Add windows components without the CD

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qyiet

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#131114 9-Oct-2013 16:26

I'm not sure if I just saw this in a fever dream or not.. But I swore I saw a while ago a blog post where someone pointed the 'insert your windows CD' dialog to a http address and pulled the appropriate data straight from the web.

From memory the address looked surprisingly legit (like a TechNet or Sysinternals server) and I thought 'how awesome, I'll remember that.'

Well.. I didn't. I forgot it. I was wondering if anyone around here knows what I am talking about/has ever seen that done/can verify my sanity/knows the address that can be used.

Warning: reality may differ from above post

nathan

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#911474 9-Oct-2013 16:28

and the operating system is .....?

Dynamic

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#911475 9-Oct-2013 16:28

Is it possible you were thinking of the 'symbols' files when diagnosing a blue screen by looking at the memory dump file with Windows Debugging tools? For this you can definitely point the local program to an HTTP address along the lines of one you are describing.

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amanzi

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#911478 9-Oct-2013 16:30

You can do a Start --> Run and enter \\live.sysinternals.com and browse their utilities on the Web through Windows Explorer. But I've never heard of downloading Windows components this way.

TwoSeven

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#911482 9-Oct-2013 16:36

You could try using DISM.exe

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qyiet

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#911498 9-Oct-2013 17:07

amanzi: You can do a Start --> Run and enter \\live.sysinternals.com and browse their utilities on the Web through Windows Explorer. But I've never heard of downloading Windows components this way.

Dammit... I'm pretty sure that's what I was remembering. (still a damn cool trick, but not as cool as I imagined

)

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qyiet

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#911499 9-Oct-2013 17:12

nathan: and the operating system is .....?

In this case an aging 2003-R2 server.. Looks I'm going to have to download an ISO and take a copy onsite. No way they still have the media.

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amanzi

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#911500 9-Oct-2013 17:14

The TechNet subscription that Microsoft is cancelling is perfect for that scenario...

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qyiet

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#911514 9-Oct-2013 17:27

amanzi: The TechNet subscription that Microsoft is cancelling is perfect for that scenario...

It's what I'll be using to get the CD.

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raytaylor

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#916352 16-Oct-2013 22:46

My step father used to tell me to copy the i386 or setup folder of the cd to the hard drive after installing windows & office for such purposes.
This was in windows 98 days.

In fact I think office 2000 used to copy the entire cd to the hard drive, then install office from there, and ask at the end if you wanted to remove the files.

I got into the habit of manually copying the files on the C: drive and started doing it for every computer I built at work right up until windows 7 and office 2013 came out

Has helped quite a few times when i need to present a windows xp disc to enable unix printing or to reinstall office

For quite a while at work, we were also putting the windows xp and office cd's into a plastic sleeve attached to the inside of the computer case.

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amanzi

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#916355 16-Oct-2013 22:53

raytaylor: My step father used to tell me to copy the i386 or setup folder of the cd to the hard drive after installing windows & office for such purposes.

Yep, it was always good practice to copy the I386 folder to the C drive. I can't remember it now, but there was also a registry setting that could be changed so that Windows would use the C:\I386 folder by default when installing additional components.

Edit: here it is... http://www.petri.co.il/change_default_location_of_the_i386_folder.htm

Inphinity

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#916435 17-Oct-2013 07:57

On newer versions of Windows, you want the 'sources' folder off the install media.