Sorry so long...and this really is a Linux question.

I have a slow/old laptop where I just installed Windows XP Pro for a few specific apps. (Different from this laptop, which has Slackware 13.) I manually install patches and service packs so I always have what I want on CD. It allows me to avoid updates I don't want, it's faster than Automatic Updates if I reinstall, and I can use the patches on multiple machines.

So I already have SP2 and subsequent updates on CD. (I didn't use SP3 because I didn't like changes it made to the OS, like getting rid of the Address Bar in the Taskbar; it's faster to type URLs in the Taskbar. I do smaller patches instead.)

Now, however, I find that certain changes don't drive me crazy like they once did. So I decided I want SP3 on this old laptop.

I used my faster Slackware laptop to download everything...SP3, newer patches, and libraries such as .NET. The CD-RW with patches and libraries has no problem.

However, I'm having a nightmare with the SP3, which is the ISO downloaded off TechNet! At first I thought "cdrecord" wasn't making the CD-R correctly, because Windows couldn't read the CD-R at all and complained it was corrupt. I didn't make any difference if I let "cdrecord" default to "-sao" or if I used "-dao." (The CD-Rs themselves are not defective AFAIK...I've used them for other things, and I tried 3 of them.)

However, while Windows could list the contents of the CD-RW, it can't actually read files! It can't run executables nor read an ".htm" page off the CD-RW. When I try, Windows says, "the disk may be corrupt." Again, I tried more than one CD-RW, so the problem is not with the disk itself.

I tried two different ISOs, too! One was from 11/25/2010 (Microsoft made a brand new SP3 ISO this year), and the other was from 2008. Both had the same problem. It seems downloading the ISO to Linux and burning with Linux tools corrupts the ISO, but I don't know why. Is there some option I should be using (or not)?

On a whim, I even tried using "mkisofs" on the downloaded ISO first to see if that would burn the ISO in a better format or something, but that didn't help, either.

FYI, yes, I can download SP3 to the Windows machine directly after I install everything prior (installing SP2 first is required, anyway). But this is driving me nuts! I really want to figure out why this ISO seems to not burn properly under Linux.

Examples below...

**PATCHES AND LIBRRARIES** (this is fine)
Making ISO from everything, then burning to CD-RW (downloads reside in directories "Libraries" and "Patches," Volume Label will be "WinXPsp3-patches"):
**SERVICE PACK 3**
Burning CD-R of downloaded ISO (using CD-R requires knowing the size):
(Note: I also tried the above command on a CD-RW, which did not require knowing the size and using -tsize.)

Burning CD-RW of downloaded ISO:
Making new ISO from original, and burning it to CD-RW (download resides in directory "ServicePacks" and Volume Label will be "WinXPsp3"):
(Note: I also tried -Jv to see if -r was causing a problem in the file format for Windows.)

I can't get any useful information from the man pages. It's very bizzare!

Have you tried comparing the md5sums of the iso and the burned cd ?

Might be an issue with speed. Slow the burn down to the slowest speed possible. Many of the older laptops don't like burned cd's and most don't like (I think it is called) overburning. The tracks have to be very consistent and can not have been burned on the second time around with the laser. That caused small blips where newer drives don't care older ones don't know what to do.

Guess you could mount the iso as a virtual smb drive too and just run it that way. Could make a disk that some other windows computer reads and share it over the lan.


Could expand the files and host them on a shared folder too.

I wouldn't use rewritable CDs. I'd use the write once type.

The write-once type isn't even able to be listed in Windows Explorer, only the CD-RW. The CD-RW is working for the patches and libraries CD, just not the SP3 ISO.

I don't have another Windows machine here right now, but I'll try doing it at low speed. Thanks for the info...I'm pretty much a neophyte when it comes to multimedia.

I agree with the RW being worse than the R disks. This may be some clue also.

I'm mostly certain this is the issue because further testing reveals that Rewriteable media from the same lot sometimes have problems and sometimes not, including those actually created on my old XP computer. The computer and DVD drive are very old. I just ordered a new drive to install.

Just borrow any xp cd and change the key with jellybean.

Sorry if this is wrong but sp3 for xpee is an exe file. You can download the file from microsoft.com or msdn.com. It is _not_ an iso image.
Google for 'sp3 xp microsoft.com' and you should find it.
Hope this helps.

Service packs and rollups are also available from microsoft as physical CDs, its not unthinkable that the ISO was made from one of these

How about making an ISO image containing the SP3 file, and then burning it?

Or if using a GUI burning tool, create a "Data CD" instead of "Burn From Image".

I think they're actually slipstreaming SP3 to conserve space.
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/...ack-3-sp3.aspx

I've only heard of it haven't tried it.

You don't need to use the iso from Technet, just copy the sp3 exe onto any cd - the installed result is the same.

No, slipstreaming has absolutely nothing to do with that. Slipstreaming means to integrate the service pack into your Windows installation CD, so that you don't have to install the servicepack after a fresh installation of Windows.
But anyways, it shouldn't matter what is in the ISO, as long as it is not corrupted.