Slipstream Your Way to Safer, More Secure WinXP Systems

Any system builder who's gone through the process of installing Windows XP, only to have to go back and install the necessary service packs, knows it can be a time-consuming process. Unfortunately, applying service packs are a critical security step. Field tests indicate that a base install of Windows XP connected to the Internet without any service packs or firewalls can be seriously compromised by Trojans, worms, and other malware in mere minutes.

In this Recipe, I'll cover slipstreaming, the process of creating a bootable Windows XP CD with all service packs and security updates pre-installed. Creating a slipstream disc may take a bit of time initially, but it can be a huge time-saver in the long run. Once you've created the initial CD, you can use it over and over again to set up a fresh, secure install for your customers' machines. Once done, all you'll need to do is enter the valid serial numbers.

Creating a slipstream disc can be fairly complex, and the process might seem intimidating. But I'll give you step-by-step instructions and a few time-saving shortcuts to make it as easy as possible.

Slipstreaming can be accomplished in a numbers of ways. In this Recipe, I'll start with a basic approach intended to give you an overall understanding of the process and the underlying principals involved. I'll then discuss new tools, such as nLite, which can help simplify the process and even incorporate individual hotfixes and updates, saving you even more time in future slipstreaming projects.

Ingredients

Here's the components you'll need to create a slipstreaming disc:

• Windows XP Home or Pro installation disc: Both full and upgrade versions will work just fine here.

• XP Service Pack 2: This is downloadable from the Windows XP Service Pack 2 site.

• Microsoft Security updates: These are downloadable from Microsoft's security update site, and can be integrated right into a new CD image by using an application called nLite (see below).

• IsoBuster: This application is used for extracting the disc boot image file from the Windows XP installation disc. This file will be reused in creating the bootable slipstream disc.

• CD-burning software with support for .iso files (for example, CDBurnerXP Pro): An .iso file is an exact copy, or image, of a CD or DVD. It includes both the content and the logical format, so that a disc with specific layout (such as a boot disc) can be burned using appropriate software.

• nLite software: This application allows unnecessary Windows components to be removed as well as automates and simplifies certain aspects of the slipstreaming process.

• A PC running Windows XP: This will be the base system on which you create the bootable CD image files you'll later use to install XP on other machines.

You'll want to set up a fresh workspace on the base system's hard drive to prepare and combine the files. You can use any of the drives on the system and may choose your own the folder names. However, for this Recipe, I've created a folder named "Slipstreaming" on the D drive, and then created three additional folders beneath it; "XP" for the original operating system files; "XPSP2" for XP Service Pack 2; and "XPISO" as the directory where we will create the .iso file we'll use to create a bootable CD. The hierarchy, as I've created it, is depicted in this screenshot:

Gathering the OS files from an XP Installation CD

You'll need a Windows XP installation disc as the source for the base OS files. Both the upgrade and full copies will work just fine, as long as you have the appropriate licensing. In a pinch, you may be able to use one of the recovery discs that some manufacturers (such as Dell) include with their systems. But it may take some tweaks to get it to work, and you'll probably save yourself some headaches by sticking with a standard installation disc.

Before copying the files, make sure that all files on the CD are visible and can be selected properly. To do this, open My Computer and go to Tools > Folder Options, and then go to the View tab. Make sure that "Show hidden files and folders" is selected, and that "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" is not checked.

The critical folders you need to copy are DOCS, i386, SUPPORT and VALUEADD, along with any other files in the same directory structure. Select all of the files and folders and copy them to D:\Slipstreaming\XP on the base system. Here's a screenshot of the nine sample files I selected for this Recipe:

Getting the Boot Image Files Deploying IsoBuster

While you've got the Windows XP installation disc in the drive, take a few moments to extract the Microsoft Corporation.img file from the disc. The Microsoft Corporation.img file is an image file, and it's a critical component for compiling the bootable Windows XP CD image, which we'll cover later in the Recipe.

Download and install IsoBuster. When you install the application, select the "Free Funct. Only" option, as that's all you'll need for this project.

Once IsoBuster opens, look in the left pane and expand all of the directories by clicking the plus (+) sign until you see the Bootable CD icon. Click on Bootable CD, and you'll see the Microsoft Corporation.img file in the right pane. Here's a screenshot of how this appears:

Click once on the Microsoft Corporation.img file to select it. Then right-click and select Extract Microsoft Corporation.img. For this example, we'll save the file to the D:\Slipstreaming\XPISO\ folder we created earlier.

Obtaining Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Necessary Security Updates

Go to the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers site, and download the XP Service Pack file. The current version is called WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe.

Once the download is complete, move the file (WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe) into the d:\Sipstreaming\XPSP2 folder you created on the base system earlier.

Extracting the Service Packs and Security Updates and Integrating Them Into the OS

Once the base Windows XP and Service Pack 2 files are in the directories you've created, it's time to extract the files from the service pack and then combine them with your base XP files.

First, open a command prompt by going to Start > Run and typing cmd. Then click OK. Once the command prompt opens, navigate to the D: drive by typing: D:

Then navigate to the XP SP2 directory by typing: cd \Slipstreaming\XPSP2

Next, type the name of the service pack, followed by -x to extract it. For our example, type the following and hit return: WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe –x

It should look just as depicted in the following screen capture:

The file will extract itself, and created a folder called I386 in your D:\Slipstreaming\XPSP2 folder, which will appear looking like this:

Once the extraction is complete, you can combine the files from Service Pack 2 into the base OS files. To do this from the D:\Slipstreaming\XPSP2\ directory in our example, go to the command line you used above, type and enter the following: i386\update\update.exe -s:D:\Slipstreaming\XP\

You should see it appear just like this:

After a few moments, the Updating Your Windows Share window will open, and SP2 will begin to be integrated in the base OS you placed into the D:\Slipstreaming\XP folder. The setup Wizard will look like this:

When the integration is complete, the following message will appear:

You are now ready to compile a bootable Windows XP CD.