To slipstream a Service Pack into a Windows OS Install means taking a Service Pack installer and applying it to the Windows Install Files so that the Windows Install is now pre-loaded with the Service Pack. This means that you will no longer need to install that service pack after installing the OS. It also means that Windows will take less disk space and be much cleaner because there will not be any backup files, etc.

This document will describe the process of slipstreaming a Service Pack into the Windows XP or Windows 2003 Install.

This document will describe the four steps to slipstreaming a Windows Install:

1. Copy the install files from the CD-ROM to your Hard Drive
2. Download and extract the Service Pack
3. Apply the Service Pack to the install files
4. Optionally, make a Bootable CD with the Slipstreamed Windows Install

We will specifically be creating a slipstreamed Windows Server 2003 x86 Service Pack 2 install. To slipstream another service pack or OS, you will merely need to substitute the service pack file and appropriate source CD for the ones mentioned. For reference, here are the Service Packs released to date and their filenames.

Step 1: Copy the install files from the CD-ROM to your Hard Drive

In order to update the install files, they will need to be in a writable location. You can use any location you want, but this document will demonstrate the Slipstream Installation using the directory C:\TempOS.

1. Create a Temporary Directory on your hard drive, we will call it C:\TempOS
2. Copy the contents of your Windows Install CD to the C:\TempOS
   
   

   Click to view.

Step 2: Download and extract the Service Pack

By default, the Service Pack executable will attempt to install the service pack to your operating system. To work with the service pack in other ways, such as using it to slipstream an OS install, you will need to extract the contents of the Service Pack installer to a temporary directory. We will use the directory "C:\TempSP".

1. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads
2. Search for the Network Install version of the Service Pack you want to apply.
   
   1. If the file size is less than 5MB, then it is probably not the Network Install version.
   2. If you are searching for one of the Service Packs listed at the beginning of this document, you can save some time by searching for the file name.
3. Download the Service Pack to a location on your hard drive, such as C:\
4. Click Start>Run, type "C:\WindowsServer2003-KB914961-SP2-x86-ENU.exe -x:C:\TempSP" (without quotes), and press Enter. This will extract the contents of the file.
   
   

   Click to view.

5. When the extraction is complete, click OK.

Step 3: Apply the Service Pack to the install files

Now that the OS Install files are in a writeable location and the Service Pack install files have been extracted, we can now instruct the Service Pack installer to slipstream your OS Install files.

1. Click Start>Run, type "C:\TempSP\i386\update\update.exe -s:C:\TempOS" (without quotes), and press Enter. This will integrate the Service Pack files into the Windows Install files.
   
   

   Click to view.

2. When the integration is complete, click OK.
3. You can now copy the install files to any location you like. You can use it for unattended installs or to supply the HAL files during the HII Tools setup.
4. If you would like to make a Bootable Install CD, follow the instructions in the next step.

Step 4: Optionally, make a Bootable CD with the Slipstreamed Windows Install

If you were to burn the slipstreamed OS Install files to a CD right now, the CD would not be a bootable CD and so it would not be very useful. In order to make a bootable CD, we will need to extract the boot image from your original OS Install CD and burn the new files to a CD using that boot image. In the end, you will have a full-featured bootable OS Install CD that has the latest Service Pack built-in.

1. Download and install IsoBuster. You can download it from http://www.isobuster.com/
2. Open IsoBuster.
3. Make sure your Windows Install CD is in the drive.
4. In the drop-down list, choose the CD drive that the install CD is in.
5. In the tree-view, select "Bootable Disk"
6. In the right pane, right-click the .img file (it will probably be called "Microsoft Corporation.img") and select Extract.
7. Save it to a location on your hard drive, such as C:\.
8. If you do not have CD burning application that will allow you to create a bootable CD using the .img file you just extracted, download and install ISO Recorder from http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com.
9. Burn your C:\TempOS directory to CD using the "Microsoft Corporation.img" file to make it bootable. If you are using ISO Recorder, do the following.
   
   1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the C: drive.
   2. Right-click TempOS and select "Create ISO image file"
   3. Under Boot Image, make sure that the Include option is enabled.
   4. Under Boot Image, click the browse (" ") button and select the "Microsoft Corporation.img" file.
      
      

      Click to view.

   5. Click Next.
   6. When the TempOS.iso file has successfully been created click Finish, you can now burn it to a CD.
   7. Insert a blank writeable CD into your CD Burner.
   8. In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\, right-click the TempOS.iso file, and select "Copy image to CD".
   9. In the Recorder drop-down list, select your CD Burner and then click Next.
   10. When the CD recording is complete, click Finish.
10. You now have a bootable OS Install with the latest Service Pack built-in.
11. You will probably want to delete all or some of the temporary files placed on your hard drive. Here is a list of the temporary files and folders created during this process that you may want to delete or move to a network share for later use.
    
    1. "C:\TempOS", the slipstreamed OS Install files.
    2. "C:\WindowsServer2003-KB914961-SP2-x86-ENU.exe", the Service Pack installer.
    3. "C:\TempSP", the extracted Service Pack Install files.
    4. "C:\TempOS.iso", the bootable CD image file of the slipstreamed OS Install.