Microsoft upgrades software using Service Packs. A Service Pack is an executable that replaces one set of files with another newer and improved set of those files. In the case of an operating system (such as Windows NT 4.0), Service Packs have been a way to distribute bug fixes and fixes to security holes. However, beginning with NT 4.0's Service Pack 4, Microsoft began to release upgrades and additions to operating system functionality as well. For example, Service Pack 4 introduced the Microsoft Management Console to provide an integrated security interface. With Windows 2000, however, Microsoft's plan is to release Service Packs on a regular schedule to fix bugs or security flaws. This plan of more regular updates is designed to keep the size of Service Packs to a manageable level. Only the most current Service Pack is required to be installed because each Service Pack contains all updates in the Service Packs that preceded it. In many regards, Windows 2000 Service Packs are not very different from Windows NT 4.0 Service Packs. When they are released, the intent is to install the Service Pack on all Windows 2000 computers to implement any fixes included in them. This basic premise has not changed. However, one significant improvement has been made in the application of Service Packs: the concept called slipstreaming . Updating an Installation Source by Using SlipstreamingBefore you can understand slipstreaming, a digression into Service Packs on Windows NT 4.0 is necessary. Under NT, if you installed a Service Pack, you had to ensure that if you made modifications to the operating system that involved reading files from the CD or a network share, you subsequently reinstalled the Service Pack. This was because the files found on the CD or in the network share were preService Pack versions, and re-application was necessary to ensure that all components of the operating system were up to the current Service Pack. Slipstreaming makes this unnecessary. With slipstreaming, changes from the Service Pack can be applied to the source files found on a local folder or network share (by using the -s switch when running update.exe for the Service Pack). This means that when you subsequently access those files, you will obtain the fixed versions of those files, not the old ones. This saves time because it means that the Service Packs are will be applied to any machine only once, even as additional services (and other operating system components) are installed in the future. In addition, this also means that new installations over the network will also automatically be up-to-date with the current Service Pack. It must be noted that slipstreaming does not remove the need to install the Service Pack on each machine. What it does remove is the need to install the Service Pack on any subsequent fresh Windows 2000 installations and the need to install the Service Pack after making operating system changes. In the standard Service Pack installation, two major things happen. First, the replacement files are copied into a backup directory so the installation can be reversed if necessary. Although this is an optional process prompted for by the Service Pack installation routine, it is always recommended that you use it. Second, the Service Pack replaces the operating system files that it finds installed on the target system with the new versions of those files. The process to slipstream a Service Pack into an installation source is fairly simple and is outlined in the following steps. The procedure assumes that you do not currently have a network installation source, and thus it will be created as part of the process.
Installing Service PacksInstalling Service Packs to individual computers is a simple task that is outlined below.
The update.exe command has some switches that can be used to modify its behavior. These switches are explained in Table 2.4. Table 2.4. Update.exe Command-Line Switches
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