Slipstreaming Vista

[DarkRogue]

Hello,

I have a few (ok, a lot) questions about slipstreaming with Vista. I have done it with XP a few times and it was pretty easy with nLite. However, it seems quite a bit has changed with Vista. I have almost no experience with it, as I've stuck with XP for a while, though Win7 piques my interest.

Anyway, I have been tasked with setting up a new laptop for my parents. I have done something similar with my own laptop, making my own custom "restore cd" using the stock IBM restore cd and slipstreaming in SP3 and a bunch of drivers specific to my laptop as well as IE7. I wish to do the same for my parent's laptop, a Dell, and had figured out the proper steps for XP. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten about Vista, so when I booted it up and saw it, I was back at square one.

I've since familiarized myself with it, as well as figured out any critical drivers needed. However, Dell shipped the laptop with a completely stock Vista Ultimate (32bit/x86) without even SP1. Unfortunately, this meant the restore CD was also Vista Ultimate RTM and not SP1. I've read some guides on how to slipstream it in, but I'm not sure if there is anything special I need to do since this is an OEM image. Particularly, it seems most guides recommend the WAIK, but unless I'm misunderstanding it, doesn't that automatically install its own version of Vista? Should I not start by installing the copy from the restore disc?

I considered using vLite, but noticed there were issues with SP2 if you had used vLite, so I want to avoid it. I do have SP2 RTM currently installed as well, though I assume the process to slipstream it into the disc would be roughly the same as with SP1. I would also like to throw in some of the drivers, such as ethernet/wireless drivers and the intel chipset/matrix storage drivers, although I'm not sure how to go about that. With nlite for XP, it was simple to just select it, but without using vLite I think either I may have to install the drivers into the system before imaging it (though, if I do this in a virtual machine, I'm not sure if the drivers can be applied to non-existant compatible hardware) or maybe I can try using the PostReflect tool to toss them in afterwards (though I'm not sure how to go about this either.) Finally, I still need to translate the UI to a different language, so I also have the MUI to throw in. The simpler method would just be to include it on the disc and install it afterwards, although it would be nice to skip a step and slipstream in the MUI pack as well, so I can install Vista and immediately be able to switch between languages.

Kind of a lot to get at, but any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[masteryoda34]

Didnt read your whole post but basically Microsoft doesnt support slipstreaming with Vista like they did with XP. vLite can do a lot but it cant integrate SP2 into an image. The only good option to get an image with SP2 built in is torrents akaik.

 

[hclarkjr]

i would hang on a little bit to see if anybody makes a slipstreaming tool for service pack 2. another option would be to download a full image with service pack integrated into it. that is the route i took on my machine.

 

[DarkRogue]

Well, I guess that post was a little on the long side, but to respond:

I understand vLite can't do SP2 yet, and that a lot has changed since XP, but I'm trying to figure out how to go about it, even manually. Even if, say, vLite comes out with an update to slipstream SP2 within a few days, I'm not sure I would want to use it, considering the fact that users who used vLite for SP1 had issues installing SP2. I don't want to have any issues with this image if/when SP3 rolls around.

Both of you suggested I get an image with SP2 fully integrated into it, and while that's certainly an option if I were building a desktop, I don't think that's doable in this case. I'm trying to update the OEM restore disc with SP2, not replace it entirely with a new Vista CD.

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: masteryoda34
Didnt read your whole post but basically Microsoft doesnt support slipstreaming with Vista like they did with XP. vLite can do a lot but it cant integrate SP2 into an image. The only good option to get an image with SP2 built in is torrents akaik.

A better solution, unless you like Trojans is to pay the $10 and have Microsoft ship you the slipstreamed DVD.

They may allow you to download the image too, but I don't know if they do this for free or still charge the 10 bucks.

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
Well, I guess that post was a little on the long side, but to respond:

I understand vLite can't do SP2 yet, and that a lot has changed since XP, but I'm trying to figure out how to go about it, even manually. Even if, say, vLite comes out with an update to slipstream SP2 within a few days, I'm not sure I would want to use it, considering the fact that users who used vLite for SP1 had issues installing SP2. I don't want to have any issues with this image if/when SP3 rolls around.

Both of you suggested I get an image with SP2 fully integrated into it, and while that's certainly an option if I were building a desktop, I don't think that's doable in this case. I'm trying to update the OEM restore disc with SP2, not replace it entirely with a new Vista CD.

Yes it is doable if you obtain it from Microsoft. Even if the key doesn't work, phone activation takes all of 5 minutes and is pretty painless.

 

[DarkRogue]

Right, but even if I did grab an image or DVD from Microsoft, I would still need to slipstream in some drivers or something. Also, I anticipate reinstalling many times, and calling MS so often is a pain. I want to use the OEM disc because it is pre-activated, so I can simply pop in the DVD and reinstall everything from scratch whenever there's a huge problem with the laptop.

Besides, at the risk of being cheap, I'd rather learn how to do this so I can do this in the future, rather than constantly pay for discs. If I were going to buy a disc, I would probably have contacted Dell and asked for a newer restore disc with SP1/2 on it.

Edit:
And just so I make myself clear, I know there are probably no programs out there to automate this task right now. All I'm looking for is how to go about manually slipstreaming SP1, SP2, a language MUI and machine-specific drivers properly using an OEM disc as a base. I don't think I can use the WAIK when I use the OEM disc, so I'm not sure how I can get access to the sysprep tool, ImageX and WinPE.

 

[bruceb]

First, MS would probably not provide the Vista DVD with SP2 for you, as the computer is a Dell. They would tell you to get it from Dell. Dell should be able to sell you a replacement DVD with SP2 in it in a few months after it comes out. As to the drivers,don't try to slipstream them. Get the machine working then use a tool like Driver Magician Pro or similar which will find all the drivers currently installed and can back them up to a CD .. That way they are easy to reinstall at a later time. Your other option is once the computer is fully working and stable then make an Image with Acronis TruImage either to DVD's or to another hard drive. Redo the image say once a month or after major software changes.

http://www.drivermagician.com/index.htm

 

[DarkRogue]

Sorry for the late response, I've been trying to read up on the documentation.

I do not have time to wait for Dell to get their SP2 discs out, as my parents need this laptop soon. As for putting the drivers on their own CD, I don't need any other programs to do that, if I were to go that route - Dell already provides installation packages for all the drivers. My parents will be using this laptop, and as they are not familiar with PCs, I want this to be as easy, painfree and hasslefree as possible for them. It's inevitable that they will do something that requires a reformat, and as there's a high chance I will not be able to get to the machine to physically handle the process, I want to be able to simply tell them to pop in the DVD into the drive and let it do its thing, and have a working laptop back within an hour. This disc will only be used with that particular laptop, so driver incompatibilities with other hardware is not an issue for me.

I would just like to know whether this is even possible or if I'm chasing a pipe dream here.
Having downloaded the Windows Automated Installation Kit, it seems most of the archive is for WinPE, and if I understand the documentation correctly, I should be able to use it in conjunction with the Dell restore disc to do the reverse integration of the service packs. I will try to nuke a partition on the Dell and give it a shot, but I would still like some help with the driver injection, MUI integration and possibly slipstreaming in IE8 and/or Firefox.