grub4dos starts ntldr on the usb disk which fails. Error message is from the latter, which cannot see your esata disk.

You still have the option to install XP on the same disk, but using the USB interface, links were given above.

Hello guys and thank you for this great tool

I think I might have came across a bug. Whenever I start LiveXP from my stick prepared with this tool I only have two empty folders in the start menu, Administrative tools and Startup, and PENetwork does not start. This does not happen if I use PEtoUSB or the bootable ISO, so something must go wrong with the tool. I have attached the log file, maybe you can find out something interesting from it. Please let me know if I need to provide any useful info.

Thanks, Vially

P.S. The logfile is attached because I could not copy/paste it, the post becomes empty.

Thanks, bug indeed.

Quick fix- create in USB drive root winbom.ini:
and delete winnt.sif in \minint.

BartPE/UBCD4Win/WinFLPC were tested and did not need winbom.ini. Seems WinBuilder does need it.

Will fix that asap, winbom.ini doesn't seem to interfere if Windows setup coexists in the same partition.

edit: Apparently forum software was updated, there was a post above yours, which disappeared magically while I was trying to log in and reply.

Wow, thanks for the quick answer . Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to resolve the problem. I have deleted winnt.sif from the minint folder and created the ini in the USB drive root, but there's no change. I have attached my winbom.ini, just in case something's wrong with it.

If you think there's something wrong with my livexp folder, I can upload the iso on a ftp and you can take a look, maybe there's something special with it... ?

I must also ad that the tool is reported as being infected with Worm.Win32.Autorun.pze by Kaspersky Antivirus. I have submitted a support request asking that they either confirm it is infected (which I doubt) or fix the false alarm...

Antivirus software for some reason is sensitive to AutoIt scripts, there are always false alarms. To stay on the safe side you may cross-check on virusscan.jotti.org or virustotal.com.
winbom.ini looks file, need to investigate further what else it could be.

edit: What's the exact version of WinBulder you used?

Kasersky support staff says it's ok, so no problems here I just thought they might solve the issue so that it doesn't show up as a false alarm.
Winbuilder used was the latest 0.75beta5, build l. I have just downloaded beta 5o and will try again. I needed the beta to test a vistape, that's why I'm using beta WB.

I have checked and cross-checked the iso and target folder of Winbuilder, and it is quite clear. Using the CD-ISO or PEtoUSB, everything is fine. Using WinSetupFromUSB I get a blank startmenu, no network... etc. Can anyone please confirm that the latest version of WinSetupFromUSB is properly installing LiveXP to an USB stick and you can run PE from it without problems ?

Thanks, Vially.

Please copy ModelRam.exe from liveXP folder to root of USB disk and let me know if that works. This was the only change I did, just tested 075 beta E and it worked, not using winbom.ini.

1st of all, i like to thank you for the great speedy tool for those not so computer inclined.

I have a little problem when using the program, i had just wanted a simple usb installation with sp3 and i used nlite to use a oem copy of xp pro to slipstream it to sp3. after which i had copy the iso to a cd and is using the winsetupfromusb to make the usb files.

I noticed that when i install the windows from the usb drive, the session somehow became unattended and there was a preassign code to it. did i do something wrong in the setup? not sure if its a nlite prob or the winsetupfromusb. but all i did from nlite was to install sp3 and make bootable disk.

@Kaida- check if in your source you have unattended.txt. It's used as answer file if winnt.sif is not present.
As far as I know behavior when installing from a CD is the same- it looks for unattended.txt and uses it if winnt.sif is not present.

If you don't want to use these setting you can rename that file to anything else.

Make sure your source is on a hard disk, 0.1 A and B fail to change a few lines if source is on a CD. Fixed in the next version, which I am currently testing before publishing.

Hi Ilko, funny thing is that I tried installing from the CD and it was a normal attended session but when I use that CD to make the USB, I get the unattended. Is the file for the unattended.txt or winnt.sif you are mentioning about in the USB or on the CD source? which directory should i be looking for it at?

Noted that the source should be on the hard disk. will try to do the xcopy and make the usb again. i'm definately looking forward to your new release. great work out there.

Just copy your XP source on the hard disk (drag&drop from Explorer would work too) and rename unattended.txt in I386 folder.
Next launch the program and continue.

Getting rid of this option, thanks for reporting

I am happy to report that copying modelram.exe into the usb flash root is working, everything loads fine in PE. Thank you soooo much . And since I am here I would also like to express my point of view regarding WinSetupFromUSB:

I have read some posts earlier, and I saw that you are a little bit reluctant into adding advanced options in this tool because you want it to be easy for new users to use it. While I definitely agree that it should be straightforward for them, i also feel a little bit left out as a more advanced user. I strongly believe that having an option not to copy win9x and lang folders and to make the distribution unattended should be mandatory for this tool. Even if these options are command-line activated or hidden for regular users, they should definitely exist. You have to be aware that a regular user (the ones that you thing you are targeting) is not playing with livexp, parted and so on. It is much more likely that advanced users use this tool at least in the beginning. Please add an option to make the sources unattended and to remove the w9xupgrade and lang folders (like that command line tool has).

Version 0.1 uploaded, please look at first post for download links and list of changes.
In the next version - 0.2, which is almost ready the major change is, that all changes are made during GUI mode, thus user can unlpug the USB disk or start from internal disk right after GUI mode. Jaclaz is adding some functionality to binifix.cmd, which will be executed from presetup.cmd.

@wimb- if we edit $winnt$.inf in system32 before start of GUI mode and make msdosinitiated=0, at T-1 setup will not wipe out the temp folders, allowing to get rid of 2 scripts and perform everything during GUI part. This is what binifix going to perform since now presetup.cmd is always executed, no matter if BTS DP is present or not. I have tested with x64 and it works too.
I am using presetup.cmd to launch spdrvscn.exe from Vernalex (has 32 and 64 bit version), as per this thread:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=123023

Basically unattended section is almost fully covered, besides, presetup.cmd gives many other opportunities.

@Vially- thanks for the report, I think that's the only issue and it's fixed now.
As for the unattended part- why not using SetupMgr.exe for example? I put in Docs\Useful_Links.txt link to it and guide for using it, if not already in \SUPPORT\TOOLS\Deploy.cab. It creates answer file in seconds.
Lang&win9x folders- if you never use them why just not delete them from the hard disk, just curious. I am considering completely different GUI, still working on it as much as time allows. It will have tabs for each multiboot option added, thus interface will not be overloaded and I can add more checkboxes/options, however, this will not be out in a week or month, just spare time does not allow.

edit: how about a button "advanced", which opens up another GUI with advanced settings?

Yes, you are right about deleting the folders, this can be done manually, but of course if you will add an advanced button, then you can also add an option there for that. I actually believe that having a separate small button and window for advanced options would be a good idea for the moment, or you can just add line in an XML settings file, like

Advanced options=1

and if it is 0 the user will be prompted about not removing the stick... etc and he will see no advanced options, but if it is set as 1 (or boolean YES - your call) all advanced options will available but all prompts like the one advising not to remove the usb stick will not be displayed (an advanced user is supposed to know that)

And last, from my experience at working with program GUI design, I know that the most important thing is to have a clear idea about what buttons and options you want, and then design the GUI. If you don't have a clear idea about these (like in our case, where the functionality is developed along with the GUI), the best option is to go with a tabbed design. This way, you can always rearrange the different options on different tabs without too much hassle, you can add or remove tabs, but the interface will be clean and easy to use. If you will stick to single windows, you will either have too many buttons to open them, or you will have too many or too few buttons on them, as you add/remove functionality.

Hope it helps,
Vially

Hi ilko, I had noticed that there is a unattended.txt in the E:\$WIN_NT$.~LS\I386 too. can i just rename or delete from there? previously when you said there is some problem using the source from the CD. could you elaborate on that?

@Vially
All suggestions are welcome, but the idea of this GUI was to have something SIMPLER than the already existing batches.

You may want to re-read the first posts of this thread:
http://www.msfn.org/board/install-USB-WinS...4.html&st=4
up to:
http://www.msfn.org/board/install-USB-WinS....html&st=10

For the "Advanced" user's the way to go is undoubtedly the wimb's batches as they offer more choices and are much more "customizable".

The GUI tool was an attempt to simplify life to the less "computer savy" people.

I don't think that making two "complex" tools basically with the same "engine under the hood" but with different "look" is useful.





jaclaz

Hi ilko,

Very good idea

Thanks for providing the AutoIt3 Source code. It is quite an impressive peace of work.
I have just finished and Uploaded my first AutoIt3 GUI module for USB_XP_Setup.
It is a GUI for Display and Edit of the winnt.sif file for providing the XP Setup parameters
to be used in $WIN_NT$.~BT folder. It makes live again easier

I am sure your source code will help me a lot in programming USB_XP_Setup completely with AutoIt3.

wimb

Thanks for the suggestions and sharing your experience, will have that in mind



Deleting from ~LS folder won't help, you need to delete or rename it in the source folder, before running the program. However, this is no longer required for 0.1 version, it will not use unattend.txt as an answer file when winnt.sif is not present

If source is on a CD read-only attributes are preserved while copying files. In this case AutoIt fails to edit the files we amend- txtsetup.sif, winnt.sif, presetup.cmd... The latter 2 were fixed in beta, but not the first. In 0.1 this has been taken care of, and source should be fine to be used from a CD.


Hope it helps you
Mind you, don;t rely completely on what I wrote, there is a lot to be improved in terms of error checking etc. It just happens to work, sometimes.. lol

ilko you are the best! im redoing my source from cd on 0.1 now

in future if i need to do go deeper for unattended session, i will just need to have a winnt.sif & unattend.txt inside the i.386 right? or i could also use the beta and just have the txt file probably heh

You need to have WINNT.SIF inside XpSource\I386 folder, that would be only file used as answer file.

0.1 tested working

1 thing i like to ask though, when windows boot up, it goes into a F8 bootmenu that ask if you want to boot to windows or the usb recovery tools. is there a way to disable that and boot right into windows?

Good, knowing who wrote it I am surprised that it worked

As for the repair entry:

\DOCS\HOW-TOs.txt:

Well I tried it with XP SP 1 install files that were saved to the HD from the Install CD; they worked flawlessly. Great Work!!!

I seem to have stumbled upon something after I had slipstreamed SPs 2 and 3 to the install files.
So here is what I have in my notes:

Well things did not go so well. I got an error saying that:

"Booting 'First part of Windows XP Professional setup'

Filesystem type is fat, partition type 0x0E
chainloader (hd0,0)/$WIN_NT$.~BT/SETUPLDR.BIN

Error 15: File not found.

Press any key to continue..." (BTW: where is the <any> key anyway? )

Upon investigation, I found that indeed setupldr.bin was not in the $WIN_NT$.~BT directory and that it was in the $WIN_NT$.~LS/I386 directory. So hmm, I guess no cookie tonite. Awe, bummer! I have to report this and look for a response in the morning. (Edited for grammatical errors.)

So anyways not sure where to go from here, but I thought you should know. Great work though! REALLY!!!

---------------------------

Okay, I found out why this didn't work. Leave it to me to find this one (of all the things!). WinSetupFromUSB 0.1 doesn't like commas any where in the path name. Cause when I took the commas out of the path name and recreated the install on the USB with the WinSetupFromUSB 0.1 program, everything was there in the $WIN_NT$.~BT. So the moral of this story - no commas is a good commas... LOL! (At least when it comes to folder names AND WinSetupFromUSB 0.1.)

Boy ilko_t, aren't you glad I found this one? We would be going around at this for days... LOL!

Good to know.

However, the good ol' rule of thumb says to ALWAYS use 8.3 DOS compatible names (and Paths):
http://www.ss64.com/nt/syntax-filenames.html
and comma is one of the NO-NO's.



jaclaz

@jaclaz

Sorry, I thought I was dealing with a Windows program that deals with MS Windows naming conventions especially when it is reading from the source side of things - not DOS.

Thanks,

Craig
mac4020@msn.com

Fixed, just tested it using "H:\NLite, $ # . new юя" as source directory. Will be in 0.2, for now please don't use source paths with comma in the name. Actually only the commas were the problem, spaces and other characters should be fine, it was failing in the parse DOSNET.INF procedure, where commas are used as delimiters.

Macster, you get the cookie

What Jaclaz probably meant was if you want to stay on the safe side, you'd better stick with 8.3 DOS compatible names (especially with AutoIt scripts, written in someone's spare time as a hobby and for free ).

Thanks for reporting.

@ilko_t and Jaclaz

Oh, Okay... I meant no disrespect. I just thought that we was so over the 8.3 format that it never occured to me that it was still being inforced. Granted a lot of these scripts are linux baised, but I would have thought that what you was developing (which was an MS Windows Application) would take into account for the MS Windows naming convention that is all. Mainly an assumption on my part, so it became a learning thing for me. I am still fairly new with all this install stuff. If it weren't for the fact that MS is discontinuing support with XP, I wouldn't be doing this at all. And I choose to use my laptop as the environment to perform all of this on, because it would provide the best environment for me to learn the complexities of putting an unattended install together. I have 7 install stages setup for myself and each one creates a new install with more stuff than it had before. (And right now I just completed the stage 2 of the 7 stages that are to be completed.) Which is where the commas in question came into play. I kind of figured that it had to do with some kind of parse thing, considering commas are used generally as separators (from my software developement days). Which is why I made a note of it in my notes of what not to do. However, thanks for the cookie and I hope there is no hard feelings. I am looking forward to the 0.2 when it is ready to be realised. And again GREAT work with this current version!

Thanks again,

Craig
mac4020@msn.com

Macster, there can't be any hard feeling in the cookie trade

It was an issue, not showed up in my tests as I never use special characters in folder/file names since there are still number of programs which may give you headaches if you use them. Or just a habit from the old days.

Here is 0.1 with this issue fixed, just replace the exe file you have.
http://www.datafilehost.com/download-4a80688c.html

No prob.



Yep , "good ol' rule of thumb" is intended just as "common sense advice", I do agree that newish, modern apps should be able to deal with anything, but the point is that current modern BATCH language (which is not DOS), which I love and use, still has problems dealing with "names-with-spaces" and with some special characters.
No problem whatsoever with long filenames, though.
So what I am "asking" or "suggesting" is just to avoid 14 special characters out of around 223 (255-32) among which you can choose, thus I am attempting to "limit your freedom" but only in a small percentage, after all, 6.28%, which leaves people "free" for 93.72%.

But apart from this particular problem, that ilko promptly fixed, using those special characters is something that will likely "break" a lot of software, and definitely any script, so it is in my view not "wise" to use them, and particularly when running a "new" software for the first time.

Cheers,

jaclaz

Vers. 0.1.1 uploaded, please refer to first post for list of changes and download links.

Hi all,

First of all - thanks for all the great work !

I already succesfully used USB_MultiBoot_10, however had to use a hacked ntdetect.com, since I have an older desktop PC and was getting STOP 7B BSOD while setup was starting Windows (had no problems with laptop)... Now I want to try this method (WinSetupFromUSB), since I want to use separate WinXP sources for desktop and laptop respectively.

The problem I had with WinSetupFromUSB was that after install and boot from USB key, I'd get a menu with entries "find /menu.lst" and the like; if I tried to go to grub command prompt, running "root (hd" and TAB - lists hd0, hd1; however executing "root (hd0,0)" results with - "Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition". So, apparently a problem with something even before ntdetect.com runs.

By speculation, what I did was just to replace the grldr generated by WinSetupFromUSB 0.1.1, with the one included with USB_MultiBoot_10; and it worked for me - additionally replacing ntdetect.com with the hacked one allowed setup to finish starting Windows (haven't tried running a complete setup yet).

I am however, not sure whether this is the right thing to do - so any comments would be welcome..

Thanks... and Cheers !

Thanks for the feedback

It's grub4dos issue, please get the latest possible from here and replace only grldr in USB disk root as you did before.
Let me know if it worked and what version you tried.

http://nufans.net/grub4dos/

If the latest doesn't work, I guess grub4dos developers will be interested in details about your motherboard/BIOS:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=66

Hi. Firstly, thank you for finally making a GUI! I think a lot of people have been waiting a long time for this. I can’t understand why M$ haven’t done this yet. It just seems so obvious it is something we need. No money in it for M$ I suppose.

I’ve done a few installs recently and been experimenting with this program (v 0.1.1) as an alternative to Multiboot (credit to the authors for their ground breaking work, but still a little too “heavy” for my lazy self).

I have a few things to feedback but I must first mention the most serious one:

I found this one out the hard way. The affected software is 32 bit XP-PRO SP3.

Quote from WinSetupFromUSB README.TXT
“!!!If your source is NOT Windows XP2 SP2, some of the compressed files in ~LS folder will be deleted during the first part(Text mode). To make another install from this disk you have to copy the missing files, use the program for this purpose and follow the prompts when it finds existing setup folders.!!!”

Guys this is irresponsible. We are talking about a point and click program here. As a “power user” I can look after myself but what about the average user who will use this program? Those people will go ahead and complete their first successful install. Not realising their files were “spent” they may attempt to install again using the same USB. They happily format their drive knowing it “worked perfectly” last time, then they get the message “Can’t find install files on USB”!!! There is no apparent explanation for this error and the user has no idea what is going on unless they find the Readme (which was probably on the formatted drive).

Although it is a “free program and there are no warranties, use at own risk” etc etc. You really should reconsider releasing the program with such a serious limitation. As it is, the costs far exceed the benefits – re-preparing the USB (for 20 min) before each install is simply not practical. Some user is going to get badly hurt. Your reputations are on the line here. There has been a lot of good work done, it would be a shame to undo that. At the very least you should provide a large warning that the prepared USB will be GOOD FOR ONE INSTALL ONLY.

I used the re-sync option. It recopied 6880 files out of original 7017. It takes 19 minutes to copy 450MB (NTFS) to my USB stick. So the re-sync option saved a few seconds. Not complaining about that but it introduced several errors later on in the install. Again the cost benefit is not there – the few seconds saved does not justify the risk of a corrupted install – much safer to do a completely new USB preparation. More on that later, first the rest of my bug report starting back at the beginning…

INSTALLATION
WinSetupfromUSB default location is c:\ C’mon guys!!! Not cool! Actually I think I know why this was necessary. I chose to install to C:\Program Files\WinSetupFromUSB\ Every time I prepare the USB (hitting GO), the program writes a small file called “Program” in C:\. In this file is some setup info and contains...

[Strings]
;Handy macro substitutions non-localizable
REG_SZ = 0x00000000
etc.

When windows starts a dialogue box pops up saying there is a file called “C:\Program” which could cause certain applications to not function correctly. It suggests renaming the file to Program1.

USING THE PROGRAM
It would be good if the program remembered the last directory where you keep your source files.

INSTALL USING USB
During boot, the first menu screen only has one option listed “Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup – First and Second Parts. Do we really need an option screen that gives us only one option? I realise there might be some advanced features (press “e” or “b” etc) at this point but isn’t it aimed at the point and click user?

After re-sync, on the second menu, option 2 was repeated “Second part of XP + Start windows for first time.”

Also after re-sync $OEM$\cmdlines.txt was not run.

Lastly, this feature always perplexed me with Multiboot as well. Why is there a need to add an extra line to boot.ini? The user has to manually edit this out every time. Is there some limitation with the technology so the install won’t work otherwise? Is the point and click user really meant to edit boot.ini?

Please don’t take these as criticisms. I greatly appreciate all the time and effort that people give so generously. I know that USB install is extremely complicated and that some of the “bugs” I mentioned are due to limitations in the technology (and no fault of the authors).

There are many of us out there who look after every computer in our house plus all our friends and relative’s computers. I’ve been waiting a long time for the price of 1+ GB USB sticks to come down in price. That time is now. USB installs are going to be mainstream. I hope you guys will be ready.

-QED

Hi, thanks for your comment, that's always needed

Program detects if source is different from XP SP2 or SP3 and displays a message box
Is that enough?


Need to correct in ReadMe.txt and include SP3, thanks.
It doesn't copy all of them, however it's checks if each file is present. The operation is similar to normal copy from explorer, with NO overwriting and should be faster than a full copy. Since you are the first one reporting an issue I assumed everything was normal at this front.

Program contains number of tools and files, which should be easily accessible (log files, backups etc.) and I prefer not to bury it in C:\Program Files\WinSetupFromUSB or whatever. In other hand this type of install still requires some knowledge. I wish we could make it easy as for grandmothers, but for now this is what MS gave us as options.


I haven't seen this since I am not using Program Files at all. I guess MkMigratInf.cmd doesn't like spaces in the path, will have a look.

If there are other requests for that I can implement it. For now I'd rather concentrate on more important features.

The reason behind this is described at the bottom of first page of this topic- it's to be able to perform unattended installations, where second part is auto selected if the first part was launched. Another reason is that main menu gets overloaded with entries if one adds number of Windows sources + GParted + Vista + something else.

I noticed that as well, it's already fixed in 0.2, which I am testing. For now everything is ready, but x64 installs are giving headaches. The major difference is that user has to boot from USB twice only. This eliminates all the cases when impatient or those not reading instructions and dialog boxes unplug their stick as soon as they see GUI mode is completed. Believe me, to test 0.2 alone I have made already more than umm... 50 or 70, I don't know how many installs. Jaclaz is also helping with the new binifix.cmd, which has an option NOT to add USB repair entry in boot.ini. Hope that answers your next question too.
The reason behind USB repair entry at first place, was to get as close as possible to normal setup- if you don't have this entry Repair install is NOT possible, and I'd rather have it there, instead of inability when Windows is screwed not to be able to repair it. However, this is what we concluded during the first programs (USB_prepare). Since feedback is VERY limited, but downloads in total could be well above 100 000, I wonder why people are not complaining.

Thanks again for your feedback

We were born ready.

BUT, is "mainstream" ready?

"Mainstream" should follow EXACTLY and ONLY mainstream MS original info such as:

• IE cannot be removed from Win98/Me as it is part of the OS
• IE cannot be removed from 2K/XP as it is part of the OS
• no NT based system can boot from USB
• you cannot partition a USB stick as it is a Removable drive (unless you have VISTA)
• etc.
• etc.

Alternatively:

• use something experimental, like versions 0.1, 0.2, etc. NOW, actually paying a minimum of attention to what they do and RTFM
• wait for release 1.0 Final, or better yet, wait another couple of years for the enhanced 3.0, that will also, following the "mainstream" suggestions, "automagically" detect all files you aren't likely to use and remove them while showing an animated wizard and playing a nice tune....

I appreciate your report and suggestions, as long as they are useful to better this thingy , but completely refuse the idea that they are somewhat needed because "lazy mainstream" want to avoid their homework and safely get away with a couple clicks. :whistling:

Experimental things are, well, experimental.

Why, in my day....:
http://www.tinyapps.org/weblog/2007/02/index.html


jaclaz

Hello

I have used the Win Setup From USB Program and have used it to copy XP PRO SP2 OEM files (Gold), however when I boot the USB Drive All I get is Grub and I don't know what to do next???

Thanks

David McMahon

You mean you don't get the menu entries?
Look at post #133 and 134, replace grldr. What hardware are you booting it on?

Ilko,

Thanks for the response to #133:



First, here is BIOS and motherboard info:



Results (versions found by opening grldr files in text editor and looking for "0."):

• grldr in http://nufans.net/grub4dos/grub4dos-0.4.4-2008-10-22.zip (GRUB4DOS 0.4.4 2008-10-22, 189 KB (193,549 bytes)) - does not work
• grldr from http://nufans.net/grub4dos/grldr (GRUB4DOS 0.4.4 2008-10-22, 203 KB (208,365 bytes)) does not work either
• grldr from Multi_Boot_10 (GRUB4DOS 0.4.3 2008-05-07 - GNU GRUB 0.97, 183 KB (188,049 bytes)) - works

Agreed, seems to be GRUB4DOS issue - I shall post there now and refer to this post (Edit: tried to, and am getting: "Sorry, you do not have permission to start a topic in this forum".. Duh ! )

Thanks again,
Cheers !

Thanks for getting back. Have you tried 0.4.3-2008-05-14 ?

FYI USB_multiboot uses grub4dos as well, just an older version.

I decided to use newer versions as grub4dos is constantly developed and many bugs have been fixed since 0.4.3. Hopefully soon we will have a stable 0.4.4.

edit: other download links for older grub4dos versions:
http://download.gna.org/grub4dos/
http://grub4dos.jot.com/WikiHome

** Edit found it ***

http://download.gna.org/grub4dos/grub4dos-...-2008-08-08.zip

Found this one works

Thanks for letting me know - re-searched that USB_multiboot grldr looking for "grub4dos", and it turns out it is GRUB4DOS 0.4.3 2008-05-07 - and edited previous post #140

Otherwise, I re-checked with grldr from http://nufans.net/grub4dos/grub4dos-0.4.3-2008-05-14.zip, and can confirm it works.

Thanks again, and keep up the great work Cheers ...

PS:
Here: Install XP from USB - Boot Land (USB_MultiBoot_10.zip)
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=4900&st=0

PSS:
Thanks - it seems it works for me too, I got it from http://nufans.net/grub4dos/grub4dos-0.4.4-2008-08-08.zip though..

Thanks now got XP setup going, now how do I add Disk Drivers It can't see my SATA 120GB in my Compaq C350EU laptop

08-08-2008 was giving problems on other systems...
Please report to grub4dos developers, including what versions you used, your motherboard model and description of the error:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=66


Look if you have in BIOS option to disable SATA/AHCI and run in native IDE.
Other way is to slipstream BTS mass storage driver pack in your XP source:
http://www.driverpacks.net/
http://www.driverpacks.net/DriverPacks/DriverPack.php?pag=m
http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?id=1449

Thanks Disabling SATA Native Mode displayed the drive in XP Setup.

So now that it works expect lots of annoying questions from me ;-)

Hi Ilko

Can you please confirm, according to your warning box (post 136) if I’m using XP SP3 I should NOT be experiencing the deleted files problem?

I also found this in the How-Tos.txt (v 0.1.1):
“NOTE: If you are installing windows different than XP SP2 or SP3, some of the compressed files in ~LS\I386 or AMD64 folder will be deleted during Text mode of setup.”

I am using 32bit XP Pro SP3 (inc MP11, IE7, all hotfixes up to 25/10/2008 plus 3 mass storage drivers) and my files are definitely being deleted. Is this something to do with hotfixes etc? Have I gone “beyond” SP3?

I also have some observations using the re-sync option. After first install, re-sync needed to replace roughly 40% of missing files (by number and by size). To do this it took 75% of time compared to completely fresh preparation. Probably my USB is slow and re-sync accesses the USB much more than a straight copy?

-QED

QED- just tested to slipstream SP3 in SP2 source- no files were deleted, so it is well possible that update after SP3 causes USB write-protection to be ignored.
If that's the case, someone with the willingness to test may reveal what file(s) cause this behavior, by replacing usb drivers, setupdd.sy_, \system32\ntdll.dll in ~BT filder with those from SP3 archive. My first bet would be on usb drivers (usbstor.sy_ etc.) and setupdd.sy_.

As for the re-sync option- since we don't know which files were deleted, comparing the whole contents of I386 folders is needed, I can't think of faster and more reliable way to sync them, apart from writing a separate procedure, which first compares both folders and then copies only the difference. This will require some time to implement and test.

Hi Ilko

I've found the problem with the deleted files! It has to do with when I installed WinSetupFromUSB in C:\Program Files. I guess that config file I mentioned which is created shortly after hitting GO is responsible. It gets created in the wrong place. Sorry I don't have a name for the file because it is given the name "Program " (with space at the end). This is the full contents of that file:



I also noticed when I installed WinSetupFromUSB in default location on C:\ the prepared USB has one extra file (don't know which one). I'm guessing it is because that config file transferred correctly to USB?

Hope this helps you track down the problem. I'm happy now that my USB isn't deleting itself anymore. Mainstream, here we come!!!

-QED

Nice catch

The file should be called migrate.inf and should go in ~BT folder. It does the write-protection during Text mode and sets letter U to the USB disk.
MkMigrateInf2.cmd is the script, which generates migrate.inf. Will have a look why spaces are problem, I guess it's called improperly from my program as spaces were not taken into account.

BTW it should be "\DosDevices\U:, did you post the orphan file?