Martin H

If regtweaks dosen't work from T-12(cmdlines.txt), then try from first-logon instead... Remove this from cmdlines.txt: "REGEDIT /S SHOW_OPERATING_FILES.REG" Add this to cmdlines.txt: "RunOnceEx.cmd" Make a file named RunOnceEx.cmd in $OEM$ with this: @cmdow @ /hid set key=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx reg add %key%\001 /v 1 /d "regedit /s %~dp0\SHOW_OPERATING_FILES.REG" /f Btw, since you said in your other thread that you where having trouble getting WinRAR and 7-Zip installed from cmdlines.txt, then if you'd like, then you could install them also from first-logon instead... I myself would recommend doing it like this: Delete everything from cmdlines.txt and just keep: "RunOnceEx.cmd" Make a folder named RunOnceEx under $OEM$ and place '7-Zip-v4.42.exe', 'WinRAR-v3.71.exe' and 'SHOW_OPERATING_FILES.REG' into it. Delete the contents of RunOnceEx.cmd and replace it with this: @cmdow @ /hid set key=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx reg add %key%\001 /v 1 /d "%~dpn0\7-Zip-v4.42.exe" /f reg add %key%\002 /v 1 /d "%~dpn0\WinRAR-v3.71.exe" /f reg add %key%\003 /v 1 /d "regedit /s %~dpn0\SHOW_OPERATING_FILES.REG" /f

Good or bad ??? It hasen't got anything to do with your issue, if that's what you mean... I don't know what the problem is, i'm affraid...

They are both SFX archives then i.e. silent switchless installers...

@FDV: LOL - you’re freakin´ hilarious, mate Allthough seriously, then i couldn't agree more about your points Btw, i'm also thinking seriously about switching to Slackware(the most appealing distro of them all to me, personally) and be done with MS for good, but honestly, then each time i set myself up to make the switch, then i'm always missing good old Win2k immidiately and falls back to it again pretty fast, since i'm just so used to how everything works on that platform and am a total newbie on the *nix platform CU, Martin.

Yeahh, i had also checked TC's profile some times to see if there had been any activity and was also beginning to get worried, since i thought that he haden't visited MSFN in 2 month's time, and that he had lost motivation for his ennormous workload... I'm really amazed that he as one person maintains 2 branches of HFSLIP, 4 update lists, plugins and netmakers etc. besides work Thank's for letting us know that you're allright TC Take your time, and we're all very gratefull of all the things you do to make lives easier for the rest of us And not to forget TP and FDV also of course, you are all trully appreciated Anyway, sorry for rambling alittle here, but i was just wanting to say thank you to you all...

Use ImgBurn and set the writing speed at either 8x or 12x if you have 16x media and leave the verify option enabled. If you try to write the ISO as a normal data compilation with ImgBurn(instead of as an image file i.e. 'Build mode' instead of 'Write mode' in ImgBurn), then it will warn you about if you're sure that this is what you want(which it's not!)... (This message can of course be disabled in the options...) If you start ImgBurn once and then close it, then you can right-click on your ISO and select 'Write image with ImgBurn', so that you're sure it's being written as an image-file instead of data-compilation... If you don't do that, then remember that you should load the image into ImgBurn's 'Write mode' and not 'Build mode'...

Other than the obvious way, which is to test it, then you can just extract it and look what it contains(if it can be extracted with 7-Zip or WinRAR). If you don't know what too look for, then load the executable into WinRAR(if you can) and look at the archive properties/details(or what it's called, i myself always use 7-Zip) and if it's not a WinRAR SFX, then do a final check with Oleg Scherbakov's 7z SFX Archive Splitter, which you can get from his homepages download section : http://7zsfx.solta.ru/en/download.html

Please write exactly what you have done to write it and with which app... Personally i would recommend ImgBurn for all data/audio writing tasks... The boot-image from MSFN's 'Unattended Windows' guide, works for both CD and DVD(i have tested it myself)... Since you said that your BIOS is configured to boot from CD/DVD before HDD, and that you have tested the ISO in a VM, then to me it seems like the culprit must be in the way that you write the ISO to disc...

You are most welcome, mate About your other problem, then i'm guessing that you're either writing the ISO as a data compilation instead of an image file, or your BIOS isn't setup to boot from the CD/DVD-drive before the HDD...

Go into 'File > Options' and enable 'Check files in the specified folders' and then under the 'Folders' tab you right-click in the 'Checked objects' field and select 'Add' to add folders you want monitored for changes...

There's no difference to the end-result, but the difference is that inf-files are more powerfull, with built-in support for things like DirId's, reg-entry operations, file-copy operations and no flashing cmd windows etc... I would recommend the following tutorial by Gosh: Inf files explained. Also, i wouldn't recommend using ISO editing tools, but instead make a batchfile which remakes the ISO...

Don't waste time with re-copying the Windows CD and slipstreaming it each time, but instead just keep a pre-slipstreamed install-source on your harddrive and make a copy of it, for each new job. First copy your install-source to your harddrive: xcopy E: D:\Temp\XPCD\ /ehq Change 'E:' to your own actual CD drive and change 'D:\Temp\' to where you would like your 'XPCD' folder created... Then slipstream latest SP: wxpsp3.exe /integrate:D:\Temp\XPCD Then you keep the 'XPCD' folder as a backup and make a copy of it for each new job... Personally, then i preffer HFSLIP over nLite for the following reasons: Open-source and plain cmd-syntax, so i can see exactly what's done and how. Supports more patches than nLite for direct integration. Can be run completely unattended with an answer file. Dosen't need any bloated .NET framework runtimes installed to run. Then upon each new patch-tuesday, then i just download the new patches direct from MS and double-click a batchfile i have made, which will copy my archived install-source to a temp location and run HFSLIP on it and then make a bootable ISO which is archived for later use...

You can do something like this: cmdlines.txt: [COMMANDS] "RunOnceEx.cmd" Last line of RunOnceEx.cmd: reg add %key%\990 /v 1 /d "%~dp0Drivers.cmd" /f Drivers.cmd: @cmdow @ /hid set key=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx reg add %key% /v title /d "Installing Drivers" /f reg add %key%\001 /ve /d "ALPS Mouse Driver" /f reg add %key%\001 /v 1 /d "%~d0\Drivers\setup.exe /silent" /f rundll32.exe iernonce.dll,RunOnceExProcess

In winnt.sif then set: [Unattended] UnattendMode=DefaultHide (or delete the 'UnattendedMode' entry completely, as 'DefaultHide' is the default behaviour, when the 'UnattendedMode' entry is missing...) And delete the following : [UserData] ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX Then if you want to get prompted for the computer name, then delete the following : [UserData] ComputerName=whatever Or, if you want to get an auto-generated computer name, then add the following : [UserData] ComputerName=*

Where have you read to use that key ??? The correct key is: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx. Also, even if you change this, then it will still not work, since Drivers.cmd will overwrite the previously made RunOnceEx entries of RunOnceEx.cmd, as they both define entries like '%KEY%\001' and 'Title'... If you want to do it like this, then either add your drivers after your apps to RunOnceEx.cmd, or call a batchfile that installs the drivers from RunOnceEx.cmd...

@FDV Many thanks for the new fileset and for correcting the issues in IE.INF/LAYOUT.INF i mailed you about some time ago (README.TXT/NT4ICONS.DLL)

Keep in mind also that cmdlines.txt doesen't support environment-variables

I would personally recommend it, as it's the more effecient way of doing it... Here's some tips to how i myself do it... I place all my apps into '$OEM$\RunOnceEx\'(so as to not clutter the root of the disc with another folder) and then just use '%~dpn0\' in '$OEM$\RunOnceEx.cmd' as the install-path for your apps(as there's no reason to assign environment-variables that's longer than the assigned value, like using '%cdrom%' instead of '%~d0'). Finally, then there's no need for adding 'setlocal enableextensions' or 'endlocal', and also no reason for adding '@echo off' after 'cmdow @ /hid', but instead just use '@cmdow @ /hid' As for the drivers, then i recommend placing them into '$OEM$\Drivers\' and then following a06lp's guide which is linked in my signature...

I myself really like PerfectDisk, since it features very good free-space consolidation and uses a fileplacement-scheme that's oriented towards reducing re-fragmention and making feuture defrags faster, but i'm actually instead using UltimateDefrag, since it provides the same functionality in a lighter and portable app which dosen't need any extra processes running in the background(by using 'Recency' mode and sorting by file-modification date from outer to inner)... I'm using the older v1.72 non-freeware version, since that's the last version supporting my No.1 OS of choise i.e. Win2k... Just my two cents

From the guide for which you've stated to have read : "We will be using the $OEM$ distribution folders to install our favorite software, drivers, and registry tweaks" "The Install folder specified at C:\XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Install\ is copied over to the systemdrive, so it turns out to be C:\install\ - More information on this can be found at the $OEM$ Distribution folders page."

They are meant as means to easilly verify if the slipstreaming worked correctly... To remove the one from 'add/remove programs', then add this to your regtweaks file(or copy/paste it into a *.reg file and place it into HFGUIRUNONCE) : Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\HFSLIPTotalSlipstream] (Or use reg.exe to do it in a bacthfile...) This is also simply what's done when selecting to uninstall that entry... Sorry, i don't know about the other one...

As Yzöwl stated, then all your questions have been specifically answered allready in the MSFN guide, so there's no reason for us to repeat the steps for you here also... If you have specific questions to some of the described steps, then we're happy to help, but please first re-read the instructions and do some searching first, thanks...

As per the reference(ref.chm), then use UnattendSwitch="yes" if wanting to skip mini-setup...

From the HFSLIP homepage's 'Advanced features' section : "Using HFEXPERT\DRIVERCAB, you can slipstream your custom driver binaries (in extracted format). These files will be added into DRIVER.CAB. Note that this only works with merging options A, B and C. More information can be found here." I would recommend using roufneck's DrvComp to filter all unreferenced files out from the extracted driver packages(the cabbed files needs to be expanded afterwards), and daddydave's DrivercabHelper for automating the inf-edits that this HFSLIP feature requires...

Remove IE desktop icon : [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoInternetIcon"=dword:00000001