• Welcome to Maher's Digital World.

Creating Windows XP ISO with post-sp3 updates

Started by harkaz, March 22, 2013, 11:48 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

harkaz

Windows XP SP3 has more than 200 post-sp3 updates (including .NETs, etc.). I have used addon packages like RyanVM's update pack to update the installation disk.

These addons seem perfect at first. But there are some special issues one may discover after installing Windows XP with those addons.

Personally I couldn't install SQL Server 2005/2008, experienced issues with IE8 on some websites - non-existant on a manual IE8 installation, and also found rather irritating the fact that Windows File Protection always asks for a disk - the addon configures it that way.
So I dismmissed that addon and tried to find a different approach.

Currently, the only alternative I have thought of is image-based installation.
This would also allow creating an all-in-one Windows installation disk, which seems perfect.
Windows XP, however, was not designed to be installed that way. As a result, I have to make some modifications, to ensure that image will be installed on all systems.


  • First of all, Mass-Storage drivers need to be installed before Windows XP image starts. Sysprep was a HUGE disappointment in this field. Just added the built-in SCSI drivers with sysprep -bmsd and resealed. Guess what? After reboot (always in the virtual machine) I recieved a wonderful 0x7b BSOD. Why? Are there any alternatives to sysprep that work?
  • Second problem: Cannot apply image on a different partition/ drive letter. How can I change registry paths and files so that that is runs on any drive letter and partition number?
  • Third issue: HAL and processor. I want the image to automatically update the HAL on target computer. I have read that this can be done via configuring the boot.ini startup options and then updating the HAL. I need a program/script to detect HAL in WinPE, so that I can update it afterwards. Moreover, I think that changing the processor ID might be required to let the image run on AMD and Intel processors.
  • Fourth issue: Enable Upgrade/Repair installations. This is the most difficult, if not impossible. To enable them, I have to use setup.exe, not mini-setup. Upgrading from Windows 9x/NT can be done, I suppose, by copying the image file to the computer, rebooting, expanding the image in Windows PE, ensure that it will run on target hardware, reboot again, run windows xp setup in upgrade or repair mode somehow, reboot again, and finally use the updated installation files to complete the installation. Such an adventure!

This seems so cool but is very difficult to implement. I need some advice.

Any ideas or suggestions about creating an updated Windows XP ISO?

scarface

#1
modify an update pack:
to disable wfp you have to patch sfc_os.dll: http://bitsum.com/aboutwfp.asp
and try to do your own ie addon.

harkaz

Quote from: scarface on March 22, 2013, 08:58 PM
modify an update pack:
to disable wfp you have to patch sfc_os.dll: http://bitsum.com/aboutwfp.asp
and try to do your own ie addon.

Is there a way to copy files to dllcache instead of inserting the CD-ROM each time, without losing the reliability of the installation? (I don't want to turn off WFP completely).

I'll look for a different IE8 addon. I am also looking for .NET Framework replacement addon. The reason why SQL Server does not install is .NET Framework setup configuration.

scarface

#3
I dont know. the best is to empty dllcache and use a patched sfc_os.dll, thats what I did  in days of old.