Updating Your Windows XP Installation CD with SP2

If you have an early Windows XP Installation CD that does not include SP2, you may need to update it before you are able to install Windows XP on a new PC. One reason for this might be that the drivers for the hardware in your new PC did not exist when the CD was made, but they have since been made available through updates. Applying all of the Updates to the installation CD will make the Installation process much easier.

This document will guide you through the steps required to produce an up to date, bootable, Windows XP Installation CD. You will need to have an Older installation CD in order to complete this process.

PCI-Express drivers were not available in the early XP CD's. If your motherboard includes an onboard VGA output, you may be able to use this for the installation and have the PCI-Express disabled. Once installation is complete and updates have been downloaded, you would have the required drivers. This would save you making a new install CD, so long as the rest of your hardware is supported by the early CD.

Creating the CD

Create the following directory structure (I assume its under the root of C: throughout this document).

$C:\SS\XP, C:\SS\SP, C:\SS\ISO-Buster$
Copy the entire content of your original CD to C:\SS\XP (including hidden files). It should look something like this.

$XP\DOCS, XP\I386, XP\SUPPORT, XP\VALUEADD$
Download the full SP2 Service Pack. (Network Installation). Save in the location 'C:\SS\SP'.
- Should the link above fail, try searching for WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe
- You may notice that you can also order the CD. Note: The CD is still SP2 only, not a full installation CD.
Extract the service patch by running the '\SS\SP\WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe /X' in a command window.
Choose to extract the service pack to 'C:\SS\SP'.
The files are now extracted to the directory specified.
A directory structure similar to this should have been produced.

$C:\SS\SP\i386\update\update.exe$
Integrate the Service Pack with the original Windows XP CD in a command window as follows :-

$cd \SS\SP\i386\update<ENTER>, update /integrate:c:\SS\XP<ENTER>$

Note: Running 'update /?' will show all options of update.
While the Service Pack is integrated, the progress will be displayed.
Followed by a successful completion dialog.
The directory holding the Windows XP CD has now been modified to include SP2.

$XP\cmpnents, XP\DOCS, XP\I386, XP\SUPPORT, XP\VALUEADD$
Copying the files from C:\SS\XP to a CD now would result in a complete, but non-bootable CD. To create a bootable CD, the boot loader can be extracted from the original CD using IsoBuster from Smart Projects. You only need the free version, but read their Freeware vs. Shareware page. Download, Install and Run IsoBuster. On the first screen, you can select the 'Free funct. only' Button, and allow new updates to be retrieved.
Insert your original Windows XP CD. When the autoboot screen appears, close it. In IsoBuster, navigate to 'CD/Session 1/Track 01/Bootable CD' where you should find 'Microsoft Corporation.img'. If you can not find it, you may need to click the refresh button.
Right click on 'Microsoft Corporation.img' and select 'Extract Microsoft Corporation.img'. Save this file to the C:\SS\ISO-Buster folder.
Make a note of the lable before exiting IsoBuster. In this case, the label is 'WXPFPP_EN'.
Now create the Windows XP SP2 Bootable CD with your CD writing software. This is easy to do with Nero.
Configure the Boot Tab as follows :-

$1) Image File = C:\SS\ISO-Buster\Microsoft Corporation.img, 2) Enable Expert Settings, 3) Kind of emulation = No Emulation, 4) Load segment = 07C0, 5) Number of loaded sectore = 4$
Configure the ISO Tab as follows :-
The CD name must be exactly the same as the original CD. We have this from Step 15 above.
Once the tabs are configured, click on the new button and the main window appears. Using the File Browser, navigate to C:\SS\XP, Highlight all the files and drag them to the empty pane as shown below.
Insert a blank CD and click on the Burn icon.
That's it... You should now have a Bootable CD for Windows XP SP2.

Roger Hall
COMPUSPEC