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Windows Operating Systems Software Bug Security

Installing Windows with Recent Updates? 223

Posted by Cliff from the a-tailor-for-mine-emperor dept.
MoJo asks: "As a computer technician, I have to re-install Windows often. It takes three attempts to complete Windows Update (get latest update software, validate Windows, download updates). It seems like all this clicking could be scripted somehow, but I can find no-one who has found a way of reducing the whole painful affair to just one or two clicks." Is there a way to build a Windows installation CD that includes the most recent set of updates?
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Installing Windows with Recent Updates? More

Installing Windows with Recent Updates?

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  • Slipstreaming (Score:3, Informative)

    by ckswift ( 700993 ) * on Saturday January 28, 2006 @10:22PM (#14591247)
    Ever here of slipstreaming? [google.com]

    • Re:Slipstreaming (Score:3, Informative)

      by Stevyn ( 691306 )
      I've slipstreamed service pack 2 onto the windows xp cd, but you still have to go through the process the poster is talking about. I don't know if you can slipstream individual patches, however, even if you could, you'd still have to do it a few times a month. I think the poster is asking about a general script that would do this without human intervention, whereas slipstreaming still takes time.

      • Re:Slipstreaming (Score:5, Informative)

        by cowbutt ( 21077 ) on Sunday January 29, 2006 @04:30AM (#14592355) Journal
        Combine some selective slipstreaming with the unattended build facility, e.g. using http://unattended.sourceforge.net/>unattended. My colleagues slipstream service packs and critcial hotfixes (i.e. those that can result in ones machine being 0wn3d during the install) into the installation image, then have a manually-updated .CMD script that runs on the first boot to bring in the others.
        • Thanks for the tip - Unattended looks like a great toolset - I have been wanting to get my team off Ghost for a while now, and I'll get them to look into this.

        • use a router (Score:3, Informative)

          by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 )
          Just to go off on a tangent...

          My colleagues slipstream service packs and critcial hotfixes (i.e. those that can result in ones machine being 0wn3d during the install) into the installation image...

          I recommend doing all your installation behind a cheap cable/DSL router; this will block any incoming traffic from reaching the machine. Unless you decide to go surfing around on suspect web sites with the incompletely updated machine, you're pretty much guaranteed not to get 0wn3d.
          • I recommend doing all your installation behind a cheap cable/DSL router; this will block any incoming traffic from reaching the machine. Unless you decide to go surfing around on suspect web sites with the incompletely updated machine, you're pretty much guaranteed not to get 0wn3d.

            I do so already, on my own network. But work is a university network which has been around for ~20 years with thousands of semi-autonomously administered hosts, so we have to assume it's nearly as hostile as the greater Interne

            • Re:use a router (Score:3, Informative)

              by DeanPentcheff ( 103656 )
              Treat your internal network the same way you'd treat the Internet: plug in a cheap firewall box (or use a similarly set up Linux box to do the networking). Do your installs while you're NATed behind your own little firewall. Tighten up the boxes, and only then release them to be plugged into the Great Unwashed University Network.
      • Nlite [nliteos.com] can do this. It can slipstream all the post-SP2 hotfixes, your own drivers, make tweaks, and then reduce the installation process to about 4 clicks.

        Use Microsoft Security Bulletin Search [microsoft.com] to find all the hotfixes you need, making sure you tick the box that reads 'Show only bulletins that contain updates that have not been replaced by a more recent update.'.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday January 28, 2006 @10:38PM (#14591321)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Thanks for the link. Are the ISO images a recent thing, or have they been doing it for a while? I ask because it looks like the one available on the linked page only includes the updates released in January. You still need to get all the other updates released in the year+ between SP2 and January.

      • The ISO files don't help you at all. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Futurepower(R) ( 558542 ) on Sunday January 29, 2006 @12:18AM (#14591703) Homepage
        My understanding is that the ISO files don't help you at all. They are huge because they include all languages. Each ISO file includes only the critical updates for ONE month. I know of no way to integrate them into a single CD image containing Windows XP SP2 and all the critical updates.

        It is possible to download all the separate critical updates, and run them from a batch file. But that's a hassle; Microsoft does not make that easy. This is another way that Microsoft is adversarial towards customers; they waste the time of some of the best-educated people in the world.
      • Thanks, this is probably the most useful suggestion. As I mentioned elsewhere, we download around 1GB/day of updates for customers machines we are repairing. 650MB/month is a lot better, and at least it's legal for us, unlike slipstreaming.

    • Re:Slipstreaming (Score:3, Informative)

      by ajayrockrock ( 110281 )
      Slipstreaming is great. The windows guy at work does it for a bunch of our servers and he also rolls in his own device drivers into the system as well so there's no searching for floppy disks to install the RAID/SCSI drivers. He got the idea from this Maximum PC article:

      http://www.maximumpc.com/2005/01/how_to_slipstre.h tml [maximumpc.com]

      --Ajay

    • Re:Slipstreaming (Score:5, Informative)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Sunday January 29, 2006 @07:17AM (#14592625) Homepage Journal
      Yes, I have.

      Microsoft told us we couldn't do it. When a customer brings a PC in for repair. we have to use their original Windows CD and licence COA. We can't use ours. If they have recovery discs, they are SOL. If their disc is scratched, they can buy a replacement for £15.00, no CD-R backups allowed.

      We even got fined over this. We used to have loads of slipstreamed CD-Rs. Instead, we pull a gig a day of updates from microsoft.com now.
      • You could always setup a caching proxy server in front of your internal network. This wouldn't make the process any fewer clicks, but it would save a lot of time downloading fixes and things. The first time you download a fix, it would be cached on the server, and all the remaining machines that need the fix would grab it from the local network. This would speed things up, if nothing else.

      • Microsoft told us we couldn't do it. When a customer brings a PC in for repair. we have to use their original Windows CD and licence COA.

        Of course. Microsoft would be insane to allow anything else, and you would be insane to expect anything else.

        Your real question seems to be in three parts.

        1. As a repair shop routinely working on consumer PCs, customers frequently blame you because they don't understand the license of the copy of Windows XP they own. Many customers bring in non-transferable OEM copie
        • very nice expl.
          now go fix/explain american political "rhetoric" please. :)

          • Re:Slipstreaming (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Karma Farmer ( 595141 ) on Sunday January 29, 2006 @11:24PM (#14596101)
            now go fix/explain American political "rhetoric" please.

            Public rhetoric in American politics has two parts:
            1. Cynical politicians pushing wedge issues to raise money for 527 / 501c4 organizations, and
            2. Cynical talking heads on 24-hour news stations yelling at each other about wedge issues to raise money for 527 / 501c4 organizations.
            Most of the public face of politics looks like a Jerry Springer show (and is about as real as the Jerry Springer show was) because our politicians find it immensely profitable. Divisive policies (like gay marriage or abortion) and divisive nominations (like Alito) are pushed by both sides because they're very successful fund raising mechanisms, not for ideological reasons.

            But frankly, I think we have to worry a lot more about the parts we don't see. The part of the iceberg above the water didn't sink the Titanic.

      • Re:Slipstreaming (Score:3, Informative)

        by m0ng0l ( 654467 )
        Leaving aside the problems of customers and their CDs, or lack of...

        Once way to avoid downloading gigs of data from Windows update, is to set up a server running Windows Server Update Services. This essentially brings the Windows updates to a PC on your network, from which client stations can grab updates. It does require you to setup a Group Policy pointing to the internal server, and only works for automaticly recieved updates, not when someone clicks on the "Windows Update" icon or link. But you can s
    • this link on slipstreaming [winsupersite.com] is quite interesting; btw, did you note that all necessary operations are carried by command line interface, and that in all commands (such as in "xpsp2.exe -x:c:\sp2 " ) the options are expressed as dashes, and not slashes ? Since when did Windows people start working as Unix/Linux people everdyday do?
    • We are not allowed to slipstream for legal reasons. Basically we have to use the customers original Windows CD. Ask Microsoft.

  • It's called Slipstreaming (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    A lot of people just use it to update with SPs, but you can use it for regular updates and drivers, too. If you need help, you can use a utility like AutoPatcher [neowin.net] or nLite [nliteos.com] to get you started.

    • Re:It's called Slipstreaming (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You might want to try the current version of AutoPatcher: AutoPatcher XP January 2006 [neowin.net]

      It would be nice if Microsoft would make it easy to script the install onto one CD (or DVD). It is a sort of a drag to have to rely on a third-party for what Microsoft could do easily if they didn't want to sell MSCE and other worthless degrees by making sure Windows is (or seems) much more complicated than it can (or should) be. Case in point: here's [microsoft.com] how Microsoft expects you to "integrate software updates into your W
      • It would be nice if Microsoft would make it easy to script the install onto one CD (or DVD).

        All hotfix installers released since XP-SP2 have had an /integrate switch to do just that.
        • fYou said, "All hotfix installers released since XP-SP2 have had an /integrate switch to do just that."

          I tried that with two installers I just downloaded, and both had the /integrate switch.

          A previous comment said to download the critical updates from here: Microsoft Updates Catalog [microsoft.com], using Internet Explorer. Be sure to hunt for "Windows XP SP2". If you choose the logical "Windows XP Professional SP2", you will be offered only a ton of junk.

          The system puts the files deep in separate folders. It is n
    • It's not legal for us to do so. The editors didn't point that out, even though I wrote it. See my other posts.

  • Are the systems identical? (Score:5, Informative)

    by eta526 ( 833281 ) on Saturday January 28, 2006 @10:26PM (#14591265)
    If all the hardware is the same, use Norton Ghost to create an image of the hard drive. Store this on an external drive or a network share and use this image on every computer. I did this for UMR (University of Missouri - Rolla) for the computer labs (over 900 computers), and it's really easy to pull down the old image, apply the new updates, and create a new "clean" image that can then be distributed to all the other systems.

    We used BartPE or a bootable DOS disk (if the DOS network drivers were available) to boot the computer onto something besides the hard drive in order to create or restore an image.

    If the hardware's different, you have to use Sysprep, but I haven't messed with that.

    • Re:Are the systems identical? (Score:5, Informative)

      by RESPAWN ( 153636 ) <respawn_76.hotmail@com> on Saturday January 28, 2006 @11:25PM (#14591542) Journal
      If the hardware's different, you have to use Sysprep, but I haven't messed with that.

      Actually, it's always a good idea to sysprep on XP since if you don't you'll end up with multiple computers on the network with the same SID. That really becomes a problem with AD since that's how it uniquely identifies all of the computers in the domain.
    • You can use linux tools as well to accomplish this.

      at a very raw level, using dd and gzip to make images of the harddisks.

      Another pretty good tool is partimage. I use this myself. You can put images on another drive, or even over a network (I prefer to use NFS, but you can set up a partimage server elsewhere).

      It can cause problems if the hardware in not identical. But, I think there is a windows tool called sysprep that helps the image know that it needs to re-search for hardware when it boots up again.

      I
    • We do the same thing here at UM-Columbia, except the computers are netbooted with PXE and then the OS and all apps are installed from one cluster of servers.

  • MSFN's Unattended Windows Install CD (Score:5, Informative)

    by UnderScan ( 470605 ) <jjp6893&netscape,net> on Saturday January 28, 2006 @10:30PM (#14591285)
    Its not that hard to use google. Do you realy want it that bad but are unwilling to search for it?
    MSFN's Unattended Windows : Introduction [msfn.org]

    Have you ever wanted a Windows CD that would install Windows by automatically putting in your name, product key, timezone and regional settings? And have it merged with the latest Service Pack to save time? Followed by silently installing all your favourite applications along with DirectX 9.0c, .Net Framework 1.1 and then all the required hotfixes, updated drivers, registry tweaks, and a readily patched UXTheme.dll without any user interaction whatsoever? Then this guide will show you how you can do just that! Through the course of this guide, you will create a CD that does all the installing for you. The CD will be fully updated with the latest hotfixes, and install all your programs for you.

  • Slipstream and SMS (Score:2, Informative)

    by Centurix ( 249778 )
    If you manage a lot of desktops, Microsoft's System Management Server (SMS) is a good way to go. You get used to writing scripts for it after a while.

    I'm pretty sure SMS is still an up to date product from Microsoft, unless they've developed something else in the last couple of years...
  • This [google.com] and this [microsoft.com] should get you started.

    The essence of what you're looking for here is an unattended windows * install with hotfixes and updates streamlined. You can even go a bit further and build in additional drivers and software(JRE or AV, anyone?). In my experience as a tech, XP is the OS I find myself reload most often. One can also do unattended reloads of W98/ME/2k as well. All involve similar google searches.

  • Nlite (Score:5, Informative)

    by October ( 107948 ) on Saturday January 28, 2006 @11:01PM (#14591440) Homepage
    Nlite [nliteos.com] is a great tool designed exactly for this. I've used it for several installs, and have created a CD that will install XPSP2 with hotfixes and all my drivers, and none of the extra crap that gets installed by default. It starts up in my LCD's native res, includes all my critical apps (firefox, etc.) right on the CD, and is completely unattended.

    • Re:Nlite (Score:2, Informative)

      by rhandir ( 762788 )
      I've used nlite. It is free as in beer, and worked well for me.

      Three good things the previous poster didn't mention:
      1. Nlite is menu driven. You can configure almost every aspect of the install, including which services are set to run manual or automatic. No funny stuff with regedit, no hexediting etc.

      2. You can bypass the check for adequate memory/hd space to install xp on systems that shouldn't be able to run it.

      3. If you are comfortable editing install exe's (or trust other people's edits) you

  • RyanVM's update pack (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mitchell Mebane ( 594797 ) on Saturday January 28, 2006 @11:02PM (#14591445) Homepage Journal
    As others have mentioned, it is fairly easy to slipstream SP2 into an XP CD. But if you want to integrate the more recent updates, there's really only one option. RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack [ryanvm.net] does exactly what you want and works like a charm. There are even third-party addon packs which let you add other interesting things to your XP install CD.

  • You don't (Score:2, Informative)

    by 55555 Manbabies! ( 861806 )
    You don't waste time installing the patches, you let WSUS do the work once you hook the computer on your domain.

  • You can also slipstream hotfixes and apps (Score:4, Informative)

    by hillct ( 230132 ) on Saturday January 28, 2006 @11:23PM (#14591536) Homepage Journal
    While slipstreaming service packs is a common practice, you can also slipstream hotfixes. Hack when I was in IT support we used this great script [wisc.edu] to automate the process. Some of the other links I still had bookmarked may be of value to people who not only want to slipstream service packs/hotfixes but also build an unattended installation CD. In our case we installed all the apps common to our PC images (except for office) from one CD. We threw the CD in, booted from it and came back 2 1/2 hours later to find a fully installed desktop with all our standard apps. This method is superior to using Ghost or other imaging software when you have a heterogenius enviroment where PC hardware varies drastically from depertment to department or desktop to desktop.

    http://www.nu2.nu/bootablecd/ [nu2.nu]
    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/ie/ie ak/default.mspx [microsoft.com]
    http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/ [msfn.org]
    http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/ [appdeploy.com]

    This last link related to a commercial software distribution enviroment but but it includes an archive of the known switches accepted by various installers to make them silent. The technique we used was to use the unattended.txt file to add a RunOnce registry entry, to regedit (to marge a secondary gegistry file containing other RunOnce entries) to be executed on the second reboot to silently install our list of apps, where the installer commands used included the switches detailed on the appDeploy website (and many other palces across the web).

    There are a relatively small number of installers out there that take a relitively well known set of switches to make the installation silent (accepting all the defaults). These methods saves us thousands of man-hours in PC deployment in the two years they was in use.

    --CTH

  • NLite (Score:3, Informative)

    by Timeburn ( 19302 ) on Saturday January 28, 2006 @11:26PM (#14591544)
    For those with never enough time to be as nitpicky as they'd like:

    Nlite [nliteos.com] is a wizard which will prep custom XP or 2003 install discs for you. It will slipstream service packs and hotfixes in, add drivers (including storage or net drivers for the initial installer), remove drivers and services, allows you to setup unattended install, plus has tons of other tweaks and adjustments. You can then install directly from the modified install folder, or have Nlite prep an ISO and burn a bootable CD.

    I recently used it to strip XP down to run in under 64MB RAM on an older laptop. Runs like a charm, and needed no updates when installed.

    Also perfect for preparing an initial install image for use with RIS and sysprep.

    Of course, you still have to find and download the hotfixes, but I think some of the other posts in this discussion have pretty well covered that part.

  • unattendend.msfn.org (Score:5, Informative)

    by duffbeer703 ( 177751 ) on Saturday January 28, 2006 @11:42PM (#14591594)
    This project describes how to do what you are talking about.

    If you use ghost images, just setup a baseline PC that uses automatic updates or WSUS. Everytime updates are released, run sysprep and ghost the machine.
  • As has been pointed out earlier in this story, the best you can do is http://unattended.msfn.org/ [msfn.org]

    Having said that, if you are doing this often enough why do you not have an image? Imaging spares you this work and you also get all of your applications as well. Your more likey to mess something up the more manual rebuilds you do, especially if you have a non trivial configuration. Better yet, with a little work with sysprep you can add drivers for multiple models. Bâshrat the Sneaky's DriverPacks [driverpacks.net] w

  • Autopatcher (Score:4, Informative)

    by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Sunday January 29, 2006 @12:47AM (#14591792) Homepage Journal
    I'm sure that there is a more elegant solution, but I use Autopatcher [autopatcher.com], when I need to bring a system up to date.

    Slipstream SP2 into an install CD. When it's installed copy over and run Autopatcher.

    If I had to do it more often, I'd probably look into a better way but the 4-5 times a year that I need to install XP doesn't make it worthwhile.

    LK
  • For a completely different, Free Software suggestion,
    try unattended at http://unattended.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net] Haven't used this at work but uses a Linux or windows server, a boot disk and you write the Perl scripts. Seems like a neat project, installs programs and does all the rebooting for you.

    The university I work at recieves them from Dell with images, apps included we just do the 3 or so non-critical fixes since the image was sent to Dell.

  • hfnetchkpro (Score:3, Informative)

    by Kris_J ( 10111 ) * on Sunday January 29, 2006 @04:01AM (#14592299) Homepage Journal
    Google for hfnetchk, hfnetchkpro, shavlick or shavlik. Sorry I'm not on a real PC to make looking that up for you easier.
  • For identical hardware, the best solution is disk imaging. This will also get you all the software installs and configurations, which is much more work than the basic Windows install + updates.

    If you don't have Norton Ghost and/or don't want to pay for it, you can use a Linux Live CD and ntfsclone. I use a script on a USB drive based on these disk imaging instructions [alma.ch].

    For different hardware, the slipstreamed install disks suggested in previous comments seem to be a good starting point.

  • Why we can't slipstream (Score:5, Informative)

    by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Sunday January 29, 2006 @07:05AM (#14592605) Homepage Journal
    Just spotted that /. posted my question, yay!

    We can't use slipstreamed CDs. Microsoft says that it violated the terms of the licence agreement. To reinstall, we need the customers original CD and COA sticker. If they only have a restore CD which doesn't work, they are SOL and need to buy a new copy of Windows.

    We have already been fined over this. We phoned up the Dixons group tech support line to see what they said, and they told us we should "borrow a friends CD". Luckily, we taped the conversation and sent a copy to Microsoft. Well, if we are gonna get screwed, at least everyone should be on a level playing field.
    • Just like to also say that it would be nice if /. editors would warn submitters of questions a day before posting, so that they can be there when the article hits and can respond to the comments. Loads of people have suggested slipstreaming, which as I say we cannot do. Yes, Microsoft told us in no uncertain terms "you must have the original CD and COA, then download any updates manually." That's why we pull a gig of updates (including service packs) a day from microsoft.com.

      • Use the downloaded Windows Update files. (Score:4, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 29, 2006 @10:11AM (#14592937)

        We build pc's for business and home use. Due to lack of time for building and maintaining a OEM installation server, my co-worker installs all machines from an installation cd.

        Now and then, Windows Update downloads are pretty slow. Therefore i have copied everything Windows Update downloads to a fileserver and created a batchfile with which we can install the patches. Ofcourse this is a bit time-consuming and it still has to be maintained each month, but it's quicker than letting Windows Update download and install everything for every pc we build.

        These are the steps to follow:

        • Install Windows XP using the cd.
        • When it's running, install the latest servicepack (SP2 at this time). This can be downloaded from Microsoft once, burned on a cd or copied onto a fileserver and installed manually.
        • Open Windows Update and write down which updates it will download and install.
        • Let the updates download and install.
        • When it's downloading and installing, copy everything (folders and files) in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download to another folder as it will delete the folders and files it had installed. These folders contain all the new patch files and an installation program.
        • Open the folder in which the folders and files have been copied.
        • Open each folder (every folder has a name consisting of 40 hexadecimal numbers) and look in the 'update' folder for a file (for example 'kb873339.cat'). This tells you the patch number.
        • Rename all folders according to the KB number. I have called the example folder 'wu-kb873339'.
        • Look at the files themselves (also consisting of 40 hexadecimal numbers). Some of these will be textfiles, which can be removed. One of the files might contain the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, which can be placed in a subfolder and renamed to an EXE file (for example mrt200601.exe). This file will probably be updated every month.
        • Create a batchfile and put the following command in it for each folder: start /wait WU-KB873339\update\update.exe /q /z . The flags /q /z will make the update install quietly without rebooting. This will install KB873339. Copy this line, paste it and change the number for the next patch, until all of them are in the batchfile. Save the batchfile.
        • Add the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool exe file and add the flags /q /z for quiet installation without reboot (for example mrt200601\mrt200601.exe /q /z ).
        • Copy everything to a fileserver which you can access from a freshly installed pc or burn it on a cd-rw (it will be about 150 - 200 Mb because every folder contains several files which are the same).

        On a freshly installed pc, which has the same servicepack, you can now copy that folder to the pc, and run the batchfile to install all updated (or perhaps you can assign a driveletter to the share so you don't have to copy the files). If you burned everything to a cd, you can probably start the batchfile without copying everything, i never tried that myself.

        Note that you should make a different folder like this for each windows version (pro, home and others).

        Anyone who wants to try this should thoroughly test it. You can verify if the patches have been installed by looking at the list displayed in 'Add/Remove programs'.

    • Nobody's bothered to ask the important questions. Okay, you're a computer technician. Are you working for a computer company that builds and sells computers, or just some repair shop? If the former situation = true, then you should have a Volume License Key or OEM (codeless) installation CD somewhere. If that is true as well, then you can slipstream all you want, as I don't see the word "slipstream" anywhere in the Microsoft License Agreement. No mention of it at all. If you're just working for a repair sho

  • Automated Deployment Services + Slipstream (Score:3, Insightful)

    by AlphaSys ( 613947 ) on Sunday January 29, 2006 @08:00AM (#14592694)
    If you haven't very demanding third-party driver support, install Automated Deployment Services [microsoft.com] (the successor to RIS) and slipstream your source. Stop wasting CDs and ISO burn time and do it in a truly manageable way. Even involved driver dependencies can be integrated, but you have to actually learn about what you're doing to make that happen. But when you need to deploy a lot of windows servers at once or the same kind over and over, this is the most straightforward way to get a consistent build and keep the patches current.

  • RIS & SMS (Score:2, Informative)

    by TheEvilOverlord ( 684773 )
    It amazes me no-one has mentioned RIS [computerpe...ance.co.uk].

    I'm no fan of MS, but the one place I've worked where it was used, it was invaluable.

    Put the machine GUID into Active Directory, PXE boot the machine, select the OS image, it formats the drive and puts the image on. You can add whatever updates/drives you want to the image. The rest can be delivered by SMS (Systems Management Service), it can be very slow though.

    The other excellent option I've seen is a custom linux partition on each drive that has a modified
    • One, as mentioned, is slipstreaming SP2 + the hotfixes. Pretty much a PITA, since you'd have to continually update your CD as new patches come up.
    • Two, is AutoPatcher [autopatcher.com]. Slipstream SP2 and run AutoPatcher after install, and you'll get 90% of the updates. Update AutoPatcher as needed.
    • Three, is to hack your own. There's a couple of options for this. You can go the Unattended [sourceforge.net] way and batch/Perl script it, but you still have to download the updates. But, if you do it from a network drive, at least you don't hav
    • One, as mentioned, is slipstreaming SP2 + the hotfixes. Pretty much a PITA, since you'd have to continually update your CD as new patches come up.

      Not really a problem if you do a network installation, which unattended supports btw.

  • WSUS (Score:2, Insightful)

    by bstempi ( 844043 )
    Windows Server Update Services.
    Instead of building a CD, I took into account that new updates will come out all of the time. Working in an environment of 150+ pcs, this also turns out to be a bandwidth hog. So, i turned to WSUS.

    Think of WSUS as a local MSUpdate repo. I tell the server what upates I want, it downloads them, and then distributes them. The only other thing i had to do was to adjust every computers group policy to look for updates from my server at midnight every night. Doing this under

  • autopatcher (Score:3, Informative)

    by XO ( 250276 ) <blade,eric&gmail,com> on Sunday January 29, 2006 @05:32PM (#14594690) Homepage Journal
    google for AutoPatcher.

    Aw, heck, I guess I'll google it for you.

    http://www.autopatcher.com/ [autopatcher.com]

      That'll hook up your new windows installation right quick.

  • Oh boy (Score:3, Informative)

    by venuspcs ( 946177 ) * on Monday January 30, 2006 @12:41AM (#14596327)
    I have been a computer tech for 11 years now. I have slipstreamed many a cd for purposes like this. Even before slipstreaming was a possibility from Microsoft I was doing it by hacking the iso and putting the newer files into it. With that said, a little creativity and Googling will do wonders for you in this case.

    As far as it not being legal to use your own disk to install WindowsXP +SP2 +Updates is BULLSHIT! It is perfectly legal as long as your installation meets a couple requirements.
    1.) The installed Operation System is the exact same one as originally came on the system when purchased from an OEM like Dell, Gateway, etc. Meaning if it an OEM system you are installing an OEM version of the OS. If it is a clone system that originally came with a RETAIL version of the OS you must install the RETAIL version of that OS. If it was built/purchased for a business with a VLK license you must install the VLK version of the OS.
    2.) You must either return the comptuer to the user UNREGISTERED/ACTIVATED depending on which version of the OS was installed; or you can use a do one of the following:
    a.) Use a customer supplied license key to register the OS for them.
    b.) Sell the customer a new license key (which you can buy in bulk from Microsoft) and use that
    license key to register/activate the Operating System.

    With that said, it is possible to create a boot cd that will have every possible version (OEM, Retail, VLK) of WindowsXP/2003 with all the service packs/updates already included. Furthermore, it is possible to make each of those install unattended without entering registration/activation info during setup so that once the OS is installed it has all the updates but has not been activated or registered (doesn't have a licence key entered).

    I have one of those CD's that has all three versions of XP SP2, all three versions of 2003 SP2 and all three versions of MCE 2005 SP2. It is perfectly legal to own and use as long as the proper license key is used before returning to the customer or you return it to the customer with no license key used.

    To make one of those disks, you can follow a fairly easy process:
    1.) Make a folder on your hard drive (in the root for ease) called TechCD
    2.) In the folder TechCD create a folder for each OS you want on the disk, like:
    a.) Windows XP SP2 (OEM) - Folder name: xpsp2oem
    b.) Windows XP SP2 (Retail) - Folder name: xpsp2ret
    c.) Windows XP SP2 (VLK) - Folder name: xpsp2vlk
    d.) Windows 2003 SP2 (OEM) - Folder name: 2003sp2O
    e.) Windows 2003 SP2 (Retail) - Folder name: 2003sp2R
    f.) Windows 2003 SP2 (VLK) - Folder name: 2003xp2V
    g.) Windows Media Center Edition 2005 SP2 (OEM) - Folder name: mce5sp2O
    h.) Windows Media Center Edition 2005 SP2 (Retail) - Folder name: mce5sp2R
    i.) Windows Media Center Edition 2005 SP2 (VLK) - Folder name: mce5sp2V
    3.) Then copy all the files from each Install CD into the appropriate directory. Don't copy the non
    required stuff like Tools, etc. as it will make the CD Image to large to fit on 1 CD.
    4.) Now use slipstream the appropriate service packs and updates into each one. (Googling Required)
    5.) Now create you a Boot Image with a menu to select which OS/Version to install. (Googling Required)
    6.) Now use a tool like UltraISO Media Edition to create a Bootable ISO using the boot image
    you made in step 5 and the various folders you created in steps 1-4. I suggest ULTRAISO because
    it has a feature (which you have to turn on in setti

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