[jaclaz]

I don't want to put anyone down, but from the little I can understand on the matter it seems like there are around THREE types of systems:

• BIOS <- classic
  
• "half" UEFI <- particular UEFI with BIOS emulation, let's call these "transition" systems
  
• "full" UEFI <- "pure" UEFI, with NO BIOS call support whatsoever

I suspect that wimb's successful experiments only apply to #2 above....

jaclaz

[wimb]

JFX, on 12 December 2012 - 04:36 AM, said:

The XML is inside the metadata of a *.wim file.
You can display it with imagex.exe.

imagex -info "wimfile"

Here is the result.
da-DK is the first Language in the list and apparently that was used by WinNTSetup

      <LANGUAGES>
        <LANGUAGE>da-DK</LANGUAGE>
        <FALLBACK LANGUAGE="da-DK">en-US</FALLBACK>
        <LANGUAGE>de-DE</LANGUAGE>
        <LANGUAGE>en-GB</LANGUAGE>
        <FALLBACK LANGUAGE="en-GB">en-US</FALLBACK>
        <LANGUAGE>es-ES</LANGUAGE>
        <LANGUAGE>fr-FR</LANGUAGE>
        <LANGUAGE>hu-HU</LANGUAGE>
        <FALLBACK LANGUAGE="hu-HU">en-US</FALLBACK>
        <LANGUAGE>it-IT</LANGUAGE>
        <LANGUAGE>nl-NL</LANGUAGE>
        <LANGUAGE>pl-PL</LANGUAGE>
        <FALLBACK LANGUAGE="pl-PL">en-US</FALLBACK>
        <LANGUAGE>pt-PT</LANGUAGE>
        <FALLBACK LANGUAGE="pt-PT">en-US</FALLBACK>
        <LANGUAGE>sl-SI</LANGUAGE>
        <FALLBACK LANGUAGE="sl-SI">en-US</FALLBACK>
        <LANGUAGE>sv-SE</LANGUAGE>
        <FALLBACK LANGUAGE="sv-SE">en-US</FALLBACK>
        <DEFAULT>en-GB</DEFAULT>
      </LANGUAGES>

Another strange thing is that BOOTMGR PBR of FAT32 partition gets a red cross in WinNTSetup allthough it has a BOOTMGR type bootsector.

@jaclaz
It might be that some UEFI behave differently, but for the present case the MultiBoot result is quite useful.

This post has been edited by wimb: 12 December 2012 - 09:19 AM

[JFX]

wimb, on 12 December 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Here is the result.
da-DK is the first Language in the list and apparently that was used by WinNTSetup

Oh, why are there so many inside? But it's also strange that en-GB is default.
Have no idea how WinNTSetup, should understand that nl-nl is the right one.

wimb, on 12 December 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Another strange thing is that BOOTMGR PBR of FAT32 partition gets a red cross in WinNTSetup allthough it has a BOOTMGR type bootsector.

Some PBR are not correctly detected, guess it was created with bootice or any other tool.
Will try to improve it.

[wimb]

Windows 8 was used to format the FAT32 partition of the USB-harddisk.

May be the Default Language en-GB can be used,
since after Install of Win 8 the first question is to select the proper Language from a list.

[JFX]

Your right the default section should be used.

have made following changes to version 2.3.3 beta 1

- unattended file selection remembers last location (now command line also)
- better PBR detection
- language detection using default section, instead first found
- if source has EFI boot files, both BCD store are create and used.

WinNTSetup 2.3.3 Beta 1

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:27 AM

[wimb]

Install of Win 8 on USB using UEFI computer and latest beta version of WinNTSetup is OK
Did not use any other tool.

- en-GB Default detected and used OK
- FAT32 format Win 8 bootsector detected OK
- Boot and EFI folders made OK and it allows booting Win8 from USB on UEFI and on BIOS computers

I unchecked the Checkbox - USB Boot of Windows 7, since it is NOT needed for Windows 8
May be better to uncheck that box default in case of Windows 8

It might quite well be that Win8 can be installed this way on USB for any UEFI computer.

Booting Grub4dos on UEFI computer is a different story.
In that case you really need to have the option to switch in UEFI the Advanced OS Setting from Win8 into Win7 / Other.
UEFI Setting Win8 boots via EFI folder and Grub4dos does not work
UEFI Setting Win7 / Other boots via Boot folder and Grub4dos works on UEFI computer
The Win7 / Other Setiing in UEFI might be called "BIOS compatible"

Thanks for making this very good program WinNTSetup

This post has been edited by wimb: 14 December 2012 - 01:40 AM

[JFX]

Thanks for confirming

wimb, on 13 December 2012 - 04:33 AM, said:

I unchecked the Checkbox - USB Boot of Windows 7, since it is NOT needed for Windows 8
May be better to uncheck that box default in case of Windows 8

Yes, better I hide it next version.
But currently no problem it won't do anything if the OS to install is not windows 7.

This post has been edited by JFX: 09 March 2013 - 10:28 AM

[wimb]

Now that UEFI computer can boot Windows 8 from USB-harddisk with EFI folder in FAT32 partition and Standard Win8 MBR,
it would be interesting to get more feeling on how actually the bootsequence is working.

I may be wrong but it feels like:

UEFI > MBR bootcode > parttion table > FAT32 bootsector > EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi > EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgr.efi reads BCD > bootmgfw.efi

EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD OS entry > NTFS partition > \Windows\system32\winload.efi

I feel a bit confused about the files bootmgr.efi and bootmgfw.efi in folder EFI\Microsoft\Boot

Can you give more explanation ?

Windows 8 booting from USB on UEFI computer = Parted Magic ISO booting from Grub4dos on UEFI Computer = Portable XP-2-P VHD booting via Grub4dos on UEFI computer

 Win8-USB-2012-12-14_114035.png (412.02K)
Number of downloads: 20 =  PartedMagic-W8.png (620.68K)
Number of downloads: 16 =  XP-2-P-VHD-W8-2012-12-14_105147.png (172.18K)
Number of downloads: 13

This post has been edited by wimb: 14 December 2012 - 06:31 AM

[JFX]

I think you right with the boot order.

wimb, on 14 December 2012 - 02:15 AM, said:

I feel a bit confused about the files bootmgr.efi and bootmgfw.efi in folder EFI\Microsoft\Boot

That really a bit strange. Only thing i hear is that bootmgfw.efi does support USB devices and bootmgr.efi does not.
Somehow EFI looks chaotic, I mean why are there 3 loaders?!

Also \EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi and \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi are identical images.

Whoever designed the EFI boot stuff must be on the same wave as the Windows 8 UI designers.

[jaclaz]

JFX, on 14 December 2012 - 07:46 AM, said:

Whoever designed the EFI boot stuff must be on the same wave as the Windows 8 UI designers.

Well, as I see it, it is more or less the same trend that led to the idea of replacing a simple, plain text file like BOOT.INI with a Registry Hive (\boot\BCD) additionally "always in use" by the system, they all seem like having been not in class when they were teaching about Occam's Razor or the KISS principle.

The combined effect of unneededly complex implementation with scarce or no proper documentation will eventually lead to the extinction of the human race, through building systems so complex that no one will be able to manage them properly....
.... the machines will get self aware soon

jaclaz

[laddanator]

Never mind. This can be removed.

This post has been edited by laddanator: 16 December 2012 - 09:32 PM

[click-click]

Up to now after installing XP, Vista or win7, I was always able to access each system from the other by not hiding the partitions. Now with Win8, those partitions get hidden every time I boot Win8. If I unhide them, Win8 resets those partitions to hidden when booting. How can I fix this so Win8 leaves these partitions alone?

This post has been edited by click-click: 18 December 2012 - 04:43 PM

[JFX]

click-click, on 18 December 2012 - 04:43 PM, said:

Up to now after installing XP, Vista or win7, I was always able to access each system from the other by not hiding the partitions. Now with Win8, those partitions get hidden every time I boot Win8. If I unhide them, Win8 resets those partitions to hidden when booting. How can I fix this so Win8 leaves these partitions alone?

I have setup quite some window 8 multi boot systems, but I never had such partition hide magic

Is there a registry key called HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\Offline in your registry?

[Atari800XL]

Maybe somebody can help with me this next question, maybe it's not 100% ontopic, please skip it then:
I'm not an expert, but I've learned so much in the last year, and like to "fool around" to learn new thing. Last week, I created new .wim files for Windows 7 and Windows 8, which include all Windows updates until now. I created them this way:
(1) WinNTSetup: use w7.wim, select a modified unattend.xml with the <Reseal><Mode>Audit</Mode></Reseal> part (2) Install all updates (except PC specific ones). (3) dism /online /cleanup-image (4) In Sysprep window: Select OOBE, Generalize and Shutdown (5) Boot with PE4 iso (6) dism /capture-image /imagefile:e:\w8new.wim /capturedir:c:\ /name:"Windows 8 updated"

This is working great, for Windows 8 and Windows 7. So I wanted to see how this works in XP and downloaded XPSP3 Deployment Tools: http://www.microsoft...s.aspx?id=11282
What I would like to know:
- Is Sysprepping XP comparable to the W7/W8 way? Is an image that I create this way, usable on "all" PC's?
- What is the best way to image this sysprepped XP? I use Ghost and TrueImage, but up to now only for "pc-specific" and complete XP installs (not generalized installs). Besides, the "best/ cleanest" way would be to create setup files as they are present in the normal XP setup ISO, right? How can I create that?
- I've read that I van also use my PE4 boot ISO, then use DISM /capture-image to create a **.wim** from a XP setup. Well, that's nice, but WinNTSetup can't install XP from a .wim, can it?

Thanks for any and all insight on this. But if you can't be bothered, that's fine too!!

[JFX]

Hmm, not so sure about how hardware compatible a XP sysprep image can be, but it should be possible to create a wim file and use winntsetup to apply it to disk.
Escorpiom seems to have success with it, but i have not tried it myself.

[Atari800XL]

Oh, never mind then. It looked like a good idea to have an updated XP and make such an image. I still wonder if I can make a "normal" looking XP setup folder structure. I sometimes see those "updated until nov/2012 XPSP3" iso's, I wonder how they're created then...
...
For w7/w8, those "Audit mode"/ updated/ imaged wims *are* supposed to be "universal", right? (Can be used on any system?)

For XP, it seemed a nice idea, because having a somewhat updated XPSP3 seems quite a hassle. I must admit I usually work with "outdated" XP's, I hate online updates. The systems we use are used in mostly offline situations anyway. You know, old(er) hardware, old(er) (expensive) software. I never "use" viruses, either :-)

[Lancelot_Real]

@ Atari800XL

It has been long while I last played with sysprep (years .. ) , I do not remember now, but I know an expert, Galapo

Galapo made "OfflineSysPrep" plugin available at Gena,
(\Gena\Apps\System Tools\Windows Setup\"OfflineSysPrep")
by defination:
=For sysprepping a Windows XP or 2003 partition that is hardware independent.

after "sysprepping", it would be all end user choice to save/restore as an image via ghost, any wim tool, vhd etc. or just pack (zip, 7z)

After playing with "OfflineSysPrep" plugin you can ask further questions to Galapo around here
http://TheOven.org/i....php?board=13.0

[Atari800XL]

Thanks!!! I guess it was my "mistake" to assume it would work more like in W7/W8? I mean, microsoft offers a "standard" new sysprep for XPSP3 (see the link in msg 434).

So is this correct:
(1) A hardware independent XP sysprep image is not "normal"
(2) The same for W7/W8 *is* normal

???

Then how to make a new, up-to-date XP iso?!? nlite and the likes only?

This post has been edited by Atari800XL: 22 December 2012 - 08:24 AM

[jaclaz]

Just for the record the "historical" forum/reference for Offline Sysprep is here:
http://www.911cd.net...hp?showforum=43

@Atari800XL
If you check this:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=22064

you should have a clear idea of what are the "missing pieces" of the puzzle in an ordinary sysprep and which ones Offline Sysprep provides.

jaclaz

[Atari800XL]

Thanks to all you experts!! I'm sorry, this stuff just goes over my head sometimes... If it wasn't for great tools like these.....

Please confirm (or deny) that the W7/W8 images I mentioned are more hardware-independent....? (While all you friendly geniuses are not away on holiday yet....) Because if they're not, I'm not sure there's a lot of use to them. Please correct me if I'm wrong! I'm just looking for a way to "inject" my OS install images with updates, and have only recentlry learned about doing this with DISM addpackage, and the Audit mode I mentioned. Now I still don't know which way is best... Audit mode looks reasonably convenient, but only if the resulting image is universal!

This post has been edited by Atari800XL: 22 December 2012 - 09:52 AM