Slipstreaming XP

Post by **Kills On Site** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:34 pm

I've heard mention of stremlining an XP Pro install to include SP2 and possibly other things, but can anyone link me to, or tell me, how to streamline an XP install and what all you can streamline into it.

Post by **Tormentius** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:36 pm

Its called slipstreaming and you can read about how to do it here:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wi ... stream.asp

Patches released after SP2 can also be slipstreamed and you can add custom drivers for your devices. If you really feel like going all out you can create an answer file (winnt.sif) that will answer all of the install questions for you, including activating XP at the end so that the entire reinstall is automated.

Info on adding drivers to the image:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;314479

Info on creating an answer file:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docu ... i_llpa.asp

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articl ... Setup.html

Post by **dzjepp** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:09 pm

I like using this: http://www.nliteos.com

Post by **Kills On Site** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:39 pm

Thanks for the quick replies.

I used the first link and made a XP with SP2 install, it was simple enough. The two drivers that I would most like to slipstream are sound and INF, it was originally an HP computer, but they linked me to the drivers for those two things and they come in zip files. I am not too interested in an unattended set up, I perfer to be there and it is something to keep from falling asleep at 3 in the morn. So what would I need to do to get those two drivers slipstremed? The Microsoft site had a lot of information and I am not sure which I would need. Also how would the other updates be slipstreamed into the install?

Post by **raw** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:18 am

You MUST use an unattended setup file to tell the Windows setup application where your 3rd party drivers you are bundling are. I've been working with RIS at work and the book I've been reading has all this crap in it.

Post by **Tormentius** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:20 am

raw wrote:You MUST use an unattended setup file to tell the Windows setup application where your 3rd party drivers you are bundling are. I've been working with RIS at work and the book I've been reading has all this crap in it.

Heh. Yeah, RIS is what I use at two, soon to be three, of my networks. That plus roaming profiles takes the workstation out of the equation other than hardware failure.

Post by **raw** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:24 am

I've only put minimal effort into RIS because it's the Helpdesk's job to do desktops so I can't fully take the project but can put in my input whenever I feel like it since they run it against my infrastructure. Though, unattended installations and RIS have always been an interest of mine so I may just buy the book, read about it, and get it working.

Post by **Tormentius** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:29 am

You'll never look back once you have it set up and tuned.

My users have a username/password to an account with privelege to RIS and a walkthrough on the process. Any of them can initiate an install and, since the machines are prestaged the box will keep its name. We also distribute all software via group policy and use roaming profiles and policy-redirected My Docs folders so that the complete install takes about a half hour, apps included and the user can pick up exactly where they left off.

Post by **raw** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:47 am

Wow! That's the kind of shit I was looking to do but at my last job didn't have the network size to justify it but now that I do, I'm definitely going to teach myself RIS. They wanted to do a ghost server but I told them "Use the PXE boot off of the NICS with RIS and push everything down but just plugging them in and letting them go." Once I said that, my friend @ helpdesk went right after RIS.

The guy doing it is swamped with work so he hasn't put much time into it but is kind of stuck with getting the custom install of XP (drivers and stuff) working.

Post by **Kills On Site** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:37 am

Wow, that is really nice and would be awesome for any sort of buisness. As for me, for the one or two computers, just slipstreaming SP2 is good. I'm still curious how all the other updates can be slipstreamed into the install.

Post by **raw** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:50 am

Same method as the Service Pack. Download the update and run the .exe with a few command line parameters. Usually /? or -? will trigger the help for command line options on MS applications.

Post by **Tormentius** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:52 am

raw wrote:Same method as the Service Pack. Download the update and run the .exe with a few command line parameters. Usually /? or -? will trigger the help for command line options on MS applications.

:icon14:

Once you extract the .MSP (the patch file) from the EXE you'll be able to run it against your image.

Post by **Kills On Site** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:11 am

Well anyone know a place to download all the security and necessary updates for Windows, preferably as a pack or all on one page.

Post by **dzjepp** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:15 am

http://ryanvm.msfn.org/

That works pretty well with nLite. Give that app a try, it's all done via gui and is pretty simple. For home use though, I don't slipstream any packs with hotfixes, just sp2. After windows is done installing I use autopatcher xp to install all post-sp2 updates.

Post by **GODLIKE** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 7:05 am

If you're using RIS, as above.. update your image to a reasonably current state, and then leverage Group Policy to enforce automatic updates. If you have RIS, you have Active Directory already.. may as well use it.

Packing drivers and managed apps into your RIS installs is relatively easy, as well. Drivers go with the OS, and then Group Policy is used to deploy the apps.. So long as you can pack them as MSI files.

(Tip: If you're having trouble finding the MSI and don't want to repackage... When running a setup.exe... Scan the system for new MSI files. In many cases, the MSI is extracted from the setup file, and then deleted during the install.... )