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Having problem installing a piece of software on your system is frustrating. Do you want to find out how to install IIS on Windows XP SP2 without actually having the SP2 CD?

The problem I experienced with while installing IIS:

I tried to install Internet Information Service (IIS) on my Windows XP Service Pack 2. The setup failed and kept asking for Windows XP SP2 CD. I only had Windows XP SP1 CD and the Service Pack 2 Service Pack 2 installation package.

I tried to find an existing solution on the Internet using Google. I read and attempted many solutions including a complicated one from Microsoft Support (support.microsoft.com/?kbid=894351) and some simple solutions "Installing IIS after Service Pack 2". None of those solutions I found actually worked, or the instruction was too complicated to follow

Finally I had to solve by myself. Here is what I did: I had unpacked the SP2 installation file using WinRar a while ago and compiled a CD image file from it. I mounted this CD image onto a virtual CD. I install and use this Virtual CD to supply the missing files which are somewhere inside the I386 folder.

Here are the steps you can follow to install IIS without having a Windows XP SP2 CD:

1. Download the XP SP2 installation file (www.softwarepatch.com/windows/xpsp2.html) if you do not already have.
2. Extract the content of the file into a folder using WinRar (www.win-rar.com) or similar compression software;
3. Start installing IIS using standard procedure (Control Panel > Add and Remove Programs > Windows Components)
4. When it prompts for source folder, browse for the I386 folder that you extracted earlier
5. When it prompts for missing files, browse I386 and its sub-folders for them.

The solution was easier than it look. You do not need to riskily alter the Windows security folder. You do not need to spend time merging SP2 into Windows XP CD. All you need to do is to use what were already there.

This article is provided to you by the craft of an IT expert, Binh Nguyen. If you like (or dislike) this article, you could visit his home Binh Nguyen just to say hi, or ask him for further supports.

Binh is a very open-minded and friendly person. He dedicates his time to help the others whenever they have difficulties within his own area of expertise. He has a Bachelor of Information Technology majoring Net-Technologies from University of Southern Queensland (usq.edu.au), Australia. His degree was qualified by the Australian Computer Society (acs.org.au).

You may want to visit his collection of finest tips on Open Tips. He also have many projects under development. The recent one is W3 Uni.

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