Slipstream SP2 into Dell OEM XP Pro SP1a for Bootcamp Install

[nefariousn8]

New Macbook Pro C2D owner here.

I want to use Bootcamp to install Windows XP Professional. Unfortunately the only version I have is Dell OEM Windows XP Professional including SP1a and hotfixes.

I know that Bootcamp requires XP Pro with SP2 integrated.

I also know that it is normally possible to slipstream service packs into Windows distributions.

Unfortunately, Dell's application of hotfixes on the OEM SP1a disc fouls up a slipstream integration of SP2, so I'm stuck. Google reveals all sorts of posts and debate about how to properly integrate SP2 onto an SP1a OEM disc, with suggestions to manually remove SVCPACK folder, etc. before integrating SP2, but all the information is interweaving with people reporting various levels of success.

99% of the people fiddling with slipstreaming SP2 onto a Dell OEM disc are going to install it onto a PC, and I'm sitting here trying to use it with beta Bootcamp on Apple , so I'm especially concerned about stability.

Anyone have an idea? Will this program I've heard mentioned, nliteOS work to remove the offending hotfixes Dell put on the OEM XP Pro disc so I can properly slipstream SP2?

I just want to play my video games!

 

[Doctor Q]

According to Apple, you need Windows XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later. They say "you must use a single-disc, full-install Windows XP CD that includes Service Pack 2. You cannot use an upgrade version of Windows XP, and you cannot install an earlier version of Windows XP and update it later to SP2. Do not use Windows XP Professional x64 Edition."

Your OEM disc doesn't meet these requirements, and the license agreement of your OEM copy is unlikely to permit this use anyway.

 

[Eidorian]

I've slipstreamed my Windows XP Service Pack 1 discs to Service Pack 2 for Boot Camp. The Dell discs aren't any different from a stock one.

You're still going to need a separate license instead of using your OEM one though.

 

[balamw]

According to Apple, you need Windows XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later. They say "you must use a single-disc, full-install Windows XP CD that includes Service Pack 2. You cannot use an upgrade version of Windows XP, and you cannot install an earlier version of Windows XP and update it later to SP2. Do not use Windows XP Professional x64 Edition."

Your OEM disc doesn't meet these requirements, and the license agreement of your OEM copy is unlikely to permit this use anyway.

Q: I agree with 100% the EULA comment and that ultimately this is not a legal use of the Dell provided OEM license, but some of Apple's requirements are neither technical not covered by the Microsoft EULA, and there are plently of us MR users who have legally bought or transferred a license that doesn't meet Apple's requirements to our Macs, such as the upgrade edition, or Vista or MCE. There are even some adventurous souls that are running successfully running 64 bit Windows on Mac Pros.

In the end Intel Macs with recent Firmware are just great looking PCs that can also run OS X. What Boot Camp Assistant can or cannot do really doesn't enter the equation if you are willing to invest some effort.

EDIT: Eidorian, you are wrong here. There are pre SP2 discs with hotfixes on them that the Microsoft slipstream utility will reject. Google reveals various ways around this.

B

 

[nefariousn8]

Legality vs. Technicality

EDIT: Eidorian, you are wrong here. There are pre SP2 discs with hotfixes on them that the Microsoft slipstream utility will reject. Google reveals various ways around this.

Correct. Specifically, when I try to slipstream Dell's XP Pro SP1a disc to SP2 I get the following error: This Service Pack cannot be integrated into a destination that also has integrated Software Updates. That is to say, the presence of Dell's own slipstreamed hotfixes on top of SP1a screws up the integration of SP2.

I agree with 100% the EULA comment and that ultimately this is not a legal use of the Dell provided OEM license, but some of Apple's requirements are neither technical not covered by the Microsoft EULA, and there are plently of us MR users who have legally bought or transferred a license that doesn't meet Apple's requirements to our Macs, such as the upgrade edition, or Vista or MCE. There are even some adventurous souls that are running successfully running 64 bit Windows on Mac Pros.

Yeah I'm tracking. Slipstreaming SP2 into the OEM is legit as long as it's used within the OEM license parameters. Installing on Mac, of course...well, we're on the same page.

I guess what I'm technically asking is a Dell issue; I'll post on some Dell support forums, but if anyone has a solution I'm all ears. It will be moot anyway once Vista's out, but in the meantime I've got a brand new Window's copy of Civ IV that I'd prefer to play on the higher spec'ed Macbook Pro.