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daladim

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  1. Ok, I have compiled the beginnings of my backup.bat file. This only creates the folders I need, and moves the specified files to the created folders. @CMDOW @ /HID>NUL 2>&1||@ECHO OFF SETLOCAL SET "RPF=%Root%\Program Files" SET "RBP=%Root%\Backup\Program Files" SET "RDS=%Root%\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile" SET "RBD=%Root%\Backup\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile" md c:\Backup\"Program Files"\Winamp\plugins md c:\Backup\"Program Files"\CCleaner md c:\Backup\"Program Files"\PeerGuardian2 md c:\Backup\"Documents and Settings"\Administrator\"Application Data"\Opera\Opera\profile COPY "%RPF%\Winamp\Winamp.ini" "%RBP%\Winamp\" COPY "%RPF%\Winamp\Winamp.bm" "%RBP%\Winamp\" COPY "%RPF%\Winamp\install.ini" "%RBP%\Winamp\" COPY "%RPF%\Winamp\plugins\gen_ml.ini" "%RBP%\Winamp\plugins\" XCOPY "%RPF%\Winamp\plugins\ml" "%RBP%\Winamp\plugins\ml\" /q /i /s /k /c /y /h COPY "%RPF%\Ccleaner\Ccleaner.ini" "%RBP%\Ccleaner\" COPY "%RPF%\PeerGuardian2\pg2.conf" "%RBP%\PeerGuardian2\" COPY "%RDS%\Opera6.ini" "%RBD%\Opera6.ini" cls exit this code works, and does exactly what I want it to do, but I still can't figure out how to execute winrar from within this batch file to silently archive these folders into an sfx file. I will keep looking for answers, but would still like to hear your ideas.
  2. Ok, I have done some research on my own, and found a bit of stuff. I have learned how to make folders, and have made a test.bat file to see what it does. It works fine in the creation of the folder structure. I already know how to use Xcopy and copy, in a batch file, so I will be incorporating this into the test.bat. Now, my real hang up is getting winrar to do what I want it to, from within the batch file. I found this command online earlier: "C:\Program Files\WinRAR\RAR.exe" a -esh -m5 -mt2 -r -s -t "Backup.exe" @"files_to_include.txt" -x@"files_to_exclude.txt" pause But, I have no clue what all this means. I guess I shouldn't say no clue, because I know that most of it is a string of switches that tells winrar what to do. I also get the basic idea of what it all means. What I have no clue about, is the structure. How do I modify this string, to get winrar to do what I want it to do? Maybe I need to explain my needs a little deeper here. What I want winrar to do, is make an sfx archive of the previously created folders, that will extract to the proper place when executed. My created folder structure would resemble the root of the C drive, in that within the folder named Backup, there would be the Documents and Settings folder, and the Program Files folder. I want to just archive these folders and all their contents, into an sfx archive, that will extract to the C prompt, overwriting all existing files. I know that the switch to make winrar create an sfx archive is, -sfx. But beyond that, I have no idea how to incorporate that into the above command line, or how to put it all into the batch to make it work correctly. Any ideas on this?
  3. Thank you very much for your reply. However, the NTBackup utility does not seem to be what I am looking for. If I understand it correctly, it only deals with Windows settings and files, and I want something that does the settings for third party software, like I stated above. I would like to do exactly what it is I specified, and still have found very little relavent info on the subject. I will continue looking, but if there is anyone here that knows how to write batch files, please help if you can.
  4. I addeded my own defult them by going into the i386 folder, and modifying the WINNT.SIF file. I aded the following line: [shell] CustomDefaultThemeFile = "%WinDir%\Resources\Themes\Classic l Blue.theme" This theme is copied over from the disc, and is located at %CDROM%\$OEM$\$$\Resources\Themes The theme file is usually located at C:\Windows\Resources\Themes, and can be copied over to it's proper place on the disc. Of course, I had to set the theme up the way I wanted it first, and placed all of the needed files in their proper place within the %CDROM%\$OEM$\$$\ folder. My cursors>%CDROM%\$OEM$\$$\Cursors My screensaver>%CDROM%\$OEM$\$$\system32 My wallpapers>%CDROM%\$OEM$\$$\Web\Wallpaper This will copy everything over to the proper place within the C:\Windows folder, and allow the theme to work properly when set as default. The result of this is a complete them replacement for the default Windows XP install.
  5. I just had a sudden idea, and because of the impulsive person I am, I decided to ask a question before doing research. Of course, I will be doing the research also, but if there is anyone that can give me a hand with this, it would be great. So, here's my idea: I use certain programs that save personal settings in a file, like an .inf file or some such thing. Winamp and Opera are the two main ones, but I think HideIP and PeerGaurdian may be in there too... And probably many others. Anyway, I was thinking about WinAmp and my media library, and how the library is saved as a file. My library is large, and it takes around fifteen minutes for it to scan and load everything. I got to thinking, it would be great to make a small utility that backs up all these settings, and saves them as an .exe file, allowing me to just click it and load everything back up onto a fresh system. This way, if I need to re-install everything, my settings will be saved, and I can just click one file afterwards to have all of it back, saving me the trouble of setting everything up again. And if I can do that, I could easily put this file on my unattended disc to run automatically. I know a bit about batch files, and how to use WinRAR to create executable files. I know there is a way to do this, but I am rather unfamiliar with the structure and commands available within the batch itself. I know that I can use a command like XCOPY, or COPY, to copy from one directory to another. I don't know how to create folders, or how to execute WinRAR from within a batch to archive the created folder into a self extractable archive. To give you an example of what I want to do: File A is located at C:\program files\Program A\A.inf I want to create a folder called Settings and place it at the C prompt (C:\) Within that folder, I want a series of folders to match the original path of File A [C:\Settings\(program files\Program A)] I then want to copy File A over to the new folder (C:\Settings\program files\Program A\) After this, I want to execute WinRAR to create a self extracting archive, with the path C:\, and make it completely silent, and overwrite existing files I know I need a batch file for this, and I think I can put that file, or a series of files within a self extracting archive, and make a small backup utility for all my settings. Does anyone have any ideas on how such a batch file should look, or if there is an easier way to do this? If this has already been thought of, or done, could you possibly point me in the direction of that information? Any help would be very much appreciated. Peace
  6. Alright, maybe I was wrong about not needing that "/VIS" switch. I just got finished installing the OS again, and it seems the STartXP.cmd is still not getting deleted correctly. This is with both the /F, and /A switches in the last string of the command, so it looks like this: DEL /F /A %0 It appears that what is happening is that once the cleanup.cmd is called, StartXP.cmd closes completely, thus not allowing it to delete itself. And I'm not sure I understand where I am supposed to place the /VIS switch, either. Could you maybe explain this for me? As in where do I place the switch, and how exactly do I use it? I have run a search for info on MSFN about this switch, but it doesn't appear to have been very helpful. The only thing I could gather was that it needs to be used in conjunction with CMDOW, so it looks like this: CMDOW @ /VIS But where do I place it, if this is in fact the command you speak of? Thanks again for all your help yzowl. Peace
  7. Thank you for the suggestion, yzowl, But I honestly don't see a need for it. After the cleanup.cmd, it is just confirmation through StartXP.cmd that windows is rebooting, but the shutdown window pops up and gives the same notification, so I think the rest is unnessessary. I will keep your suggestion in mind though. "/VIS" is another switch I have not heard of yet, so it could come in handy in the future. Peace
  8. All right, I just ran a quick test. I deleted all but the relevent code from the StartXP.cmd, and added the switches you suggested. I then placed the file in it startup folder, and ran it. It works great. Thanks for all the help man, yer my new hero! LOL!! I'm gonna place this file on the disc, and I'll run another test tomorrow, but I have no doubt that this will work. I think all I got left to do is make some thems for windows, and throw them in with some wallpapers, and I should be finished. That is, with the exception of the ntuser.dat file I just learned about today. I want to learn more about this file, and findout how I can get it copied over to the system. It seems like it would need to be copied when I'm logged out, but could I do that at the T-12 during install? Hmmm, just thinking to myself here. I'll do some more research on that one. Thanks a TON yzowl!! You are the greatest Peace
  9. OK, so due to the call command, I can't just move the deleting of the startXP.cmd and the reboot sequence to the cleanup.cmd, correct? And I should try to change the DEL $0, to DEL f/ %0, or even DEL f/ a/ %0, right? The f/ switch forces, but what is the a/ for? The call command seems to work all right, it just doesn't show the original window again. The original window closes when cleanup starts, and after cleanup is finished, I get a little popup that informs me that windows will reboot in 15 seconds. So this all works fine, it's just that StartXP doesn't do the little printout about rebooting. About the noreboot.exe. You say I should leave the qoutes in the code? But it is ok to delete the /WAIT command, correct? I tried it by deleting the "" /WAIT out of the code and it worked fine, but if it doesn't effect the code to have the "" in there, I can easily leave it there. As for the Virtual machine, I have two different softwares for that purpose, but out of the three PC's I'm currently running, only one could possibly handle running it. And I don't want to install it on that one, because it's my laptop, and I would like to keep it pretty minimal on installed software. I did try virtual machine on the Pc I use for internet, it's a 1.4 gig with 512 mb of ram, but it was slower than the antique I'm currently using. So for now I think I'm just going to keep doing it this way. Not that I don't understand the virtues of a virtual machine, it's a great tool to have, it's just that at the moment I'm somewhat limited on powerful PC's I will run a quick test with the switches you recommend, and let you know if it works. Thanks again man, you really are a great help. Peace
  10. I looked through the files you uploaded, yzowl, and I made the nessessary adjustments. I un-qouted the folders I wanted deleted, and I moved the xcopy to a space after the link moves and folder delete codes. Then I placed the files in my disc, and installed it to the test box. It has just finished installing(took three and a half hours!). All I got to say is, righteous, simply righteous, man! Thanks! Those files worked very well indeed! It installed everything the way it is supposed to, and called the cleanup.cmd at the end perfectly. I did encounter a few problems however. First off, It seems that I don't need the /Wait command for the noreboot.exe, in the jscript install: ECHO ----------------------------------------------------------------- ECHO. ECHO JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2 [KB917344] ECHO. ECHO ----------------------------------------------------------------- START "" /WAIT %LOCN%\WU\noreboot.exe What happens here, is the install hangs, and I have to kill the noreboot.exe to continue. However, I found that by deleting the stuff between START and %: START %LOCN%\WU\noreboot.exe I can make it install properly. I hope that this is the correct way to do this. The only other problem is that the StartXP.cmd is not deleted at the end of the install, so it starts all over again on reboot. The path it is installed to during the initial OS install is All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. The code in the original .bat file is: ATTRIB -R -A -S -H "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\STARTXP.BAT" DEL "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\STARTXP.BAT" So, how do I incorporate this in the new .cmd file that you wrote? I noticed that the StartXP.cmd window closes, right after it calls the cleanup.cmd, so would it be possible to just have the cleanup.cmd file delete that, and maybe even reboot the PC? then I could eliminate the end of the startxp.cmd string. I don't see this stuff: %MTLINE% ECHO ----------------------- ECHO. ECHO Rebooting in 15 seconds ECHO. ECHO ----------------------- When the cleanup is initiated, so I would think that can be eliminated all together. Can I move this: >NUL PING -n 6 127.0.0.1 SHUTDOWN.EXE -r -f -t 10 -c "Restarting Antisoft NonStep XP one last time..." DEL %0 To the end of my cleanup.cmd? And now that I am looking at it, what does the little "DEL %0" do? Could you maybe explain to me how to go about deleting the StartXP.cmd once all is said and done? Thanks again yzowl, for all your help. Peace [EDIT] If I were to add a line to the Cleanup.cmd, Would it look like this: DEL /F "%ASMP%\Startup\StartXP.cmd" I'm not really sure, because the code is a bit foreign to me, but this is what I think it would look like.
  11. Glad to hear you solved the problem. But for future use, here is my copy of resource hacker for you. I needed to upload it to megauploads, because it's too big for this site. So here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8ZRH8GIM If you want a shortcut in your startmenu, you will need to make one yourself. This isn't an install file, it's the software. you can run it right from the folder it extracts to.
  12. OK, I have encountered one question about the cleanup.cmd that you sent me, yzowl. I'm gonna try something here I haven't tried yet, so bear with me. Attempting to use a codebox Xcopy "%IEQL%" "%PROF%\Default User\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" /q /i /k /c /y COPY "%USMP%\Utilities\Command Prompt.lnk" "%IEQL%\" COPY "%USMP%\Internet\Internet Security\PeerGuardian 2\PeerGuardian.lnk" "%IEQL%\" COPY "%USMP%\Utilities\Tuneup Utilities 2007\Utilities\1-Click Maintenance.lnk" "%IEQL%\" ::RMDIR /Q /S "%IEQL%\Administrative Tools" ::RMDIR /Q /S "%IEQL%\General Tools" ::RMDIR /Q /S "%IEQL%\LiteStep" ::RMDIR /Q /S "%IEQL%\System Tools" ::RMDIR /Q /S "%IEQL%\TuneUp Utilities 2007" ::RMDIR /Q /S "%IEQL%\Unlocker" Seems to have worked. Anyway, my question. My original cleanup was set to create my start menu and quick launch, then copy them over to the default user. From the look of the above string, it appears that you have set the quicklaunch to copy over to default user profile, then add links to the user profile, and delete those odd folders. Can I move the XCOPY of the quick launch to a space after the links are moved, and folders deleted, or does it matter when using code in this manner? I would assume that lines are still executed in the order in which they appear, so it should be nessessary to have the quick launch copied over afterward. Am I correct in this assumption? This is about as far as I have gotten on the examination, so I will go back to that now. Other than this question, I am understanding the code, and it looks like everything is in order, up to this point. Peace
  13. Thanks again for the quick replies, guys. jbm, I'm not sure, but it seems your suggestion might be a little off. If I remove the start /wait, then wouldn't it move on to the next command, before it is done cleaning up? I would assume this is what your talking about by adjusting the shutdown command line, correct? I may try your suggestion to see if it will work, but Yzowl really went into some detail here, so I think I will turn my attention his way first. Yzowl, I think you may have somewhat confused me in the latter part of your post. First off, your saying that I can just call the cleanup.cmd from it's current location, with the same route I am taking, except without archiving it? This would mean that I can get rid of the command line to delete c:\cleanup.cmd, correct? And I won't need the set CDROm stuff at the beginning either, that makes some sense. The folders in quick launch deal, yeah, I don't understand it, but they are there. It' isn't really nessessary to delete them, as they don't show up in the quick launch, because I am running LiteStep on my install. But I don't want them there, so... From here on out, your kind of shootin' over my head here. Removing the first two lines? The last four lines? I may not be too sure about whether or not I am utilizing the commands properly, but hey, they work! In other words, when I run the cleanup.cmd, it cleans up. I get rid of unwanted links, I move folders and links to where I want them, and I delete all the left over folders. Now, I understand you may be saying that I could do this using less space, and thus give myself a smaller file, but for now this is what I got. Now, I have taken a quick look at the files you uploaded for me, and they are definitely different than mine. I have not seen this way of writing batch files yet, and I thank you for enlightening me. The first one I looked at was the cleanup.cmd. Quick question. Did you write these to match my old .cmd file? It does appear to be the case, and if so, I thank you very much for your time and effort. But could you explain thes files a bit for me, so that I can make the nessessary changes, if any should arise? Specifically, I see that you may have included the lines that you thought were not needed, the ones about folders in the quick launch. I also noticed that you did this, while qouting them out, making them inactive. I would believe that I can just remove the "::" from the beginning of the lines to make them active, correct? Now did you re-organize the code, or did you just leave it in the same order I had it? And do you know if you left anything out? I know you said you did these quickly, and there may be some mistakes, so I will look them over to compare the two. As for the STARTXP.BAT being changed to STARTXP.CMD, does that really matter so much? It works as it is, and I'm not sure I understand your reference to my OS. I know my ID says that I am using XP 64, but I don't know why it says that. I am using 32 bit XP. Is this the difference you are referring to? and if so, am I ok using the .bat, or should I still change it to .cmd? So now, from what I am gathering thus far, I can use the files you uploaded to replace my current files, and I can just place the cleanup.cmd file in my Auto folder. Then my STARTXP.cmd file will call the cleanup.cmd, and it will run straight off of the disc, without the need to copy it over, or delete it afterwards. Am I correct so far? I will be looking over your files more closely after I am done with this post. I will also attempt to use them in my OS, but I would kind of like to be positive about this before I go and test things, as my test box is an antique. It's a 333mhz dell, with 128 mb of ram, so it takes like two hours or more to install this disc. That's a long time to wait to see if everything actually runs right. I hope that I have covered all my questions here, but if not, I'll be back to ask them. Anyway, I'm off to do more testing. Thanks again for your help. Peace
  14. ntuser.dat IS the user's HKCU hive. If you open regedit, select the root HKLM key, and select File > Load Hive and choose an ntuser.dat file, you'll see that registry in folder form. Anything in HKCU for the user is stored in here, everything.
  15. While lgs lfzz is on the right track, there is a bit more to it than what he explained. with replacing the boot screen, you need to take into account whether or not the PC you are installing to is single or dual processor. With a single processor, replacing the ntoskrnl will suffice, but if you have a dual processor, you need to replacer other files too. I cannot go into detail with that aspect, as I have not figured this one out myself. You can use resource hacker to do this, or Boot Editor, both of which I have used with success. If you want the boot screen to appear right off the bat, you will need to use makecab to create a cab file, which has the extension ex_. once this is done, you also will need to fix the checksum. Again, I cannot go into detail on this, but I believe you will need a certain software loaded on your machine in order to do this. Check around on this forum for more info, that's how I found out about it. Once you have fixed the checksum, you should place the ntoskrnl.ex_ in your I386 folder, overwriting the original. This will make it so your new bootscreen shows up immediately. The logon screen is done with a very similar process, though it is a bit easier to do. Open it with resource hacker, and simply replace the bitmap, with your own custom picture. Then you can makecab, and fix the checksum. Place this file in the I386 directory also. Altenatively, if you don't mind not seeing the boot and logon until the first boot after everything is installed, you can take the full files(not cab files) and place them in an sfx archive. Make sure that you have the path correct to install. You can make a folder called windows, place a system32 folde inside of that one, and then place your two files inside of system32. Then you simply zip this windows folder up, and create a self extracting archive, and place it in the folder on the disc that you have your other software in. My software is installed from a folder called auto. Then, when you write your runonce, or install bat, or what ever option you choose, make sure you place a line in it that tells the PC to execute this sfx archive. If you use an Install.bat file, you should put a line that looks something like this: START /WAIT "%CDROM%\AUTO\bootlog.exe" This will tell the PC to look for your archive, and execute it. If you have made the archive correctly, it should extract to the system32 folder in your windows directory. Then, after you reboot, you will see your new screens. To get a very detailed explanation of this process, take a look at the MSFN unattended guide, which is available here: http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/1/ Hope this helps you out a bit Peace
  16. It seems I have encountered more problems with this simple sfx archive. I got it to work quite well actually, by itself. But when I place it in it's proper place on the disc, I cant seem to get it to execute. SO what I did, is took a few screenshots to show what happens, and I am going to upload them, along with my cleanup.exe, and the install.bat file. The install.bat(StartXP.bat) is set to run the Cleanup.exe at the end of the install, just before reboot. After the first screenshot was taken, I executed the cleanup.exe manually by going to it on the disc and clicking it. It ran just fine, and cleaned up everything exactly as programmed, then I rebooted the PC. Then I took a look at the paths, and all the code, just to make sure everything was right. I noticed a small glitch in the code. I had typed "CLeanup.exe" in the Install.bat, instead of "Cleanup.exe". I wouldn't think such an oversight would matter, but hey, there is such a thing as "case" sensitive. So I fixed that, and tried again. This time I got a similar error, but not quite. As you can see, this time it printed out the entire path to the location of StartXP.bat. I don't have a clue why it does this, and that is the problem. As you can see by these two screenshots, the Cleanup.exe does it's job cleaning up. But it won't execute via the Install.bat file like it is supposed to. Here is the StartXP.bat file: And here is the Cleanup.exe: Can somebody please take a look at this stuff and tell me what I am doing wrong here? I would have to say, other than this one little error, my install is flawless. This is the only thing left to figure out. Thanks again for all the help the people on this website have offered me, without you guys, I wouldn't have even gotten this far! Time for bed again Peace
  17. Thanks for the prompt reply, guys. I downloaded the test, and ran it. I also opened it and looked at the sttings. You have it set up exactly the way I was trying it. The only difference I could see is that yours is in .cmd format, and mine was .bat format. So I changed the extension, and what do you know, it works now. I don't know why that would make a difference, and I thought I tried it last nite as a .cmd file too, but maybe not. It was really late and I was tired. So anyway, I got it fixed. I have tested on two different PC's so far, and I am going to try the third right now. Thanks again guy, this was driving me nuts last night! Peace
  18. Hi all. I am having some problems with a seemingly simple file. It started out as a cleanup.cmd file, but would not run for me. I could not get it to execute by itself during the install. I had decided to place the cleanup code in with my install.cmd, which is run on initial startup through the all users\startup folder. This works, but it is somewhat messy the way it is set up. I don't like it. So I hit upon the idea of calling an executable at the end of the install. I created a cleanup.cmd, and placed it in a winrar sfx archive. The parameters for it are to install silently to the c:\ drive, and execute the cleanup.cmd after it is unpacked. However, it does not work so easily for me, and I do not understand why. I have created other executables in this fashion. I have one that unpacks a program into program files, then runs a batch file which executes the program and deletes the batch file. That works fine, but when I use the same idea, with only the batch file, it will not work. I have tinkered with the settings a bit, trying it without executing the batch, and I still get the same error. It seems winrar does not like have nothing more than a batch file packed in the executable. I tried to throw in some redundant files, to see if that would make a difference, but it didn't. I simply cannot execute this batch file with winrar. Does anybody have any idea what I am encountering, or if there is a way to work around this? It's getting frustrating, and I don't really want to revert to the mess, but I might just have to. I can't get any other method to work for me. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I do appreciate any help you can offer me. In the meantime, it's time for bed. Goodnight all Peace
  19. Hello all, I am wondering if I could get some help on a problem with a laptop computer, I will try to be as detailed as possible with what I am experiencing. So, word of warning, this is a long read! I am at my wits end here. I am attempting to install an unattended OS on a new laptop, But I am encountering some difficulty. There has got to be something I am overlooking, but what?!? I am going to continue working on this problem, but I would like to post in hope that somebody might be able to see something I don't, or maybe even know something I don't(which is more likely). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I start, Let me explain my unattended install disc (there is a list of the software, and the specs to the laptop, at the end of this article) Windows XP pro, service pack 2 nlite modified unattended setup installs my own theme through Winnt.sif, and does all the fun stuff Winnt.sif can do(serial number, enter personal info, setup network, blah blah blah). Link to batch file for installing some goodies placed in [All Users>Start Menu>Programs>Startup>] First run, batch executed, adds WPI to the install, link on desktop, WPI folder found in [C:\Program Files\], installs LiteStep, Registry tweaks, and reboots. Autologon into LiteStep shell, with my theme, and link to install programs via WPI, found on desktop. System ready for use. ((I can post the registry tweaks, batch files, JSscripts, and any other relevant information about my install if anyone requests it.)) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I just received my very first laptop, a brand new Dell Vostro, as a gift for Christmas. It came pre-installed with Windows Vista, but I wanted to replace it with an unattended XP install disc that I have been working on for the past two months. I have tested this install repeatedly during the creation process, and finally worked out all the bugs as of Christmas day. These tests were done on an older box, and I got it to install perfectly, with no problems whatsoever. After receiving the new laptop, I proceeded to install my OS, and the applications that I placed with the Post install wizard(WPI). I then installed the drivers that came with the laptop. After all of this, I went to shut down the system. The desktop cleared, all the running apps closed, then the logon screen flickered briefly, and the screen went back to the desktop. It would not shut down. I hit the power button, then restarted. This time I tried to restart the laptop. The same thing happened. I went into taskmanager and shut down all the apps and services I could, thinking maybe the hang was from an app that could not be killed by windows. I was then able to restart. So I tried to zero in on the specific app. Closing one at a time and attempting reboot, I was able to get the culprit, or so I thought. After shutting down ATI2EVXX.exe(there was two of them), I was able to restart, but not as fast as it should have. I tried various registry tweaks I found online to kill processes, this one in particular: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "ForegroundLockTimeout"=dword:00000000 "HungAppTimeout"="4000" "MenuShowDelay"="200" "WaitToKillAppTimeout"="5000" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control] "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="5000" I adjusted the numbers to kill the apps quicker, trying about four different configurations. Still no luck. So I decided to re-install and try again. This time I installed the drivers before the Post install. I rebooted after each driver, to find out if the problem may be a driver conflict. The system rebooted with every driver. So I decide to try to install my software one at a time, rebooting after each one. The first app I installed was the DirectX dll Library. Then I chose reboot, and the system froze on shutdown again. I could not uninstall these dll's from add remove programs, so I had to manually delete them. I attempted to unregister them before deleting, but that did not work. Then I powered down with the power button, and rebooted. I still had the problem. So thinking back to the ATI2EVXX.exe, I decided to uninstall the graphics driver to see if that was the problem. Nothing. Again, I decided to re-install, in an attempt to zero in on the root of the problem. This time, I installed the same as last time, drivers first, reboot after each one. I got to the last driver, the graphics driver, and went to reboot. And I got the problem again. This was without WPI installs, just the drivers. Yet again, I re-installed, this time with an OEM windows XP pro disc. After installation, I installed the drivers. Everything worked just fine. So I tried to manually install my software, copying it over from my unattended install disc[i will list all this software at the end of this article]. Once I got the first bit installed, I rebooted, and got the hang at shut down again. I am convinced that there is a conflict between the drivers and the software, but don't know how to fix the problem, or where to even find it. The system works fine, and shuts down/restarts with the software installed, but no drivers. And, for the most part, the system works fine with the drivers installed, and no software(with the exeption of the ATI driver problem earlier). Now, there may be a problem with the conflict ocurring due to some software that is installed automatically after windows completes it's install. I have my disc set to place a batch file in the start up folder in the start menu, and this in turn installs some software right at the begining[Again, I will list this software at the end of the article, in the order of install]. So, once the apps are installed, If I install my display driver, the problems start. I also installed these apps by executing the batch file in the OEM install, and after that, I got the freeze-up on shut down. I tried again, with my unattended OS. As soon as the Batch script initiated upon first boot, I cancelled it. I then installed my graphics driver and rebooted. Worked fine. Then I installed audio drivers and rebooted. Still good. I installed my toolkit, since it does not make registry entries, and it contains winrar, which I need for other files. Reboot, good to go. Installed Litestep, then rebooted, good to go. Installed Items, rebooted. Still good. Then I got a little crazy, and installed Flash, prio, and ALT+TAB task switcher in the same session. Rebooted and all is well. Installed vista drive indicator and rebooted without a hitch. At this point I decided it was a good idea to backup the registry. Then I ran my registry tweak and rebooted. Had some minor problems with the entries, but got them fixed(Entry conflict with previous litestep reg entries) Rebooted, and all is well. I began to suspect that the Windows hotfix files were the culprit, so I skipped them and continued installing my software, rebooting after each install. I eventually got all my software installed, except for the hotfixes, and I had no problems rebooting. I had gotten everything installed and working, with the ability to log off, restart, and shut down. But, I made a slight error in judgement when deciding to format the remainder of the hard drive. I had about 100 GB of unpartitioned, unformatted space, so I decided to create a partition with it, and format. It didn't go too well. For some reason, it deleted my existing partition in the process, so I lost all that hard work. Back to square one. I re-installed my unattended OS, this time modifying the .bat file that runs on first startup. I removed the entries for the hotfixes, and placed them in WPI, as an optional install. Everything installed just fine, rebooted, and I'm in LiteStep. I installed the drivers, rebooting after each one, with success.After this, I clicked on the Install programs link to WPI. I chose WinAmp and clicked install. The WPI screen flashed, and nothing got installed. I tried again, with the same results. I got curious, and tried to install more than one software at a time with WPI, but still, nothing would install. I then decided to try the WPI batch files individually, to trace the problems within WPI. These batch files initiated the installs perfectly. So I installed my software, but I didn't reboot after each one, thinking there was no need until I got to the software that requested it. First was WinAmp, Then Unlocker, TweakUI, TuneUp Utilities 2007, Techies toolkit, and Sygate Personal Firewall. Sygate requests a reboot, So I did. And got the hang on exit again. OK, I'm about to pull my hair out here. I uninstalled all of this software, then went into regedit, and deleted all references to them. I tried to reboot again, with no luck. So now, all I have left to try, is LiteStep. I set explorer as shell, it asks for a reboot, and I click yes. Whaddaya' know, It reboots flawlessly! So, while in explorer shell, I try a reboot. Works. So I switch back to LiteStep shell, it asks for a reboot, and it works. I'm in LiteStep again, and try the reboot. And I get the freeze up. What is going on here?!? LiteStep worked fine on the prior install, I thought it was the hotfixes causing the problem. I'm still suspecting Driver conflicts, but not wanting to rule out human error, I decide to take the very same unattended install disc, and run it on another PC. This desktop is a Pentium II, 533MHZ, with about 256MB of ram, an ancient box. Everything installs fine, with the exeption of the WPI. I still can't get it to work. I did some modifications to it, so I would believe this is my fault. Software installs, and drivers install, all with no problems. I would like to say it is a flawless install disc, but hey, WPI don't work now. Other than that though, there is no reason I should be having problems, unless this is a driver issue. But the drivers came with this brand new laptop, so they shouldn't be outdated. While I waited for the software to install on my P-II, my laptop did it's hibernation thing. I woke it back up, found myself in the logon screen, chose my account, and logged in. After this, I decided to try to reboot. And it worked. I rebooted the system, logged back in, and attempted yet another reboot. This time it didn't work. I installed the JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2 hotfix, thinking this may cause my WPI to not work(it's installed on my P-4, but not the P-II or the Vostro), and it allowed me to reboot. I logged back in, and tried to reboot one more time. No luck. I then attempted to run WPI, but it still did not work. It does seem though, that if I let the laptop sit for about five minutes, it will reboot just fine. Also, if I choose reboot or shutdown, I can let it hang for about five minutes, and it will eventually work. This is of course, with nothing installed but the drivers, LiteStep, and the JSscript hotfix(and the other stuff from the initial install with the batch script). Since WPI doesn't work anymore on my pentium fossil box, I decided to try it on my Dell dimension 4300 desktop. It's a pentium 4, 1.4 GHZ, with 512 MB of ram. I took the exact same script I used on the other two PC's, the whole WPI folder. I placed it where it would go if this was a fresh install, put the disc into the drive, and chose WinAMp to install. I clicked begin installation, and it executed flawlessly. There has got to be something I am missing here. WPI used to work on the P-II, but now it doesn't. It worked the very first time on my new laptop, but not anymore. But, it works on my P-4 without any problems. Anyway, I just can't figure this out. It seems the display drivers may be causing a problem with something, due to the ability to restart after killing the AT2EVXX.exe processes, But I got the problem with the hotfixes, without the hotfixes, with LiteStep, With the directX dll library, without it... At the same time, I was able to get a stable install with everything but the hotfixes. LiteStep worked without problems. I was able to shutdown and reboot. It was smooth, and it worked well. But now I am getting the problem again, even though I am installing the same software I did in the previous stable install. Man, I wish I hadn't messed it all up with a failed partition creation! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________ Dell Vostro 1000 Processor: AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 Dual-Core processor TK-53 (1.7GHz/512KB) Memory: 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 Dimm Hard Drive: 120GB2 5400RPM Hard Drive Optical Drive: 8X DVD+/-RW3 with double-layer4 DVD+R write capability, Cyberlink Power DVD Wireless Cards: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Wi-Fi Mini Card Video Card: ATI Radeon® Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (integrated) Software ----------- Installed through batch file on first start up ------------------------------------------------- Hotfixes ---------- Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool [KB890830] Windows genuine Advantage validation tool [KB892130] Disable and Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Nag Screen [KB905474] Security Update for Flash Player [KB913433] JScript 5.6 Security Update for Windows XP SP1 and SP2 [KB917344] Cumulative Update for IE7 [KB933566] ITEMS.exe ------------ (this consists of various files for themes and some stand alone apps that do not make registry entries: Would not be able to cause the problem) LiteStep alternative shell Alt+Tab task switcher power toy Flash Player For Internet Explorer 7 Prio - Priority Saver Task Manager Plugin Vista Drive Indicator Deleting of the "Windows Navigation Start.wav" sound Various registry tweaks, including registry entries for LiteStep(will post them if they are needed) Then the PC reboots Windows post install wizard ------------------------------- Optional software -------------------- CCleaner CableNut DirectX dll libraries Google Earth Gimp Hide IP Platinum Java runtime environment K-lite codec pack Nod32 Antivirus Nero Burning Rom Net 2.0 Microsoft office Opera web browser Perfectdisk defragmenter PowerIso SUPERAntispyware Sygate Personal Firewall Techies Toolkit(collection of stand alone programs; no registry entries, can't be the problem) Tuneup Utlities 2007 TweakUi Unlocker Utorrent Winamp
  20. Hey, thanx for the reply islander. I have actually been working on this project very hard over the past few months, and as a matter of fact, I am working on it right now. Almost finished though. I expect to have the finishing touches done by Christmas day. I found all the silent switches for all my software, and even got LiteStep to install perfectly. I tried using the runonce first off, and it did look quite nice, but found batch scripting is easier for me to comprehend at the moment. I use it to install some initial software, then I use WPI with a link on the desktop to install the rest of my goodies. Works great this way, and gives me an option of what all I want installed at each fresh install. Speaking of LiteStep, I did much searching on MSFN and the net to find a silent switch, but to no avail. I even asked the creators specificlly, there is none. But I found a way to do it, and once I get the disc to the point where I can call it finished, I plan on posting a new thread here to explain to ppl how I got it to work. Once again, thanx islander, and thanx to everyone here who helped me to learn the unattended install!
  21. Thank you for the reply, Gray. But that didn't really answer my question. I already plan on taking it one piece at a time. But I really needed to know where to start. Like which utility do I use to do this? Or which of the numerous files spoken about in the PDF should I use? And where would I look for the switches for gimp and litestep?
  22. I'm wondering if I could get some help on figuring all this unattended stuff out. I have downloaded and read through the unattended cd PDF that is available on this site. I have downloaded and gathered all the software I would like to add to my install disc, and I have done as much further research as I could before I finally became utterly confused. I understand that in order to get software to install you need to have some understanding of programming, but what I don't understand is, do you need to use all the tools described in the pdf, or just which ever one suits your purposes? The reason I ask is that there is the batch.cmd file, the .inf file, and then there is runonceexe, and wpi, xplode, and some others ways I can't recall at the moment. Would it be possible if anyone here could simplify the explanation of this proccess for me? I have an XP Pro disc with sp2 streamlined into it, and it is about 170MB in size. I would like to add some software to it, plus a few tweaks, and some theme modifications, but where do I start? How do I make sense of the instructions in the booklet I downloaded? Which program should I use to add the software to the disc? Is there such a thing as needing one type of setup for certain software, and another for other types? In order for you to get an idea of what I want to do with my personal install, let me list the programs I want to add to the disc: Nod32 Antivirus Sygate Personal Firewall GTK+ 2.10.13 runtime environment The Gimp 2.0 Winamp Pro 5.35 Nero 6 ultra edition Power Iso Tuneup Utilities 2007 Litestep Litestep update Nonstep theme for Litestep Opera 9.23 A software compilation called 165 standalone programs K-lite codec pack Bashrats driverpacks I know that I need to get some switches for this software to get them to run silent, but how do I get them to register for full versions? and how do I get the install to recognize things like themes and wallpaper? Also, is there a way to organize all the startmenu items the way you like them right in the install procedure? I probably have many more questions, but right now I just want to get pointed in the right direction to start adding applications to my install disc. If anybody can explain to me one surefire way to get this to work, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm not really asking for a simpler way, just a clearer explanation on how to procede. I have used nlite to create an unattended install, and I have the disc extracted to harddisc and ready to be modified. So what's the next step?
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