WINDOWS XP POWERPACKER
v1.0 RC5

UPDATED: 08-17-05

Currently Known Bugs:
No bugs found as of yet.

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History:
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v1.0 RC5 - 08-17-05
I have extensively re-written most of the code to make it function much better.

1. RC4 had hesitation issues when browsing and selecting things. That is fixed in RC5.
2. I have added a checkbox which allows the user to exclude WIN9XUPG folders from being copied to the destination (To help save a lot of space of your final product if you do not plan on using the winnt32.exe upgrade option... which nobody should use anyways).
3. Also another check box for the user to exclude the LANG folder from being copied to the destination (Which also saves a lot of room and is not needed if you are only going to be using a localized version of WinXP).
4. Also as promised... I made major use of the new powpack.ini file! You now can call PowerPacker_v1.0RC5.exe from a script file using certain parameters and you can actually create your whole entire multiboot disk 100% unattended!!! Completley from the first pack to the last pack... and even have it compile your iso into the destination and name you specify! No more sitting at the computer for hours waiting for every pack to finish so you can start the next pack. Once you have created your script file... and your set of ini files all you will need to do is run your script and leave. Come back later and everything is done! I think I deserve a round of applause for that! You all will never know what I had to do to get this program capable of doing that. (Check the updated help file for more information.)
5. Updated the help file with instructions on how to use the unattended parameters.
6. Added a "Tri-Pack" Checkbox... which will allow a user to quickly create three packs from one source. (Unattended with Driverpacks, Unattended without DriverPacks, and a regular attended pack.)
7. Added a Checkbox called "Custom Pack Name" which will allow a user to choose a four character name to be used as the destination directories and boot files. (**NOTE** when you use this option you have to manually edit the BOOT\cdshell.ini file to add your custom pack to the boot menu.)
8. Many other changes were made... but there are too many to list and remember.

v1.0 RC4.1 - 08-08-05
1. I accidentally compiled the PowerPacker RC4 file the wrong way. I recompiled it the normal way and there is no problem now. Sorry guys.

v1.0 RC4 - 08-07-05
1. Implemented a powpack.ini file to record your settings. This way everytime you open Windows XP PowerPacker it will remember how you had it setup the last time you used it.
2. Progress windows were changed to not always be on top. This way you can still use your computer normally without having Windows XP PowerPacker's windows being in your way as much as before.
3. Fixed some spelling errors.
4. Fixed the problem with WIN51IP and WIN51IC files getting copied over when they weren't needed. If you are creating a Windows XP Professional pack the WIN51IP files will get copied over, and the WIN51IC files will get copied over when you are creating a Windows XP Home pack.
5. More error checking implemented in the "Compile ISO" process. Now a window will pop up stating that you have successfully created your iso. If your iso was not created or ends up being 0 KB in size it will tell you it failed.

v1.0 RC3 - 07-13-05
1. Fixed - When help file is opened I can not use the Main GUI window untill I close the help file.
2. Whenever certain windows are opened by powerpacker the main window will now be disabled so that users can not click on things when they are not supposed to.

v1.0 RC2 - 07-10-05
1. Put a logo on the right side of the gui.
2. Placed Donation buttons in the program so users may donate to support the work on Windows XP PowerPacker. (The wife made me do it! LOL! )
3. Integrated the capability to run custom written .bat scripts at different points of the packing process.

v1.0 RC1 - 07-05-05
This release will be Release Candidate 1. Which means this may be the FULL version... if no bugs are reported.

1. I coded my own Dosnet.inf parser... so now I am no longer using BootFolder.exe. This version should work much better. Now there is so far no problems with createing the Boot Folder because my parser does not car if anything allready exists in the folder or if the file allready exists. It will overwrite if it has to. There should also be no need of MS Framework .net being installed... because that was needed by bootfolder.exe. My parser is completley based off the idea of bootfolder.exe by Nazgul... but my version is made to work better with powerpacker and it's needs. (Nazguls new version seems to be able to overwrite existing files now. So if you want to create a boot folder only... his tool is the best for the job!)

P.S. A huge THANK YOU to moesasji for his patience and beta testing. Without his help I don't think I could have fixed all of these errors so soon.

v1.06 - 06-28-05
1. Fixed a few minor bugs. (None that were harmful... just annoying.)
2. Coded the temp directory a little differently.
3. Added the newest version of BootFolder.exe

v1.05 - 05-24-05
1. Integrated Nazgul's BootFolder.exe file to handle createing the boot directory. This method is much faster and creates a lot less steps. Now you do not need to go through the windows setup process to make the boot folder.
Much thanks to Nazgul!

v1.04 - 05-22-05
1. Fixed problem with Boot directory not copying to the destination sometimes. It should work every time now.

v1.03 - 05-21-05
1. Added Embedded Help File.
2. Added Help File Button.

v1.02 - 05-18-05
Fixed all known bugs.
1. I fixed the window size. It should now fit any resolution that somebody would use.
2. Made PowerPacker Set Attributes on all files to normal.
3. Added features to help make sure users do not point to incorrect directories.

v1.01 - 05-14-05
1. Fixed problem with creating optimised ISO.
2. Added extra files section.
3. Added progressbars.

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Plans for next release:
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Fix any bugs that are reported.
So far no bugs reported.

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This program was made with the BTS DriverPacks in mind. Basically it does just about everything you need to do to add a windows XP load to your MultiBoot Disk.

It will gather the needed files from your source XP CD and put them into a directory you specify. It will grab the DriverPack Files and install them. It will create a boot directory for your load and even hex edit the files that need to be HEXED to allow you to boot to it. It will put the needed info into the boot list so you can select your XP load. It makes testing the DriverPacks very easy!!!

Right now it is still a beta version because I want to work out any bugs. So please be carefull when you use it. Here is a quick tutorial and some info you should know...

The program was built using Autoit v3.

If you are going to use BTS DriverPacks you must run the "BTS_DPs_Slipstreamer_Vxxxx.cmd" file to create the "UWXPCD_ROOT" directory, which you will need later.

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1. Open the program.

2. Browse to your source XP files. (The directory containing the first I386 directory you want to use.)

3. Browse to the directory where you want to create your "PowerPack" disk. (Make sure you have plenty of room on this hard drive because we may be using a lot of space.)

4. Select Your Windows XP Version. (If your I386 folder is a XP Pro disk choose "Professional" or if it is a Home disk choose "Home".)

5. Now choose your Windows XP Edition. (Corporate, Retail, OEM, or Upgrade.)

6. Next... will this be With or Without BTS DriverPacks?
If you select "With BTS DriverPacks" you will notice the Input boxes for DriverPacks and the next steps "Unattended" will be enabled. (You must be createing an Unattended load if you want to use the DriverPacks!)
Browse to your "UWXPCD_ROOT" directory which you created using "BTS_DPs_Slipstreamer_Vxxxx.cmd". "UWXPCD_ROOT" should have a file inside of it called "RUN_ME.CMD".

7. Now select whether or not this is an Unattended Install.

8. If it is an Unattended install you will need to browse to the winnt.sif file you will use for this load.

9. Then browse to the $OEM$ directory you want to use for this load (Optional).

10. You will notice a section called "Extra Source Files". This section is disabled for now because it has not been implemented yet.

11. Now that you have made your selections you can click on the button "Pack Files Now".

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If you did everything correctly it will begin doing it's work. When it gets to installing the driverpack files you will need to answer anything BTS's Scripts asks you. Or if you know how to edit the RUN_ME.CMD file you can make this process automated so it won't ask you.

When it finishes the DriverPack process it will begin createing your boot directory.

After the boot directory is created all of the necissary files are Hex Edited and this Pack is finished.

What I like to do is create 3 loads for each XP CD. One which is automated with DriverPacks, One that is Automated without DPs and one that is a regular XP load (Which is good for doing an XP Repair etc)

So I have made the program able to handle these 3 different loads for each different Version/Edition of XP.

Once a pack is finished all you need to do, For Example, is click "Without Driverpacks" and then "Pack Files Now" and it will begin your second load with all the same settings except DriverPacks.

When you have created all of the packs you need for your powerpack disk then you can move on to the button "Package ISO" this button will walk you through the other steps and use cdimage.exe to compile your optomized ISO for you.

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Please post bugs and requests in this thread... and be nice... this is my first Public App!

nice release

Nice indeed

I will definetely try this out this week-end

EDIT: pinned topic!

Looky Looky Me Got Sticky! YAY!

Hope you guys like.
I've been working hard on it. Please let me know any changes I need to make.

BTW if Bashrat or anyone who helps on the DriverPacks wants me to send them the Source code so they may be able to Spice it up or tweak it, just let me know.

I found a couple minor bugs and a huge bug in the program.
The huge bug has to do with making the optimised ISO... it wasn't Optimiseing it.

I have fixed all of it and added the "Extra Files" section to it.
I also added some progressbars in it so you can see it is working while it copies files.

The new version should be online later today.
I will post here when it has been updated.

Has anyone had a chance to use it yet???

New release just uploaded.

This one works very well. So far I haven't found any bugs.

Except that the gui I made is too long. So if you are in a screen resolution of 800x600 part of the gui is cut off.

The next version will have a different layout to fix that. But you can use the program in a higher resolution just fine for now. I may work on a help file soon as well.

Does anyone have anything to say about it yet? I know it hasn't been online too long... but I can't wait for people to try it out. LOL! The anticipation is killing me.

have you posted this in the multi-boot section of this forum? maybe these guys aren't even aware of the existence of your app

nice prog..

but i never saw so many error messages fly by before

but its a start...
the idea is good

When did you get these error messages? It is supposed to pop up an error if you did not do something correctly. If it wasn't an error from something you've done then I need to fix it. Because when I use it I don't get any errors.

I need to know what error you got.

All was OK, except hexedit - hexediting was not allowed, but for me it is no need to edit.
I have all versions setupdlr.bin pointing to according bootfolder (pro1; pro2; pro3).

If the hex editing part did not finish there must be something not copying over to your destination quick enough. So far I haven't run into this... but I have not had the chance at testing it on many computers yet.

Is the boot Directory copying over correctly? The boot directory would be a folder named XPPC or something simular (Depending on what type of pack you are createing.) on the root of your destination. Not in the "ROOT" directory.

I will be putting another update online sometime tommorrow.
It fixes the problem of being too long on 800x600 resolution. Actually the window is layed out a lot differently.

I also added some code to have it check to make sure you point to the correct directories on certain browse buttons. This will probably fix the errors others were getting. The way the program was made was a little confuseing on wether you point to a directory or a directory containing a certain directory and I think that may have been what caused the errors.

Once I put together a help file it should make things more clear.

Dear Sir
I can't find the button "Pack Files Now".

sooorry i change display setting and i find it sorry again

Yeah that was the bug I fixed in the next version. I made the window too long... in the new version the format is a lot different.

No need to apologize. I'm glad you posted. I wish more people would help me test it for bugs.

Let me know if it works out for you or not.

to many....they all keep popping up, till it crashes.
it goes to fast to get a good look, last error was hex edit

Every error that could pop up halts the program. It isn't possible for the program to do what you are stateing. It must be a problem on your end if that is happening. Can anyone else produce these multiple errors that can not be read?

maybe you should add 'make sure your files are not read only' -might be cause of these errors

I'll double check that note. But I am pretty sure that the program does not keep any file attributes when it copies them to the destination.

Edit:
Looks like you may be right!
Thanks a lot!
Now I will make the program put all attributes to normal on the files after they are copied.
Good call.

I will put a halt on uploading my most recent update until I fix the Attributes problem.

I should be uploading a new version tonight.

OK...

Update has been added to the download.

We are now at Windows XP PowerPacker Beta v.1.02

1. I fixed the window size. It should now fit any resolution that somebody would use.

2. Made PowerPacker Set Attributes on all files to normal.

3. Added features to help make sure users do not point to incorrect directories.

I just added PowerPacker v1.03 to the first post.

There were no changes to the program except for the new "Help" button which opens up a quick help file I made to make it a little easier to understand the program.

I still need beta testers.

Does it help to install the program or change cd while installing another program from another CD? It will be a great idea if you do so I had a plan due to illeterate of programming I can't do that. I am just giving some feedback. Peace................and chill out........

I'm not sure if I understand you.

This program does not need to be installed. The only cd's you would need to swap would be different versions of the OS.

Can you try to explain in more detail?

Hi Siginet !

Thanks for a nice application

However, when I run it I get some errors:

The boot folders have not been copied to my powerpack cd folder
so I get XVI32 error opening files setupldr.bin and txtsetup.sif.

Boot folder is still found in root of boot HD, I use several drives
will copy powerpack cd folder to C drive and see it it makes any differance.

Regards

Swe_mx

Is the boot folder resideing on the same drive as your "boot.ini" file? I assumed that this folder would always be on the same drive as the "boot.ini" file. I am probably wrong though. It probably copys the boot files to a HD with the most space.

I will fix this issue in the next version. Instead of having it look on the same drive as "boot.ini" I will have it check every drive for it. I should have done that to begin with anyways.

Thanks for the report... I didn't think about that.

Windows XP PowerPacker v1.04 Released - 05-22-05
1. Fixed problem with Boot directory not copying to the destination sometimes. It should work every time now.

Thanks go to: Swe_mx for pointing out this major bug.

You could create a boot folder by hand, without the need of the boot.ini location or such, by parsing the dosnet.inf file from the Windows source.

I made a small util which does that, but you could easily write something yourself with AutoIt.

If you want to know how I did it, just PM me.

That app does exactly what I need.

How did you parse the dosnet.inf file?

There are a couple of sections in dosnet.inf which are interesting for us. The first being DirectoriesThis section contains a sort of lookup table which is referenced in the rest of the file.
I split these lines at the = and trim the (possible) spaces from the beginnings and the ends. I then store them in a so called hashtable for later reference.

The next sections which are interesting are the FloppyFiles.? sections, where ? is a number. (So not the FloppyFiles.x one) You can just ignore the empty lines. The none empty lines are made up of the folowing syntax folder,source[,destination].

If we look at the d1,disk1,disk101 entry. It tells us that we have to copy the disk1 file from d1 (which is \I386 as we discovered before) and copy it to our bootfolder using the name disk101.

The second one d1,ntdetect.com, would also be copied from I386, but because no destination name is specified it will retain its current name.

And lastly I want to point to FloppyFiles.3 where a couple of entries have folder names in their destination section.

I'll leave it up to you to translate this to AutoIt code, but feel free to ask questions if something is unclear.

So the [FloppyFiles.?] sections are the only sections we need to grab files from, if I understand you correctly?

Would you mind if I integrate your program within mine at least untill I get a chance to write an autoit that does this?

It looks like it might take me a little while to write this. But from what you say it doesn't really sound too hard... it's just finding the time to do it.

Thanks a lot Nazgul.

I created my tool to be used, so why should I mind.

Thanks Nazgul I appreciate it.

New update added today.

We may be getting close to a full release allready.

Please try the new release out and let me know if you have any troubles.

It should be much faster now. Thanks to Nazgul's BootFolder.exe program!

Stupid question: But what is the purpose of the project exactly?
It creates a multiboot CD where you can choose: with or without driverpacks, or normal installation.
But will it use the same files for this? (Can I put the iso on a CD?)
And when the 'sourcefiles' are edited by nLite, will it still work?
if Yes, I will test this soon :-)

Yes it will allow you to put multiple versions of XP on a CD or DVD then it will allow you to create an optimized ISO which you can burn to CD/DVD with just about any CD/DVD burning software. You can have One with DPs One without and one normal version of each different XP cd.

As for your Nlite question... any limitations that you had with the driverpacks would still be the same.

Also... you would probably need to use Nlite on the source files before using PowerPacker.

I have plans on adding an option in the program to get rid of unneeded Update directories which will save space and also options to get rid of the LANG folder. But I haven't implemented it yet.

The program was made to simplify making multiboot XP disks with/without driverpacks.

Enjoy

awesome proggie, if you could also include xprize that would be killer.


keep up the good work.

Panda Antivirus is detecting powerpacker as spyware (Adware/Maxifiles)

hxxp://www.pandasoftware.es/virus_info/enciclopedia/ficha.aspx?iddeteccion=29250

Could it be a false positive?

It is definatly a false positive. Som antivirus/antispyware programs will call just about any script a virus/spyware. Panda is one of them. Panda sees that my program is editing files and it is flipping out. Just tell panda to allow it and you shouldn't have any more popups from it. I use symantec antivirus and it doesn't do that.

I plan to add many things to this program. I have never used Xpize... but I will try it out and see if it can be used in PowerPacker.

What I did do to help people add certain things is I put a section called "Extra Files".

Inside of "Extra Files" is a section called "Extra Pack Files" with it you can easily add extra files into each "Pack" (Read the help file for my definition of "Pack".)

Another section in there is called "Extra Root Files" which you can use to add files to the root of the entire package.

Siginet:
i can't find link to prog.
i use Bâshrat DriverPack and want try your prog

i'm find

Great idea, this powerpack utility !

Just started experimenting with it, since I've been looking for a way to create a multiboot CD/DVD that gives me the option for both an attended as well as an unattended install.
I'm completely new to creating multiboot DVD's, so I figure I'll probably have to learn the hard way. The help-file in the PowerPack program is very helpful though.

Regarding the PowerPacker util, I do have some questions already:
- How to find out if i'm using an OEM edition, Upgrade edition, Retail edition of Corporate edition of Windows ?
- When Powerpacker starts packing the files into the powerpacks, it appearantly tries to hack some files. On 2 files (one being txtsetup.sif) I get an error message (but still can continue): is this the way it should be (I get this error on an attended install of XP-SP2 Corporate edition).


Furthemore, I've been toying around with the driverpacks for a few months now, but never seriously used it for any real computers (just virtual computers). I'm trying to make the perfect (at least, for me) CD/DVD using the combination of the following programs:
Nlite (for trimming down and applying patches / tweaks)
RyanVM (for updating the XP-SP2)
XPIze (for better looks)
Bashrat Driverpacks (for the broadest possible driver-support)
WPI (for automating the unattend installation of programs after Windows-install)
PowerPack (for creating multiboot DVD's).

Can anyone confirm the follwoing is in the right order:

1. Start Nlite, use it to integrate fixes, patches and apply tweaks (including RyanVM and XPize)
2. Run Powerpack, use it to integrate Bashrat Driverpacks, copy WPI-installfolder to Root op PowerPack-folder and create multiboot-folder

Anyhow, thanks for developing and supporting PowerPacker. It looks very promising and is a welcome addition to the other great tools available on MSFN.

Just made an iso with the PowerPack 1.05 and tried to install it in VMWare 1.05.
On both packs created (one regluar, attended and one with driverpacks, unattended) I got an error-message: "CDBOOT: couldn''t find ntldr".

I thought I prepared the image as desribed in the helpfile, but obviously, something went wrong.... any ideas ?

Furthermore: when booting from the image I first get a graphical screen with PowerPack 1.0 beta. When I press Enter at that stage, I get a dos-screen asking me to push the Enter-key.... if i don't push this enter-key within a few seconds, the screen goes black and nothing happens any more (even not when pushing the ENTER key after the screen has gone black).
It looks like if the bootmenu would want to boot something standard if the ENTER-key is not pressed, but I don't know what it is looking for....

Any help would be appreciated. I'd like this PowerPack-setup to work for me....

TIA,
Moesasji

basically if you do not press enter it is supposed to boot to hard drive 0. If you press enter it should boot to the selection menu.

Here's what I need you to do...
look inside the \boot\ folder and find a file called cdshell.ini. This is the menu file. zip it up and attach it here so I can look at it. Somehow it seems like it had trouble editing the cdshell.ini file.

This is the first issue I have come accross since the end of may. So maybe you found a bug that will actually give me something to do.

BTW Did your paths have any spaces in them? I don't think spaces would be a problem with my apps side of things... but with the driverpacks or any other tools used this may be an issue.

Any limitations you would have with any of the other programs, (RyanVM's XP Update Pack, Nazgul's BootFolder.exe & Bashrat's Driverpacks), would also be the same with PowerPacker.

Thanks for posting.

EDIT:
I have confirmed that you can not have any spaces in the destination path. If you have spaces in the destination you will come across problems when the tool bootfolder.exe runs. BootFolder.exe is supposed to create your boot directory. If it doesn't create the directory... then the other hex editing does not complete... which means the cdshell.ini file does not get edited and your boot menu will not work. Which is more than likley the problem that you have run into. But please note... the driverpacks are known to have issues with a path which contains spaces. So please try again... but with no spaces in the destination path. Spaces should be fine anywhere else... but the destination must not have spaces... due to the limitation of other tools that are used within PowerPacker.
I may add a popup reminder that will pop up if someone tries to put in a destination path which contains a space.

Thank you for posting this bug. Please post again and let me know if I found the problem or not.

nice app cant wait to try

Does this program also work for Win2003 VLK?

Edit:
Double post.
Sorry

PowerPacker is made for WinXP. I have not tested it at all with 2k3. All of the options were made for XP... but you could try 2k3 using an xp option and see what happens.

BootFolder.exe is a tool made by Nazgul. It is what parses the dosnet.inf file. It is compatable with 2k3. You can find it on msfn.org forums by using the search feature.

Zipped cdshell.ini is attached to this message.....



Although I'm happy to see that my problem helped to solve another bug, it did not solve my problem. The folder I saved the packs in is called G:\PPOutput
No spaces in that name therefore, nor in any of the other folders PowerPacker accessed in compiling the powerpack (I have some experience with the driverpacks, so I avoid spaced in UA-folders anyhow).

Maybe there are some other things to explote; just tell me what information I can supply you with, and I will inform you. Your respons (the depth and the quality of it) on my first question was great and, although it did not help me, is greatly appreciated.
Keep up the good work; I really think you are developing a much needed utility and once I get it to work, I'm looking forward to creating MultiBoot DVD's with it.