Why does HFSLIP work this way?

[kismert]

Again, forgive the noob question:

Why do I have to manually copy the XP CD onto my hard drive, and manually download all of the 100+ updates, when I have a perfectly-patched, up-to-date XP already installed in my Windows directory?

I'm sure there is a good reason, but it escapes me.

Thanks,

Ken

Edited September 18, 2007 by kismert

[Arie]

Because HFSLIP does not create an image, it creates a new installer, a whole new setup, which unattendedly installs your hotfixes, et cetera. Your current installation folder does not contain the setup files, those can be found in your I386 folder on your installation medium.

[kismert]

Thanks for the info, Arie.

It just seems like lots of work to setup a Virtual PC image...

Maybe there is something more appropriate?

[tain]

It does take some effort to get it started. But it is easy to update once you have everything the way you want it.

[Arie]

Thanks for the info, Arie.

It just seems like lots of work to setup a Virtual PC image...

Maybe there is something more appropriate?

Creating an unattended, updated installation source might not be the solution for what you're trying to achieve. I don't know what your aim is, but perhaps simply making a Ghost image of an updated and configured installation is sufficient for your needs. The advantage of using an unattended installation over an image is that it will work on all systems, where as a restored image will not work on all systems. The question is, what do you want exactly?

[kismert]

Arie and TAin: thanks for your responses.

The question is, what do you want exactly?

I had these goals:

1. Create an updated XP SP2 install for a Virtual PC instance
   
2. Compile a list of updates for my father's XP computer
   
3. Lastly, have a slipstream image for archival purposes
   

But, (1) has licensing issues -- as I understand it, Microsoft expects ~$270 for a second virtual instance of XP on my machine . Later, I found this blog entry: IE6 and IE7 Running on a Single Machine, which has a link to download a (time-limited) VPC image for testing IE7 alongside IE6. So, that problem is solved -- for now.

I think (2) is something HFSLIP should easily do -- I just leave off the Install CD and SP2 images, right?

Item (3) should stem naturally from Item (2) -- can I test the install on a Virtual PC without tripping the WGA alarm?

Hope that explains it better.

Ken

Edited September 19, 2007 by kismert