How To Make A Bootable Windows Xp Install Disk
Jul 25, 2009 - This guide will take you through the steps in slipstreaming the latest service pack into Windows XP and burning it to a disc.
Though Microsoft has stopped its support for Windows XP, it is still worthy. About 30% of the computer users still use Windows XP. At the modern computers with x86 architecture, you cannot install Windows XP first then the Service Pack (SP2 or SP3). You need a installation media which is already slipstreamed with service pack. While the Windows XP installation media with service pack 2 is available in the market, Microsoft did not released any installation media labeled with Windows XP Service Pack 3.
In the older computers, you can mange to install the Windows XP first and then the service pack (sp2,sp3). No doubt, this technique takes lot of times to install service packs after the installation.
If you have a Windows XP installation media, then you can make your Windows XP installation CD updated with the Service pack 3. Here is how to make the bootable image(ISO) file of Windows XP Service Pack 3.
How to slipstream Service Pack 3 into Windows XP
At first, copy the content of the XP installation CD and save it in a folder named as XP (say) in the root drive, say ‘C’. Now, download Service pack 3 From Microsoft and save a copy of the downloaded file in a folder named as SP3 in the same location where the folder XP resides.
Now, open command prompt and change the directory to SP3 (use this command: cd SP3) and run the following command.
In this example, the command will look like this:
After the successful execution of the command the system files and the installation files of the folder ‘XP’ are updated with the Service Pack 3. But you cannot use this XP folder to prepare the installation media. You’ll have to make the ISO file.
How to Create the Windows XP Sp3 image(ISO) file
We shall use a software called as Bart’s BCD software to create the image file. Download it from http://www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=bcd111.zip. Once downloaded, unzip it to a folder. We’ll unzip it to c:bcd for this example.
Download another file: wnaspi32.dll and copy it into the BCD’s bin folder (in our example, c:bcd > bin). Also download Windows XP file (5 KB) and unzip it into the BCD’s root folder (c:bcd in our example).
Make sure the subfolders are also unpacked. Copy the i386 folder (in our example, from C: > XP > i386) into one of the following folders, depending on whether it’s Windows XP Home or Professional:
Copy the win51ic.SPx or win51ip. SPx file here as well . Optionally, you can also copy the following files (not needed for bootable CD installation):
Now you are ready to go. Open the command prompt again, change the directory to C: > bcd and run one of the following commands.
or:
The above commands will prepare the ISO image. The image file is generally located into the folder ‘Temp’ under ‘My Document’. Grab that image file of Windows XP Service Pack 3 and burn it with Nero Image Burner. That’s all you have to do to slipstream service pack 3 into Windows XP.
Some more guides related to installation media:
1. Prepare a Multi-boot USB Drive
2. How to install Windows 7 from USB Drive
3. How to Setup Windows XP from Pen Drive.
If you face any type of problem then feel free to share at the comment section.
Here is how to make a bootable XP Recovery Console CD and a Hiren's BootCD (neither require XP media).I do not recall in recent memory any XP issue I could not resolve with one or the other.
The Microsoft Support Engineers either don't know how to do this or are prohibited - I think because there is not a Microsoft KB article about it. If you are a SE and making a post, you better include a Microsoft KB article in it somewhere or it doesn't count. I think they just don't know how...
You can make a bootable Recovery Console CD by downloading an ISO file and burning it to a CD.
The bootable ISO image file you need to download is called:
xp_rec_con.iso
Download the ISO file from here:
<Link removed>
Use a new CD and this free and easy program to burn your ISO file and create your bootable CD:
Here are some instructions for ImgBurn:
It would be a good idea to test your bootable CD on a computer that is working.
You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD ROM drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk. These adjustments are made before Windows tries to load. If you miss it, you will have to reboot the system again.
When you boot on the CD, follow the prompts:
Press any key to boot from CD...
The Windows Setup... will proceed.
Press 'R' to enter the Recovery Console.
Select the installation you want to access (usually 1: C:WINDOWS)
You may be asked to enter the Administrator password (usually empty).
You should be in the C:WINDOWS folder. This is the same as the
C:WINDOWS folder you see in explorer.
The Recovery Console allows basic file commands like: copy, rename, replace, delete, cd, chkdsk, fixboot, fixmbr, etc.
For a list of Recovery Console commands, enter help at the prompt or read about the XP Recovery Console here:
Make yourself a Hiren's BootCD which you can download from here:
http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/
The ZIP file is large, so the download will probably take a little while to complete. Then unzip the download to extract the Hirens.BootCD.ISO file that will be used to create your new bootable CD.
Creating a bootable CD from a .ISO file is not the same as just copying the .ISO file to a blank CD. You have to use software that understands how to burn a .ISO file to a CD to create a bootable CD.
In the Hiren's ZIP file are the BurnToCD.cmd file that you can double click to launch it. The BurnToCD.cmd will use the extracted BurnCDCC.exe file to burn the .ISO file to a blank CD using your existing CD burner. You can also use your own CD burning software as long as your software is capable of creating a bootable CD from a .ISO file. Most modern CD burning programs can create bootable CDs from an .ISO image. Creating a bootable CD from an ISO image is not the same as just burning the file to a CD.
If you need a free and easy CD burning software package, here is a popular free program:
http://www.imgburn.com/
Here are some instructions for ImgBurn:
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61It would be a good idea to test your new bootable CD on a computer that is working.
You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD ROM drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk. These adjustments are made before Windows tries to load. If you miss it, you will have to reboot the system again.
When booting on the Hiren's CD you will see a menu of options. Choose the Mini XP option. Then it will appear that Windows is being loaded and you will be presented with a desktop that has the look and feel of the Windows Explorer interface you are already used to using.
Using the Mini XP, you can access the Internet, maneuver around your system, search for files, copy files, replace files, run various scans for malicious software, edit text files (like the c:boot.ini) etc.
There are dozens of free and useful tools included in the CD that can be used to repair your system or copy your important personal files to another device (like a USB device or external drive) in the event that you just give up and decide to reinstall your XP (hopefully you will