[dexter.inside]

swampy, on Aug 22 2007, 06:43 AM, said:

"WinFLP (no interaction)" would be great, I've installed WinFLP a few times and it's exactly the type of install I'm after.

Yes, that's my long term goal too for Designer Studio... it's too bad that so many good setup solutions were made and get discarded by Microsoft. WinFLP is the best solution yet for the First Boot Agent, perfectly suitable for Embedded technology, but nobody seems to care. Like I said before, Microsoft has no interest in improving a piece of technology that is already satisfactory (like textmode setup and SDI disks)

[madainpl]

please look
and test:)
http://www.boot-land...itle=WinBuilder

[Mitch.]

I'm also impressed with this guide. Thanks for great work.

Now my question. WinFLP (Eiger) Setup allows choose Optional Components... Image from WIM can be applied only as whole, right? So, how Setup implements OC? He musts save configuration about components on disk and durning first boot First Boot Agent (or so) delete files and registry keys of non-choosed components. Is possible make installation of another Windows edition with ability of optional components?

(Excuse my English)

Mitch

This post has been edited by Mitch.: 11 September 2007 - 12:07 PM

[dexter.inside]

Eiger uses a more refined technique for doing this: the WIM has one base image containing the core of the OS and another 8 that have just those Embedded packages that provide the extra functionality. The core package is applied and then for each of the selected options files from its package are added to disk and registry gets imported from *.sav hives.

At this point there is no method to reproduce this procedure, unless you do it manually. The Windows Embedded development team does not appear to be interested in adopting this method to replace the old SDI technology.

And yes, it is possible, but just in theory for now. I am aiming for the same type of WIM usage in my app, but that will require another Windows Setup SDK to be written almost from scratch. Microsoft could have used a differential packaging system for storing all the Vista edition together, but instead they made it integral, relying on WIM single instance storage. The Eiger setup technology was made in 2005 but nobody seemed to care.

[Mitch.]

Thanks. I should have look into WIM before asking. My concept of setup for one specific computer with specific hardware (sysprep isn't needed):

1. Install system, updates, SP, ... and remove components. Instead FBA write one batch file (for example addreg.bat) and set autorun after next reboot.

2. Create base image.

3. Create images of additionals components, but instead registry hive files (.sav) create .reg files, which they will be joined by addreg.bat at first boot.

4. Create PE system.

5. Create batch file, which (for testing purposes) deploy base image and all components on disk.

6. Burn PE, batch and WIM on CD (or create ISO).

7. Test solution... -> deploy -> reboot -> At first boot, addreg.bat silently runs regedit to join .reg files into registry.

If all will be OK, write own setup (Win32, .NET framework won't be necessary).

This post has been edited by Mitch.: 12 September 2007 - 07:59 AM

[dexter.inside]

yes, that's a good scenario, in my case I am trying to develop a more automatized solution. If you just handle one computer and no server components yours does the job just fine.

[Mitch.]

Yes, it's only for one computer. So, the largest problem is now write user interface for disk partitioning. WinFLP Setup uses Virtual Disk Services .NET wrapper. Documentation of VDS is confused for me, so the easiest solution is dynamicaly create scripts for diskpart and parse output (i don't like such solutions).

[Papus96]

Hi Everyone,
I've being a long time reader of this forum it help me a lot, my questions is I got the alphas, betas and RTM version of longhorn/vista but ximage is not located on my longhorn 4074 cd. In what directory of the CD is this file located?

Thanks

[scott14]

Thank you for your guide.

In Part 2 of it you say,

QUOTE
The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC is the most compatible, so it's by far the best choice for 32-bit systems.

It should be noted that multiprocessor computers can also use this HAL, however they will only make use of a single processor."
END QUOTE

I'm a little bit worried this means only 1 of the 2 cores in my cpu will do work, leaving the 2nd core idle.

Is that what you mean will happen?

(AMD Athlon 64 4200 X2 with 32 bit Windows XP Pro)

This post has been edited by scott14: 17 October 2007 - 08:36 AM

[dexter.inside]

scott14, on Oct 17 2007, 12:06 PM, said:

I'm a little bit worried this means only 1 of the 2 cores in my cpu will do work, leaving the 2nd core idle.

Is that what you mean will happen?

(AMD Athlon 64 4200 X2 with 32 bit Windows XP Pro)

Is there something keeping you from changing it after installation?

[DigeratiPrime]

nice guide dexter.inside read it in one sitting

I learned a couple of things:

• I think WIM can be used for all versions of Windows, not just Vista.
  
• BDD first time hearing about this.
  
• Symantec SRESHELL (Norton System Recovery Shell) first time hearing about this.
  
• vmount was looking for this.

Some Questions/Observations:

• Post 11 why are you using LSI Logic I/O Adapter and SCSI disk?
  
• Post 24 To copy from a template profile to the default profile I logon as Administrator, open System Properties>Advanced>User Profiles:Settings>Copy To>Change>Object Name:Everyone>Check Names>OK>Browse>Default User>OK. I also think there is a simple cmd to do this.
  
• Post 24 I set my VM to use two processors b/c I have a dualcore in the host and in my sysprep.inf I use:
  

  "UpdateUPHAL = "ACPIAPIC_UP,%WINDIR%\Inf\Hal.inf"
  

  
  
• Post 45 I think the sysprep setup errors caused by nlite only occur if you include an I386 folder in Sysprep.
  
• some pictures seem to be missing, also please use png instead of jpeg or gif

[dexter.inside]

DigeratiPrime, on Nov 12 2007, 05:26 AM, said:

• Post 11 why are you using LSI Logic I/O Adapter and SCSI disk?
  
• Post 24 To copy from a template profile to the default profile I logon as Administrator, open System Properties>Advanced>User Profiles:Settings>Copy To>Change>Object Name:Everyone>Check Names>OK>Browse>Default User>OK. I also think there is a simple cmd to do this.
  
• Post 24 I set my VM to use two processors b/c I have a dualcore in the host and in my sysprep.inf I use:
  

  "UpdateUPHAL = "ACPIAPIC_UP,%WINDIR%\Inf\Hal.inf"
  

  
  
• Post 45 I think the sysprep setup errors caused by nlite only occur if you include an I386 folder in Sysprep.
  
• some pictures seem to be missing, also please use png instead of jpeg or gif

Post 11 - the Windows Home Server I used to make that part of the tutorial does not support properly BusLogic SCSI.

Post 24 - I've recently migrated my virtual machines on a Datacenter Server x64 host, so I will investigate more on this subject. I am also interested in a Domain Controller guest machine migration from virtual to physical hardware.

Post 45 - There's this topic that covers the problem.

As for the pictures, I think I will use my own web server to store them from now on.

[bobtomato]

dexter.inside amazing work. I have been playing with nlite and unattended installs for a few years now and after seeing the Longhorn install I wished there was a way to do exactly what your guide does for a while. I have gone through you steps and it works like a charm. Thanks for your great work!

One thing I am curious about is it possible for the panther install to have the cd key unattended so it would not have to be entered?

[dexter.inside]

bobtomato, on Dec 11 2007, 08:20 AM, said:

One thing I am curious about is it possible for the panther install to have the cd key unattended so it would not have to be entered?

Probably, but the build 4033 SDK is very poorly documented. I believe that if it were to use a newer version of pidgenx.dll it should allow a staged key installation. Like the way v3244 of XP SP3 does it

[iceangel89]

dexter.inside, on Aug 10 2007, 01:46 AM, said:

...

Sysprep may require some other files and settings. Thanks to JakeLD , here they are:
(read the original topic here)

 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Change source path to be c\windows instead of cd-rom
; Fix a sysprep bug
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]
; Set C:\WINDOWS C:\WINDOWS\I386 C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS as installation sources
"Installation Sources"=hex(7):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,49,00,4e,00,44,00,4f,00,\
  57,00,53,00,00,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,49,00,4e,00,44,00,4f,00,57,00,53,\
  00,5c,00,49,00,33,00,38,00,36,00,00,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,49,00,4e,00,\
  44,00,4f,00,57,00,53,00,5c,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4d,00,33,00,32,\
  00,00,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,49,00,4e,00,44,00,4f,00,57,00,53,00,5c,00,\
  53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,44,00,52,00,49,00,56,\
  00,45,00,52,00,53,00,00,00,00,00
"SourcePath"="C:\\WINDOWS"
"ServicePackSourcePath"="C:\\WINDOWS"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
;"RegisteredOrganization"=""
;"RegisteredOwner"="User"
"SystemRoot"="C:\\WINDOWS"
"SourcePath"="C:\\WINDOWS\\i386" 

And also copy these files to \sysprep\I386 (don't add out-of-box drivers, the folder is deleted after setup completes)

 
agentdp2.dll
agentdpv.dll
agt0405.dll
agt0405.hlp
agt0406.dll
agt0406.hlp
agt0407.dll
agt0407.hlp
agt0408.dll
agt0408.hlp
agt0409.dll
agt0409.hlp
agt040b.dll
agt040b.hlp
agt040c.dll
agt040c.hlp
agt040e.dll
agt040e.hlp
agt0410.dll
agt0410.hlp
agt0413.dll
agt0413.hlp
agt0414.dll
agt0414.hlp
agt0415.dll
agt0415.hlp
agt0416.dll
agt0416.hlp
agt0419.dll
agt0419.hlp
agt041d.dll
agt041d.hlp
agt041f.dll
agt041f.hlp
agt0816.dll
agt0816.hlp
agt0c0a.dll
agt0c0a.hlp
agtintl.dll
ctype.nls
c_037.nls
c_10000.nls
c_10006.nls
c_10007.nls
c_10010.nls
c_10017.nls
c_10029.nls
c_10079.nls
c_10081.nls
c_10082.nls
c_1026.nls
c_1250.nls
c_1251.nls
c_1252.nls
c_1253.nls
c_1254.nls
c_1255.nls
c_1256.nls
c_1257.nls
c_1258.nls
c_20127.nls
c_20261.nls
c_20866.nls
c_20905.nls
c_21866.nls
c_28591.nls
c_28592.nls
c_28593.nls
C_28594.NLS
C_28595.NLS
C_28597.NLS
c_28598.nls
c_28599.nls
c_28603.nls
c_28605.nls
c_437.nls
c_500.nls
c_737.nls
c_775.nls
c_850.nls
c_852.nls
c_855.nls
c_857.nls
c_860.nls
c_861.nls
c_863.nls
c_865.nls
c_866.nls
c_869.nls
c_874.nls
c_875.nls
c_932.nls
c_936.nls
c_949.nls
c_950.nls
enum1394.inf
enum1394.sys
ftdisk.sys
geo.nls
isapnp.sys
locale.nls
l_except.nls
l_intl.nls
modern.fon
mouhid.sys
roman.fon
script.fon
sortkey.nls
sorttbls.nls
streamci.dll
unicode.nls
vga.sys
wst_czec.fon
wst_engl.fon
wst_fren.fon
wst_germ.fon
wst_ital.fon
wst_span.fon
wst_swed.fon
 

Now that you can see the driver locations in the SysprepMassStorage section, you can start resealing your workstation.

where can i find the files in

 
agentdp2.dll
agentdpv.dll
agt0405.dll
agt0405.hlp
agt0406.dll
agt0406.hlp
agt0407.dll
agt0407.hlp
agt0408.dll
agt0408.hlp
agt0409.dll
agt0409.hlp
agt040b.dll
agt040b.hlp
agt040c.dll
agt040c.hlp
agt040e.dll
agt040e.hlp
agt0410.dll
agt0410.hlp
agt0413.dll
agt0413.hlp
agt0414.dll
agt0414.hlp
agt0415.dll
agt0415.hlp
agt0416.dll
agt0416.hlp
agt0419.dll
agt0419.hlp
agt041d.dll
agt041d.hlp
agt041f.dll
agt041f.hlp
agt0816.dll
agt0816.hlp
agt0c0a.dll
agt0c0a.hlp
agtintl.dll
ctype.nls
c_037.nls
c_10000.nls
c_10006.nls
c_10007.nls
c_10010.nls
c_10017.nls
c_10029.nls
c_10079.nls
c_10081.nls
c_10082.nls
c_1026.nls
c_1250.nls
c_1251.nls
c_1252.nls
c_1253.nls
c_1254.nls
c_1255.nls
c_1256.nls
c_1257.nls
c_1258.nls
c_20127.nls
c_20261.nls
c_20866.nls
c_20905.nls
c_21866.nls
c_28591.nls
c_28592.nls
c_28593.nls
C_28594.NLS
C_28595.NLS
C_28597.NLS
c_28598.nls
c_28599.nls
c_28603.nls
c_28605.nls
c_437.nls
c_500.nls
c_737.nls
c_775.nls
c_850.nls
c_852.nls
c_855.nls
c_857.nls
c_860.nls
c_861.nls
c_863.nls
c_865.nls
c_866.nls
c_869.nls
c_874.nls
c_875.nls
c_932.nls
c_936.nls
c_949.nls
c_950.nls
enum1394.inf
enum1394.sys
ftdisk.sys
geo.nls
isapnp.sys
locale.nls
l_except.nls
l_intl.nls
modern.fon
mouhid.sys
roman.fon
script.fon
sortkey.nls
sorttbls.nls
streamci.dll
unicode.nls
vga.sys
wst_czec.fon
wst_engl.fon
wst_fren.fon
wst_germ.fon
wst_ital.fon
wst_span.fon
wst_swed.fon
 

by the way, the pdf and ur site isn't updated yet? so the most updated info is this forum topic right?

This post has been edited by iceangel89: 27 February 2008 - 08:39 AM

[iceangel89]

please can some1 help me? the files

...
agt0416.hlp
agt0419.dll
agt0419.hlp
agt041d.dll
agt041d.hlp
agt041f.dll
agt041f.hlp
agt0816.dll
agt0816.hlp
...

are from? the XP CD? i cant get them from the installed XP (to be syspreped right? - files are not found). but in my XP CD, .nls files are .NL_ do i need to change anything? can i just use the .NL_ files i have?

also there are so many files, how do u guys transfer them? 1 by 1? or can i just do a search for *.dll for example?

and also if i use the modified guide from Part 5 to solve the nLite/sysprep bug, where do i put my drivers?

This post has been edited by iceangel89: 27 February 2008 - 08:39 PM

[dexter.inside]

1) It's not imperative that you include those files, you can just hit ESC when prompted for them in mini-setup. And yes, they are on the XP cd, unless you removed their components (in your case, Microsoft Agent, Keyboards and Languages)

2) You can either integrate your drivers in the initial disc with nLite, or add them somewhere like \Windows\Driver Cache and scan for them when building mass storage devices with sysprep. Your choice.
If you already have them in proper order (like I do, because I use Microsoft Business Desktop Deployment) it doesn't really matter.

[iceangel89]

dexter.inside, on Feb 28 2008, 06:56 PM, said:

1) It's not imperative that you include those files, you can just hit ESC when prompted for them in mini-setup. And yes, they are on the XP cd, unless you removed their components (in your case, Microsoft Agent, Keyboards and Languages)

2) You can either integrate your drivers in the initial disc with nLite, or add them somewhere like \Windows\Driver Cache and scan for them when building mass storage devices with sysprep. Your choice.
If you already have them in proper order (like I do, because I use Microsoft Business Desktop Deployment) it doesn't really matter.

for (1), if i just leave this missing files, missing, will i be missing anything? only languages? will it be only languages i remove with nLite?

for (2), so i can integrate with nLite? but nLite wont install drivers for devices not in the PC, right? so drivers for "other" devices wont be in the installed XP, thus missing?
If i "add them somewhere like \Windows\Driver Cache and scan for them when building mass storage devices with sysprep" means i add them to \Windows\Driver Cache then by scan u mean Sysprep Driver Scanner mentioned in the guide?

for now, i did like in the guide, place Drivers in "\Windows\Driver Cache\i386" then use Sysprep Driver Scanner then sysprep -bmsd? - mass storage drivers for example will still work? is this right?

Thanks in advance

This post has been edited by iceangel89: 28 February 2008 - 09:31 AM

[dexter.inside]

Quote

for (1), if i just leave this missing files, missing, will i be missing anything? only languages? will it be only languages i remove with nLite?

AFAIK yes. Never had problems skipping them. There may be problems with Microsoft Multilingual User Interface (MUI) for east-asian languages though.

Quote

for now, i did like in the guide, place Drivers in "\Windows\Driver Cache\i386" then use Sysprep Driver Scanner then sysprep -bmsd? - mass storage drivers for example will still work? is this right?

You can use the sysprep driver scanner to scan the NLDRV folder in the installation, nLite places the drivers there. As for mass storage, you don't have a textmode portion if you are resealing to mini-setup, so you can stick to PnP mass storage.

This post has been edited by dexter.inside: 29 February 2008 - 05:35 AM

[etherplexer]

Just a thought but I'm going to try sfc /scannow from my imaged PC to see if replaces the files that are marked missing or bad from the windows image. I'll let you know the results but I'm thinking this will fix the particular issue.