Windows XP SP3 - Rebuild of new system
Recently, our son gave me his former PC after building his own system with high-end hardware (e.g., RAID, 28" display, 1GB graphics card, etc). He also loaded Windows 7 on his new system, as he purchased this inexpensively from the book store of the college he is attending.
The rebuild of the older system from scratch went well. The following tactics were used to save some time and ensure a secure approach from Conficker or other threats circulating on the net. The strategy was to bring all components up-to-date on the latest version and service packs first to reduce the number. This process greatly reduces the time and complexity of the Microsoft Update process in bringing the system completely up-to-date.
1. Started with base load of Windows XP SP2 (latest version I had on MSDN CD)
2. Re-partitioned and re-imagined C: drive as part of rebuild for a clean install
3. After successful load, loaded several software products were loaded via USB (IE8, SP3, MP11, WGA client, etc)
4. Next SP3 was loaded (as it provides years worth of updates)
5. After rebooting, IE8 was loaded to move to a more secure version of Internet Explorer
6. Next the DSL client was loaded, as there was no Internet connectivity to activate Windows (ensured FW and AV clients were working and up-to-date as well)
7. Windows was activated and also registered this build
8. Applied WGA client and successfully validated license
9. Loaded Media Player 11 to ensure it was completely up-to-date
10. Next Office 2003 was loaded (plus Front Page, Project, and Visio add-ins)
11. Office 2003 SP3 was loaded to bring it as up-to-date as possible
12. Microsoft Update was then run (while it had over 50 updates for both Windows and Office, this was probably 2-3 times less than are needed otherwise)
13. Performed a second Microsoft Update to review the optional updates for hardware and other enhancements (and selectively applied these)
14. Set up additional accounts with complex passwords
15. Continued to load the rest of the software products