I am sure Windows XP SP1a, SP2 and SP3 will be available for download long
after the extended support period ends.
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselect
-->
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/
(Phases of the Support Lifecycle)
-->
For Windows XP (Professional/Home) we are in the "Extended Support" part
of the lifecycle. Goes through 2014 (April 8th or so of that year.) If
you are still running Windows XP at that point, there will probably be a
lot you will be unable to do. ;-)
Anyway - if you are looking to integrate (some call it slipstreaming, and
I guess that has taken on its own life now, whether or not it is actually
called that originally) SP3 into your installation media - I can tell you
how I do it and/or you could just download SP3 and all the post-SP3
patches you can find, all your hardware drivers, etc and put them on a CD
to use when you (if you) install Windows XP after April 8, 2014 - if you
(for whatever reason) cannot get SP3, etc then.
Many people utilize tools like AutoStreamer or nLite to
intgrate/slipstream
updates into the installation media. nLite (I believe) has a way/hack that
'integrates' Internet Explorer 7 - but to be honest, _I_ would not do
that.
Getting the updates - that is fairly simple.
One way...
You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
month using the following:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms##-***.mspx
At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace
##
with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check
by
the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
fine) - note that future months will not work - although they may have an
"Advance Notification for" in place when the actual time approaches.
Example:
November 2009
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-nov.mspx
Another way...
Windows Updates Downloader
http://www.windowsupdatesdownloader.com/
Another way...
Security updates are available on ISO-9660 DVD5 image files from the
Microsoft Download Center
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086
The second is truly the easiest for most people. Most of the updates you
can get have an /integrate switch. Pretty much the same way you do the
service packs.
Although many people use the nlite/autostreamer and other similar tools -
I
stick with the original.
Copy the installation CD files to a directory on a Windows XP system (I
prefer doing the integration on a working system of the same version,
although it is not usually necessary...) - preferably a short path like
"C:\WinXP". Downloading the full latest service pack and the patches I
want
to integrate using one of the methods above and putting them all into a
different (but short as well) path like "C:\XPPatch" - no sub-directories.
Integrating the service pack first - in this case, given what I have, the
command would be:
"C:\XPPatch\WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe" /integrate:C:\WinXP
and after some time, it would be done.
Then I would integrate the other patches that I could. There would be
*quite a few* updates, so I could either do them one-by-one using this
command with the appropriate substitutions...
"C:\XPPatch\WindowsXP-KB??????-x86-enu.exe" /integrate:C:\WinXP
Or I could create a batch script to run through and do them for me:
<start batch script here - copy below this line>
set sourcedir=C:\WinXP
set patchdir=C:\XPPatch
for %%U in (%patchdir%\WindowsXP-KB??????-x86-enu.exe) DO (
if not exist %svcpackdir%\%%U (
@ECHO Now integrating %%U . . .
@ECHO.
start /wait %%U /integrate:%sourcedir%
)
)
@ECHO Windows XP Updates Integrated into your Installation Media.
@ECHO Burn your new media.
<end batch script here - copy above this line>
And running that would integrate the majority of the available patches and
automatically integrate them - only pausing for me to click OK on each of
the patches "Success" or "Failure" messages. You could make it silent with
a little modification.
The reason it cannot get them all is that some patches do not integrate
and
some do not use the same naming scheme (although you could rename them so
they do...)
I then use BBIE (Bart's Boot Image Extractor) to take the 'boot image' off
the original Windows XP CD and save it to a file so I can burn a bootable
Windows XP CD with the integrations I have made. Depending on what CD
burning software or ISO creation software you use - the instructions can
differ a bit here... This part is important when burning to CD: Set Load
segment of sectors (hex) to 0000 and set Number of loaded sectors to 4. Or
at least that is something I always remember.
That's just the way I have done it - even though I have used the other
methods, I find that one the most reliable.
Some have trouble finding the downloads for Windows XP SP1a, SP2
and SP3 they might need...
Windows XP SP1a for IT Professionals (it works for anyone really)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=83E4E879-FA3A-48BF-ADE5-023443E29D78
