xp sp3 product key‏

[MrSinatra]

hi,

i just wanted to say that first u make a hell of a useful utility, thx! BUT i do have an issue, and i'll try to explain it briefly...

i have a no service pack XP pro cd from penn state that can be installed endlessly on any machine, same 25char code, and many others have it to, it was part of a campus-wide pgm for students, faculty, etc...

anyway, i downloaded SP2 and SP3. i went to start->run and used cmd line to "integrate" sp2 first, and then sp3 to a copy of this penn state xp CD on HD.

at that point, i used your app to embed some sata raid drivers i needed, and i used your app to then make a bootable iso and burned it to disk.

i went to install it on an unused partition on the raid, (where vista64 already was installed on a different partition), and it seemed to work fine UNTIL it got to the product key.

at that point, i put in the key that has always worked, and it didn't accept it. so i am stuck at that point. i see some notes about it in your nlite development, but i don't know what to do / try now?

thanks again, -mdw

Edited May 10, 2009 by MrSinatra

[Guest]

Slipstreaming SP3 into Windows XP while using Windows Vista will cause that problem with product keys. Slipstream SP3 while using Windows XP.

Also, you only need to use the latest service pack on XP. SP3 includes the fixes in SP2.

[johnhc]

MrSinatra, why do you post in your first thread that you have found an nLite bug? You have found no such thing. It would be best if you would change your title - edit your first post. As 5eraph says, you cannot slipstream SPs with Vista to create an XP ISO. Many threads here discuss this very subject and recently. If you need help, please attach (not paste) your Last Session.ini. Make sure to always start with a fresh copy of your CD files/folders, do all your work in one nLite session and integrate only one SP. Please report when you have a solution, so others can benefit. Enjoy, John.

[MrSinatra]

well, it MIGHT be a nlite bug. true, i can not say for sure.

also, my understanding is that you have to "integrate" sp2 FIRST, and THEN integrate sp3, to a XP cd, that you can not just do sp3 alone. that view was bolstered b/c i am pretty sure i (at some past point) tried to run sp3 the normal way on a xp install with no service packs, and it said i had to have sp2 first.

let me post a differing solution i found, and then you all can say what you think about it...

i wasn't getting anywhere as i posted above, even though i was using the penn state cd that never gave me trouble before. i guess my next step could have been to try the same thing but with only sp2 instead of both sp2 and sp3, but i remembered i had another cd.

the machines that had vista64 already were from dell. they also came from the factory in a two drive raid1 (mirror) config, so thats where the system was.

i split the partition in half so i would have a place for XP. i then took a DELL oem XP pro sp2 cd, (from a dell computer that was 3-4 years younger) and this time, i used nlite to integrate sp3, as well as the (intel) raid drivers.

this time, it all worked! it never even asked me for a product key or anything! i assume this is b/c the dell cd recognized the dell mobo.

so it seems sp3 does NOT NECESSARILY stop you from doing what i did even with vista(64) already on another partition.

it remains an open question as to whether i could have gotten my original attempt to work if i had either ONLY gone to sp2 or used nlite to integrate sp2 and sp3.

i do hope this information helps out others, and interested to hear any feedback.

[mara-]

You already got you answer. First this is not a bug. Second, you can slipstream SP3 on gold XP disc (never modified and without any SP) and this is recommended so you can have smaller size of your CD. (slipstreaming SP2 and then SP3 will get you only bigger CD size, nothing else). Third, you will need to do a slipstream using XP as I host. This is only necessary for SP3 slipstream. So, do just a slisptream of SP3 and make no any other modification. After that you will have a copy which you can use for further modifications and you can do it under Vista.

Cheers

Edited May 9, 2009 by mara-

[Sephiroth]

hate to chime in here, but if what he is saying is true, he has to do SP2 or SP1 before SP3. I am in that boat as well. I have an original release of XP Home and XP Pro. If you try installing SP3 without at least SP1 installed, SP3 won't install. It even mentions this fact on the Microsoft site. SP2 however, does not require SP1. SP3 requires SP2 or SP1, simple as that.

[Kelsenellenelvian]

SP3 only HAS to HAVE SP1 or 2 if you are installing ON A LIVE SYSTEM!

I have made nearly all 6 versions of XP with SP3 and NONE of them have been with even SP1...

[Guest]

Kelsenellenelvian is correct. Installing is not the same as slipstreaming, guys. You can—and should—slipstream only the latest SP you intend to use into your source.

Edited May 9, 2009 by 5eraph

[MrSinatra]

i am more than happy to be corrected...

if u only need to slipstream sp3 to a gold cd, then fine, so be it.

(also, i HAVE to add the intel drivers no matter what so the cd can access the raid)

but that doesn't address my larger issue, that i contend MAY be a bug...

someone please address this issue:

IF sp3 is the problem in my first attempt, why isn't it also a problem in my second attempt?

meaning, if having sp3 slipstreamed when vista(64) is already present causes a problem on my penn state gold cd (with sp3 slip'd) try, why doesn't it also cause a problem on my dell oem sp2 cd (with sp3 slip'd) try?

what i can't understand, is why my first attempt didn't work, especially since my second attempt did.

Edited May 9, 2009 by MrSinatra

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Serial?

I would think the Penn state key was invalidated by SP3. They really added a LOT of keys and algorithms to SP3. Does it pass WGA?

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Another danged double post.

What happened to the spam control settings?

Also would anyone spare a new mouse? (mine is almost wasted.)

Edited May 9, 2009 by Kelsenellenelvian

[johnhc]

MrSinatra, what you have found is NOT a bug and again I ask you to change the thread title. No one is saying you cannot add an SP with Vista running in another partition. What we are all saying is that you cannot build an XP ISO under Vista and slip an SP. There is a thread with many replies recently that discusses slipping more than one SP. At the very least it is space wasteful and not necessary. I go further and say it should not be done at all. If you will read my first reply and the request for your Last Session.ini and respond, we may be able to determine what happened. Please attach the Last Session for your first and second attempt and explain about including one or more SPs. MS says you should include one SP after another, but they are talking about on a running (Kels live) system. Since you are slipstreaming, you only need ONE! We have been through this many times - you have not found an nLite bug. You may not like how nLite handles the situation, but executed properly, users do not have any problems. Enjoy, John.

[MrSinatra]

Serial?

I would think the Penn state key was invalidated by SP3. They really added a LOT of keys and algorithms to SP3. Does it pass WGA?

the CD was part of a joint PSU-microsoft program. literally thousands and thousands of people have this CD or a copy of it, and they all use the same 25char code. it still works today as it always has, and presumably always will). it is used not only by students, but by staff and faculty, on university computers as well.

i have installed it myself on numerous systems, and i have patched them (live) to sp3 without one time, EVER having it fail an activation or having it not accept the product key. (either at install or post install via patching)

the ONLY time i have had an issue, is this time, where i integrated (slipped) sp3 via command line as i described in my first post. (i have not tried slipping sp3 with nlite to the penn state cd, but i gather i would get the same result)

i suppose i can guess that the dell oem sp2 cd w/sp3 slipped simply never asks for a product key b/c it knows its a dell mobo i am trying to install to... but even so, that means that simply having sp3 and vista present together is not the whole reason as to why such installs can fail.

what i want to know is why does my penn state cd w/sp3 slipped fail to recognize the correct product key, when its almost a certainty that i could simply slip sp2 and then apply sp3 later when its "live" and still be verified genuine?

[Kelsenellenelvian]

I see. Lets think here then. We know from the past that manualy slipstreaming in Vista will not work. We also know that supposedly nLite has a fix added to it to overcome this (Changelog, like 2 versions ago)

We also know that OEM cd's are VERY strange. When nLited they ussually do not work. Especially DELLS oem CD's. So I kindly ask:

Will you try the Penn CD with JUST sp3 and only sp3 done by nLite in vmware? It will take less that 15-20 minutes to do the test far enough to get to the key stage.

[MrSinatra]

MrSinatra, what you have found is NOT a bug and again I ask you to change the thread title.

please... relax. i will change it if during the course of the thread i become convinced of that. i am certainly leaning that way, but i am not sure yet.

No one is saying you cannot add an SP with Vista running in another partition. What we are all saying is that you cannot build an XP ISO under Vista and slip an SP.

that [second part] would seem to be a false statement.

as i said, i took a dell oem xp pro sp2 cd and slipped in sp3 and my drivers into an iso. i did this using nlite on a [second] vista64 machine. i then burned the iso to cd and successfully installed xp to [the first] machine.

(i have two fairly new vista64 dell computers here, equal configs. i used the first one to build the penn state cd that failed in an install attempt on that same first machine, and i used the second one to build the dell oem cd that worked on the first machine)

There is a thread with many replies recently that discusses slipping more than one SP. At the very least it is space wasteful and not necessary. I go further and say it should not be done at all.

ok, i am happy to be corrected. i am surprised that u can do it via slipping and not direct in a live environment but i believe you, lets move on.

If you will read my first reply and the request for your Last Session.ini and respond, we may be able to determine what happened. Please attach the Last Session for your first and second attempt and explain about including one or more SPs. MS says you should include one SP after another, but they are talking about on a running (Kels live) system. Since you are slipstreaming, you only need ONE! We have been through this many times - you have not found an nLite bug. You may not like how nLite handles the situation, but executed properly, users do not have any problems. Enjoy, John.

i will try to find the correct sessions, i might have a problem identifying them, but again, I BELIEVE YOU and others when u say you only need to slip the latest SP, (ie. sp3). thats NOT the issue i am talking about when i say there may be a bug. please see my other posts, no need for me to restate what i said in them.

Edited May 10, 2009 by MrSinatra