How to Slipstream Windows XP Service

Pack 3 to Create an Integrated XP Setup

Disk with SP 3
Merge XP SP3 into Your Installation CD

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Windows XP Service Pack 3 to Create an Integrated XP Setup Disk with SP 3

How to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 3 to Create an

Integrated XP Setup Disk with SP 3
This tutorial takes you through the steps of integrating the Windows XP Service Pack 3 into the
files from an existing Windows XP setup CD. A new setup disk will be created. This disk will
have the full XP installation with SP3 already merged into it. Such a slipstreamed CD has a few
advantages over installing your current version of XP and then running SP 3 afterwards:
• Saves Time
Installing XP slipstreamed with service pack 3 is considerably faster than installing a
previous version of XP and then running SP 3 separately.
• More Secure
If your computer is always connected to the network or the Internet, and you do not have
Service Pack 3 integrated, it is vulnerable to any malware that targets pre-SP3 XP.
Although the window of opportunity for a successful attack of your system is small (the
time needed to apply SP 3 and reboot), some people prefer not to take the chance.
• Uses Less Disk Space
If you install XP first and then install SP 3, the service pack installer will create backup
copies of the previous versions in your Windows directory. System Restore will also
make a backup set of files on your computer. These backup files take up space on your
computer, to the order of a few hundred megabytes. (Note that this advantage is
minimal, since you can manually delete all these backup files yourself later if you are
short of space.)
Prerequisites
1. Windows XP Professional or Home Setup CD
You will need your existing Windows XP Professional or Home setup CD. This CD can
either be the original Windows XP release CD, or one with either SP 1 or Service Pack 2
integrated.
 If your computer did not come with such a CD, but you created your own Setup CD by
following the instructions given in howtohaven.com's How to Create a Bootable Windows
XP Setup CD/DVD on a Preinstalled Windows System, you might want to try using that
CD instead.
WARNING: do not attempt to use this guide to slipstream your Windows XP Media
Center 2005 disk. Slipstreaming of this version of XP is not supported by Microsoft.
2. A CD/DVD Burning Software, a blank writeable CD and a CD/DVD Writer
After creating a new XP Setup CD that has Service Pack 3 integrated, you will need to
write it onto a new, blank CD (such as a CD-R or CD-RW). You can also use a DVD+/-
R(W) if you want. As such you will need a CD/DVD writer and a program to burn the new
CD.
For the purpose of this tutorial, I will describe the procedure for using the ImgBurn, a free
utility listed on the Free CD and DVD Burners and Copying Software page on
thefreecountry.com.
3. XP Service Pack 3
Windows XP service pack 3 can be downloaded directly from Microsoft.
The Basic Steps to Merging SP3 into the XP Setup CD
1. Download and Save XP Service Pack 3
If you have not already downloaded XP service pack 3, get it now, and save it with the
filename of "XPSP3.exe" at the top level of drive C:. Actually, you can save it anywhere
you want, and leave it at its default name if you wish. However, for the purpose of this
tutorial, I will assume that you saved it so that it can be accessed as C:\XPSP3.exe. If
you save it as some other name, you will have to change the command lines I supply
below yourself to the appropriate one.
2. Extract or Download the Boot Sector of the XP Setup Disk
You will also need the boot sector of an existing bootable Windows 2000, XP or 2003
setup CDROM. You can either extract it from your CD yourself, or just download a boot
sector already extracted by others. To save myself some time describing the procedure
for extracting the boot sector, this tutorial will just use the same method mentioned in my
guide to create your own XP setup disk. That is, download the file wxp10.zip from one of
the links on http://www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=wxp10.zip and save it somewhere
on your computer.
When you've got the file, open it by doubleclicking it in Windows explorer. Go into the
"cds" folder and into "wxphome" (or "wxppro"; it doesn't matter which) folder, followed
finally by the "files" directory. Drag the "w2ksect.bin" file into C:\ (the root directory/folder
of drive C:). Don't get creative and place it in some other directory. If you do that,
ImgBurn will not be able to find "c:\w2ksect.bin" later.
 3. Create a Working Folder
Create a temporary folder for the integration to take place. For the purpose of this
tutorial, I will assume that you have created a folder called "XPSETUP" at the top level of
drive C:.
To create a folder, open "My Computer", go to drive C:, right click somewhere in the
window and select "New" followed by "Folder" in the menu that appears. Then change
the default name from "New Folder" to "XPSETUP". If you did this correctly, you will
have a new folder, C:\XPSETUP.
4. Copy the XP Setup Disk intto C:\XPSETUP
Put your existing XP setup CD into your drive. If the setup wizard appears, dismiss it.
Drag all the files and folders on the CD into C:\XPSETUP.
5. Open a Command Prompt
Open a command prompt window. You can do this by running the program "Command
Prompt", found in the Accessories folder of your Start menu.
6. Slipstream the Service Pack
From the command prompt window, which will be a black window with a blinking cursor,
type the following, followed by the ENTER key.
C:\XPSP3 /integrate:C:\XPSETUP

Note that there is only one space character -- between the "C:\XPSP3" and the rest of
the line. If you did not name the service pack "XPSP3.exe" and place it at the top level of
C: as I described earlier, you'll have to modify the command line accordingly.
The process will take some time to complete, so take a coffee break if you wish.
This completes the slipstreaming part of the tutorial. You will now need to burn it to make a
bootable CD or DVD.
Create and Burn Your New XP with Service Pack 3 CD
1. Download ImgBurn
If you have not downloaded ImgBurn, get it now and install it. You will find it listed on
thefreecountry.com's Free CD and DVD Burners and Copying Software page.
The version of ImgBurn I used to create this guide was 2.4.1.0.
2. Create the ImgBurn Project Configuration File
Open up Notepad, and copy the text from the box below (make sure you select
everything - click in the box and type Ctrl+A to select all) and paste it into a blank
Notepad window. Save the file as "xpsp3.ibb" (including the quotes, which you need to
prevent Notepad from adding a ".txt" extension to your filename) somewhere on your
desktop (or anywhere you like). Do not add or delete anything from the file.
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 IBB

[START_BACKUP_OPTIONS]
BuildMode=1
Destination=0
TestMode=0
Verify=1
WriteSpeed=0
Copies=0
FileSystem=1
UDFRevision=0
PreserveFullPathnames=0
RecurseSubdirectories=1
IncludeHiddenFiles=1
IncludeSystemFiles=1
IncludeArchiveFilesOnly=0
AddToWriteQueueWhenDone=0
ClearArchiveAttribute=0
VolumeLabel_ISO9660=HTHSP3
VolumeLabel_Joliet=HTHSP3
VolumeLabel_UDF=
Identifier_System=
Identifier_VolumeSet=
Identifier_Publisher=
Identifier_Preparer=

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3. Burn the CD
Put a blank CD or DVD into your drive.
Start ImgBurn. Select "Mode | Build" from the menu. That is, click the "Mode" menu, and
select the "Build" item on the menu that appears.
Then, select "File | Load Project". Look for the xpsp3.ibb file you saved in the previous
step, select it and click the "Open" button.
Finally, click the "Build" icon at the bottom of the window. To find out which picture the
"Build" button is (there are no visual cues, even as to which picture actually represents a
button), hover your mouse over the pictures near the bottom of the window and wait for
the tooltip to appear. When you hover your mouse over the correct picture, a tooltip will
appear with the text "Build".
If ImgBurn presents you with a dialog box giving you the statistics of your new CD, such
as the number of files it will contain and so forth, just click OK to accept it.
Congratulations. You have successfully created a new XP setup CD. This setup disk will allow
you to install Windows XP with Service Pack 3 already integrated in it.
Copyright © 2008 by Christopher Heng. All rights reserved. Get more "How To" guides and
tutorials from http://www.howtohaven.com/.
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How to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 3 to Create an Integrated XP Setup Disk with SP
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Copyright © 2008-2009 by Christopher Heng. All rights reserved.
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Date written: 29 April 2008. Last updated: 9 February 2009.

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