NOTS3W

I hope this hasn't been addressed in any obvious place I just couldn't find. How do I get two hard drives on a Virtual PC machine so that a new install of XP sees them both? I'm testing an nLite unattended XP compilation in Virtual PC 2007. It works fine with a single 5GB virtual hard drive. For my next feat , I want to create a second 1GB hard drive for the VPC, save some files there (as they would be on the second drive of a two-drive real machine), install XP on the first drive again and in the final stages of the unattended installation, copy certain files from the D (second hard) drive to the C (first hard) drive. I think I know how to make that happen with GuiRunOnce, the problem is with the second drive. VCP allows me to set up up to four three hard drives, and in the settings for my test machine, it lists two drives. But Windows XP only sees the drive it installed itself on. The D drive in the virtual machine is the virtual CD drive where the unattended ISO is mounted. Is this not possible to do? Will I have any more success with VirtualBox? I don't want to buy VM Ware just to do something that Virtual PC should be capable of. Thanks. Ray

Read this: http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPo...7&SiteID=25 I don't see how using a tool to help you install a legitimate copy of Windows violates anything. Although many large corporations, my employer among them, refuse to use shareware or freeware that does not have a legal EULA specifically permitting the software's use in a corporate environment. Not saying it can't be used isn't enough for corporate lawyers. They insist on seeing something that says it CAN be used that way. Short of that, they'd rather pay for a commercially available product than risk an audit and fines. Our company routinely runs Tivoli scans on all systems from time to time looking for software for which we do not have an EULA on file. I'm not saying I agree with it, but many larger businesses do adopt that position. Smaller businesses are probably less likely targets of software audits. Hope that helps.

Nuhi, Here are the tweaks that didn't take: No small icons on Start Menu No Quick Launch (actually, I think default is no Quick Launch and nLite doesn't provide for turning it on) No display contents of system folders Links is not removed from IE Favorites Marketplace is not removed from IE Favorites Network Connections appear as link on Start Menu (told nLite to not display it) Printers and Faxes appear as link on Start Menu (told nLite to not display it) I built a new clean ISO this morning and let it install while I was at work. I did include the IE7 Addon. Could that change the IE things back after nLite first removes them? My experience with the original disk was that if I start with the pre-SP1 CD and DON'T slipstream anything, it works fine. Kinda pointless since I end up right back where I started, though, with a pre-SP1 installation. If I slipstream SP1 onto the disk, nLite sees the hotfixes, removes them, and appears to run fine through the ISO. But the installation fails saying that VGA.SYS is corrupted. If I start over and slipstream SP2, usbehci.sys is corrupted. I tried several times with new copies of SP1 and SP2 but no go. Once I got the new CD with SP2 already applied, I haven't bothered with the original disk. All is well, except as noted above. These are all Dell CDs. As much as I hate to accept defeat, I have to believe that there's SOMETHING about the Dell CD that nLite/SP1/SP2 isn't compatible with. (FWIW, AutoStreamer wouldn't even recognize that the original disk had an OS on it. nLite did better than that.) If you want me to slipstream SP2 onto the original disk's files and send you something out of the compilation, let me know. Thanks. And thanks for a very useful nLite. Ray

I encountered corrupt files everytime I tried to slipstream a Dell pre-SP1 Reinstallation disk. Usually, nLite would claim to remove the existing hotfixes (there were a few) and reported successfully slipstreaming everything else (SP2, updates, tweaks) but the installation would always fail on a corrupted usbehci.sys file. I tried slipstreaming just SP1 and the installation failed on a corrupted vga.sys. I was determined to figure out the problem until I discovered that Dell would send me a replacement disk which arrived in one day with SP2 already integrated. Since then, it's been smooth sailing although I still have other issues with tweaks that don't take. If you are using an OEM disk, you might try a retail disk or get a replacement that might work better. Just my 2 cents. Ray

I'm using nLite 1.3 and testing in Virtual PC 2007. Dell XP Home. After setting a number of tweaks in nLite, I see several things that aren't as expected after installation in VPC. Others appear to be the way I requested. The question is, how to know what did and what did not work and if I should just skip the nLite tweaks and do everything with cmdlines.txt. Small icons on the start menu - still getting regular sized icons but can change it after install. Disable links creation in IE Favorites - still there. Did not turn off Automatic Updates - it's off. Requested Command Prompt on context menu - no dice. I also don't get a quick launch bar and don't THINK I turned off anything to disable it, but again, I can set it manually after the installation. There may be others I just haven't run across yet. So far everything else looks okay (remove user name, remove logoff option, etc.). There are some other things I'd like to do but nLite doesn't have options for (placement of the Recycle Bin, for example). Some or all of this I could set through cmdlines.txt. Is that the recommended approach? I prefer using nLite because it's all there on the screen and the other methods are more complicated and prone to fat finger errors. How do you deal with tweaks? All outside of nLite or some here, some there? Thanks. Ray

I posted in another thread that my slipstreamed CD was looping through reboots after installation. I found a problem with my original CD file set but now I have another problem. PROBLEM At the start of the installation, I get an error message that USBEHCI.SYS is corrupted. The installation stops there. WHAT I'VE LEARNED AND DONE SO FAR My original files are from a Dell Reinstallation (not upgrade or restore) CD, Home Edition, part number 3R350, version 5.1.2600.0. I can use those files to create an ISO without slipstreaming a service pack and it works perfectly. My Computer ~ Properties reports Windows XP, 2002 version with no mention of a service pack although the original files do include a SVCPACK folder which contains 13 hotfixes. I've downloaded the SP2 file several times, so I seriously doubt there's anything wrong with it. As described elsewhere, I've tried the method of deleting SVCPACK.* files and SVCPACK folder from I386 on the originals then manually slipstreaming SP2 into what's left. nLite does exactly the same thing (after allowing nLite to remove the previous hotfixes) with one exception: The manual process has you delete DEPLOY.CAB from the original files then replace it with WindowsXP-KB838080-SP2-DeployTools-ENU.cab, renaming it back to DEPLOY.CAB. nLite retains the original DEPLOY.CAB file. I don't know if that's significant or not. Both procedures report successful slipstreaming. The file USBEHCI.SY_ is added by both nLite and the manual process. It doesn't exist in the original file set so it must be part of the SP2 integration. It doesn't make sense that it's a problem with the original files. If I delete the file as a test, the installation returns an error message that the file is missing (then aborts) so something is looking for it. The original Dell installation routine must not be looking for the USBEHCI file or it wouldn't ever run since the file doesn't exist on the CD. So SP2 must include its own installer that knows about USBEHCI but it would seem that the new installer from Micosoft would either work with the USBEHCI file or not, regardless of what original files are present. Am I missing something? I've used nLite's Bootable ISO feature to make all ISOs, so far. It could be a problem with nLite's ISO program but then wouldn't we all have trouble with corrupted USBEHCI files? FINALLY, THE QUESTION(S) If the files on the Dell CD can be used to make an ISO that boots up successfully to a pre-SP1 version of Windows, what can possibly be so unique about those files to make them incompatible with SP2 files that didn't even exist when the CD was made by Dell? I've read a lot about failures slipstreaming SP2 into Dell CDs. Others report success using the manual or nLite procedures without mentioning any extra steps that led to their successes. I suspect they have a different Dell CD. The only thread returned on MSFN for a search of "Dell slipstream" is one that was closed a year ago by a moderator saying that "The topic of Dell OEM slipstreaming has been answered before." Uh, where? Has anyone successfully slipstreamed a Dell CD, in particular a 3R350 CD? If so, would you be willing to share a directory listing of the files so I can see what makes it different from mine? Thanks for your patience. Ray

In my continuing attempt to create a slipstreamed CD, I discovered today that I can successfully install directly from the Dell Reinstallation CD to my VM (Virtual PC). So I know the original files are good. When I use nLite to create a CD of just the original Reinstallation files (no SP2, no addons, no unattended changes), the install hangs at the Windows logo before the final configuration steps. It appears there is something different between the original Reinstallation CD and the nLite CD although the files appear to be the same. Is there something that nLite does to the files even if I don't select any options? I'm thinking that if I can't get a basic pre-SP2 CD out of nLite, there's no need to go any further with SP2, addons, etc. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Ray

I give up. I've researched nLite and slipstreaming for days, read all the guides and many threads but I don't see anything that helps my situation. I'm using XP Home, Dell Reinstallation disk, SP2, RyanVM's April update pack, and testing with an ISO in Virtual PC. No other addons. I'm trying to make a new install for the same computer I'm building it on. Everything's legal. nLite and the ISO seem to work fine and the Windows installation completes as expected until the final reboot. I see the XP logo, then get a blank black screen for a few seconds, then the VM reboots and we start from the XP logo again. No error messages. It just keep cycling. This first happened with no drivers added. The latest attempt was with video and network drivers from the Dell drivers CD. Same cycling. The chipset drivers are supposed to be installed after Windows is running according to the driver CD. Am I supposed to somehow insert the driver installation into the nLite ISO? There's no inf file, just a ton of .cat files, a couple .cab files and some executables. I don't think this is a VPC problem since VirtualBox does the exact same thing. When this has been discussed before, it's usually been a driver issue. But I think I've added all the drivers I need to add and still haven't seen a desktop. Are there other drivers I should be including? If I let it keep cycling (I've watched it go through three or four reboots) will it ever finish the installation? I'm only glad that I'm testing this first because if it happened on a real reinstall, I'd be dead in the water right now. I'm sorry if I sound like a complete noob, which I am to this process. I've tried to research this myself but just can't find the answers. A little help is needed at this point. Thanks. Ray