XP Pro (Gold?) and SP3

[ClueLess]

Hi All

I see many posts stating that SP3 can be installed only after applying
either SP1 or SP2

I have already successfully slipstreamed SP3 on XP-SP2 and made a
fresh install which went smoothly, no problems.

Today I tried with my original XP Pro (Retail) and the slipstreaming
with nLite went without any warning or hitch. That means, AFAICS,
update.exe did not check whether XP was with either SP1 or SP2.

Since I have no spare hard disk I did not try to install it and see if
there is a problem.

Having slipstreamed I believe there should be no problem. I will get a
new hard disk and install this weekend and come back.

Meantime if anyone has more information please respond.

 

[Big Al]

Hi All

I see many posts stating that SP3 can be installed only after applying
either SP1 or SP2

I have already successfully slipstreamed SP3 on XP-SP2 and made a
fresh install which went smoothly, no problems.

Today I tried with my original XP Pro (Retail) and the slipstreaming
with nLite went without any warning or hitch. That means, AFAICS,
update.exe did not check whether XP was with either SP1 or SP2.

Since I have no spare hard disk I did not try to install it and see if
there is a problem.

Having slipstreamed I believe there should be no problem. I will get a
new hard disk and install this weekend and come back.

Meantime if anyone has more information please respond.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/cc164204.aspx
This article says you have to have SP1 at least. And oddly it
recommends SP2 installed. But that now runs totally against the grain
of logic (to me at least).

But I'd sure like to see it in more plain English like you said.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

I see many posts stating that SP3 can be installed only after applying

either SP1 or SP2

I have already successfully slipstreamed SP3 on XP-SP2 and made a
fresh install which went smoothly, no problems.

Today I tried with my original XP Pro (Retail) and the slipstreaming
with nLite went without any warning or hitch. That means, AFAICS,
update.exe did not check whether XP was with either SP1 or SP2.

Since I have no spare hard disk I did not try to install it and see if
there is a problem.

Having slipstreamed I believe there should be no problem. I will get a
new hard disk and install this weekend and come back.

Meantime if anyone has more information please respond.

I think the logic for original retail CD is that you first slipstream
SP1 into it and then SP3 into it. But if it works for you, maybe you
just got lucky.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Correct. The blocker is programmed into the herald file that starts the
download of the main SP3 file on Windows Update. The standalone does not
contain the herald file and so does display a blocker.

Further, nLite works just fine. It does not know that it is creating a cd
that will install a defective OS. It just does what you tell it too.

The problems do not appear until you use the slipstreamed cd to install the
OS or repair it.

So don't use XP Gold to create an integrated XP SP3 cd. Just don't. The
SP1 and SP2 installers made certain changes to XP Gold kernel files quite
apart from any updates before or since. However, these changes are NOT done
by the SP3 installer. That means critical changes aren't made to XP Gold at
the time SP3 is applied that are made if you upgrade XP Gold to SP1 or SP2
and then use that as a base for slipstreaming with SP3.

I have no idea why MS did not provide for that in SP3 but they did say that
they did not during the SP3 beta program and said not to use XP Gold for
slipsteaming. I suppose it could have something to do with changes to XP's
servicing stack back around SP1 but I am just speculating.

Unfortunately, the SP3 beta newsgroups are no longer on the betanews servers
so I cannot go back and capture the quotes for you.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

There is, according to the SP3 beta team. See my reply in this thread. I'm
sure I don't have it 100% correct but I am sure that the team said
slipstreaming on XP Gold would produce an integrated cd that would install a
defective XP.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

There is a resistance to advice given in a newsgroup by the old heads. It's
like "if I don't understand it then it must not be true."

 

[ANONYMOUS]

The article you refer to is all about "INSTALLING Windows XP Service
Pack 3 (SP3)". The operative word is Installing here NOT SLIPSTREAMING
or EMBEDDING.

I have done it and it does install without problems. The only
difference is that you need to provide the product key during
installation procedure rather than have the option to defer entering it
after it is complete.

hth

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Where is your source on the web? It is completely wrong to say it will
produce defective XP. Unless you have tried it you can't write anything
erroneous like you have just done. I have tried it, compared the files
with those produced by SP2 integrated with SP3. There is no difference
what so ever except that dates on files of original XP were 2001.

hth

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Where does it say that "SP1 is required" when slipstreaming or embedding
a windows share? You are all joining the band wagon of Colin Barnhorst
[[email protected]] who hasn't tried it or tested it but is quite
happy to give erroneous advise on these newsgroups. One should try it
before giving advice or advise on these public newsgroups or provide
links to their source.

hth

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Thank you very much. You can ignore my last message as you have now
answered it.

Thanks once again.

Regards,

Where does it say that "SP1 is required" when slipstreaming or embedding
a windows share? You are all joining the band wagon of Colin Barnhorst
[[email protected]] who hasn't tried it or tested it but is quite
happy to give erroneous advise on these newsgroups. One should try it
before giving advice or advise on these public newsgroups or provide
links to their source.

Just ran an extensive search using Google, and it would appear that
you are entirely correct.

There is nothing in the MS Knowledge Base against it, and there are
enough sites saying it can be done and giving instructions that it
would definitely appear that it can be done.

The only "problems" seems to be related to having to use your
installation key when using the slipstreamed disc. Hardly a problem.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Haven't tried it? You're joking. I have been making slipstreamed copies of
XP SP3 since the onset of beta 2 last year. I have installed XP SP3 from
integrated cds in all combinations of Gold, SP1, and SP2 and with Home and
Pro during that time. The subject came up several times in the beta ng and
several of us beta testers tried to argue with the beta team about not being
able to break down where the differences in the kernel files were. The team
stuck to their guns so I am defering to what the folks who make XP said.

Where does it say that "SP1 is required" when slipstreaming or embedding a
windows share? You are all joining the band wagon of Colin Barnhorst
[[email protected]] who hasn't tried it or tested it but is quite
happy to give erroneous advise on these newsgroups. One should try it
before giving advice or advise on these public newsgroups or provide links
to their source.

hth

Yes, but are you SURE that you now have SP1 and SP2 files on that
slipstreamed disc?

There must be a good reason why SP1 is required and SP2 is
recommended.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Haven't tried it? You're joking. I have been making slipstreamed
copies of XP SP3 since the onset of beta 2 last year. I have
installed XP SP3 from integrated cds in all combinations of Gold, SP1,
and SP2 and with Home and Pro during that time. The subject came up
several times in the beta ng and several of us beta testers tried to
argue with the beta team about not being able to break down where the
differences in the kernel files were. The team stuck to their guns so
I am defering to what the folks who make XP said.

This is where your misunderstanding is exposed. When you embed a
windows share, you are simply copying and replacing the relevant files.
Now if you are talking about kernel files, there is no reason why the
process of embedding cannot copy over the old kernel files. It is like
copying a new word file over old files. If the file isn't in use, it
can be copied and replaced; but if it is in use , it can't. No wonder
you can't install SP3 over GOLD version of XP already running but this
does not mean you can't embed a SP3 on a windows share.

Hope this clarifies my position.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

All of the XP service packs have written changes to kernel files in addition
to removing and replacing files. By far the bulk of the changes are the
replacement of files not already updated by WU, but when you look at the
changes to functionalities in the various release notes you will see that at
least a few modifications were made that were not made by any update before
or after the service pack release and cannot be replicated by simply being
up to date with all the updates released prior to the release of the service
pack. That's one of the reasons a service pack is more than a rollup.

 

[anon]

Would it be safe and possible to create aslipstreamed disk using XP-Pro Gold
and SP-2 and then slipstream Sp-3 to that?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Absolutely.

Would it be safe and possible to create aslipstreamed disk using XP-Pro
Gold and SP-2 and then slipstream Sp-3 to that?

 

[Frank-FL]

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/cc164204.aspx
This article says you have to have SP1 at least. And oddly it
recommends SP2 installed. But that now runs totally against the grain
of logic (to me at least).

But I'd sure like to see it in more plain English like you said.

This page says different.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0BE-8D85-6BB4F56F5110&displaylang=en#filelist

 

[Frank-FL]

It seems to be a "common sense" thing to me - and I like to play
around with my system (just checked my Vista services settings with
Black Viper's "tweaked"- I only found three settings I could stop that
I hadn't stopped).

That said, why anyone would try something when slipstreaming that
isn't recommended is beyond my comprehension.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0BE-8D85-6BB4F56F5110&displaylang=en#filelist

System Requirements
a.. Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP; Windows XP Home Edition ; Windows XP Home Edition N; Windows XP Media Center Edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional N; Windows XP Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Starter Edition; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Windows® XP

 

[Bob I]

This page says different.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0BE-8D85-6BB4F56F5110&displaylang=en#filelist

BUT, if you actually read the contents of one the files at the link you
posted, it says:

Fundamentally, deploying Windows XP SP3 works the same as deploying SP1
and SP2 for Windows XP:
- SP3 is cumulative, so users can install SP3 on top of Windows XP SP1
or SP2.
- Windows XP SP3 supports the same languages as Windows XP did in its
initial release.
- You can run the SP3 update package on any edition of Windows XP SP1 or
SP2. For example, you can
run the SP3 update package on a computer running the Windows XP Media
Center Edition with SP1. The
exceptions are Embedded editions for XP wh
Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3.

 

[Bob I]

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0BE-8D85-6BB4F56F5110&displaylang=en#filelist

System Requirements
a.. Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP; Windows XP Home Edition ; Windows XP Home Edition N; Windows XP Media Center Edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional N; Windows XP Service Pack1; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Starter Edition; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Windows® XP

Read the actual documentation at the links in that page.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

However, more details in the linked documentation exclude anything before XP
SP1.

It seems to be a "common sense" thing to me - and I like to play
around with my system (just checked my Vista services settings with
Black Viper's "tweaked"- I only found three settings I could stop that
I hadn't stopped).

That said, why anyone would try something when slipstreaming that
isn't recommended is beyond my comprehension.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0BE-8D85-6BB4F56F5110&displaylang=en#filelist

System Requirements
a.. Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP; Windows XP Home Edition ;
Windows XP Home Edition N; Windows XP Media Center Edition; Windows XP
Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional N; Windows XP Service Pack 1;
Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Starter Edition; Windows XP Tablet PC
Edition
Windows® XP