Slipstreaming Updates into a Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 Image

In this blog post, I will describe how to slipstream or integrate Updates for Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 x86 editions.

One of the benefits of slipstreaming current updates form Microsoft into a Windows Vista image is being able to reinstall Windows Vista that is up-to-date without the need to download and install security and other updates from Windows Update. If you used a Windows Vista Retail or OEM DVD to reinstall Windows Vista then you will need to install security and other updates from Windows Update to be fully patched from known exploits.

NOTE

To enlarge the images, simply click on the images you would like to view. With Internet Explorer 7, you can right-click on the image to select Open in New Tab.

What I Used

• Microsoft Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) 6001 from Microsoft Download Center.

  NOTE

  The WAIK download file is an image of an DVD. You will need to burn the image to DVD using third-party software such as UltraISO or mount the image with third-party software to install WAIK. The WAIK image is quite large to download. You may want to use BitsAdmin.exe to download the image without worries of being disconnected during the download. If you are going to use BitsAdmin.exe to download the image then use the instructions further down this blog post.

   

• UltraISO Premium Edition v9.1.2.2465 from EZB Systems
• Blank DVD

What I Did

1. Install Microsoft Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) 6001 from Microsoft Download Center.
2. Create a folder called WinVista in the root of the second drive, D:\WinVista.
3. Open Windows System Image Manager (Start Orb > All Programs > Microsoft Windows AIK > Windows System Image Manager).
4. Right-click Select a Distribution Share to select Create Distribution Share…. Select D:\WinVistaas the location of the Distribution Share. See image below.

   

   NOTE

   Three folders are created at D:\WinVista and the folder are ‘$OEM$ Folders’, ‘Out-of-Box Drivers‘, and ‘Packages‘.

    

5. Close Windows System Image Manager.
6. Create four folders called DVD, ISO, LOGS, MOUNT, SANDBOX, UPDATES, WIM and XML in the WinVista folder, D:\WinVista\DVD, D:\WinVista\ISO, D:\WinVista\LOGS, D:\WinVista\MOUNT, D:\WinVista\SANDBOX, D:\WinVista\UPDATES, D:\WinVista\WIM and D:\WinVista\XML.

   

7. Copy your Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 DVD to D:\WinVista\DVD folder or use the following command in a Command Window assuming your DVD Drive is letter ‘E‘.

   robocopy E: D:\WinVista\DVD /MIR

8. Copy all of the hotfixes and updates that are available to be integrated in the Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 image to the D:\WinVista\UPDATES folder.
9. Open a Command Window and type the following commands to create a TEMP folder and to extract the contents of the D:\WinVista\UPDATES to the D:\WinVista\UPDATES\Tempfolder:

   mkdir D:\WinVista\UPDATES\Temp
   
   expand -F:* D:\WinVista\UPDATES\*.msu D:\WinVista\UPDATES\Temp

10. Open Windows System Image Manager (Start Orb > All Programs > Microsoft Windows AIK > Windows System Image Manager).
11. Right-click Select a Windows Image or catalog file to select Select Windows Image…. Select the install.wim file located at D:\WinVista\DVD\Sources. Refer to image below.

    

12. Select the Windows Vista edition you would like to service.
13. Select Tools from Menu Bar to select Import Package(s)…. Refer to Image below.

    

14. Navigate to the D:\WinVista\UPDATES\ folder, select the TEMP folder and click Open folder. Refer to image below.

     

15. Right-click Create or open an answer file to select New Answer File…. Refer to image below.

    

16. Right-click Packages located in Distribution Share pane to select Add to Answer File. Refer to image below.

    

17. Select File from the Menu Bar to select Save Answer File As…. Name the Answer File ‘Integration.xml‘ and save the file at D:\WinVista\XML.
18. Close Windows System Image Manager.
19. Open a Windows PE Tools Command Prompt (Start Orb > All Programs > Microsoft Windows AIK > Windows PE Tools Command Prompt) to type the following to mount the Windows Vistaimage:

    imagex /mountrw D:\WinVista\DVD\sources\install.wim 4 D:\WinVista\Mount
     

    NOTE

    The number 4 specifies the specific volume to be mounted within the install.wim file. In this example I mounting Windows Vista Ultimate to integrate the hotfixes. To find a specific volume image number such as Home Premium the read the section "How to Determine Image Number for a Specific Volume within a "WIM" File" further down this article.

     

20. Start the integration process by using the following command in the Windows PE Tools Command Prompt:

    START "PMgr" /WAIT "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Servicing\pkgmgr.exe" /o:D:\WinVista\Mount;D:\WinVista\Mount\Windows
    /n:D:\WinVista\XML\Integration.xml /s:D:\WinVista\Sandbox
    /l:D:\WinVista\Logs\integrate_updates.log

21. When the integration process has completed then type the following command in the Windows PE Tools Command Prompt to check if the integration process has completed successfully:

    ECHO %Errorlevel%

    If the result returns a ‘0‘ then the integration process has completed successfully. Continue with Step 20.

    If the result returns anything but a ‘0‘ then the integration process did not successfully complete. Unmount the image by issuing the following command in the Windows PE Tools Command Prompt and restart the integration process from the beginning:

    Imagex /unmount D:\WinVista\MOUNT
    

22. If Errorlevel returns a ‘0‘ then commit the Vista mount by using the following command in the Windows PE Tools Command Prompt:

    imagex /unmount /commit D:\WinVista\MOUNT

23. Delete the contents of the SANDBOX folder by using the following command in the Command Window:

    rd D:\WinVista\SANDBOX /s /q
     

    mkdir D:\WinVista\SANDBOX

24. Open Windows System Image Manager (Start Orb > All Programs > Microsoft Windows AIK > Windows System Image Manager). A window will appear asking to create a new catalog, select Yes to create the catalog file. Refer to Image below.

    

25. Create an ISO image of the integrated Windows Vista file by using the following command in the Windows PE Tools Command Prompt (Start Orb > All Programs > Microsoft Windows AIK > Windows PE Tools Command Prompt):

    oscdimg -n -m -b"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\x86\boot\etfsboot.com" D:\WinVista\DVD D:\WinVista\ISO\Vistax86.iso

26. You can now burn the ISO image to a blank DVD using your favorite CD Burner software or using UltraISO like I did. Open UltraISO, go to the File menu to select Open…. Navigate to D:\WinVitsa\ISO to select Vistax86.iso image we created in the last step.
27. Insert a blank DVD into your DVD burner.
    
28. Click the Burn CD/DVD Image button on the toolbar for UltraISO.

    

29. A Burn Image should appear, click Burn to starting the burning process.

    

30. Congratulations, you have made a Bootable Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 DVD with integrated updates and hotfixes.

NOTE

To enlarge the images, simply click on the images you would like to view. With Internet Explorer 7, you can right-click on the image to select Open in New Tab.

Integrating Updates to other Windows Vista editions (Optional)

When performing the above steps, you have only integrated / slipstreamed updates to the Windows Vista edition of your choice within the install.wim file. In my scenario, I used Windows Vista Ultimate. If you want to integrated / slipstreamed updates to other editions of Windows Vista such as Business or Home Premium then you must mount the Windows Vista edition, integrate the updates, and commit the changes to mount. To find a specific volume image number such as Home Premium the read the section "How to Determine Image Number for a Specific Volume within a "WIM" File" further down this article.

How to Determine Image Number for a Specific Volume within a "WIM" File

1. Open a Windows PE Tools Command Prompt (Start Orb > All Programs > Microsoft Windows AIK > Windows PE Tools Command Prompt)and type:

   ImageX /info D:\WinVista\DVD\Sources\install.wim > %userprofile%\desktop\wiminfo.txt

2. Open the wiminfo.txt file on your desktop.
3. Locate the Windows Vista edition you are going to service and note the Windows Vista edition’s Image Index number.

Download WAIK using BitsAdmin (Optional)

1. Open a Command Prompt Window(Start > Run > cmd.exe) and type:

   bitsadmin /Create /Download WAIKJob
    

   NOTE

   This creates a download job called WAIKJob

    

2. Type:

   bitsadmin /AddFile WAIKJob http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/c/d/9cdfa30e-5901-40e4-b6bf-4a0086ea0a6a/6001.18000.080118-1840-kb3aikl_en.iso C:\WAIK\6001.18000.080118-1840-kb3aikl_en.iso
    

   NOTE

   Adds the WAIK image to WAIKJob.

    

3. Type:

   bitsadmin /Resume WAIKJob
    

   NOTE

   Starts the download for WAIKJob.

    

4. Type:

   bitsadmin /GetState WAIKJob
    

   NOTE

   If GetState returns TRANSFERRED then the WAIKJob is finished transferring the bits and you can continue with Step 5.

    

5. Type:

   bitsadmin /complete WAIKJob
    

   NOTE

   Completes the WAIKJob.

Some other switches which may interest you.

• bitsadmin /GetBytesTotal WAIKJob   [NOTE: Checks how many bytes are for the WAIKJob]
• bitsadmin /GetBytesTransferred WAIKJob  [NOTE: Checks how much bytes have been transferred for the WAIKJob]
• bitsadmin /cancel WAIKJob  [NOTE: Cancels the WAIKJob]
• bitsadmin /Suspend WAIKJob  [NOTE: Pause the WAIKJob. Use ‘bitsadmin /Resume WAIKJob‘ to resume the WAIKJob.

Platforms Tested

• Microsoft Windows XP Editions x86 Versions

Related Articles

• Slipstreaming / Integrating Windows Vista Service Pack 1 onto a Bootable Image / DVD

Version 1.1
Edited: May 13, 2012