We all know Microsoft has released the third and last service pack for Windows XP. So here I’m posting a simple and detailed guide for slipstreaming this SP3 into your Windows XP Setup, so that whenever you do a fresh Windows installation, you’ll not need to wait for hours to download and install Windows updates or to manually install SP3.
If you are wondering why should I slipstream SP3 into my Windows setup, then following are a few points which will satisfy you:
1. By slipstreaming SP3 into Windows setup, you’ll get an up-to-date Windows setup which will install an already updated Windows. So you’ll not need to update it over Internet to download 100+ updates.
2. You’ll not need to install SP3 manually after installing Windows as it’ll already contain it. So it’ll save your time.
3. You’ll not need to enter Serial key at the installation time because SP3 includes this new feature which allows you to install Windows without entering serial key. You can enter it after the installation completes.
So here we start our slipstreaming tutorial:
Prerequisites:
- Windows XP Setup CD or Setup copied in your system
- Service Pack 3
- nLite
- A CD burning software e.g. Nero, a blank CD and CD/DVD Writer
Getting Started:
1. Create a new folder in your system e.g. “Windows XP Setup” and copy Windows setup from CD in this new folder.
2. Now open nLite and it’ll show the welcome screen where you can select the language that will be used throughout the setup wizard.
3. Click on “Next” button.
4. Now it’ll ask for the folder location where Windows XP setup is stored. Click on “Browse” button and locate the recently created folder. You can also type the folder location in the given textbox.
5. Once you tell the folder location, the wizard will automatically detect the Windows version, language, size and other details. Now click on “Next” button.
6. Now it’ll show “Presets” page. We are not covering it in this tutorial as its not required. So just click on “Next” button again.
7. Now the wizard will show you a number of tasks which can be performed on the Windows setup like Service pack integration, drivers integration, removing unwanted components from setup, a few Windows tweaks and creating bootable ISO.
Since this tutorial is for slipstreaming SP3 into Windows Setup, we’ll recommend you to select following 2 tasks:
- Service Pack
- Bootable ISO
8. Now click on “Next” button. The wizard will ask you to tell the SP3 file location.
Click on “Select” button and locate the SP3 EXE file. Once you tell the file location, setup will automatically start slipstreaming it into Windows Setup.
Once it completes the integration, it’ll show you a pop-up message:
9. Click on “OK” button and then click on “Next” button.
10. Now the wizard will show “Bootable ISO” page. Where you can change the CD label:
11. Now click on “Make ISO” button and the wizard will start creating bootable ISO image:
12. When it’ll complete the ISO image creation, it’ll show a message at bottom:
13. Now click on “Next” button and it’ll show the final completion message:
14. That’s all. Click on “Finish” button.
15. Now you can burn the bootable ISO using Nero or any other CD burning software.
That’s the end of this guide. Now you can enjoy your new Windows XP installation.
NOTE: You can also choose other tasks mentioned in Step 7, like Tweaks, Options which will allow you to enter Product key, owner name, organization name, timezone, etc to make the whole setup unattended.
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Matthew said:
Excellent VG. Its a well compiled tutorial and very easy to use.
RJ said:
Awesome Vishal. I liked it.
Kate said:
I was searching an easy guide for doing this task and now my search is over. thank you vishal.
Vinod said:
Old Trick…
Santhosh Kumar said:
Can we use ISO image of SP3 instead of EXE file.. If so how to do it?
VG said:
^^ You can extract the content of ISO file using WinRAR, 7-zip or other utilities and then you’ll get the standalone EXE file in the extracted folder which you can use as mentioned in the following method.
VARUN said:
I TRIED IT BEFORE THE PUBLISH OF THIS TUTORIAL IN SAME WAY
AND MAKE A XP3 BOOTABLE DISC …………….
BUT IT DOESNT WORK IT BOOTS UP IN START GIVING A MESSAGE
PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM CD……
AND AFTER SOMETIME ON LOADING WINDOWS FILE IT GIVE A ERROR
LIKE SOME *.SYS OR SOME EXTENSION NOT FOUND …….
AND INSTALLATION IS TERMINATED……………
==========================================
SAME FOR VISTA SP1 IN V - LITE IT GIVE A BLUE SCREEN ERROR ON XTRACTING THE CONTENTS OF SP1 FILES ANDWHOLEE PC IS REBOOTED
VG said:
^^ There must be some problem in your Setup disc. I have tried lots of times myself and never faced any problem with nLite or vLite.
Try to make a slipstreamed installation and don’t choose any other options like drivers integration, removing components, tweaks, etc.
kris said:
Its really awesome
Keep it up .
varun said:
what’s the fun to make a disc not with tweaks ,
what for vista sp1 ………………………………why a blue screen error
Santhosh Kumar said:
Thanks for Ur reply… Thanks a lot sir
azmo said:
Excellent VG, but im struggle with nero a tutorial needed :cry:. Can you help please many thanks,azmo.
VG said:
^^ Its very simple. Select “Burn Image” option in Nero and browse to the created ISO image.
azmo said:
Thanks.
LOKESH MALHOTRA said:
morr said:
AWESOME
And one more thing, Your comment section is very nice . I mean smileys and email notification. Is it possible in blogger ? If so how to do it ?
VG said:
^^ Sorry but I don’t have much idea about blogger so can’t help.
Bravo said:
Does nLite have any nasty spyware in it ?
VG said:
^^ Nope. Its 100% clean.
rabbi hossain said:
hi vg.i need some nlite tutorial and in this slipsteaming tutorial can i use tweaks.
VG said:
^^ NLite already have lots of tweaks which you can apply using “Tweaks” section.
rabbi hossain said:
hey vg i have a problem with copying win xp setup files. it is not copying. what can i do:?:
VG said:
^^ The CD must be corrupt. It might have scratches.
rabbi hossain said:
no the cd is new but when i copy the cd a dialouge box comes that cannot copy the keygen access is denied:shock:
VG said:
^^ Then its a copy protected CD and I think a pirated one as you mentioned “keygen” word. Try some ISO image software like UltraISO and then copy the CD using it. It might work.
howard said:
I have tried to make a slipstreamed disc integrating my original XP Home edition (SP1) with SP3 downloaded from the Microsoft site. nLite finds my XP disc but it requires the SP3 exe file and I cannot locate it on my computer. I believe it should be located in the i386 folder but there are no exe files in this folder.
Is it possible that SP3 has not executed but just has just put all the components on my PC. Can you please help. Thank you.
VG said:
^^ SP3 will not be in I386 folder. it’ll be a separate EXE file stored in your downloads folder. Look where all your downloaded files are stored.
howard said:
Thanks for the reply VG. Where do I find SP3 - where is the defult folder for win updates etc What am I looking for - I could use search to find it. Thanks
VG said:
^^ I think SP3 was downloaded using Windows update in your system. Download the standalone EXE file from following link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5B33B5A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en
howard said:
I downloaded through the Windows update option as I only want o update on one PC. If. I download again will it cause problems with the original download
VG said:
^^ No. Just download EXE file, slipstream it in Original Windows XP setup using nLite. Thats it.
howard said:
Thanks VG I think I got there in the end. I got cofused over using the downloaded version of SP3 rather than just the exe file.
howard said:
I have just burnt the ISO file to disc. How can I tell if SP3 has been included on the disc - what files will indicate that SP3 is on the disc.
VG said:
^^ I think you can get it from HTML files included in the root of the CD.
howard said:
Is there anywhere I can see an “open” vesrion of a working ISO disc showing all the correct files. Many thanks for your help VG
VG said:
^^ I didnt understand. If you want to check the setup, then you can use Virtual PC.
howard said:
Sorry for the haasle. I just want to make sure that my disc has all the necessary files. I want to check my version against a disc that works. When I open my disc i can see the XP set file but nothing that has the SP3 set up files
VG said:
^^ You’ll not find any special thing in the setup for SP3. Install it and it’ll automatically install SP3, if you have slipstreamed it using this tutorial.
howard said:
Thanks for your help. I really appreciate your time and effort.