JPamplin

Yes, I had the exact same problem. I think it complained about a variable in the config.ini not being declared (this was using install.exe in my unattended build - running install.exe manually works fine. It was this one: ;(Y)es for All Users or (N)o for only this user $OP_1= "Y" I also tried to replace the version of aaw2007.exe with the latest (7.0.2.5) from download.com - this file was placed in \setup - would that make any difference? Thanks for a great tool! JP

D, Thanks so much for getting back to me on this. I'm a little embarassed, because we've been discussing two different features. You've been talking about the search bar on the taskbar, and I've been referring to the Web icon in the main interface (which I don't want to see - just the rest of them). Sorry for the mixup - any ideas on getting rid of Web? Thanks, JP

Halfwalker: Thanks so much for the tip! I had a bit of trouble with it, though, and I was wondering if I could get your input: 1) The first key you provided is almost correct, but Windows doesn't allow registry branches in HKEY_USERS like SOFTWARE - it has to be the user code of .DEFAULT, or the long string of numbers which identifies the user. In my case, the first key should be: [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-109903746-2060566131-3148740645-1218\Software\Copernic\DesktopSearch\Meta] "InstalledComponents"=dword:0000009d 2) If you are entering the key manually, should it be hexidecimal or decimal? I can't make the capital D stick with hex. 3) I haven't tried this with a clean setup, but should this be applied right after the first install of Copernic? I quit an existing install of 1.63, applied the patch, and restarted Copernic, and Web was still there. 4) Would this work with the .DEFAULT branch of HKEY_USERS, so that every user would get the patch? Thanks, sorry for the n00bie questions, JP

OK, the /S switch does work, then you can apply a .reg file from a previous install to duplicate your preferences. Now, the question of the day: ever since 1.61 Copernic forces the Web Tab to be visible. Has anyone figured out how to turn it off? Inquiring minds want to know, TIA, JP

That's exactly the style of installation I have done for about 2 years (not a restore partition, but an "install from scratch" setup from D: to C:). Do a post search on username "JPamplin" and you'll find some posts I have done on the subject. I would be happy to post some of my script files now that the process is fairly stable and tested. Good luck, JP

Guys, I would completely ignore the subtleties of trying to do this with a SIF file and just boot into DOS and run a batch file to reformat your drives. If you just have a C: drive, then checking for the existence of a D: will always be false, so use AEFDisk or other free DOS utility to programmatically reformat the drive as a C: and D: and reboot. If D: DOES exist, then the check is TRUE and you can launch your install script. I have outlined all the code you need to accomplish this in a previous post: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=31871&hl= You may want to play with my routine a little bit - here's how: change the check routine to copy a little text file to the D: drive, then check for the existence of that file. If the D: drive exists, then the file will copy without error, but if D: does NOT exist, then the file won't be there. That might be a better way to check for the existence of d:. I haven't played with it lately so I don't know, but I can try to create a better check routine if people ask for it. JP

I was thinking of including Konfabulator in my standard build, but I am a bit distressed at it's RAM usage. I had tried out several widgets and the total RAM usage was about 100MB! Anyone know if that will be remedied later? JP

Make sure, if you are starting from DOS, that you use SMARTDRV disk caching with 2MB of cache for the C: drive and the CDROM drive. It makes stage 1 (copying files in DOS) significantly faster. I also agree with copying all files to the hard disk BEFORE you run WINNT (the XP setup application in DOS). I copy all XP files, addons, apps, etc. to a D: partition in DOS before a single install takes place. It really helps speed. Here's how you set SMARTDRV up: 1. Get or create a Windows 98/ME DOS startup disk. 2. Find SMARTDRV.EXE that matches the version of DOS that's on the disk. In other words, if you have a Windows 98 DOS disk (my faviorite), then find the version of SMARTDRV that Win98 came with. 3. Copy SMARTDRV to your floppy, let's assume a:\ 4. In the floppy's AUTOEXEC.BAT file, add this: smartdrv.exe C+ D+ /V 2048 2048 This will set up SMARTDRV to setup a 2MB cache and apply it to C and D (assuming your hard disk is C: and your CD is D: - you can add as many letters as you have drives that can be seen in DOS). JP

Here's an article I wrote about the command: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=26296&hl= This applies to installing network printers on a local machine, assuming you have added the IP ports via registry file beforehand, then stopped and restarted the Print Spooler service programmatically. I can post complete code if you need it. JP

Genex, OK, first of all, you can name your WINNT.SIF file anything you like, and place it anywhere you like, as long as both the filename and path are stated as parameters when you call WINNT (at least this works out of DOS): ECHO. ECHO Starting Windows XP Setup... ECHO. @d:\Install\WinXP\i386\winnt /s:d:\Install\WinXP\i386 /u:d:\batfiles\XPAPPS.sif As you can see from one of my scripts above, I renamed WINNT.SIF and placed it in a custom folder, which is called in the /u: parameter, and seperately, named the path to the install files with the /s: parameter. Secondly: if you wish to create your own WINNT.SIF file on the fly, it could be done in DOS prior to the calling of WINNT. Let's say, for instance, you wanted to specify the activation key for an install. You could use a DOS batch file to capture the key, then write it into a SIF file. I don't have the exact code on hand, but here how it could work, from a logic standpoint: 1. Split your WINNT.SIF file right at the point where your key is written (without the key itself) and save them as two different files SIF1.txt and SIF2.txt. 2. Call a batch file to ask for the user's key, with a small DOS utility to capture the input as a variable (I use INPUT.COM - do a search). 3. Use DOS command to write the first part, the key variable, and the second part into a SIF file, then call WINNT with the path to the SIF file. Good luck, JP

Bump again - I'm sorry but hopefully someone has run across this issue. If I don't get a response, I'll assume nobody knows how to do it. I'll update the thread if there's anything else I find out. JP

Actual DOS, yes. Like Win98 Boot Disk DOS. How about it - have you created a DOS version?

This is nice, but I need to do something like this in DOS. Any ideas? JP

OK, Ryan, I see that the 5.0 Service Pack 2 package is on your site (http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/). Any comments on changes in this release? Thanks, JP

You can use the simple script for post-SP2 hotfixes I detail here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=39465&hl= JP