP and that's a good reason.

I'm not trying to save time necessarily. I just want to rebuild the machine
in the best way possible. For years its been screwy wrt USB 1.1 and USB 2.0
support and has been unusually slow too (lots od disk churning etc). I'd
like to correct these issues (to that end I just removed the aftermarket
radeon 9100 graphics card and reverted back to onboard graphics set) and am
merely seeking the way that has the highest probability of accomplishing
this.


Someone else replied about making a full SP3 install disk. How would I go
about doing this? If I download the ISO image from Msft does this create a
complete WinXP SP3 install disk..that doesn't seem to make sense. What
think?

ds

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I'm not going to advise you on ways to be out of compliance with a license.

The .iso contains only the SP3 standalone package. It does not include the
OS. You would get the same thing if you ordered an SP3 from MS on cd.
Downloadable copies of XP Pro SP3 (called an "integrated cd") are only
available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. You can make the equivalent by
slipstreaming an XP Pro SP2 cd with the SP3 package using a program like
nLite.