[Atari800XL]

JFX, on 11 April 2012 - 10:19 AM, said:

You would need the rebuild the ISO with these files added to \I386 folder.

OK, I added the expanded files and finally had time to test it. I've been thinking about possible solutions at work all day (hence all the edits in the above message). Of course, I should've just taken your first advice...

JFX, on 11 April 2012 - 10:19 AM, said:

The nomral Windows setup parses the txtsetup.sif and dosnet.inf to build up the $WIN_NT$.~LS folder.
WinNTSetup just copies the complete i386 folder.

OK, very informative!

So, with those last annoyances out of the way (the missing files), it looks like my perfect USB drive is a reality:
- Boot with Win PE SE
- Silently setup XPSP3 (updated edition w/ IE8-SATA etc) (a nice tribute to "good old XP", to have it installed from USB)
- Same for Windows 7, Windows 8
- Automatic postinstall with all my apps, settings, etc. etc.
- Personal data backups in TrueCrypt containers (faster for USB and safe).

THANK YOU!!!!!

This post has been edited by Atari800XL: 11 April 2012 - 12:04 PM

[LeoZhu]

JFX Thank You!!! All works, it will be more comfortable now !!!

[IceBlackIce]

@JFX
Could you please explain what is done in the "Integrate drivers" part? Do all files get copied to some folder?

[JFX]

IceBlackIce, on 17 April 2012 - 02:51 AM, said:

Could you please explain what is done in the "Integrate drivers" part? Do all files get copied to some folder?

For Windows Vista and 7 the offline servicing tools pkgmgr and dism are use directly on the selected folder.

XP and 2003 Install are a bit different:

- drivers are copied in "Drv" folder in the root of the installation drive
- all sub folder from this will be listed in "OemPnPDriversPath" of the unattended file "winnt.sif"
- MSSTMake is used on this folder to extract mass storage drivers and required information to load them in TXTMode of setup
- MSSTMake results are merge in txtsetup.sif and setupreg.hiv,
found driver files are copied to $WIN_NT$.~BT folder in the root of the selected boot drive

This post has been edited by JFX: 19 April 2012 - 03:30 AM

[IceBlackIce]

Thank you for the explanation..
I'll take a look on some of that info to integrate on my deployment tools.

[JFX]

Update: Version 2.2.1.1

- fixed command line -drivers not worked in some cases (Thanks Atari800XL)
- fixed command line -NT5/-NT6 not standalone (Thanks IceBlackIce)
- fixed command line -RunAfter not works with relative path (Thanks IceBlackIce)
- fixed some bugs with the ISO file option (Thanks Lancelot)
- fixed Windows 7 N and KN versions were not accepted for nativeVHDBoot
- fixed GUI respond a bit slow in last versions
- added bootmenu now contains edition name and VHD mark
- added log file now contains details of successfull and failed driver integrations (Win7 only)

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:12 AM

[IceBlackIce]

I think there's an issue with the RunAfter command, when running from winpe i must specify the full path of the command, even if the file is in the same folder as winntsetup.

[JFX]

Thanks, have fixed this.

Btw: You will need to add leading and trailing quotes if the command includes spaces.

-RunAfter:"myprogram.exe parameter 1 parameter 2 parameter n"

RunAfter will now also add infos to log file.

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:12 AM

[IceBlackIce]

I just tested the ThinPC installation and it was successful.
One more issue, when installing windows7, from what I understand the program applies the selected image to the disk right? I tested with one that had applied a different language (and installs fine when running from the setup) and it doesnt work using WinNTSetup, it crashes after the first reboot (when installing devices)

[JFX]

IceBlackIce, on 23 April 2012 - 08:44 AM, said:

One more issue, when installing windows7, from what I understand the program applies the selected image to the disk right?

Yes, it applies the WIM file and setup bootmgr and the \Boot\BCD store

IceBlackIce, on 23 April 2012 - 08:44 AM, said:

I tested with one that had applied a different language (and installs fine when running from the setup) and it doesnt work using WinNTSetup, it crashes after the first reboot (when installing devices)

Not sure want happened there. How was that image created?

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:12 AM

[IceBlackIce]

It was a vanilla image with a dism command adding a language package.

[JFX]

Need more infos, simple /Add-Package for langpack works alright for me.

Did you used /Set-UILang, /Set-UILangFallback, /Set-Syslocale, /Set-UserLocale, /Set-InputLocale, /Set-AllIntl, /Set-SKUIntlDefaults, /Set-SetupUILang ?

Why are there so many possibilities anyway

This post has been edited by JFX: 23 April 2012 - 03:31 PM

[IceBlackIce]

This was the command to insert the language pack into the wim file

Dism /image:%systemdrive%\work /add-package /LogPath:AddPackage.log /packagepath:win7_x86_en.cab

This is the info of the index I was trying to install with Winntsetup ...

Spoiler

 <IMAGE INDEX="3">
    <DIRCOUNT>11677</DIRCOUNT>
    <FILECOUNT>57208</FILECOUNT>
    <TOTALBYTES>8853805585</TOTALBYTES>
    <CREATIONTIME>
      <HIGHPART>0x01CB8901</HIGHPART>
      <LOWPART>0xEF63352E</LOWPART>
    </CREATIONTIME>
    <LASTMODIFICATIONTIME>
      <HIGHPART>0x01CCF24D</HIGHPART>
      <LOWPART>0x85A2AD04</LOWPART>
    </LASTMODIFICATIONTIME>
    <WINDOWS>
      <ARCH>0</ARCH>
      <PRODUCTNAME>Sistema operativo Microsoft® Windows®</PRODUCTNAME>
      <EDITIONID>HomePremium</EDITIONID>
      <INSTALLATIONTYPE>Client</INSTALLATIONTYPE>
      <HAL>acpiapic</HAL>
      <PRODUCTTYPE>WinNT</PRODUCTTYPE>
      <PRODUCTSUITE>Terminal Server</PRODUCTSUITE>
      <LANGUAGES>
        <LANGUAGE>en-US</LANGUAGE>
        <LANGUAGE>pt-PT</LANGUAGE>
        <DEFAULT>pt-PT</DEFAULT>
      </LANGUAGES>
      <VERSION>
        <MAJOR>6</MAJOR>
        <MINOR>1</MINOR>
        <BUILD>7601</BUILD>
        <SPBUILD>17514</SPBUILD>
        <SPLEVEL>1</SPLEVEL>
      </VERSION>
      <SYSTEMROOT>WINDOWS</SYSTEMROOT>
    </WINDOWS>
    <NAME>Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM</NAME>
    <DESCRIPTION>Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM</DESCRIPTION>
    <FLAGS>HomePremium</FLAGS>
    <HARDLINKBYTES>3557736550</HARDLINKBYTES>
    <DISPLAYNAME>Windows 7 Home Premium</DISPLAYNAME>
    <DISPLAYDESCRIPTION>Windows 7 Home Premium</DISPLAYDESCRIPTION>
  </IMAGE>

I also have the lang.ini in the sources folder, but I dont believe Winntsetup cares for it.
I cant test it another time atm or see the exact details of the crash... but if I had to guess I would say its because I didnt use an english image and added the portuguese language, but did the other way around and somehow that messes up something when trying to apply that image instead of installing it.

-edit-
Since I couldnt try again, i've made some digging and found this:
http://technet.micro...28WS.10%29.aspx

Quote

Important
You can use the default image file (Install.wim) included with the Windows product DVD only with Windows Setup (Setup.exe). Do not deploy this default image directly using ImageX.

That could explain it =)

This post has been edited by IceBlackIce: 24 April 2012 - 09:55 AM

[JFX]

Thanks for the infos.

Indeed Winntsetup doesn't use language.ini it only get information form the image index xml you posted.
It actually don't touch any language settings, besides setting the received language in the BCD store.

Well i tried a few different language packs on my german install.wim file and had no problem.
I have no idea's what could be the cause here ...

IceBlackIce, on 24 April 2012 - 02:29 AM, said:

Quote

Important
You can use the default image file (Install.wim) included with the Windows product DVD only with Windows Setup (Setup.exe). Do not deploy this default image directly using ImageX.

That could explain it =)

hmm maybe, thought that's actually what I did with WinNTSetup very often with no problem

This post has been edited by JFX: 24 April 2012 - 10:03 AM

[trashy]

I've been using winntsetup for a while with great results.
New problem when installing Win7 or Vista.
Mount Installation drive as,option is unavailable.
Tried v2.1 with same results.I'm puzzled never had this happen before.
Tried from inside xp win7 and pe with same results.

[steve6375]

Hi
I decided to test this by booting to a vanilla WinPE v3 ISO (ver 6.1.7077) from a USB flash drive and the trying to use R-Click to mount an XP ISO - but nothing seems to happen after I select the ISO from the file dialogue window and click Open.
I also tried running imdiskinst.exe and got a 'can't start because crtdll.dll is missing' message.
Is WinPE v3 not supported?

P.S. When installing Win 7 to VHD you say
- requires Windows 7 as OS and Windows 7 Ultimate, Enterprise or Server 2008 R2 as Source
Why not 7 HP or Pro? What is the restriction?

This post has been edited by steve6375: 01 May 2012 - 05:24 AM

[JFX]

trashy, on 30 April 2012 - 10:36 PM, said:

I've been using winntsetup for a while with great results.
New problem when installing Win7 or Vista.
Mount Installation drive as,option is unavailable.
Tried v2.1 with same results.I'm puzzled never had this happen before.
Tried from inside xp win7 and pe with same results.

This option is not supported for Vista installations, but for Windows 7 and later it should be avalible.
I'll take a look at it.

steve6375, on 01 May 2012 - 05:18 AM, said:

Hi
I decided to test this by booting to a vanilla WinPE v3 ISO (ver 6.1.7077) from a USB flash drive and the trying to use R-Click to mount an XP ISO - but nothing seems to happen after I select the ISO from the file dialogue window and click Open.
I also tried running imdiskinst.exe and got a 'can't start because crtdll.dll is missing' message.
Is WinPE v3 not supported?

Yes all versions of WinPE are supported.
This seem to be a problem of the imdisk installer. You could add crtdll.dll from an x86 Windows 7 in the same folder as imdiskinst.exe or unpack it with 7zip and run install.cmd manually.

Seems Olaf has ruined the silent install anyway with that msgbox pop up.
I'll make 2 new install packages to fix this and also add support for vanilla x64 Winpe.

steve6375, on 01 May 2012 - 05:18 AM, said:

P.S. When installing Win 7 to VHD you say
- requires Windows 7 as OS and Windows 7 Ultimate, Enterprise or Server 2008 R2 as Source
Why not 7 HP or Pro? What is the restriction?

All Windows 7 versions would support VHD booting, but it's a license restriction.
During logon there is a check made for Kernel-NativeVHDBoot, think through SLGetWindowsInformationDWORD.
You would get an error and stuck on logon screen, if you use a lower edition than Ultimate.

I proplery could fix that , but some people would have a problem with this.

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:12 AM

[trashy]

Thank you very much for the reply.

It was Vista (of course) works fine for Win7. Any options to manualy set as C.
If it's not an easy answer,don't put yourself out (Vista's a pain).
Love the new v2.2. I'm stuck on XP and it works perfect. I use both nLite and RVM_Integrator
to tweak my installations. WinNTSetup The best hands down!
Thanks again.

[JFX]

Sadly Vista is very limited in offline servicing.

The only way to change the drive letter of vista installations would be to use the normal setup.exe.
And creating a new sysprep image.

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:13 AM

[JFX]

JFX, on 01 May 2012 - 06:13 AM, said:

I'll make 2 new install packages to fix this and also add support for vanilla x64 Winpe.

A bit late, but here are 2 new imdisk installer that works (silently) in all WinPE.

Also linking to new Alpha version, as there won't be any new version in the near future ...
This version has a lot of rewritten code and was not tested fully.

If someone noticed bugs or even mange to crash it, please report.

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:14 AM