XPC Test, Updated Version for Testing

[GreenMachine]

I have made a few changes to XPCREATE, and have posted a version for testing HERE.

Hotfix Downloading has been incorporated, however I have not hosted the Hotfix List. In order to use the list, you must host it using this directory structure:

<URL>/<WINVER>/<WINLANG>/XPCTHLST.TXT. This could look something like:

http://www.microsoft.com/XPFILES/XPP/ENU/XPCTHLST.TXT for the English XP Pro Version.

Other changes include:

• On first run, source is copied to CDSOURCE.
  
• On first Service Pack Slipstream, SP is slipped into CDSOURCE if it exists, and the SP is moved to OLDFILES.
  
• Optionally updates WINNT.SIF with OEMPnPDriversPath. You must set the XPCREATE.INI file to include DOPATH=YES, and the .NET framework is required.
  
• DOSNET now updated with new file names of files in sub-directories
  HotFix Downloading (You must provide the DLURL.):
  
• All hotfixes are checked for correct size.
  
• If an existing hotfix has incorrect size, it is moved to OLDFILES, and a new file downloaded
  
• Service packs are always moved to OLDFILES once slipstreamed into CDSOURCE, or if DL List shows Source already up to date.
  
• If a download error occours, downloading continues, and program gracefully exists after all possible downloads.
  

[Virindi]

[edited]:

A direct link is not necessary; XPCREATE will find the file by itself.

See the post below by GreenMachine.

I'm not sure how I'm going to maintain multiple language versions of this, but I am putting some thought into it. Regardless, I'm willing to host the file for general use. For now it is just the English version, but I am in the process of completing all the other languages, and should have them up by Friday.

[GreenMachine]

Wow, a volunteer!

Thanks, Virindi! I hope you enthusiaism lasts. Now, fo rthe bad news ... there is a bug in your list ...

ADD SVC-HF2\OE6.0sp1-KB837009-x86-ENU.exe http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/OE6.0sp1-KB837009-x86-ENU_53c7328bc3225121977ae394f92def0.exe 1996032

should be

ADD SVC-POS\OE6.0sp1-KB837009-x86-ENU.exe http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/OE6.0sp1-KB837009-x86-ENU_53c7328bc3225121977ae394f92def0.exe 1996032

As for the multilingual versions, I would suggest waiting till another volunteer takes on another language, and that person could send it to you for hosting. Or something like that ...

Thanks again!

[Virindi]

Fixed; thanks! I have one other idea that I will work on for a bit and then send you a PM about - I'm sure you've thoguht of it already, but it's the logistics that's the killer. hehe.

[GreenMachine]

Thanks again, Virindi, it's works for me. For those testing, the line to add in XPCREATE.INI is:

DLURL=http://msfn.wiretapped.us/XPFILES

Attached is the corrected list. Sorry about that! (Ooops, beat me to it, file removed.)

[johann83]

I'm getting a couple errors with this new "test version".

'CABARC' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

and

'SIZEOF' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Looks like maybe you forgot a couple external programs from the download zip?

Regards,

Matt

EDIT: So I guess it looks like I don't really need CABARC, and I wrote a bit of script to avoid the SIZEOF problem. Basically, I replaced your GETSIZE sub with the following code. Maybe this is something you'd like to use as it only uses batch commands...

:GETSIZE

SET CHECKFILE=%1
DIR /-C !CHECKFILE! > XPCTTEMP.TXT
FOR /F "TOKENS=2,3" %%A in (XPCTTEMP.TXT) DO (
   IF /I "%%A" EQU "File(s)" set NEWSIZE=%%B
)

GOTO EOF

[GreenMachine]

Well, I geuss we know who the first user is ...

File updated, see link in first post.

[johann83]

Looks to be working now, but unless SIZEOF does something more sophisticated, you might look at the code I posted above. It just eliminates another external program... I'm running the XPCREATion now, but won't get a chance to test it until later tonight.

Matt

[GreenMachine]

Thanks. I never get back to look at edited posts, so I missed it. I thought about doing something similar, as SIZEOF seems to be a bit slow, not too small, and does add another external app to include ... BUT, as I am not sure how well your code will work on the Chineese version, I think in this way I avoid depending on the output of any non-XPCREATE programs. I also include MAKECAB, EXPAND and COMPRESS to insure that I have the versions I expect.

Now that I look at the code, I see CABARC is no longer used ... I think I replaced it with COMPRESS. Oh well, I did say test version ... Let me know how the install works out.

Thanks!

[mmarable]

Can the XPCTHLST file be accessed locally, or only from a web host?

Can I point XPCreate to a hotfix list that I have on my C drive? If I wanted to test a hotfix, or a different set of hotfixes than what is being used by the "standard" file that is hosted on a web host?

Let's say that we move on to SP2, so the hotfix list has SP2 and some post-SP2 hotfixes, but SP2 doesn't work with some of my apps, and I need to stay with SP1? Can I create a hotfix list and access it from my local hard drive, or would I have to put it up onto a web host and point XPCreate to it there?

[GreenMachine]

XPCTHLST is desingned to be hosted on a local or remote web server, not as a local file. Not much sense to a local version: you would have to manually update it, which is almost as invloved as just downloading the few new hotfixes.

[Virindi]

I have a question that someone may be able to answer... ok here is the path for english:

[removed; figured it out]

when it comes to the "detected language version", is there a list of correct abbreviations for each language? [removed; figured it out]

Volunteers that could collect download links for patches (in any language besides english), or at least test other languages after the lists are posted this Thursday or Friday, would be nice

-J

[GreenMachine]

Here are a few:

chs (Simplified Chinese)

cht (Traditional Chinese)

deu (German)

enu (English)

esp (Spanish)

fra (French)

ita (Italian)

jpn (Japanese)

kor (Korean)

I am not sure if you can just change those 3 letters in the URL.

Nobody out there have any lists ...

[johann83]

GM,

Made several installs over the last two days with this new build and the downloaded hotfixes from your list. The good news is that the downloading seems to be working perfectly and the creation process is as easy as ever. The bad news is I experienced a problem with every one of the installs. The problem has two symptoms, 1) Internet Explorer says it is not the default browser each time you open it (actually there appears to be no 'default browser' at all) and 2) shortcuts for Outlook Express do not appear anywhere and manually double-clicking on the executable gives an error about not being properly installed. It is almost as if IE/OE are not installed correctly, but even after trying a few suggestions from MS to re-install them it still didn't work.

Now, I don't think that either of these two issues are necessarily related to this test version, but perhaps they are related to a recent hotfix... I have used other versions of XPCREATE many times without issue, but the last four builds (in the last three days or so) have shown this problem. Knowing your penchant for saying "Try the failsafe", I did exactly that (except that I included my drivers) and it exhibits the same problem. Actually, I don't know if it was exactly the failsafe because there seems to be some things in the auto-download that are NOT on the failsafe list. Attached is my log file, if you could take a look and make any suggestions, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Matt

LOGFILES.CAB

[mmarable]

I have it doing the first run now, but I wanted to ask. You mention a couple of times that it will do various things on the first run. Does that mean that it will only need the source CD that first run, and then use the files already copied to "CDSOURCE" any other times it is run, or am I jumping the gun here?

Thanks