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Dechy

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  1. Nah, I know that on Windows 7, but this is on Windows XP, 'caused by playing on Windows 7 through the WAIK/MDT. So it really is under Docs & Settings with this scenario. It's odd as hell... I got some enterprise admins try a few things remotely and they are as baffled as me. Seems I'm looking at a format to get that space back.
  2. This one is odd. Ever since I've been playing with WAIK & Windows 7 I've slowly (but surely) seen my HD space shrink in size. Didn't care because I was obviously doing a heck of a lot of testing with DISM/MDT/etc... and used quite a few different distribution folders. Now I want to wipe the slate clean, something XP doesn't seem to do; it's become quite attached to what looks like a massive amount of temporary Windows 7 files/folders (~3GB) All these files are under Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp\winsxs\windows\extremely_huge_folder_name_with_windows7_version_info. I thought at first it was just a stupid case of path too long... renames winsxs & windows, but was still getting access denied on all child folders & files. To top it off the Security tab is non existant to any type of admin account and even the System account. Can't delete from recovery console/WinPE/Safe Mode. Access denied all the way. chkdsk scan for errors & fix them revealed no problems. I know of the winsxs in Vista & W7, and how they are much better off left alone, for good reasons... but at least they don't appear in the damned TEMP folder....... It seems they appeared from trying to catalog a new WIM folder in WAIK and it crashed... it also crashed my WAIK completely because it won't catalog ANYTHING in XP anymore. Uninstalling didn't fix that issue. If it was a few MBs, sure, don't care... but 3GB?? HDs at work are small enough as it is, and I only noticed it because I really needed some space (was down to under 4GB left). Anybody know of a way to get rid of those or at least a tool that will circumvent NTFS to some degree on file deletion? MS really shouldn't of put these insane barriers around that **** winsxs folder... TEMP folder or not. Decided to put this here, as it's directly related to Windows 7 & the WAIK being the cause, maybe someone else ran into this while trying to create an XML. Or maybe can check that folder specifically if it exists (hoping someone uses XP & WAIK and not just Vista/W7 & WAIK) Thanks.
  3. Well, I just took my modified WIM, removed the RC RSAT, added the RTM RSAT and re-installed after re-doing the Foundation package in my autounattend.xml and everything works perfectly fine. I don't want to accuse anybody of anything, but you did get your RTM off MS's website right? Not some leaked torrent? Did you customize something on your image? Have you tried on a clean install of an unmodified image? Simply can't recreate the problem.
  4. Holy hell, my RSAT tools I downloaded for the RC are 24MB!!! They work perfectly with the RTM too. I had found them just by doing a search for "Windows RSAT" on Google and most websites pointed me to what I have now... (which was a direct download from MS) I do the same now and the links are either dead or send me to that insanely massive download. Really don't understand why it's so big... going to have to download those and test... here's hoping I won't get the same error you are, but I use DISM to modify an offline image and then use the MS-Foundation package in WSIM to enable the features. Works great. There a particular reason why you want to use DISM to enable stuff on a running OS instead of just doing it through the Programs Add/Remove Features? (aside from curiosity)
  5. I've tried replacing my method of installto/installfrom with yours and mine craps out as well. Mine doesn't specify an "install to" parameter (as in which disk/partition) but it does contain an install from, without it install gives me an error. <ImageInstall> <OSImage> <InstallFrom> <MetaData wcm:action="add"> <Key>/IMAGE/INDEX</Key> <Value>1</Value> </MetaData> </InstallFrom> <InstallToAvailablePartition>true</InstallToAvailablePartition> <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> </OSImage> </ImageInstall> I'm guessing with the installtoavailablepartition set to true, one doesn't need to specify disk ID & partition, if you had it set to false, then you would need those. I remember when I was trying hard to get the HD configuration working, I had to use a different XML file with JUST the HD parameters until I got it right, just to make sure nothing else was getting in the way.
  6. This is the one I've been using (we recently decided in our department to do away with partitions, so makes my job easier) <DiskConfiguration> <Disk wcm:action="add"> <CreatePartitions> <CreatePartition wcm:action="add"> <Extend>true</Extend> <Order>1</Order> <Type>Primary</Type> </CreatePartition> </CreatePartitions> <ModifyPartitions> <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add"> <Active>true</Active> <Extend>false</Extend> <Format>NTFS</Format> <Label>Windows7</Label> <Letter>C</Letter> <Order>1</Order> <PartitionID>1</PartitionID> </ModifyPartition> </ModifyPartitions> <DiskID>0</DiskID> <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk> </Disk> <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> </DiskConfiguration> Took me a few reboots to get the correct parameters, the disk configuration portion is definitely a finicky one. From looking at your code, the first example creates a partition, but doesn't have the portion to modify it (with the file system type, label & active) and it definitely needs that. The second example has one of headaches I had as well in figuring it out a while ago; double "extend" parameter; if you already have it in the createpartition portion, you can't have it again in the modifypartition or it craps out.
  7. From a corporate point of view: Vista < XP < W7 We did an analysis on Vista after SP1, and even though there was some pros we could of definitely used (biggest one was probably Switching Users in a Domain environment; impossible in XP, have to log off completely), the strain on the hardware and some lack of deployment tools just didn't help... it's very bad reputation was also a very big factor in why our computer illiterate "morons-for-bosses" wouldn't even hear of it. Didn't matter how we spun it; with the correct hardware & SP1, Vista was a different beast from release, they just didn't care. Windows 7 on the other hand, as a MUCH better reputation already. BitLocker, Switching Users in domain environments, SuperFetch (our users are like drones, same apps loaded in almost always same pattern), XP Mode possibilities for our really crappy in-house apps, IE8 (forces us to get the #$^$#%@# off IE6!!), improved Gadget handling (for RSS feeds mainly), more granularity in key LPOs/GPOs (USB and time/date control for example) and a needed revamped UAC compared to Vista are pretty much the biggest interest points from a business point of view (ours anyways). Offline image modification using DISM, easier package/driver integration and VHD are quite interesting as well... sick of the messy $OEM$ folder (can still use in W7, but officially "legacied" by Microsoft lol) From a client point of view, revamped taskbar & tray, slideshow background (that was probably the thing users cried the most about when we left 95/98SE, they could install anything they wanted back then and lose their slideshow applets), Aero (yeah, our users are demanding on the bling) and better Accessibility tools and probably some of the most needed/wanted features. Using a tweaked Windows 7 Enterprise with quite a few disabled services/removed features, and the difference between it and our corporate XP really isn't that bad. We've got 2 big different "pools" of computer hardware in our environment; P4 3.0/3.2GHz, 1GB RAM & 128MB VRAM & C2D 2.2GHz, 1GB RAM & 128MB VRAM / Athlon X2-4800+, 2GB RAM & 256MB VRAM. The difference in performance between W7 & XP on the Athlons is barely noticeable, on the C2D Aero is a wee bit laggy when too many apps are running, the P4s are noticeable, but nothing outrageous, especially considering most will be replaced before Windows 7 hits our production network. As long as there's 2GB RAM & video cards that make sense, W7 will run quite well, and that slideshow background option will win the heart of 75% of our 26000 users lol! I've been selling Windows 7 HARD to my superiors ever since I installed beta @ home & got a hold of how DISM/WAIK/MDT work. Oh, and with the new UAC, I too have been pushing W7 to relatives as much as possible and NOT given then the admin password!!! I actually remote desktop to them when they need something installed. They thought I was being a nazi at first, but they've been having near ZERO issues since then. If I was being paid for every call though, I'd turn UAC off completely TL:DR version? Windows 7 brings too many new features out-of-the-box or revamped old things from Vista CORRECTLY that it's definitely an XP killer, as long as you or your business aren't penny pinchers and still trying to run it on hardware that came out when XP was released. The time to move on is NOW!
  8. Yep, you can still use $OEM$ folder just fine ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library...265(WS.10).aspx ), it's just that it's all considered legacy now. I've used the $OEM$ method for YEARS with XP, but never really like it... it ended up being pretty darn messy on the mdeium/distribution share. I'm really starting to get the hang of offline image modifications/DISM/WSIM and I really don't see why I'd go back to using legacy stuff anymore.
  9. Yeah, I had rebooted a few times, logged in locally as admin instead of my network admin account and I even uninstalled completely and re-installed with luck on resolving this issue. When I downloaded RTM, I downloaded the new WAIK as well to make and re-created my autounattend.xml from scratch to make sure. I was able to get it working a few hours ago this morning by installing WAIK on the Windows 7 platform I was actually working on and it was able to generate a new catalog just fine. Seems my XP + WAIK is now screwed up with no solution on how to fix it aside from a format or maybe using a VM... sucks, but WAIK is an easy & fast install on W7, even if I have to re-install it everytime I re-test deployment heh.
  10. I haven't tried doing it after sysprep myself, but why do you say adding them with DISM is a pain? Seeing as you can add any number of drivers (and patches while you're at it) in one fell swoop thanks to the possibility of recursing all the folders, I'm not sure why you refer it as a pain to do so. I'm still in the "early" stages of developping an image for my department, but one thing I've done a LOT is having to recreate the .WIM file from scratch a lot, because of too much tampering and errors on my part. I've got 2 big folders; 1 for drivers & 1 for patches/other packages and with 2 DISM commands (/add-package & /add-driver) over 20 items get added in no time recursively. Hopefully, it's just that you don't know of the /recurse switch, like me back then (lack of documentation for that switch). If that's not the case, I've never tried to add drivers after sysprep, so can't help you there.
  11. - Install Windows 7 "normally" - Copy install.wim from the Windows 7 media somewhere on the HD (if it's already on a USB stick/HD then you can skip this part) - Run cmd as an administrator - Create a folder for temporary offline modification (I just call mine OFFLINE) - Run the following: dism /mount-wim /wimfile:[path to install.wim] /index:[index of your image inside the .wim file] /mountdir:[path to offline folder] - Use Windows Explorer to copy your executables whereever you want under the OFFLINE folder (in your case, [path to offline folder]\users\default\desktop) - Run the following: dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:[path to offline folder] /commit - Burn/copy the modified install.wim back to the bootable installation media under the sources folder I'm not 100% sure that this will work, as anything to do with the Default user folder is a hit or miss in my case, but for ANY other folder in the offline modification portion, I can copy absolutely anything and it will be there on next install.
  12. Searched a bit and only found errors pertaining to this & WDS/MDT, and the fixes didn't make sense for my scenario. All I did was take RTM, add RSAT MSU file as a package using DISM (/add-package) & add a file under the %windir%\security\templates. Ummount & commit and then try to open the image with WSIM and it always gives the same error with the following log: 3:57 PM : 3:57 PM : Windows SIM was unable to generate a catalog. For troubleshooting assistance, see the topic: 'Windows System Image Manager Technical Reference' in the Windows OPK or Windows AIK User's Guide. 3:57 PM : 3:57 PM : System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The interface is unknown Server stack trace: at Microsoft.ComponentStudio.ComponentPlatformInterface.WimImageInfo.PreCreateCatalog() at Microsoft.ComponentStudio.ComponentPlatformInterface.OfflineImageInfo.CreateCatalog() at Microsoft.ComponentStudio.ComponentPlatformInterface.CatalogCreatorImpl.CreateCatalog(OfflineImageIn fo offlineImageInfo) at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink._PrivateProcessMessage(IntPtr md, Object[] args, Object server, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext, Object[]& outArgs) at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.PrivateProcessMessage(RuntimeMethodHandle md, Object[] args, Object server, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext, Object[]& outArgs) at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(IMessage msg, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext) Exception rethrown at [0]: at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.HandleReturnMessage(IMessage reqMsg, IMessage retMsg) at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.PrivateInvoke(MessageData& msgData, Int32 type) at Microsoft.ComponentStudio.ComponentPlatformInterface.ICatalogCreator.CreateCatalog(OfflineImageInfo offlineImageInfo) at Microsoft.ComponentStudio.CatalogGenerator.CreateCat(ProgressDialog pd, Object o) I can open the original RTM file fine and force a catalog generation on it... but the new install.wim just won't work. All I wanted to see is if the new features would appear in the Foundation package since DISM added that package under the Windows Foundation... I know I could just as easily enable them all using the /enable-feature of DISM, but I was curious. I know WSIM can open custom images & catalog them (conclusion reached from my searches), I've just never gotten it to work on any custom images myself! Any ideas? Thanks.
  13. Could you explain a wee bit what you do with the NTUSER.DAT? I was using that for years in 2K & XP, and it worked so friggin' well, even if M$ didn't "officially support" it. That's actually the very first thing I did before finding out about the CopyProfile in Sysprep, but I was getting some pretty interesting results; permission problems, background not "sticking", some pinned applications wouldn't "stick" either. I'm guessing you're doing it the long way; i.e. loading up the Default User hive manually and editing everything by hand? I think that's the only one I haven't tried, because I thought there had to be a more automated way of doing this. I've tried using the other old school method using the Copy To in the User Profile settings tab, but that's greyed out now, I've tried modifying any account to the standards and then copying the NTUSER.DAT, that also didn't work out very well.
  14. Yeah, caught that one, and I even indirectly made reference to finding it in my first post... but for some ungodly reason, it doesn't work all the time (actually, rarely is more like it). The CopyProfile information from the WAIK & TechNET site clearly state you can run it from any account, but that's not true by a longshot. So I did try the Administrator account, and well, it worked the first time I used it (re-enabled built-in account, customized wallpaper, desktop icons, start menu pins and syspreped). The Sysprep documentation also clearly state that the built-in admin account gets zapped on every use, which isn't the end of the world, because the CopyProfile also states that it goes through the copy phase well before the account gets zapped. No problem right? Well, I've tried around a dozen time now and am unable to replicate the working conditions on what happened exactly when the CopyProfile worked. Hell, I've actually gotten it to work from another account in the administrators group more often, but again, 100% random results even using the EXACT SAME unattend.xml for Sysprep. (worked 3 times out of 10).
  15. Ok, does anybody have a working unattend.xml (or whatever they named it) for a working Sysprep using the damned Copyprofile option? I've tried about 2 dozen scenarios & methods and it's worked TWICE in 24 times, and I have no clue what I did exactly in those 2 times because Sysprep destroyed my OS after re-trying, so I had to re-install the OS and try again. Even when I thought I had the correct XML, I used it again and it didn't work whatsoever anymore. Copyprofile, from what my searches have returned, is probably the most flaky option in sysprep, TONS of people having huge issues with it not working whatsoever and the threads sort of die out. It's pretty bad when it's been an option since the Vista beta and STILL DOESN'T WORK CORRECTLY.
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