Wraith

Why don't you stop spamming every thread to get your post count up. You're not contributing in any useful manner whatsoever, nor are you being diplomatic.

http://oem.microsoft.com/

...and I'm still being frustrated by it, but mostly that's my own fault nowadays X5 soon.

Leave it as-is. People will want to customise all aspects of setup, and you can never please everyone. Trust me, I know. If you make it do everything, then it will be good at nothing, and people will end up using specialist programs for each thing anyways.

Haha, I've been around, just haven't bothered responding to anything. Classes finished 8 months ago, full time work instead Good to be back I suppose, slowly getting around to getting XPlode 5 (and the people wanting it) out of my hair

The only files that would end up being substantially smaller would be the CAB files - when compressing single files with 7z(LZMA) and single files with CAB(LZO) is minimal. Compressing multiple files is where the compression ratios increase. A bunch of tests I just did: shell32.dll, 7z: 2,234kB oembios.bin, 7z: 12,975kB webfldrs.msi, 7z: 1,681kB shell32.dll, cab: 3,134kB oembios.bin, cab: 12,806kB webfldrs.msi, cab: 1,681kB shell32.dll, slim: 1,928kB oembios.bin, slim: 12,872kB webfldrs.msi, slim: 1,660kB So you can see, some files are compressed nicely with 7z, some are bigger, and some just don't change. (Slim ones are there for comparison only) The only problem I can see with redoing cabinet.dll is that functions WILL need to pass through to the original cabinet.dll if they find something that it needs to extract normally. A lot of programs rely on the cab format, and you'll find that certain things will not function unless it can cope with normal LZO cab format. (I think MSI acts that way...) And in case you were wondering, here was the batch files that I used to test with: copy c:\windows\system32\shell32.dll . copy c:\windows\system32\oembios.bin . copy c:\windows\system32\webfldrs.msi . makecab c:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll makecab c:\WINDOWS\system32\oembios.bin makecab c:\WINDOWS\system32\webfldrs.msi "C:\Program Files\7-zip\7z.exe" a -t7z -m0=BCJ2 -m1=LZMA:d=23:fb=64:a=2:lc=7:mf=bt3 -m2=LZMA:d=18:fb=66:a=2:lc=8:lp=2:mf=bt2 -m3=LZMA:d=18:fb=81:a=2:lc=0:lp=2:mf=bt2 -mb0:1 -mb0s1:2 -mb0s2:3 shell32.dll.7z shell32.dll "C:\Program Files\7-zip\7z.exe" a -t7z -m0=BCJ2 -m1=LZMA:d=23:fb=64:a=2:lc=7:mf=bt3 -m2=LZMA:d=18:fb=66:a=2:lc=8:lp=2:mf=bt2 -m3=LZMA:d=18:fb=81:a=2:lc=0:lp=2:mf=bt2 -mb0:1 -mb0s1:2 -mb0s2:3 oembios.bin.7z oembios.bin "C:\Program Files\7-zip\7z.exe" a -t7z -m0=BCJ2 -m1=LZMA:d=23:fb=64:a=2:lc=7:mf=bt3 -m2=LZMA:d=18:fb=66:a=2:lc=8:lp=2:mf=bt2 -m3=LZMA:d=18:fb=81:a=2:lc=0:lp=2:mf=bt2 -mb0:1 -mb0s1:2 -mb0s2:3 webfldrs.msi.7z webfldrs.msi slim23d.exe a -v -o218 -m912 -- shell32.dll.slim shell32.dll slim23d.exe a -v -o218 -m912 -- oembios.bin.slim oembios.bin slim23d.exe a -v -o218 -m912 -- webfldrs.msi.slim webfldrs.msi You may be able to tweak the ratios a bit - the 7z flags I was using were geared for executable compression. slim can be found at: http://www.bars-trade.com/slim/ - unfortunately it takes AGES to compress with it, so it's listed for comparison purposes only.

This question has been partly addressed by Microsoft itself - with Windows Vista, the operating system is deployed from WinPE using a compressed file, which is also mountable with the help of a filesystem filter driver. I had done some initial testing using the same method but using a sysprep'ed XP - the installation got to a point around 10 minutes in total. (Unformatted drive to fully bootable XP) Never had time to pursue it, but I posted my findings at: http://www.voidfx.com/FX/Random:WIM_Installation

This hasn't been mentioned yet, but in case you (or anyone else) haven't seen it: Error Message "The Workstation Service Has Not Been Started" When Using Cmdlines.txt http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...b;EN-US;Q314543

Perhaps you should go back to CMDLINES.TXT or something. Obviously reading any sort of documentation or undertaking exploration is a bit too difficult for you, so try going back to what you know. I try not to be abusive, but I see things like this and just don't get how people can be like this. There are examples with XPlode. Why are you using the old XPlode 1 syntax? The documentation is clear, the examples are clear, you could even just copy/paste from the examples, getting it to work without having to think. Why can't you? Sorry, but at this stage I don't think you should be using XPlode.

It hasn't yet, because I've been too busy with work. I keep meaning to get back to doing XPlode, but other things get in the way. We shall see.

1. Are those the correct arguments to stop it from restarting? Does the restart happen regardless of XPlode or not, with those arguments? 2. If the program you're launching spawns another process, but the parent exits, then XPlode will continue. This would be the only logical explanation for it happening. 3. What SFX? Does it normally wait under a plain install, rather than through XPlode? Are those the correct arguments?

If you're going to provide information, you should really reference the source.

The XML files that come with XPlode are the examples.

Is it always reproducible? If so, try with another display plugin (try silent) - I'm unable to track down what might be causing it from that logfile.

Attach logfiles.

I have achieved an install of around 6 minutes, using a sysprep image, stored within a WIM file from the WAIK. I apply this by booting into WindowsPE, and using the WIM from there. It doesn't help if you need to install on multiple HAL's, but if you've got a script to sort that out after the rest of the OS is applied, then it's not too much of a problem.

I am going to need testers for X5 over the next 2-3 weekends, preferably on IRC, so I can get feedback from multiple users at the same time. Forums are too slow, and I don't want to have to say the same thing 500 times in seperate IM windows. Any takers? Shoot me a PM, and if there are a few people willing to be active, I'll get something set up.

@Zxian I'm in the process of doing XPlode5 - the documentation for each of the plugins are embedded within the plugins themselves, so I'll be regenerating documentation for them whenever anything gets changed. The rest of the documentation was going to be pulled directly from the PDF - if you have any changes or suggestions, email me and I'll see what I can do. @everyone I had hoped for an XPlode5 release at the beginning of this week, but it got pushed back because of commitments. I had hoped to work on it this weekend, but the same thing has happened. I hope that it'll be ready within the next couple of weeks, but I'm not going to set a date in stone. Will keep everyone updated.

Exactly, that program went straight to the recycle bin @reyna12, @Steam Trout I hope you two realise that, in doing so, it is your fault that you're unable to use the program, because you cannot be bothered figuring out how to use it. This is aimed at netadmins who, in theory, have the patience to research and discover the best possible option for what they need to do. The program itself is quite powerful - if you want to learn how to use it. Don't blame me, or the program, for your own impatience. @Everyone Please keep the rest of this thread to constructive comments. Things like "Exactly, that program went straight to the recycle bin" doesn't help anyone.

What do you expect to happen? It'll magically install all your software, without you telling it how to do so? Please read the documentation.

There is no real tutorial for XPlode - it has always been assumed that one would start using it once they had conquered the basics, such as CMDLINES.TXT, SVCPACK.INF and WINNT.SIF etc. etc. I figure that if the user has the background knowledge on how they work, then they should be able to extrapolate in order to link XPlode in. That said, section 4 of the docs has some quick and dirty ways of linking XPlode into the setup routines, and the example XML's that come with XPlode should provide all the information that you need.

I opened it with paint shop pro, saved it again and used the "optimiser" - I had to add an alpha-channel. Don't know if photoshop does it that way or not, haven't used it.

Try the attached image. I haven't tested it myself though, so I don't know. XPlode isn't in a runnable state at the moment

Everyone that first starts using XPlode neglects the logfile Always check the logfile if you're getting problems - and if there are ever any problems with parsing the XML, open it in IE or Firefox. (Just thought I'd add that for when you DO screw it up )

Is there anything in the logfile relating to the background image?