The Best and The Easiest Way to Slipstream Service Pack 3 (SP3) into Windows XP Setup

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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66 Comments

VG

^^ You'll find an EXE file of 300MB in the SP3 CD, use that file to slipstream.
dabz

hi, i have a Windows XP installation disk with SP2 slipstreamed onto it already, is it possible to slipstream SP3 on to it or do i need a Windows XP disk with no service pack on for this to work?
VG

^^ You can slipstream SP3 in that disk.
Narayanaswamy

Hi Vishal,
You do provide very good tutorials and it is very much useful for users like us.Many thanks for it.I hav heard that for machines with AMD CPU we hav to install a hotfix before installing SP3 for windows XP.i would like to slipstream SP3 into XP pro 32 bit but how can i make sure that the fix for AMD cpus is installed before the SP3 is installed when i install windows?i use nLite for creating my XP CD.Also is there any way to include some thirdparty softwares like firefox with this install cd apart from using nlite addons??can u pls help...thanks in advance...
VG

^^ That problem is machine specific. If your system is now an OEM, then you should not face any problem. Simply slipstream SP3 into setup.

Regarding, adding software in setup, visit following link:

http://unattended.msfn.org/
Narayanaswamy

thanks for the help..can u pls specify what do u mean by OEM?if u mean iwhether it is a branded PC or not,then its not..i got it assembled from a local vendor....also can u tell how can we make the AMD fix to install machine specifically ie it will get installed if it is anAMD CPU and not if it is an Intel CPU,so that i can use the same installation CD for both AMD and Intel CPUs.Thanks in advance..
VG

^^ You don't need the hotfix since its an assembled one. And machine specific hotfix integration is not possible.
Narayanaswamy

OK..if thats the case than can u pls explain what is this fix for then..also can u say how the fix differs for assembled one and branded one??
VG

^^ There was some problem with those branded system BIOS, thats why the hotfix was issued. You don't need to worry about it.
Narayanaswamy

Ok..thanks...u r doin great..keep goin...