Slipstream Your Way to Safer, More Secure WinXP Systems

In this Recipe, I'll cover slipstreaming, the process of creating a bootable Windows XP CD with all service packs and security updates pre-installed. Creating a slipstream disc may take a bit of time initially, but it can be a huge time-saver in the long run. Once you've created the initial CD, you can use it over and over again to set up a fresh, secure install for your customers' machines. Once done, all you'll need to do is enter the valid serial numbers.

Creating a slipstream disc can be fairly complex, and the process might seem intimidating. But I'll give you step-by-step instructions and a few time-saving shortcuts to make it as easy as possible.

Slipstreaming can be accomplished in a numbers of ways. In this Recipe, I'll start with a basic approach intended to give you an overall understanding of the process and the underlying principals involved. I'll then discuss new tools, such as nLite, which can help simplify the process and even incorporate individual hotfixes and updates, saving you even more time in future slipstreaming projects.

Ingredients

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Here's the components you'll need to create a slipstreaming disc:

You'll want to set up a fresh workspace on the base system's hard drive to prepare and combine the files. You can use any of the drives on the system and may choose your own the folder names. However, for this Recipe, I've created a folder named "Slipstreaming" on the D drive, and then created three additional folders beneath it; "XP" for the original operating system files; "XPSP2" for XP Service Pack 2; and "XPISO" as the directory where we will create the .iso file we'll use to create a bootable CD. The hierarchy, as I've created it, is depicted in this screenshot:

Gathering the OS files from an XP Installation CD

You'll need a Windows XP installation disc as the source for the base OS files. Both the upgrade and full copies will work just fine, as long as you have the appropriate licensing. In a pinch, you may be able to use one of the recovery discs that some manufacturers (such as Dell) include with their systems. But it may take some tweaks to get it to work, and you'll probably save yourself some headaches by sticking with a standard installation disc.

Before copying the files, make sure that all files on the CD are visible and can be selected properly. To do this, open My Computer and go to Tools > Folder Options, and then go to the View tab. Make sure that "Show hidden files and folders" is selected, and that "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" is not checked.

The critical folders you need to copy are DOCS, i386, SUPPORT and VALUEADD, along with any other files in the same directory structure. Select all of the files and folders and copy them to D:\Slipstreaming\XP on the base system. Here's a screenshot of the nine sample files I selected for this Recipe:

Getting the Boot Image Files Deploying IsoBuster

While you've got the Windows XP installation disc in the drive, take a few moments to extract the Microsoft Corporation.img file from the disc. The Microsoft Corporation.img file is an image file, and it's a critical component for compiling the bootable Windows XP CD image, which we'll cover later in the Recipe.

Download and install IsoBuster. When you install the application, select the "Free Funct. Only" option, as that's all you'll need for this project.

Once IsoBuster opens, look in the left pane and expand all of the directories by clicking the plus (+) sign until you see the Bootable CD icon. Click on Bootable CD, and you'll see the Microsoft Corporation.img file in the right pane. Here's a screenshot of how this appears:

Click once on the Microsoft Corporation.img file to select it. Then right-click and select Extract Microsoft Corporation.img. For this example, we'll save the file to the D:\Slipstreaming\XPISO\ folder we created earlier.

Obtaining Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Necessary Security Updates

Go to the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers site, and download the XP Service Pack file. The current version is called WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe.

Once the download is complete, move the file (WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe) into the d:\Sipstreaming\XPSP2 folder you created on the base system earlier.

Extracting the Service Packs and Security Updates and Integrating Them Into the OS

Once the base Windows XP and Service Pack 2 files are in the directories you've created, it's time to extract the files from the service pack and then combine them with your base XP files.

First, open a command prompt by going to Start > Run and typing cmd. Then click OK. Once the command prompt opens, navigate to the D: drive by typing: D:

Then navigate to the XP SP2 directory by typing: cd \Slipstreaming\XPSP2

Next, type the name of the service pack, followed by -x to extract it. For our example, type the following and hit return: WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe –x

It should look just as depicted in the following screen capture:

The file will extract itself, and created a folder called I386 in your D:\Slipstreaming\XPSP2 folder, which will appear looking like this:

Once the extraction is complete, you can combine the files from Service Pack 2 into the base OS files. To do this from the D:\Slipstreaming\XPSP2\ directory in our example, go to the command line you used above, type and enter the following: i386\update\update.exe -s\Slipstreaming\XP\

You should see it appear just like this:

After a few moments, the Updating Your Windows Share window will open, and SP2 will begin to be integrated in the base OS you placed into the D:\Slipstreaming\XP folder. The setup Wizard will look like this:

When the integration is complete, the following message will appear:

You are now ready to compile a bootable Windows XP CD. Building and Burning the CD Image

For this Recipe, we're going to use CDBurnerXP Pro 3 (http://www.cdburnerxp.se/download.php?latest), a freeware CD-burning application with support for creating and burning .iso files and bootable CDs.

Download, install and launch CDBurnerXP Pro 3. Once it opens, a screen with three options will be displayed. Select the first option; the one that begins "Create a new Data-CD/RW…" (as shown here):

Once the main screen of CDBurnerXP Pro 3 is displayed, go to Disc > Boot Options, which will open the Boot Settings window, as depicted below:

On the Boot Setting screen, first check the Make Disc Bootable box. Then click on the three dots (…) to navigate to the directory where you stored the Microsoft Corporation.img file you saved earlier with IsoBuster.

Now change the Emulations Type to "NoEmulation (NT/2000/XP boot Images)." Make sure the Load Segment is 7C0, and set the Sectors to 4. The Platform should be 80x86 PC. Finally, make sure that Disable ISO File Delimiters (;1) and Enforce ISO Level1 (8+3 char max.) are checked. Then click OK.

Go to the Disc dropdown menu again. This time, select Disc > Set ISOImage Labels, as depicted in this screen shot:

For Volume Label, enter the volume name of the original CD you used for the base OS files. For this example, the Volume Label is WXPCORP_EN. It is critical you use the volume label from your original CD.

The System Identify may be left blank, but the Volume Set is the same as your Volume Label. For both Publisher and Data Preparer, enter MICROSOFT_CORPORATION. One this is complete, click the Set Labels button.

From the main screen of CDBurnerXP Pro 3, go to the upper left pane and navigate to the directory you used to combine the base XP and SP2 files. For this example, it is D:\Slipstreaming\XP. The contents of the directory will be displayed in the upper right pane, as shown here:

Select all of the contents of the upper right pane, and drag and drop them into the lower right pane. The files will be added to the .iso compilation you are creating.

At this point, you have the option of either burning the bootable XP CD immediately, or creating an image file from the .iso file that can be burned later. For this Recipe, we're going to cover creating the bootable CD immediately. From the main screen, go to Disc > Write Disc, which will open the Write CD/DVD window. This is depicted here:

The only changes you'll need to make are: Checking the boxes next to "Mode 2XA instead of Mode 1 (CDR/W Only)"—and to "Finalize Disc (No Further Writing Possible)." After that, click "Write Disc."

One the burning process is complete, click "OK" and then click "Done" on CDBurnerXP Pro 3. Congratulations, you're now the proud owner of a bootable copy of Windows XP slipstreamed with Service Pack 2. Installing Windows XP with the New Slipstream Disc

To install your new slipstreamed OS, insert the disc into the CD drive of the machine on which you wish to install it. As you boot up the system, you'll need to set it to start from the CD drive using the boot menu (accessed by hitting F12 as the system boots).

From there, install Windows XP as you would normally. But note, each installation will require a valid serial number.

Using nLite to Simplify the Slipstream Creation Process

Now that you understand the basic principals of slipstreaming, you'll realize that an application like nLite can save even more time.

nLite's main function is to remove unnecessary Windows components, such as Media Player, Outlook Express, and MSN Explorer. But it can also automatically extract a Service Pack, slipstream it into the base OS files, and then create a bootable CD image, which can be burned using a CD-burning application with support for .iso files. This essentially automates the most complicated steps of the slipstreaming process, making it easier and faster.

To get started, download nLite. If you don't already have the .NET framework, you'll need to download it from the Microsoft .NET Framework Develioper Center download page. It's required for nLite. Once both nLite and .NET are installed, launch nLite. Here's a shot of nLite's welcome screen:

First, select the language and click Next, as depicted here:

Next, use "Browse" to locate the base Windows XP files, either those copied from the XP CD to the system's hard drive, or directly from the CD itself. Click Next. In our example, we're using the D:\Slipstreaming\XP directory for the source files.

For this Recipe, we won't use presets, so click Next past the Preset page. The Task Selection page will be displayed like so:

From the list on the Task Selection page, select thee items: Integrate a Service Pack, Hotfixes and Update Packs, and Create a Bootable ISO. Then click Next.

For this Recipe, we're going to skip the process of removing unwanted Windows components. But I recommend that you play around with the functionality at another time, as it's useful and powerful.

Once the Integrate a Service Pack page is displayed, select the Service Pack you saved earlier. For our example, we placed the Service Pack in D:\Slipstreaming\XPSP2. Once selected, the Service Pack will automatically extract and then integrated itself into the OS. Once the extraction and integration are complete, click OK. Then click Next, which will appear like so:

If you wish to install hotfixes that have been released since Service Pack 2, you can download them from the Windows Security and Updates page on Microsoft's site. Once you've downloaded them, click Insert on the Hotfixes and Update Packs page. Then select the ones you wish to integrate to the bootable image. Once you've inserted all the hotfixes you want to add, click Next to start the process of adding them. After a few moments, the process will be complete. Click Next:

You're now ready to create the image file as an .iso. You can optionally change the ISO Label to your original Windows CD. But leave the Additional Attributes with the default settings. Then click Make ISO and save the .iso file to the hard drive. For this example, we'll save the .iso to D:\Slipstreaming\XPISO.

The .iso creation process will take a few minutes. Once it's complete, you'll have a ready-to-burn .iso file sitting in the directory you indicated.

Use your CD Burner of choice to burn the .iso. Your CD will be a bootable, slipstreamed version of Windows XP.

By investing an hour or so in creating an up-to-date bootable Windows XP installation disc, you'll save hours of toil down the line. Even better, you'll no longer have to manually update each and every system you build.

PETER HAGOPIAN is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer. He's been covering technology and music for more than a decade.