thop Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 I remember with SP1 you could chose not to backup all the previous data (and allow to reverse the SP1 at any time). This option is now gone in SP2? :huh: I already made an image of my drive yo i don't need that $Uninstall folder bloating up my HD :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobsgrg Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 I did a clean install with sp2 integrated, though you might not want to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thop Posted August 7, 2004 Author Share Posted August 7, 2004 no i'm afraid not. is there a clean way to remove all the backup stuff (the folder, regkeys etc.)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCheese Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 Yeah, I noticed this as well, I can only assume its because of the HUGE amount of changes that SP2 makes to your Windows Install which could be very risky, so MS wanted everyone to have a fall back(You can uninstall in safe mode if its buggered) in case it messes up For example, I've installed the Pack on 6 pc's today and it's worked like a charm, however a friend installed on it his fairly clean and tidy laptop and it went into a reboot spree which was only solved by booting into safe mode and uninstalling the SP2 and then trying again. If the choice had been there he would have choosen not to archive his files and there would have been one messed up laptop... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thop Posted August 7, 2004 Author Share Posted August 7, 2004 Yeah i understand that, MS is trying to be extra safe here (for good reason i suppose). Just that i did an image, so if anything goes wrong i'll just roll the image back and don't need the backup data. I wonder if there's a hidden undocumented switch for power users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thop Posted August 7, 2004 Author Share Posted August 7, 2004 (edited) Ok i found the switch to disable backing up your previous data/configuration. Here is exactly how to do it. 1. Click the sp2.exe, let the files decompress. Wait till the installation window pops up. Do NOT press cancel. 2. Find the folder where sp2 decompressed the files to (name is many random numbers/characters). 3. Copy the folder "i386" from that folder to a safe place. Then press cancel in the installation thing. 3. Edit the file i386/update/update.inf 4. Find the string UninstallForceDefault = 1, change the 1 to 0. 5. Run update.exe from the same directory. 6. You now have the option to not backup anything. Problem: The Installer now complains that sth. is wrong with the integrity of update.inf and aborts the install. Unfortunately i couldn't find yet where the md5sum is stored. Almost all other md5sums are stored in update.ver Edited August 7, 2004 by thop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCheese Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 I hope so, Because as you say having a 200mb backup just laying there doing nothing is kinda annoying, esp when your straped for space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thop Posted August 7, 2004 Author Share Posted August 7, 2004 (edited) nvm Edited August 7, 2004 by thop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thop Posted August 7, 2004 Author Share Posted August 7, 2004 Ok i found a way to trick the Installer :D It doesn't complain anymore and is now installing. I'll update the steps when i'm 100% sure it worked and SP2 did the full update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trix Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 did you get it to work? :D Trix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 I hope so, Because as you say having a 200mb backup just laying there doing nothing is kinda annoying, esp when your straped for space. You're strapped for space, but you run XP? :blink: How large is your system drive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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