Windows 2000 Updated Disk

[NoNameRequired]

Would it be possible to create an updated Windows 2000 disk to avoid updating everything via the Windows Update Site and rebooting ~ 5 times ?

By that I mean creating an home-made Windows 2000 disk which already has the newest DirectX, critical updates, Internet Explorer, Service packs, etc. This would save a lot of time for I format quite often.

 

[Darthtoast]

There's a network download somewhere on the MS site that's about 100mb that contains all the fixes up to this point. But there's a new service pack coming out sometime soon.

 

[NoNameRequired]

Yes, I heard about slipstreaming SP2 into the Windows 2000 CD. I was wondering if this could be done for all the updates.

Alternatively, someone suggested that I install Windows 2000, update it and create an image file of my HD on a CD. The problem is, Windows 2000's install is about 700MB so I doubt it could fit on one CD unless the compression does a good job. How would I go around formating my HD into NTFS and copying the contents from the CD onto the HD ?

 

[Rapmaster]

That would require software such as Norton Ghost or Powerquest DriveImage


--

just download the various updates manually from here:
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog/en/default.asp

and burn them to CD

You will need to run them all afterwards (many of them may require to be run in a certain order.)

It will be a pain to keep the CD up to date, so just put the big things like Service Packs and IE on there.

 

[NoNameRequired]

I don't mind the minor updates such as critical fixes, I just don't want to download the big ones and reboot 5 times each time I reformat.

 

[NoNameRequired]

I only managed to slipstream SP3, but I would really like to splistream IE6, WMP8, DirectX 8.1b and hotfixes if possible.

I found a site which explains how this is done, but it is beyond my computer knowledge. I'm having a hard time understanding the instructions. http://www.tech-hints.com

Has anyone here ever managed to update their Win2K CD ?

 

[Swilo]

WMP6.4 > All.
I'll have to look into this "Slipstreaming" thing when I install 2k.

 

[Fjellu]

Including IE6, DX8, WMP7

A part of my "Unattended.doc"

Cmdlines.txt

The first method for running additional commands during the Win2K setup process involves cmdlines.txt, which contains a list of one or more commands for Setup to run automatically during the GUI-mode portion of the setup process (during the optional components portion).

The cmdlines.txt has to be in the root of $OEM$. The cmdlines.txt is a simple text file, which you make with notepad. The syntax is

[Commands]
“Command_1”
“Command_2”
……………..
“Command_x”

You cannot use a parameter surrounded by quotes in cmdlines.txt. If you need quotes, use a batch file, which you call from cmdlines.txt.

Cmdlines.txt runs during a portion of Setup in which no user is logged on and you have no guarantee of network connectivity, Setup writes user-specific information to the default portion of the Registry. As a result, all subsequently created users receive whatever information Setup has written. The Windows installer service is not available during this stage of setup.

You can install Internet Explorer 6, DirectX 8.1 and Windows Media Player 7.1 using cmdlines.txt. The problem here is that the installation programs needs input from the user and you want to suppress that when you do a fully unattended setup.

For Internet Explorer 6 you should use IEAK6 (which you should have, if you followed the instructions in Slipstream.doc).

When installing IEAK6 choose the license for “Site License and Intranet…”.

First you should know which files are included in the installation package of IE6 for W2K. To do this, run the ie6setup.exe (with IE6 not installed). From the advanced options choose to save the installations files to disk. Move these files to save place for later use.

In order to create new packages of IE6 in the future make a separate project for it. Create a d:\IEAK6 folder with two subfolders “Builds” and “Download”.

Run the “Internet Explorer Customization Wizard” Corporate Version. On the “File locations” page choose “d:\IEAK6\Builds” for Destination folder and from advanced options “d:\IEAK6\Download” choose Component Download Folder. On the “Media Selection” page choose “Flat”.

The only page really important is “Add Custom Components”. You can add applications, hotfixes and almost anything you want. You can also add appropriate setup parameters for a silent, no-reboot install.

In my project I have the following:

MSN Messenger 4.6 mmssetup.exe /Q:A /R:N
Euro Conversion Tool euroconv.exe /Q:A /R:N
Windows 2000 Compatibility Updates appupd.exe /Q:A /R:N
Visual Basic Scripting Support vbs56nen.exe /Q:A /R:N
Jet Database Engine 3.5 jet35sp3.exe
Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer q321232.exe /Q:A /R:N
Visual Basic 6.00.8964 sp5 VBRun60sp5.exe /Q:A /R:N
Windows NT Installer 2.0.2600.0 InstMsi.exe /Q
Data Access Components 2.70.9001.0 MDAC_Typ.exe /Q

For q321232.exe choose “Install after system restarts” and for the rest “Install after Internet Explorer”.

Make your own personalized other supplements and create the custom package.

The custom package is in d:\IEAK6\Builds\FLAT\WIN32\EN\. It consists of all files needed for installation on win95/98 and NT as well. Now you have to compare it to the installation package of IE6 for W2K, which you saved earlier.

Delete all files not needed. The q321232.exe will be inside a customX.cab and the other extra files will be in the folder. Also save ie6setup.exe, iecif.cab and iesetup.ini. Check the timestamps and you know which files to delete.

Make a batch file called ie6.bat

@echo off
echo Installing Internet Explorer 6 and some patches
echo.
echo Installing...
echo.
echo Please wait
%systemdrive%\winapps\ie6\ie6setup.exe
;endfile

For DX81 and WMP71 you use the same method (installing from cmdlines.txt). Extract the files to folders beneath \$OEM$\winapps, DIRECTX and WMP (Use the method explained in Slipstream.doc #6). Create batch files for the installation, directx.bat and wmp.bat with the switches needed. For troubleshooting purposes include an echo. Here is an example of the files.

@echo off
echo Installing DirectX 8.1a
echo.
echo Installing...
echo.
echo Please wait
%Systemdrive%\winapps\directx\dxsetup.exe /install /silent
;endfile

@echo off
echo Installing Windows Media Player 7.1
echo.
echo Installing...
echo.
echo Please wait
%Systemdrive%\winapps\wmp\setup_wm.exe /Q:A /R:N
;endfile

OPTIONAL! If you want to save some additional space you can compress the files to a self-extracting package using iexpress.exe. This file is included into IEAK6. Run iexpress.exe and make two files directx.exe and wmp.exe. The needed switches should be included into the package (DXSETUP.EXE /install /silent and setup_wm.exe /Q:A /R:N). This way you save A LOT of space on the CD. It also makes troubleshooting easier. You can test you package before applying it to the CD. If you compress the files change the install commands in directx.bat to
(%Systemdrive%\winapps\directx\directx.exe)
and in wmp.bat to
(%Systemdrive%\winapps\wmp\wmp.exe)

Now you have 3 packages with lots of files, which can be installed through cmdlines.txt. Depending on where you put your batch files you can decide on the installation process further. If you want to use relative paths in cmdlines.txt put your commands into batch file/s and put the batch file/s directly into the root of $OEM$ (\$OEM$\ie6.bat). The file so far would be

[COMMANDS]
".\Ie6.bat"
".\directx.bat"
".\wmp.bat"
;endfile

If the batch files are not directly in the root of $OEM$ you cannot use relative paths. Putting the batch file/s into the $OEM$\$1\winapps\ folder you would have to use "C:\Winapps\Ie6.bat". This would not make it possible to install to any other drive than the one specified in cmdlines.txt.

You can also make packages for cmdlines.txt, installing the WMP71 Bonus Pack and WMP71 update (first update, not however the “26 June 2002 Cumulative Patch for Windows Media Player (Q320920)”.