Windows XP Service Pack 4 custom ISO with all post-SP3 updates included

wingman99 said:

Is 7 snappy to use on that Rig.

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My results on that just in. By the way clearly there's no use for old mice on Windows XP since Windows XP has perfectly working USB ports, so please no more thread jacking on that.


But here's the deal on rigs we thought cannot be upgraded from Windows XP: My test platform was the very popular for its day nForce2 motherboard + Athlon XP combo. I overclocked it to 2.3GHz, people on average can get them extra 100MHz-200 MHz if they have good cooling and mobile Athlon XPs. I maxed it out to 1.5 GB of RAM, max it can take.

The beauty of newer OS, is that they do not need as many drivers. So out of the box, my Windows 7 + integrated SP1 iso installed and was ready to access the internet with no drivers whatsoever. It was OK for regular use. Obviously fresh Windows 7 install is faster than a fully loaded Windows XP that's usually on it...


Unfortunately my test showed that even under Windows 7, it cannot play the episodes without stuttering I used as tests: CBS's free Star Trek episodes, which I used to test this on. [I'd be interested to know if the Pentium 4 rigs can.]

The video card is not too wimpy GeForce 6800, for which I then installed the drivers for and still it stuttered. So Windows 7 can go on those old rigs even though there are no Windows 7 drivers for them.


I think that regardless of Windows XP or Windows 7, the above poster is correct, installing Windows on any small SSD is the thing to do, if you want any rig to fly faster.


We still need a fully integrated Windows XP ISO which would include all updates ever released up to yesterday for new rigs for use as part of dual boots.

(G{in}[AK)TION] said:

nope, it actually runs fine. ran well with 1gb of ram, but ran a little better with 2gb. if i were you, i would use an SSD and max out the ram on your pentium 4 desktop or laptop.

during the time my core i5 desktop was down, i had used the pentum 4 to play half life and half life 2 mods, internet searching (with internet explorer because...and thats why), and i sometimes played ns2.

ran really slow on a hdd, but i put a ssd in there and 4gb of ram and the system ran a little better. just make sure all stick of ram are the same brand, speed, and voltage because when i used mixed it acted funky sometimes.

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Looks like I'm in the same boat.
My mobo just got fried.

sorry to read that.

what board are you using for the p4?

Cheap power supplies take out many motherboards especially back in the day.

(G{in}[AK)TION] said:

sorry to read that.

what board are you using for the p4?

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The P4 is a Dell Optiplex GX 270...

c627627 said:

Cheap power supplies take out many motherboards especially back in the day.

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My PSU seems fine, though it wasn't a corsair.. It was a Coolermaster i600.

(Sorry for the earlier threadjack, c627627 )

You should look into Sysprep. If you have a fully updated install of XP, you can use Sysprep to remove all system specific drivers, etc. Once sysprep runs, you reboot to an imaging software of your choice and take an image. That image can be installed again and again on any platform. Plus you have the advantage of all your programs being intact.

Very interesting, Lvcoyote.


So you're saying that I can take my fully loaded Windows XP AMD system from 10-15 years ago, install Sysprerp, remove all system specific drivers and this would transfer to a 2015 Intel Skylake motherboard with all programs in tact?

I would have to install drivers again of course...

There would be a problem of AHCI, which is part of the registry...



But this might work better for my current 2008 Intel Nehalem setup being transferred to Skylake or beyond...

Read up on it, it's similar to a fresh install. So, it should work on any motherboard/system that XP can be installed on.

That's pretty darn cool Lvcoyote!

Nice find

I used it for years when XP was the latest OS. I bet I took the same copy of XP, Sysprep'd it and moved to a different system dozens of times. It was great for taking a HDD from one system to another Execute Sysprep, shut down, move HDD to other system, and boot. Load drivers and done!

Lvcoyote said:

You should look into Sysprep. If you have a fully updated install of XP, you can use Sysprep to remove all system specific drivers, etc. Once sysprep runs, you reboot to an imaging software of your choice and take an image. That image can be installed again and again on any platform. Plus you have the advantage of all your programs being intact.

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+1.
I've done this for XP, Vista, and 7.

Used to do it at work with a Gigabit line straight to a Windows install server and/or Clonezilla.

Most machines at once? 12.

LOL, post 3 in this thread I made the same suggestion, only I didn't mention sysprep. Sure you can use sysprep, but it is also possible to manually remove hardware specific drivers. I've done it myself.

IMO, that's a way better idea than trying to roll up a home-made SP4 XP install disk. It's faster and more customizable.

The problem with just removing the drivers is that it doesn't actually remove the HAL (hardware abstract layer) If you have an intel system and you're trying to migrate over to a AMD setup, there will be a problem because the intel chipset drivers don't show up in add/remove and I'm not sure they are removable.

You're correct, not all drivers show up in add-remove. I should have elaborated that to do the removal I'm talking about you need to edit the registry. It's advanced tinkering

I have successfully moved XP installs from Intel to AMD hardware as well as in the other direction using this method. The last time I did it was when I upgraded a relative's computer as an x-mas / birthday combined gift in January and it took about 30 minutes of hacking at the registry before I got everything.

c627627 said:

Thank you. With corporations and governments having so many employees, those patches will leak out and be available unofficially.


So... this now becomes a quest for reliable sources of those Windows XP security patches in their original unaltered versions. Typing a job application for a position with the British government as we speak...

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Muhahaha

http://www.vernalex.com/guides/sysprep/ (for XP)

Another option on this topic is to create an XP virtual machine. There's always the windows 7 "XP mode" option, but a more generic virtual machine can be portable as a guest OS from one host to another.

These days I work almost exclusively in a virtual environment. There's really no downside to it. Furthermore, XP as a guest OS means concern about compatible hardware and drivers becomes moot. Additionally, because it's a dead OS the amount of new XP compatible software on the way will dry up. VM's are perfect for running an obsolete OS like that. One of my customers still has a DOS system in production, and I was able to immensely speed up their weekly processing by migrating them from some ancient hardware to a VM (still working on them to rewrite that system though lol).

The beauty of an XP VM is that, again, once it is set up it is portable and you would not have to worry about installing any updates.

Yes.

Windows XP, however, is good for dual booting with later operating systems because it doesn't use BCD and can nuke & reimage Windows 8 easier. We also need the real deal installation to effectively test things on this dead operating system still used by 1/4 [or is it 1/3?] of computers today. Large percentage of them have no intention whatsoever of upgrading in this decade and possibly beyond...

My dad has a Windows XP / Windows 7 dual boot. I was thinking of bumping that Windows 7 to Windows 8 but he refuses to boot into Windows 7, other than to reimage his Windows XP partition from it. I don't think he will ever switch away from Windows XP and if the motherboard broke, I would have to get another one with the same chipset so he can continue using it with the same WinXP image. And if I couldn't find it, I would have to buy one that is compatible with Windows XP and install Windows XP from scratch.

Dealing with the elderly 2014 edition: "Where is my Windows XP" replaces "Get off my lawn!" as the most used "geezer" phrase


But Virtual Machines can be very useful, you are absolutely correct.

The only downside to VMs is the limited hardware choices. Graphics don't have the HW acceleration that an actual higher end graphics card will.

c627627 said:

Yes.

Windows XP, however, is good for dual booting with later operating systems because it doesn't use BCD and can nuke & reimage Windows 8 easier. We also need the real deal installation to effectively test things on this dead operating system still used by 1/4 [or is it 1/3?] of computers today. Large percentage of them have no intention whatsoever of upgrading in this decade and possibly beyond...

My dad has a Windows XP / Windows 7 dual boot. I was thinking of bumping that Windows 7 to Windows 8 but he refuses to boot into Windows 7, other than to reimage his Windows XP partition from it. I don't think he will ever switch away from Windows XP and if the motherboard broke, I would have to get another one with the same chipset so he can continue using it with the same WinXP image. And if I couldn't find it, I would have to buy one that is compatible with Windows XP and install Windows XP from scratch.

Dealing with the elderly 2014 edition: "Where is my Windows XP" replaces "Get off my lawn!" as the most used "geezer" phrase


But Virtual Machines can be very useful, you are absolutely correct.

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You should starve your dad and take away the remote. Anybody who can afford a modern OS yet insists on using XP should be beaten to within an inch of their lives. Tell your dad I said so.