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How to install Windows from USB- WinSetupFromUSB with GUI


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Can you zip and attach the following three files- winsetup.log from \windows directory on the hard disk and WInSetupFromUSB.log in program directory. If you used the program after the build the old logs are cab compressed in \backups folder, just find the relevant one, and txtsetup.sif from the small ISO file in \WINSETUP folder on the USB disk.

I have attached them in this post.

In winsetup.log there is:

CDDRIVE U: - srcpath \??\U:\WINSETUP\XPpSP3\ 
sourcepath = "\??\U:\WINSETUP\XPpSP3\"

Setup.cmd, before start of GUI mode found USB drive and files at U: as it should be.

You mention USB drive letter D in the error message. Are both from the same install?

If yes- at start of GUI mode setup changed drive letters when reenumering USB devices, U: gets lost, path to setup files is broken, installer complains and aborts, just a theory.

Can you try again?

In E:\WINSETUP\XPpSP3\I386\setup.cmd change

rem start /min "USB keep mounted work arround, do NOT close!" pushd %CDDRIVE%

to

start /min "USB keep mounted work arround, do NOT close!" pushd %CDDRIVE%

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Hi guys - help me out here:

I am stuck in an endless loop of "Setup is being restarted......................." in the second portion of the installation.

What I have done to troubleshoot:

- Tried installing with, AND without updates and hotfixes (not successful)

- Tried installing with JUST SP3 slipstreamed on my original SP2 disk (not successful)

- Tried installing my original SP2 disk (not successful)

I also slipstream mass storage drivers (from DriverPacks) after I finish modifying my installation with nLite, and prior to creating the bootable USB.

Any idea(s) on as to what might be happening here?

P.S. I am guessing that the "slowness" of the text mode portion of the install has not been fixed in beta7 yet? I read that it runs off USB1.1 drivers until the 2.0 drivers get loaded... is that correct? The loading of the drivers takes a good ten minutes on this otherwise lightning fast machine...

Last Session.ini

Edited by ctp9
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Hi guys - help me out here:

I am stuck in an endless loop of "Setup is being restarted......................." in the second portion of the installation.

What I have done to troubleshoot:

- Tried installing with, AND without updates and hotfixes (not successful)

- Tried installing with JUST SP3 slipstreamed on my original SP2 disk (not successful)

- Tried installing my original SP2 disk (not successful)

I also slipstream mass storage drivers (from DriverPacks) after I finish modifying my installation with nLite, and prior to creating the bootable USB.

Any idea(s) on as to what might be happening here?

Which version of the program did you use?

When exactly do you see that message? How far the GUI mode goes?

What's the exact error message?

Have you examined the setup log files once in GUI mode?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc977211.aspx

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/installation2/what-log-files-does-windows-xp-create-during-installation-.aspx

In addition, there is %systemroot%\winsetup.log created by setup.cmd in 1.0 versions of the program.

P.S. I am guessing that the "slowness" of the text mode portion of the install has not been fixed in beta7 yet? I read that it runs off USB1.1 drivers until the 2.0 drivers get loaded... is that correct? The loading of the drivers takes a good ten minutes on this otherwise lightning fast machine...
You could try PLoP boot manager, if it works you will get full USB 2.0 speed when loading drivers. If does not work and your BIOS supports USB boot at USB 1.1 speed then you have to wait until USB drivers are loaded and initialized. In any case, 10 minutes seem too long for the initial part, how many drivers have you integrated? You may want to get rid of drivers you'd never use.
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Which version of the program did you use?

When exactly do you see that message? How far the GUI mode goes?

What's the exact error message?

Have you examined the setup log files once in GUI mode?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc977211.aspx

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/installation2/what-log-files-does-windows-xp-create-during-installation-.aspx

In addition, there is %systemroot%\winsetup.log created by setup.cmd in 1.0 versions of the program.

Sorry for being vague... I thought you were already aware of this problem - it is literally the "Setup is being restarted.........." problem, and it happens as soon as the second portion of the install comes on. I have done research and realized that improper order of hotfixes and updates in the nLite slipstream will cause this, so I have tried making an install without any hotfixes/updates and still got the same problem.

What happens exactly is this:

As soon as the second portion of the setup gets initialized, the screen goes blank, then the computer restarts, goes back to the second portion, then it goes into a light blue Windows text mode screen (256 color mode) and immediately displays the message "Setup is being restarted..........." and then goes into an infinite loop at that point.

Here are some past topics:

Install Loop Nlite XP SP3 on Virtual Machine - MSFN

nLite'ed XP w/SP3+patches eternal reboots - MSFN

I am using 1.0beta7.

I will take a look at the log file(s) for you in a bit here.

I am not too sure if it's the program's fault - I think it might be nLite's problem...

P.S. I am guessing that the "slowness" of the text mode portion of the install has not been fixed in beta7 yet? I read that it runs off USB1.1 drivers until the 2.0 drivers get loaded... is that correct? The loading of the drivers takes a good ten minutes on this otherwise lightning fast machine...
You could try PLoP boot manager, if it works you will get full USB 2.0 speed when loading drivers. If does not work and your BIOS supports USB boot at USB 1.1 speed then you have to wait until USB drivers are loaded and initialized. In any case, 10 minutes seem too long for the initial part, how many drivers have you integrated? You may want to get rid of drivers you'd never use.

That is what I am using (isn't that what the program uses by default?). I just load the modified source folder, press "GO", and the final result that I get tends to use the PLoP manager each time... (which is still slow as hell).

Edited by ctp9
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...I am not too sure if it's the program's fault - I think it might be nLite's problem...

I'd try with an unmodified source. Haven't seen similar report in this subforum, it's unlikely to be because of installing from USB.
P.S. I am guessing that the "slowness" of the text mode portion of the install has not been fixed in beta7 yet? I read that it runs off USB1.1 drivers until the 2.0 drivers get loaded... is that correct? The loading of the drivers takes a good ten minutes on this otherwise lightning fast machine...
You could try PLoP boot manager, if it works you will get full USB 2.0 speed when loading drivers. If does not work and your BIOS supports USB boot at USB 1.1 speed then you have to wait until USB drivers are loaded and initialized. In any case, 10 minutes seem too long for the initial part, how many drivers have you integrated? You may want to get rid of drivers you'd never use.

That is what I am using (isn't that what the program uses by default?). I just load the modified source folder, press "GO", and the final result that I get tends to use the PLoP manager each time... (which is still slow as hell).

Program does not use PLoP by default, it has a separate boot menu entry which has to be selected manually, once you go back to the same menus select First part of setup etc. etc.

You may also try formatting in other file systems and see if that speeds up a bit loading, but I guess there won't be a significant difference.

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Thanks for the suggestions ilko! Well, I have tried an unmodified source, and it worked (why can't it just work with the slimmed down versions too?), however... I cannot keep an unmodified installation - I need to get my slipstreamed install working.

So this problem is still reoccuring, and I should add that I noticed the restart loop "breaks" after a few cycles and gets to a screen where Windows starts demanding the "asms" folder located on the "Windows XP Professional CD ROM". Have you ever come across that error? Here is what people are saying about that error (I understand what the error is about, but am not sure how I would I go about fixing it): http://www.nocrash.com/ncbbs/msgs/1075.shtml

Maybe I am not using the program correctly, but I think I am (format with RMprepUSB and all the appropriate settings, select the customized source, and then press "GO", correct?)...

Edit:

I think that Windows loses track of the USB drive midway through setup... because I noticed that in the format section of the text portion of setup - the USB key's drive letter disappears whenever I select my main drive (C:) for formatting. Any idea if this is the most likely cause?

- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311755

- http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1038025246

Edited by ctp9
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@ctp9

Try to figure out what is going on while slipstreaming updates and where it gets broken. Once you get it working let us know if there are any other issues.

In other words- lets first step on a firm ground, then start exploring around. :)

About program options- you can't really go wrong here, the most important options are in RMPrepUSB and BootIce and are related to whether USB disk will boot on a particular machine. You are well past that point.

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Can you zip and attach the following three files- winsetup.log from \windows directory on the hard disk and WInSetupFromUSB.log in program directory. If you used the program after the build the old logs are cab compressed in \backups folder, just find the relevant one, and txtsetup.sif from the small ISO file in \WINSETUP folder on the USB disk.

I have attached them in this post.

In winsetup.log there is:

CDDRIVE U: - srcpath \??\U:\WINSETUP\XPpSP3\ 
sourcepath = "\??\U:\WINSETUP\XPpSP3\"

Setup.cmd, before start of GUI mode found USB drive and files at U: as it should be.

You mention USB drive letter D in the error message. Are both from the same install?

If yes- at start of GUI mode setup changed drive letters when reenumering USB devices, U: gets lost, path to setup files is broken, installer complains and aborts, just a theory.

Can you try again?

In E:\WINSETUP\XPpSP3\I386\setup.cmd change

rem start /min "USB keep mounted work arround, do NOT close!" pushd %CDDRIVE%

to

start /min "USB keep mounted work arround, do NOT close!" pushd %CDDRIVE%

Yes it was from the same install, and thank you. Althought it appears a little dos windows during install It works very well this time witthat line modified in setup.cmd.

Thank you again.

It worked

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ilko - I have tried just about everything there was to troubleshoot the problem, but I am still coming up short.

I ended up burning a copy of the ISO to the CD (the exact same slipstreamed and slimmed down ISO I have been trying to install from the USB) - and it worked FLAWLESSLY.

But when I try to install it from the USB - I keep getting those errors I have mentioned ("Setup is being restarted......" and "The file 'ASMS' on Windows XP Professional CD-ROM is needed").

I am out of ideas ilko... totally bummed by this issue. Why would CD install just fine, but not the USB drive? It probably has something to do with the hardware and driver environment of the machine I was trying to install it on...

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ilko - I have tried just about everything there was to troubleshoot the problem, but I am still coming up short.

I ended up burning a copy of the ISO to the CD (the exact same slipstreamed and slimmed down ISO I have been trying to install from the USB) - and it worked FLAWLESSLY.

But when I try to install it from the USB - I keep getting those errors I have mentioned ("Setup is being restarted......" and "The file 'ASMS' on Windows XP Professional CD-ROM is needed").

I am out of ideas ilko... totally bummed by this issue. Why would CD install just fine, but not the USB drive? It probably has something to do with the hardware and driver environment of the machine I was trying to install it on...

I encountered this problem too. Try modifing the setup.cmd file like the post above, removing only REM characters and maybe it will work

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@mihaipricop82:

I see that now - I think that the modification in setup.cmd could work for me too... I will give it a try sometime soon and will report back.

Edited by ctp9
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@mihaipricop82

Thanks, good to know. This is workaround, many people will get scared of that window and may even close it, just out of curiosity, can't make it permanent solution.

It'd be nice to know what the true reason is behind this behaviour. You have attached txtsetup.sif from your source folder, I need the one in the small ISO file in \WINSETUP folder. Can you zip and attach it?

What hardware are you playing on?

@ctp9

CD/DVD setup differs from USB, there are cheats, there are workarounds, there are external programs to help. Microsoft never supported install from USB for NT5 family, nor the setup process is well documented and customizable in this light. Even Vista/7 family using Microsoft own tool experience troubles when installing from USB, although USB setup apparently has been kept in mind.

Anyway, there is something in nLite which breaks the whole game, clean source works, remember? You'd have to figure out what that is. My wild guess is one or more of the following:

-Removable Storage service

-Secure Digital host controller

-Smart Cards

-Command-line tools

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Greetings from Greeece...

I'm trying to install windows in an hp mini 2140 with the winsetupfromusb ... I have followed the instructions and everything works perfectly until i go to the second part of the windows installation(the second time i boot from usb and select second part of windows xp home edition installation)...

None of the choises i get seems to work ...

The first gives me the missing hal.dll error and all the others a microsoft problem saying in greek that "Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.Please check the Windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information."

Any ideas what might be happening..??? i do not know if it helps but when i boot from usb i get a blink which says Try hd(0,0) : fat32 for half a sec and then the grub4dos application starts.

The hp has 1 hard drive which at the first step i completely delete from partitions and format in ntfs ... if i run the first step again i get a c: partition which is all of the hard drive(152617MB and 8 MB unpartitioned space) and a d: which is the usb(3828MB and 0MB unpartitioned space...)

The cd i'm using is the greek operating system cd that came with hp mini 2140...

Thank you in advance...

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Can you post contents of boot.ini on the USB stick root?

this is the contents of the BOOT.INI file

[boot Loader]

Timeout=5

Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[Operating Systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Home Edition setup from hd 0 part 1" /FASTDETECT

c:\="-------------------------"

c:\="Try entries below if getting HAL.DLL/NTOSKRNL.EXE not found errors"

c:\="--------------------------"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 0 part 2" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 0 part 3" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 0 part 4" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 1" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 2" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 3" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 4" /FASTDETECT

this is the contents of the BOOT.101 file

[boot Loader]

Timeout=5

Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[Operating Systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Home Edition setup from hd 0 part 1" /FASTDETECT

c:\="-------------------------"

c:\="Try entries below if getting HAL.DLL/NTOSKRNL.EXE not found errors"

c:\="--------------------------"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 0 part 2" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 0 part 3" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 0 part 4" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 1" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 2" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 3" /FASTDETECT

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Second part of XP Professional setup from hd 1 part 4" /FASTDETECT

hope it helps...

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