ChrisBaksa

Also... If you are using PE 2004 or 2005.... Disable the Firewall. I have heard of some weird things happening when it is enabled. Are you uisng an custom DLL librarys? Are they registered? Do you have VB Runtimes added to he the styetm32 Directory? Use Dependency walker to show you what dll's and exe's are associated with the file you are trying to run. Make sure you use F7 to run it and get the entire picture. Chris

2005 was the first version to support the RAM Disk boot (PXE boot) 2004 had that feature removed early last year while still in development. I've been using 2005 about a month and a half now. The first beta's were buggy. But RC1 looks pretty good. What people have to understand is that PE is not an OS for the everyday user. Granted people play and try to make it so... But it's intention was for OEM's and 3rd party product development. It was never ment to have a full suite of apps running under it. PE is a "Means to an end". Not a portable XP replacement. The most common use of PE other than 3rd party Application developement is as a DOS replacement for OS deployment in corporate environments. Here is where you find the serious integrations of PE. It;s not so much the Features of PE. But the functionality. You only get what is necessary to function under the guidelins of what PE was ment for anything else is a hack. Chris

Did you add the OPTIONAL Components? HTA will not work unless you have added these components. On your WinPE OPK cd go to the WINPE dir and run the "wscript BUILDOPTIONALCOMPONENTS.VBS /H" Chris

Network speed. Make sure your network speed is set properly. Auto settings can sometimes increase the imaging tims. Chris

Symantec's "LIVE STATE RECOVERY" product (V2i replacement) has PC Anywhere built in to the recovery CD. As long as you own a copy of pcAnywhere, you can connect to the Host on their WINPE CD. Based on this... It is possible. Chris

Suggestions... Copy your vbscript to the RAM disk first and run it from there. This way the scrit file is not lost. Use the INRAM switch on your PE build. Chris

To my knowledge you can't. Chris or Mike would know better though. Depending on what you are trying to do... There are several ways of doing this. The command WSCRIPT.ECHO "TEXT STRING" will display a box with "TEXT STRING" and an OK butotn. This will pause the script untill the user clicks the OK button. The command is WSCRIPT.SLEEP <value> will pause for the duration of the value and then continue the script. No input required. Example..... WSCRIPT.SLEEP 5000 pauses for 5 seconds then continue. Chris

I used to hard code it based on the servers I support. But that got ugly. Now we use a custom application that breaks out all that information and writes it to a reg key in PE. HKLM\SOFTWARE\MYDATEA\Adapter 1 - All the values I need HKLM\SOFTWARE\MYDATEA\Adapter 2 - All the values I need HKLM\SOFTWARE\MYDATEA\Adapter 3 - All the values I need I just read the key i need. Chris

I use one that we wrote internally as well (sick options and functionality) but corporate guidelines prohibit the distribution of the app. Chris

PE has a 5300 driver in the OS by default. You must modify the txtsetup.sif file and include the new PNP values as well as replace the driver files that already exist before you burn your new image. The winpeoem.sif method is for mass controller drivers that do not exist at all. As an example... Here is the chunk I modified in my txtsetup.sif to see the new controllers. PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_B178&SUBSYS_40820E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_B178&SUBSYS_40830E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_B178&SUBSYS_40800E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_B178&SUBSYS_40830E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_0046&SUBSYS_409A0E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_0046&SUBSYS_409B0E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_0046&SUBSYS_409C0E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_0046&SUBSYS_40910E11 = "cpqcissm" PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_0046&SUBSYS_409D0E11 = "cpqcissm" Without it.. you will never see a 6400 or 6i controller even if you replace the driver files. Chris

I do this all the time. My build is image based. Question... How do you run a chkdsk on a volume that PE can't see? Chris

How is your network set up? You may need to talk to your network group to find this out. Auto in my environment will kill performance because the switches are hard coded to 100 Full. I have to physically set the adapter to 100 Full. Images that take 8 minutes to deploy at 100 full will take 30 or more at Auto. Chris

Once the image is deployed or in your case re-sized... You must mount it to PE using the diskpart commands Example: PQI Deploy TXT Scripts: --- Resize to a fixed size partition in Gigs. ---- // Restore Location SELECT DISK 1 SELECT FREESPACE FIRST // Restore Options SET IMAGE FILENAME %Image% SELECT IMAGE ALL RESIZE IMAGE %size%000 RESTORE --- OR --- --- Extend to the entire size of the volume ---- // Restore Location SELECT DISK 1 SELECT FREESPACE FIRST // Restore Options SET IMAGE FILENAME %Image% SELECT IMAGE ALL RESIZE IMAGE MAX RESTORE Once you get your image down... You must now mount it wi8th Diskpart so PE can address it. Diskpart TXT Script: Select Disk 0 Select Partition 1 Assign Hope this helps Chris

Mr. bouchard is a great guy. We chat ocassionaly. Remove all un needed drivers to speed up the boot time. You can speed up the entire process but scrapping the unattend setup and using imaging. Takes half the time if done correctly. Also remove the fonts that are not used. You can carve 30 to 50 megs off the CD image by stripping it down as best you can. Here is a start... del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\angsaz.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\artrbdo.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\artro.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browa.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browab.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browai.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browau.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browaub.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browaui.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browauz.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\browaz.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\comic.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\comicbd.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordia.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordiab.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordiai.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordiau.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordiaub.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordiaui.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordiauz.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\cordiaz.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\david.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\davidbd.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\davidtr.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\estre.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\frank.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\gautami.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\georgia.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\georgiab.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\georgiai.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\georgiaz.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\impact.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\latha.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\mriam.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\mriamc.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\mriamfx.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\mriamtr.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\mvboli.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\nrkis.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\pala.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\palab.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\palabi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\palai.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\raavi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\rod.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\rodtr.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\shruti.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\simpbdo.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\simpfxo.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\simpo.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\trebuc.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\trebucbd.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\trebucbi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\trebucit.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\tunga.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcdb.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcdbi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcdi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcdl.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upceb.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcebi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcei.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcel.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcfb.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcfbi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcfi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcfl.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcib.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcibi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcii.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcil.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcjb.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcjbi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcji.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcjl.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upckb.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upckbi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcki.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upckl.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upclb.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upclbi.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcli.ttf del pecd.root\I386\Fonts\upcll.ttf del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\afcnt.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\cpqfcalm.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\lp6nds35.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\ql1080.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\ql12160.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\ql1240.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\ql1280.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\ql2100.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\ql2200.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\ql2300.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\rasacd.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\raspppoe.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\raspptp.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\rawwan.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\rocket.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\rootmdm.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\sonydcam.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\speed.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\stlnata.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\sx.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\tbatm155.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\tos4mo.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\tsbvcap.sys del pecd.root\I386\system32\drivers\wanarp.sys Chris

Driverinst is not really needed. It only copies files to the proper directories. PE 2005 (origionally know as PE 1.6) work almost identical to 2004. I have found a few issues with it so far... But thats why it is beta. The PXE boot from Ram Disk is awsome. There are some memory limitations. I am trying to find out what they are. Ex... running winnt32 causes an Out Of Memory Error on a server with 2 gigs of ram. Chris

Ver 2005 in on the beta sight. downloaded it last night. woo woo!

I think that you've got the versions confused (or I'm reading this wrong): -Version 2004 is Windows PE built from XPSP2, and it's also known as 1.5 -Version 2005 is Windows PE built from Server Sp1, AKA 1.6 -Version 2004 will only build against XP SP2 and Server "gold" releases -Version 2005 will only build against Server sp1 and XP SP2 According to the Docs in 2004... Version 2005 will only build against Server sp1. NOT XP SP2. But Hey... this is MS we are talking about. Untill it's released.. all bets are off! 1.6 (2005) still has not been posted to the Beta site. I'm getting aggravated! Chris

The Powerquest (now symantec) PQI Deploy Toolkit has a tool that will do it. If you are doing Xp, then Ghost is fine. But if you are doing servers... you'll need adifferent tool. Ghost is not supported on servers. Chris

Correct... But that means getting your hands on a Product that does not yet exist. You will need PE 1.6 (most likely being renamed to PE 2005) and Win2k3 SP1. Chris

Sorry.. you were misinformed. 1.5 (renamed PE 2004) does not support this feature. The next version which will work with Windows 2003 Server Sp1 will support this. I've been waiting for this version now for 4 months now! XP Sp2 Was the reason it is so late being delivered. Chris

INF files in the I386\INF directory SYS files in the I386\System32\Drivers directory All other files in the I386\System32 directory CAT file is not needed. Chris

Not yet... The next release of PE (1.6) will allow this. Unless you use RIS, you cannot PXE boot an ISO image. RIS has serious limitations and downfalls. Chris

1.5 is out. It's been renamed to PE 2004. It is only buildable with Windows XP SP2 (according to the build chart) I guess it's been out for about a month now. Chris

Don't give up. I ran into the same problem. I have 17 servers to support (Old Compaq <with system partitions> , HP and IBM). I made it work. Takes a bit of legwork, but it is possible. I have 3 master images on the network that do it all. One for Standard Edition, one for Enterprise Edition and one for Web Edition. I even scripted the creation and sysprep of the images! Getting this out of the way has staged me for PXE as soon as MS releases ver 1.6. Seriously.. Call me when you have some free time and we can chat about it. Chris

I do it all the time. I pull a network image using PQIDeploy and slam it to the Hard Drive. I then mount that new volume using Disk Part to a useable Drive volume under PE (drive C:). After which I copy all my drivers to the new volume. Works like a charm. The VB code alone to manage creating, deployng and mounting volumes is over 500 lines. Mike... Call me if you need help on this. Chris