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Can you slipstream SP2 into Windows Vista/Server 2008?

Feb. 25, 2009 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

I get questions like this all the time, but now I can at last provide some good news, courtesy of Microsoft:

Short Answer:

Yes, you can slipstream SP2 and doing so is recommended for XP upgrades.

For RTM upgrades, the stand alone install pack is easier to deploy.

Long Answer:

Client Installation:

An integrated installation (also known as "slipstream installation") means that the service pack is integrated into the operating system, and therefore the operating system and service pack are installed simultaneously. You can use the integrated installation to upgrade computers running Windows XP and to perform clean installations on computers that do not have an operating system.

Standalone SP2 DVD (also known as a ‘Patch DVD’) may be used to upgrade computers that already are running the Windows Vista operating system with Service Pack 1. The download size of the stand-alone package is larger than the package applied with Windows Update. This method is recommended for: 1) applying Windows Vista SP2 to computers without (or with limited) Internet connectivity; and 2) applying the service pack to more than one computer using deployment tools such as Systems Management Server 2003 (SMS) or System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM).

Server Installation:

There are two ways: 1) an update will be available via download at no charge for existing installations of Windows Server 2008; and 2) the SP2 updates will be incorporated (or slipstreamed) into Windows Server 2008 moving forward.

By the way, Windows Vista/Server 2008 RC1 is now available for TechNet and MSDN subscribers if you'd like to test it. A public release will occur soon as well.

Discuss this Article 6

yert
on Feb 25, 2009
Why wouldn't they allow slipstreaming? They would be stupid not to allow it; it is a feature that caters to technical and business users far and wide.
Lindy
on Feb 25, 2009
If not on Vista, just wait for 7. If not on 2008 server, wait for 2008 R2. 7 = Vista SP3, 2008 R2 = 2008 SP3.
rseiler
on Feb 25, 2009
yert, the normal means of slipstreaming was discontinued in Vista gold and SP1 due to complications with the way that the Vista install was rearchitected (slipstreaming was technically possible but in a messy, time-consuming way), but now it seems that MS has given us back the old, simpler way of doing it. At least that's how I'm interpreting their somewhat vague phrasing.
EdNetmam
on Feb 25, 2009
Can't you use a slipstream tool like VLite to do it for you? Sort of like NLite was for XP. www.vlite.net
subzerohitman721
on Feb 25, 2009
Using Lindy's logic... "If not on Vista, just wait for 7. If not on 2008 server, wait for 2008 R2. 7 = Vista SP3, 2008 R2 = 2008 SP3" So would that mean that this equivalent applies? SnowLeopard = Cheetah SP 6?!?!?!?!? If thats the case, wouldn't 3 Service Packs be more practical than 6? Not to mention the patching the average 97.95 days of risk vulnerabilities not patched. Lets also mention the average for high level vulnerabilities at 70.6 average days of risk for OS-X vulnerabilities. And yet you're complaining about a service pack? Seems to me you should be complaining to Apple about speeding up their patching jobs. Microsoft average days of risk is 24.22 days. High level vulnerabilities risk days of risk at 25.5 days. So while yes the OS vulnerabilties do affect a lot of machines, they don't leave their users hanging in a state of vulnerabilities as long as Apple does. Yet Lindy's complaint is about a service pack or a new version of Windows? Priorities, priorities. Where are your priorities?
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on Apr 15, 2009
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