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Pyrosoft, I agree, Jazkal knows his stuff, and I trust his advice, but I just find it interesting I get the black screen. Question: Regarding the editing of registry while offline. I have read many posts about how to do this, but I tend to be the person who needs the dummie book version. Can you point me to any posts which details how to edit the registry while offline and have the WIM mounted? After I mount the WIM, install the PE apps (wmi, hta, scripting, etc), install LAN and MSD drivers, copy custom files....what is the next step to accomplishing the registry editing? Also, aside from manually copying the RAdmin or Remote Desktop files, is there a way to "install" applications into the WIM while it is mounted? If not, to get where I am at now, I know RAdmin only needs a couple of files to be copied into the ISO directory while mounted but I seem to get slightly different results when I run the actual installation while booted into the WinPE session. Also, I have only gotten Remote Desktop to work after performing the installation while booted of the CD. Thank you for your interest....getting the Remote In option to work could open up an entirely new concept of the purpose of the boot cd, any user could be provided with the CD and our technicians sneakernet approach to rebuilding the workstations could be dramatically reduced with the remote IN capability. When I started this Boot CD project, I had never dreamed of implementing this kind of functionality....one can dream...right? Thanks, GeeMail

Jazkal Thanks for the reply....this seems to be a taboo topic as you are the only reply. I have read other posts from this and other forums that say they have been able to accomplish the incoming connections as well. I have gotten the telnet option of RAdmin to work but I am not sure how much I can do with that. I dont really have any true control over the machine but I am not really familiar with all the benefits of Telnet. I have also read other saying they were able to get Remote Desktop to work but they don't give specific details. I find it odd that I can connect to the PE boot session, but simply don't have video or keyboard and mouse control. I know they use a video hook dll and I have included it but it may be that because I am installing Radmin after I boot with the cd that it is not truly taking effect with the registry changes. Documentation on WinPE is very scarce. However, I have read many posts that refer to making registry changes before unmounting and creating the iso. Can you tell me during the process of building the boot cd, how I can make permanent registry changes before I unmount and then create the ISO? Thanks for your help. I feel as though this would be a major breakthrough for my boot cd. The main purpose of the cd is for re-imaging of the workstation with Ghost. Adding this feature would allow us to deliver a boot cd to anyone in the company, and we would be able to remotely rebuild the workstation. We own RAdmin so that is why I chose to try and get it working. However, I would be satisfied with VNC, Remote Desktop, or any other remote control application. Thanks

Ok, I decided to try Remote Desktop and see if I got the same results. I installed the stand alone remote desktop software and sure enough, I can connect to any machine on the domain, I just can't connect to the the WinPE booted workstation. I feel I am at the extent of my technical guessing....so I am hoping one of the many frequent and talented visitors of this site will have an answer...I have to believe someone else has gotten Remote Desktop to work with WinPE....thanks everyone.

Hello all, I nearing completion on my boot cd and got a crazy idea today. I am half way there but need further assistance to complete the task. I would like to include RAdmin (Remote Administrator by Famatech) within my WinPE 2.0 CD. Here is where I am at: 1. Create WinPE 2.0 CD and copy numerous RAdmin files within ISO folder before unmount and creating ISO. 2. Boot from WinPE 2.0 CD 3. From the D drive, I am able to install the RAdmin server, start the RAdmin server service, and launch RAdmin settings.. 4. From WinPE, I am able to launch a remote viewer session to another workstation on the domain. Here is where I need help....if I try to connect via RAdmin to the workstation booted with WinPE, I am unable to connect. 1. I have disabled the firewall in pe with "wpeutil DisableFirewall" Not sure where to go from here.....thank you in advance for your help. Geemail UPDATE: I am assuming this is not someting simple since I have had no replies to the post. I have since done the following and have had a little further success but still need help. Boot to the PE 2.0 cd. Nework connectivity initializes. Run "wpeutil DisableFirewall", then from a USB disk, installed RAdmin 2.2. After completing the installation, I am able to run the viewer and connect to other computers on the domain. When I attempt to connect to the workstation running PE, I get prompt for the password, and it accepts the password. Problem now being, the remote screen is completely black and any keyboard or mouse movements are not reflected in WinPE. It appears I am connected but have no video or control of the WinPE workstation. Thank you again in advance...

Funny how we all go through the same process trying to achieve similar results, each with our own little tweaks along the way. I never would have been able to make it this far without you and others assistance, and as you mentioned, MSFN and Google. I have been searching for a post with content on minimizing the size of WinPE and decreasing the boot time....any suggestions?

Wrex, Again, I wish I had your genius, this looks like it will work perfectly. I understand the static nature of the wmi data retrieval, just did know how to code the manipulation of the returned value....but thanks to people such as you, I am learning. Thank you again

Wrex, Thank you....before you sent your reply...this is what I came up with.. 'Detect Network Settings Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration Where IPEnabled = True") For Each objItem in colItems If Not IsNull(objitem.IPAddress) Then strIPAddress = objItem.IPAddress(0) arrIPAddress = Split(strIPAddress, ".") If arrIPAddress(0) = "192" Then strDHCPIP = objItem.DHCPServer strHtml = objItem.MACAddress strHtml_1 = objItem.DHCPServer strHtml_2 = strIPAddress End If If arrIPAddress(0) = "10" Then strDHCPIP = objItem.DHCPServer strHtml = objItem.MACAddress strHtml_1 = objItem.DHCPServer strHtml_2 = strIPAddress End If If arrIPAddress(0) = "0" Then strHtml = objItem.MACAddress strHtml_2 = "<Font color = Red>" & "Cable Unplugged" End If End If Next Since I am only concerned with IP beginning with 192 and 10, will this work or should I go with yours instead? Thanks

Wrex.... Thank you for the help...I am not sure why it works now but it does...and sometimes that is what matters. It is now reporting total MB...any suggestion as to how I can get it to report in MB or GB when necessary?

I use WMI Code Creator as well as Scriptomatic but it is not providing the total memory, I will go back and try it again.....thanks.

Hello everyone, As part of my WinPE 2.0 boot cd, I am launching an HTA which displays ip address information, mapped drive information and I would also like to display processor and total memory information. My purpose is to advise the technician building the computer if the memory is less than XXXmb, it does not meet minimum specs. The HTA code works find on my tech workstation. However, once I use it on my boot cd with WinPE, I am unable to display any information about logical or physical memory. I am unable to even get a msgbox to display the amount of memory. The msgbox appears but is empty. My code is currently as follows: strComputer = "." Set objwmiService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\CIMV2") ' Query processor properties Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_Processor", "WQL", _ wbemFlagReturnImmediately + wbemFlagForwardOnly) For Each objItem In colItems strProcessor = strProcessor & objItem.DeviceID & "/ " & Strip( objItem.Name ) & vbCrLf strHtml3 = strProcessor If objItem.MaxClockspeed =<929 Then strHtml3 = strProcessor & "<Font color = Red>" & " May not meet minimum" msgbox "Please verify processor speed meets minimum requirements" End If Next 'Detect Total Logical Memory Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery( "Select * From Win32_LogicalMemoryConfiguration" ) For Each objItem In colItems strMemory = Int( ( objItem.TotalPhysicalMemory + 1023 ) / 1024 ) & " MB" msgbox strMemory strHtml4 = strMemory If Int( ( objItem.TotalPhysicalMemory + 1023 ) / 1024 ) =<512 Then strHtml4 = strMemory & "<Font color = Red>" & " May not meet minimum" msgbox "Please verify total system memory meets minimum requirements" End If Next Next Thank you in advance for any insight as to why this could be happening...

quick update...not tested yet but most likely the cause... For testing purposes, as to not begin deployment of the image during testing of buttons, I had routed the onclick call to execute ghost32.exe only....can anyone say BONEHEAD!..I am going to make that change and then I should be in business.

Again, your common sense far out weights my ability to think....i have done that a 1000X times and I don't know why I didn't think to do that while boot of the cd....that will help tremendously.... I have used Ghost for quite awhile as well, it is the mixture of Ghost and the scripting that is biting me in the @#%$. I hope not to bother you any more today...I am gonna get the Ghost Button working if it takes me all weekend. FYI...I am still getting the IPv6 address displayed in my hta, so for now, that will have to wait...it is only for informational purposes only to the person who will use the cd in case they are having issues, they can call me and I can ask them for the ip, dhcp server, etc..and it will be right in front of them. Thanks again, and I hope you have a great weekend! Moe

Again, thank you for your expertise....it is invaluable. I have previously booted from the cd and then modified the script while in memory, but I began to wonder if that was a true test as you can tell my scripting techniques are limited and if I am storing things improperly into memory and then testing, it may not be valid. One other quick question...do you use Ghost? I began my main HTA from the wizard.hta posted on this forum. I have modified slightly but not alot. One item I am having a problem with and have read posts referring to the same but have not gotten it to work is the launching of ghost32.exe with all the switches and also refers to the id of the radio button from which it was launched. When clicking the button, Ghost launches but I do not get the automated deploy of the image from the switches. In case you are familiar, the following is the code: strTaskValue = Chr(34) & "z:\ghost11\ghost32.exe" & Chr(34) & " -clone,mode=restore,src=" & Chr(34) & Radio.Id & ".gho" & Chr(34) & ",dst=1" I have also tried... strTaskValue = "z:\ghost11\ghost32.exe -clone,mode=restore,src=" & Radio.Id & ".gho" & ",dst=1 -sure -FX" Only ghost launches with either....I know it has something to do with the spacing and Chr34 but not sure how to troubleshoot it. Thanks again Iceman...truly appreciated.

IceManND...thank you for the reply.... First, I thought the addition of IPEnabled=True would narrow it to the adapter which is connected to the network. Is that wrong? Since the posting, I have changed the code to the following: strComputer = "." Set objwmiService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\CIMV2") Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration Where IPEnabled = True") For Each objItem in colItems If item.IPEnabled = True Then strDHCPIP = objItem.DHCPServer strIPAddress = objItem.IPAddress(0) End If I have not tried it in PE yet...working on rebuilding the iso a I read your reply. I understood the IPEnabled=True to mean if the adapter is enabled, then this would pull the active IP which I can then store as a variable and display on screen. I have been working on this for so many hours, I hate to now change the interface as I am learning and it takes me much longer than the average bear to rework the interface. However, if your recommendation is my only option to get it to work, then I must change it. Thank you again for your reply....I also have followed your posted manual for the most part, with a few adjustments for my environment....when I finish with my version, I will pass along to everyone. Right now it is a mess of notes. Does this

Thanks in advance to whoever can assist. I am launching an HTA after WinPE loads. within the HTA, I am displaying, MAC addrses, DHCP Server IP address and Network Adapter IPAddress. I get the MAC and DHCP IP with no problem. When I run the HTA locally on my workstation(XP SP2), I get the IP address as well. When I run the HTA after booting with the WINPE 2.0 cd, the IP Address displayed is the IPv6 address rather than the IPv4 address. Below is the code that runs to get and display the IP. I would like to know how I can display either both IPAddresses or just the IPv4 address. Thank you again, this forums continues to amaze me. strComputer = "." Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration Where IPEnabled = True") n = 1 For Each objItem in colItems If Not IsNull(objItem.IPAddress) Then For i = 0 To UBound(objItem.IPAddress) strDHCPIP = objItem.DHCPServer strIPAddress = objItem.IPAddress(i) Next End If n = n + 1 strHtml = objItem.MACAddress strHtml_1 = objItem.DHCPServer For Each strAddress in objItem.IPAddress If strAddress = "0.0.0.0" Then strHtml_2 = "<Font color = Red>" & "Cable Unplugged" Else strHtml_2 = strAddress End If Next Next

Madboy and all who replied.... thank you for the info....I have the same driver but have since learned from my Cisco admin that Port Fast is not enabled on many of our switches for caution purposes. I am currently just adding two IPCONFIG /RENEW instances to my startnet.cmd and it seems to have resolved that issue...now, on to the rest of my problems...but those are for another post. I am very anxious to follow your post regarding your WinPE 2.0 configuration manager....that looks very appealing and impressive. I dread the numerous completes rebuilds of my .iso every day I work on this boot cd and I have tried to find a way to shorten it by using batch files etc, but the driver additions and msd additions always take so long. Until you get your utility completed, if you have any suggestions on any shortcuts to creating the WinPE 2.0 iso, without the need to go through the entire process every time, I would greatly appreciate the recommendations. If you need someone to do any testing on your utility....let me know.... Geemail.email@gmail.com Thanks

Follow up: If after "wpeinit" runs, I immediately execute an "IPCONFIG" I do not have a DHCP IP address but a 169.xx. address. If after "wpeinit" runs, I immediately execute an "IPCONFIG /renew", I receive a message that the DHCP server can respond to the request. If after "wpeinit" runs, I wait 5 seconds and then execute an "IPCONFIG /renew", I receive an IP address. I thought this may help anyone who can provide suggestions on how to troubleshoot this issue. I believe this is a driver issue but have no way of proving it. I say because I can boot in a Virtual PC environment using a dc7800 and I have no problems but it is using a emulated driver for the Intel NIC. If anyone has used Winpe2 with dc7800 or dc7700, please share what drivers you use and how you injected them into the image. Thank you in advance....I hope to hear from someone soon.

Hello all, I have a problem with HP dc7800 and dc7700 workstations which have Intel 82566DM NIC. After booting from the cd and "wpeinit" runs, on these two machines, if I perform an IPCONFIG, I get a 169.xx.xx.xx IP Address. If I wait about 5 minutes and run IPconfig again, the machine has retrieved an IP address from the DHCP server (192.168.xx.xx) correctly. If after booting from the CD and "wpeinit" runs, I execute "wpeutil initializenetwork", I can run an IPCONFIG and I will have received an IP from the DHCP server. For some reason, there is a delay in receiving an IP address from the DHCP server with these two workstations, all the other workstations I test on (dc7100, d530, d510, dc7600) all work properly and show a correct IP address immediately after "wpeinit" rusn. I would greatly appreciate any advice I can get on solving this issue as I have worked several days on trying to correct and I have been unable to come up with a reason why. I am relatively new to Winpe2 and I am not sure of what logs I can check or utilities I can run to determine the issue. Thank you in advance for your help....I have said it before, and I will say it again, this forum Rocks!!!

All, First of all, thank you for this post, it has been very useful in my creation of the boot CD. I am wondering if anyone can assist me with my next task. My WinPE 2.0 boot cd has all of the packages installed(WMI, HTA, WMI, Scripting). I am using a modified version of the wizard.hta and would like to accomplish something similar to Tombtek99's posting. I would like to: 1. Boot with the WinPE CD 2. Detect the workstation IP address or DHCP server IP address. 3. Based on the workstation IP address or DHCP server IP address, map a network drive by reading in a text file stored on the boot cd. 4. Use the mapped network drive to execute the HTA to run ghost, etc. Again, thank you for the previous discussions and for any assistance you can provide. This forum rocks!!!

Nuno, I have read this post several times and visited the links you provided. I have download VistaPE and Winbuilder and followed the directions and I end up with a Bootable CD. From that point, I am lost. I have tried reading all the help files and overviews, but the more I read the more confused I am getting. Here is my goal: I would like to build a lite boot cd to suit 2 purposes. Allow the user to create a new computer object in Active Directory and then deploy a Symantec Ghost image from the a network location to the workstation. Please let me know if you feel I could make use of the VistaPE environment or if I am better off just building a WinPE CD and using an HTA interface. Thank you, Geemail