fiberglasscivic

You are so full of useful information that it's not funny. I'll read up more on the links you posted and browse through the forums a while more and see what I can turn up on using a PE to install WinXP. Looks like that will be my best bet and probably the most successful. I'll keep posting what I find here.

I tried using the gtldr to load the setupldr.bin file from the i386 folder. It actually started the setup process but couldn't find txtsetup.sif. I checked to verify that it was in the i386 directory and it was so I don't know what's causing the problem. It may be that I'm trying to boot from an NTFS partition. I noticed that spacesurfer had a problem with that message appearing when trying to load from a USB HDD. I'll do some research on it and see what's causing the problem. Thx for the link. Lots of helpful information.

I have the setup files on a 1G Flash Drive. My primary PC doesn't have USB 2.0 slots, just 1.1 and my desktop is incredibly slow. Transfer of large files or large numbers of files to the flash drive takes forever. Thanks for the info on the XP Setup From USB threads. I'll continue reading everything and will consider it an option. I'm going to have to look up info on multi-booting XP if I want to create a recovery partition on the laptop. My first attempts to create an install startup using boot.ini failed. I already re-installed XP on the laptop by installing from the working partition to the non working partition. The biggest problem I had was trying to get the setup files to stay on the D: drive instead of the C: drive. I got it to work before all was said and done. XP is now only installed on the C: drive, as clean as I could get it (was never able to format the drive) but the person using the laptop fowled it up again so I'll be re-installing XP on it soon.

I've got a Sony Viao that won't read any CD's. I'm trying to re-install XP and want to know if I can start the install from the HD if I copy the setup files to a directory on a separate partition from the one I want to install to. If possible, can I add a listing to the boot.ini file that will allow me to start the install?

I've noticed that in the last couple of months, the option to add/remove the Internet Explorer Icon to the desktop via the Customize Desktop button on the Desktop Tab in the Display Properties. This option only dissappears after updating via Microsoft/Windows Update. Does anyone know what Hotfix changes this and why it was so important to remove that option and is there anything I can do to put that option back.

I tried the new disk today. Everything seems to be working ok. Here's what I've done so far. Started with Windows XP Professional Slipstreamed with SP1 Removed all files and folders except the I386 folder, win51, win51ip, and win51ip.sp1 files. Nothing was removed from the I386 folder. Integrated SP3 RC using /integrate. Removed all files and folders except the I386 folder, win51, win51ip, win51ip.sp1, and the win51ip.sp3 files. Nothing was removed from the I386 folder or any subfolders. I added winnt.sif to I386. My winnt.sif file looks like this ;SetupMgrTag [Data] AutoPartition=0 MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="Yes" AutomaticUpdates=yes [Unattended] UnattendMode=FullUnattended OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=No TargetPath=\WINDOWS FileSystem=* UnattendSwitch="yes" WaitForReboot="No" [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword="password" EncryptedAdminPassword=NO OEMSkipRegional=1 TimeZone=35 OemSkipWelcome=1 [UserData] ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX FullName="Eric Styler" OrgName="Nonya" ComputerName=Eric's PC [Display] BitsPerPel=32 Xresolution=1280 YResolution=1024 Vrefresh=60 [RegionalSettings] LanguageGroup=1 Language=00000409 [Identification] JoinWorkgroup=EricsGroup [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=Yes Unattended install finished correctly with no errors. I was able to login and start working. I've had several problems with the explorer crashing, and the DrWatson Postmortem debugger crashing. Had a problem with and older IE7 installer not working. Downloaded a newer version and everything installed correctly. I'm not sure but I think my explorer crashes might be hardware related. I'm trying a "new to me" video card. It's an SiS 315-64 chipset. The card is made by EliteGroup. It's causing my computer to hang during POST unless you enter the BIOS and do a soft reboot. I'm going to test a couple of different cards and find out if that's actually my problem. EDIT: Also, I've noticed that I no longer have the option to put the Internet Explorer Icon on my desktop from the Display settings. I noticed this problem with SP2 as well and have attributed it to an issue with an update. Is this something worth noting? I'm going to try to customize the install with modified boot screens, billboards, welcome screens, and an $OEM$ folder. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

I'm setting up a Windows XP Professional install, the lowest form of the install I have is slipstreamed with SP1 and that's what I've been using. For all but the last 2 disks I made with SP3, I had removed the DOCS, DOTNETFX, VALUEADD, cmpnents, and SUPPORT folders as well as the manual upgrade files. Using the same setup files I have successfully completed a SP2 unattended disk with no errors and have been able to customize several aspects of the install (billboards, boot screen, login screen, registry tweaks ect.). I'm getting ready to try a new disk so I'll let you know how it goes.

I have some trouble integrating SP3 RC into my unattended install. Just wondering if anyone has successfully made an SP3 Unattended disk.

Sorry. I didn't catch the multiboot. I was wondering why you were going to such lengths for what I thought was a simple fix.

Thanks guys! A little hope at the end of the tunnel. I'll give those a try and let you know how it goes.

I need this to work with multiple users thus the need for a transparancy.

Yes. I have had no success finding information to help resolve this problem.

I didn't see a port turned off in the BIOS when I first noticed the second port wasn't shown in the device manager, but I'll check again.

I have a Gateway G6-350. PII 350MHz, 448MB RAM. I recently updated this to XP Pro and lost support for my second COM port. The original MB has 2 serial ports and a parallel port. Only one of the serial ports shows up in my device manager. Is there any way to fix this problem and would I be able to use both ports at the same time if it can be fixed?

My TCPIP.sys file was patched by nLite. Bitcomet doesn't recognize the file and doesn't show the number of half open connections. Ever since my most recent install, I haven't been able to download anything with bitcomet. Where can I get the original TCPIP.sys file and which directories do I need to put it in. I'm sure there's more than 1.

Here's kind of what I'm trying to do (edited with PhotoShop).

I've attached a picture of what my logon currently looks like. I want to remove the color that shows up behind each user. Is there any way to make that color transparent. I've tried reducing the picture that LogonStudio uses to 1x1, using a full sized 'transparent' picture, using the Windows standard transparency color (ff00ff). With every attempt I'm still left with the grey/black looking background. I would appriciate any help. Thanks.

Did a search to see if anyone else has attempted this, I want to re-arrange the Start Menu Right side column. I hate how M$ thinks that the My Documents folder is more important than My Computer. I want to put the My Computer icon at the top followed by My Network Places, My Documents, My Music, and My Pictures (respectively). Also, is there any way to change the default size of the user pic to make it a little wider?

Exactly Jcarle! If the Shutdown Event Tracker was supposed to be an easter egg, it would be the most boring one I have ever seen. I know this may not be as cool as the Win98 Development Team Egg but it's there.

He, thank you, and yes that is exactly what I was talking about. By definition, that classifies as an easter egg. It may not have been placed there so that someone could do a key command followed by a few mouse clicks and viola!, there it is, but there are tons of other things that the Microsoft team could have put there as a place holder that wouldn't have been as comical or as pleasing to someone who happened across it. That specific choice of dialog, is a great find for anyone who would be thumbing through dll resources trying to hack their way to a more custom windows experience. Personally I though it was funny.

I like doing things the hard way. That's why I haven't used NLite yet. It's more fun to actually know what goes on behind the sceens.

Is that information included in the unattended.msfn.org guide?

found this on www. eeggs .com. If you use a resource editor to view msgina.dll, you will find this little tidbit in the dialog section, resource number 2210. Does anyone know how to actually bring this up?

I've learned a lot so far about creating the unattended setup disk. I don't believe that I will have any problems creating a non customized disk. I have successfully slipstreamed SP2 and all hotfixes available to date into my setup. I have modified the winntbbu.dll file to change the billboards and the look of the GUI portion of the setup. I have modified my logonui.exe file for a custom logon screen. My first few attempts were successful in creating a mostly unattended setup, I encountered a few errors that didn't stop the setup from completing but required the user to interact. The first error I encountered was the windows setup recognizing the modified logonui.exe file. The second problem was my $OEM$ folder not being copied during the installation (thus my users wern't setup, custom settings wern't applied ect.). I modified the layout.inf file to correct the copied file size for logonui.exe and found out that I had forgot to change the OEMPREINSTALL to YES in my winnt.sif file. I changed both of those and then encountered 2 new errors. Windows Setup recognized my winntbbu.dll file as modified, and then encountered a fatal error when starting the GUI portion of the setup with the error 800b0100. I've read a lot on this error as well as problems with modifing the layout.inf file. Several other threads mentioned that the syssetup.dll file could caues this error and that attempting to re-install should help resolve the issue. I can't afford to attempt multiple re-installs if the setup fails and my poor Pentium II can't handle a Virtual PC. My real questions are, do I receive this error because I moddified the layout.inf file and where can I find information to help me keep from getting the "file was copied incorrectly" error during WXP setup when Windows recognizes a modified file without modifing the layout.inf file? Thanks for you time and expertise!