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Make Bootable Windows XP Installation CD Updated With SP3

Posted by Tanmay

You have to install the Windows XP first and then the service pack (sp2,sp3) in your PC. It is little bit laborious to install the service pack after each re installation of Windows XP. There are some Windows XP Installation Cd which is along with the service pack 2. But Now Microsoft has released the Service pack version 3 (SP3). And you have a XP installation CD. Then you have to install the XP first and then the Service pack 3 (available at www.microsoft.com).

Tip: Install any program/software on usb flash drive and  install Google chromium on usb stick.

To avoid the installation of  SP3 separately after each installation of the Windows XP, you can make your XP installation CD updated with the Service pack 3  making the bootable image(ISO) file of Windows XP updated with Service Pack 3.

Here is the complete procedure:

  • At first copy the total files from the XP installation CD and save it in a folder named XP (say) in the root drive, say ‘C’.
  • Download Service pack 3 From Microsoft.
  • Save a copy of the downloaded file in a folder named SP3 in the same location where the XP copy resides.
  • Open command prompt and go to the path C:\SP3>
  • Type the command given bellow:
servicepackfilename  /integrate:drive:XPfolder

In this example the command will look like

WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU /integrate:C:XP

After the successful execution of the command the system files and installation files  of the folder ‘XP’ is updated with the Service Pack 3. But you can not use this  XP folder to burn the installation cd. You have to make the ISO file.

How to create the image(ISO) file??

  • To create the image file we shall use a software named Bart’s BCD software. Download the software from  http://www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=bcd111.zip.
  • Unzip BCD to a folder. We’ll unzip it to c:bcd for this example.
  • Download wnaspi32.dll.
  • Copy it into BCD’s bin folder (in our example, to c:bcd\bin).
  • Download  Windows XP file (5 KB).
  • Unzip it into BCD’s root folder (c:bcd in our example).
  • Make sure the subfolders are also unpacked.
  • Copy the i386 folder (in our example, from C:WinXP C:XP) into one of the following folders, depending on whether it’s Windows XP Home or Professional:

    • c:bcd\cds\wxphome\files (Windows XP Home Edition)

    c:bcd\cds\wxppro\files (Windows XP Professional)

  • Copy the win51ic.SPx or win51ip. SPx file here as well . Optionally, you can also copy the following files (not needed for bootable CD installation):
    • autorun.inf

readme.htm

setup.exe

    xp-service-pack-3-bootable

    Now you are ready to roll.

  • Go to the c:bcd folder.
  • Type in and run one of the following commands (depending on whether it’s XP Home or XP Pro):
bcd wxphome       (For Windows XP Home edition)
or:
bcd wxppro     (For Windows XP Professional)

The process to make the ISO image will be started. The image file is generally located in the folder ‘Temp’ in ‘My Document’.

Collect the image file of Windows XP Service Pack 3 and burn it with Nero Image Burner. That’s all you have done to get rid from time consuming installation process of your Windows XP.

If you face any type of problem then feel free to share with me.

Tip: Create Multiboot USB Drive.

Related content:

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  3. Install Windows XP from USB Flash/Pen Drive
  4. Windows 8 Download Links: Install Windows 8 from USB
  5. How To Search Files And Folder Easily By Everything Tool In Windows
This post was written by Tanmay

Reader Comments

  1. kartik

    i type command bcd wxppro. but when i goto tha temp folder it shows me empty.

  2. tanmay

    @kartik
    If you follow every steps carefully then it should work. Don’t be in hurry and start the process from beginning and follow every steps carefully.

  3. prakash

    Dear Sir
    i have one win xp sp3 cd that is not bootable i got from my friend
    i told him to take a image of win xp sp3 operating system cd but he has copied the all cd contents that files i burn in bland cd but that is not taking boot up can we make it a bootable ? sir please give me suggestion

    thanks

    bye………….

  4. tanmay

    @Prakash
    Yes you can. Just follow the part with heading “How to create the image(ISO) file??”.

  5. aidan

    The file: bcd.iso

    is approx 560 mega B. in size and it burns successfully to a CD.
    BUT the CD will not boot, and I can find no way to get XP to install from this CD.

  6. Shahzad Ali

    Dear sir after all these process when i want to install from the new cd which i burn the message appear
    Insert Windows XP Professioanl Cd -ROm
    Please Guide Me

  7. Tanmay

    @Shahzad Ali’
    I can’t understand what you want to say. But I suggest you to double check every steps whether they have successfully completed. Check the SP3 file which you have downloaded. It should not be damaged one. Another thing that you must check the image file before burning it in CD. You can check it by extracting the iso image file from the ‘Temp’ folder in some new folder and run the setup file. It should show the installation window. If every thing is right then burn it in the cd.

  8. pkv

    Hi, very great info. Thanks a lot.

  9. munaswamyk

    can we make iso file to bootable disc

  10. Tanmay

    @Munaswamy: Yes you can. Just unpack the ISO file and write the whole into a CD.

  11. VIJAY PRABHU

    valuable information….many thanks to u

  12. VIJAY PRABHU

    hello sir,,can u tell me how to add windows media player 11 and iexplore 8 to xp sp3 installation cd….

    • Tanmay

      Yes, you can do this. kindly wait for some days. We shall write an article on this topic.

  13. VIJAYPRABHU

    AND ALSO ADDING WINDOWS XP UPDATES RELEASED AFTER SP3
    …IF POSSIBLE TELL ME ABOUT ADDING SOFTWARE’S LIKE FIREFOX,,,ADOBE READER ETC..WAITING FOR UR REPLY…SIR

  14. Tanmay

    @VIJAYPRABHU: Yes it is possible. You can use the software nLite. If you can not find it then keep reading our blog, we shall be bach with this shortlyly. thanks for your comment. in the mean time you can subscribe to us from http://feeds.feedburner.com/TechTipsGeek to get the daily updates free. Also become our facebook fan http://www.facebook.com/Techtipsgeekpage

  15. VIJAYPRABHU

    nLite not adding the 3rd party software’s…sure i will subscribe…

  16. Tanmay

    Okay I will be back with this issue. Keep on..

  17. Robs

    Hello Tanmay, I have the torrent file .iso and i have burned it to CD, when i try to boot the system is not reading the file. I am tired of trying a lot many options , and finally the existing home edition Sound card is not working , will you be able to help me.

  18. Tanmay

    @Robs: Some time some torrent files are not so believable. They may be corrupted or the download might not complete at all. One more thing, did you tried to run that file directly from your computer hard disk? If not then try this tutorial as reference: http://www.techtipsgeek.com/install-windows-7-directly-from-hard-drive/1737/ . here we have used it for installing windows 7. But you can not install the xp by this process if your current OS is Windows 7 or Vista. But you can check your ISO file by this method if it works fine or not.
    Sorry to hear that your Sound card is not working but there is no reason to think that your trying of booting from that cd is the culprit. You sound card may have damage by other reason. Also you can check the Sound card after a fresh OS installation. Thanks for commenting. Write again if you face any problem or have any question. I’m happy to help you.

  19. Rahul

    Sir, I have A SP2 Window but it is not bootable …….
    Can u pls explain me how to make it bootable……..

    Pls Explain me full process for making a bootable CD/DVD on my id……..
    Pls…..

  20. Tanmay

    Rahul: Follow the second part of this article, heading with How to create the image(ISO) file??

  21. Rahul

    sir u have taught about XP Home or XP Professional but I am asking abt XP Media Centre Edition SP2 . Will this tutorial helpful in making bootable CD of Media Centre SP2 also???

  22. Tanmay

    Rahul: This process involves the steps to create bootable cd of XP Home and XP Professional. I don’t know if it will work for media center. Actually you would want to know the actual things. Each bootable cd contains some files to create a boot environment. In this article we provided them for XP home and Professional. You can try XP media center to create a bootable usb drive from this link http://www.techtipsgeek.com/install-windows-xp-from-usb-flash-drive-part-ii/1286/

  23. Shrinivas

    Give me the link to download windows xp service pack 3 bootable disk

  24. Tanmay

    @Srinivas: We are very sorry that we can not provide such link to download Windows XP servicepack 3. Though you can get Windows XP from http://www.microsoft.com. If you have a copy of Windows XP then you can make your own bootable CD of SP3 following this article.

  25. Senthil

    It works great. Nice and Thanks.

  26. Sam

    i like this u r awesome thank u very much
    u kind of people make us expert thanks.

  27. Tanmay

    Thank your Sam. I would like to get your more comments.

  28. Awal4real

    Oh nice!
    I have both xp sp2 and sp3 cd which is having problems when booting from it. Is there a way to change the sp2 to sp3(using the sp3 cd)?

  29. Harish Soni

    hi tanmay can you tell me how to add more themws,boot screen, welcome screen,softwares , icon packeges , i worked on it but i can’t done it plas tell me how to add these things to windows xp sp3 cd……….i have a sp2 cd i have copied it on my computer i want to add these things (themws,boot screen, welcome screen,softwares , icon packeges) into it…..pls email me soon…………………..

  30. Amit

    Hello sir,
    I hav same prob which Awal4real is having, please giv us suggession

  31. ReSq

    For those struggling to find the iso image look in this folder for it
    “%userprofile%LOCALS~1Temp”
    type it in your adress bar just like that without the ”
    :-D

  32. ReSq

    p.s it is
    “%userprofile%LOCALS~1Temp”

  33. ReSq

    eish it do not post the backslash :-S

    okay type in adress bar
    %userprofile%
    make a backslash after that
    type in
    Local Settings
    make a backslash after that
    type in
    Temp

    now look for
    bcd.iso
    That is the iso file

  34. Riz

    Hi All, Can someone tell me how can i make an ISO Image file which includes all the installed applications along with XP Pro SP2. As I require to install so many computers and its time consuming to configure each computer with same configuration. Thanks in advance.

  35. mohammad wasiullah

    Hello SIR I want to add my name on windows XP boot screen how can i add my name on logo of windows XP

  36. NARENDRANADH

    SIR WHEN I OPENED THE INSTALL CD IT SAYS “INSTALLATION SOURCEPATH IS INVALID FOR SETUP FILE.CONTACT YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATER”
    WHAT CAN I DO NOW ?

  37. Moni

    Sir,

    I cant complete the process, I have a win xp pro(not sp1/sp2).
    please help me..

  38. usman

    please illustrate it withe the help of diagrams and video. thank you.

  39. Premson

    Awesome tip, there are many GUI options out there, but this simple CLI steps Aced all of them out. Great going and thank you.

    - Premson.

  40. ramesh

    how to create a one key recovery disc or service partition , which cannot is visible in my computer list, only visible in Disk Management. this r generally in lenovo desktop PCs. so when pc’s data is corrupt, we can recover from this partition with one key.
    pls. give me solution on this …. thanks in advance.

  41. ramesh

    •Go to the c:bcd folder.
    •Type in and run one of the following commands (depending on whether it’s XP Home or XP Pro):
    bcd wxphome (For Windows XP Home edition)
    or:
    bcd wxppro (For Windows XP Professional)

    WHERE TO TYPE & HOW TO TYPE THIS COMMAND SO THAT I CAN GET ISO FILE

  42. Tanmay

    @Ramesh: type the command at command prompt (DOS)

  43. hari

    hi sir i wan windows xp iso file

  44. deepika

    thanx a lot, i could make the iso image and install in vmware player using your method…. great work…keep it up.

  45. jaco

    good day

    i followed the steps as it was giving to perform a bootable win xp pro disc, as i’m about to finish off the step as follows goto the c:bcd run the command bcd wxppro. it doesnt regonize the command. ps i’m using win 7

    please help

  46. shameer

    thanx alot man…u r a genius…hats off to u..keep rocking..

  47. ARNEL

    •Go to the c:bcd folder.
    •Type in and run one of the following commands (depending on whether it’s XP Home or XP Pro):
    bcd wxphome (For Windows XP Home edition)
    or:
    bcd wxppro (For Windows XP Professional)

    HOW TO TYPE THIS COMMAND SO THAT I CAN GET ISO FILE,

    I DID ALL YOU TOLD I AM TYPING THIS IN CMD BUT IS SAYING NOT RECOGNIZABLE.???PLZZZZZZZZ HELP…………GOD BLESS..!!

  48. Satyaranjan

    Hello Bro!I don’t have any windows xp installation CD and that’s why I download the XP SP3 ISO file from microsoft.Then how to make it bootable using nero

  49. jaxissterang

    hi i can not do anything of these steps, {Open command prompt and go to the path C:SP3>} can you make a video of these steps to how make a bootable cd if you do this i will be thankfull

  50. jaxissterang

    At first copy the total files from the XP installation CD and save it in a folder named XP (say) in the root drive, say ‘C’. the Cd file should be sp3 or sp2??????

  51. John

    Thank you for this excellent tutorial – worked perfectly for me!

    @ ARNEL – you need to enter that command from a DOS command prompt window opened in that directory. You may have to ‘elevate’ it as well by ‘running as administrator’.

  52. Hex

    It sounds like most people are missing the Boot Trace Files (BOOTCAT.bin and BOOTIMG.bin). My bcd.iso looks exactly like the one picture above except missing those two files. Are those files added during the BURN process? If you burn the bcd.iso with Nero do you also make it Bootable at that time? Or is there a step missing in the instructions which explains where the bin files come from???

  53. Hex

    QUESTION: Does the dll file need to be extracted also?
    Your inctructions say -
    Unzip BCD to a folder. Download wnaspi32.dll.
    ***Copy*** it into BCD’s bin folder. Windows XP file -Unzip it into BCD’s root folder. Make sure the subfolders are also unpacked.

    I assumed the dll needed to be unzipped also! So, no bin files in my iso image as of this post.

  54. Fredrik L. Konow

    1. When 2014 comes, can we make an SP4 cd for the XP in case
    Microsoft does not bother doing this for us XP affectionados ?

    2. – or can we create a bootable cd from a pc running a fully updated XP (i.e incl. SP3 and subsequent security downloads) without using the WinXP installation cd and SPs ?
    (presuming that the i386 is saved)

  55. Tanmay

    @Fredrik L. Konow: It is almost impossible to create bootable cd from the installed version.

  56. Fredrik L. Konow

    Thank you Tanmay,
    good to know – there is nothing like facts ! The option then might just as well be to clone the working system to a second harddisk, keep both updated and backup personal files. In this way one can stick to XP for another decade.

    Happy New Year !

  57. Hardik Sharma

    thanks a lot…….. these steps are very helpful.

  58. Karina

    •Go to the c:bcd folder.
    •Type in and run one of the following commands (depending on whether it’s XP Home or XP Pro):
    bcd wxphome (For Windows XP Home edition)
    or:
    bcd wxppro (For Windows XP Professional)

    I TRIED TO RUN THE COMMAND BUT IT COMES UP THEN DISAPPEARS SO I CAN’T TYPE ANYTHING – WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?