Unattended windows installation made easy
A new Windows computer usually means lots of work, removing all that unwanted trial software, updating Windows, installing tweaks, etc. etc.
Wouldn’t it be nice to just install an up-to-date Windows XP computer from scratch, with all the service packs, drivers and utilities you need, at the same time?
Ryan VanderMeulen’s VM Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack proposes to automate much of that task.
McAfee’s Site Advisor gives RyanVM’s MSFN site a green light. He has assembled a remarkable site, with many tools and clearly written tutorials which help demystify Windows installation. Most FileForum reviewers give Ryan’s Update Pack a big thumbs up:
“RyanVM’s Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack is designed to bring a Windows XP CD with SP2 integrated fully up to date with all of the latest hotfixes released by Microsoft since SP2’s release. It accomplishes this task via direct integration, where files on the CD are directly overwritten by the updated files. This method has numerous advantages over other integration techniques.” [Publisher's Description:FileForum BetaNews]
Caveat: The one way to be 100% certain of any Windows update download: I emphatically recommend you download all Windows updates yourself directly from Microsoft.
Ryan presents a complete list of all of the Microsoft XP updates along with links to Microsoft’s own download. (very handy and thank you, Ryan!) For myself, I’m going to cross-check my updates with Ryan’s list, and if I’m missing any, I’ll just grab them directly from Microsoft!
The all volunteer Microsoft Forum Network team have created a Definitive How-to guide to help you create an up-to-date windows installation. You can download the guide in Adobe Acrobat reader format or read it online. By the time you finish reading it, you may know more about Windows installation than 90% of windows users.
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