johnhc

maxXPsoft, thanks. I have to rethink what I am doing. I am getting the feeling that trying to do this under XP is going to be trouble and it also limits my choices. I am thinking of installing W7 along side XP. I will not allow an Internet connection, so I can run with no security SW. I need to deal with my 3Ware and Catalyst driver problems anyway and I am working on that now. Thanks much for all your help. Enjoy, John.

Thanks, xper. I don't think any of us are saying that this should be easy and know that it was a huge change. We are just hoping that the login/logout problems can be corrected if they are not already. Things are real stable right now, so perhaps it was fixed recently. I will post again if and as soon as I see a problem. It is really exasperating to click Add Reply, then be told that I am not logged in. Thanks and enjoy, John.

xper, I agree that the forum is now working fine. As I posted above, since the last outage a few days ago, I have been continuously logged in with no problems. Somehow, something is getting out of whack, causing our problems. After the forum is restarted (or whatever causes the outage) I am fine till the next rash. I suggest the next time people report these problems, do your testing right then! Waiting till after the restart has corrected the problem teaches nothing. Thanks and enjoy, John. VideoRipper, [GRUMBLE MODE]<- great idea!

maxXPsoft, attached is my XML. Thanks, John.

maxXPsoft , thanks much. I will study your responses. I went ahead cut an ISO and attempted to install it. Two problems when I attached it to a running W7 (under VMware Server), it auto started and started coping files and DLing from the Internet. As soon as I could, I canceled it and rebooted from my ISO. The install got underway but asked for disk/partition information even though I specified this in the PE tabs. It then proceeded and after a restart BSODed but immediately restarted. I tried Safe Mode but also BSOD and quick restart. I powered down the VM. I have a mess. What we need, and I did not see, is the option to not automatically restart on BSOD. I hope you can give us that if it is not there. Any ideas on my Catalyst expand/extract question (I think I was editing while you were posting)? I had thought about manually doing the ForceUnsigned parameter for the 3Ware driver, but I am hoping you can give us that option also. I don't really need to get this driver installed right now since I am just testing on VM and I hope I can get 3Ware-LSI to correct their problem. Thanks much, John.

alexFX, I would suggest you start over with a fresh copy of your CD files/folders, use nothing but nLite to process it. Either use an IE8 AddOn or remove the IE updates. I know nothing about Silent .NET Maker, but am very hesitant to use anything other nLite on my source (and I don't, except for WMP11 Slipstreamer which is integrated into nLite). Here is another Greek user who has been down some of your same paths. What are ADAMSP1MUI_x86.exe and ROEXPDNF11SP1en20SP2en30SP2en35SP1en.7z? Please leave them out of your experiment and let us know how it turns out. Enjoy, John.

Some questions and a problem. I really need some more studying, but I will ask anyway. I did another run today after gathering more stuff for the build. I got a message that one of my drivers was not signed. I have sent an e-mail to 3Ware-LSI, but have not determined how to do a force install on it. I also got errors on the Catalysts .inf files and need to investigate. The error message said to look in <windir>\inf on the installing disk. Where is this? I did not understand how to use the Services Disabler, so I checked one, then clicked Cancel. It crashed with a runtime error of 13. Later I saw using 0 to cancel and close. I would suggest either the crash be stopped or the Cancel button be removed. I was curious about the OEMlogo so I clicked it but selected nothing and when it came back the default logo (Great one!) was gone. During the Unattended screens, I include the default key in the non-MAK space, but it showed up in the MAK screen. I had added a couple of applications to the appswitch.dat and left the rest. When I processed that page, the check boxes were there but no applications. I expected, perhaps erroneously, for the list of applications in the appswitch folder to be there for me to select the ones I wanted to install. I need some more study here. What does Set Service Also? do? Under some options 7UA copies stuff from my Registry or currently applications. Is this going to work as I am running XP x64? Thanks in advanced, John. EDIT: Failed to ask: I defined a user account but could not determine how to autolog it. Possible? EDIT#2: Found the log file in the Logs folder in 7UA folder. The Catalyst display driver has a bunch of compressed files (xxx.EX_, xxx.DL_ etc) and I cannot expand them using 7-Zip or the expand command. I assume that Dism cannot either. Anyone know what it takes to get these files expanded/extracted?

alexFX, updates that are integrated (slipstreamed) with nLite will not show up under Add/Remove (and you cannot remove them). This is why Sp0iLedBrAt suggested you go to Windows Update and see what it wants to DL. There is a utility called qfecheck that also will tell you. Please search for qfecheck (Google or whatever), DL and run it. I have both msxml4 and 6 installed on my system (XP x64) (via nLite) and neither show in qfecheck but they do show in Add/Remove. When Add/Remove does not work without the CD, then yes something is wrong. Please post a screen shot of the error and translate into English if it is in Greek. Have you run nLite more than once against the same source? It should always be run against a fresh copy of your CD files/folders and only once. I see IE8 updates but no installer for IE8. This is a real problem. You need an AddOn for IE8 and it needs to be included in the list before its updates. Enjoy, John.

mainpage, there are AddOns for many popular applications. Please see the AddOns sub-forum above. In the Options Task of nLite there is a Uxtheme option under the Patches tab. There is a great picture guide by Sp0iLedBrAt here - see #35. Enjoy, John.

myselfidem, nice looking background. Will maxXPsoft need to integrate this. I find only one copy of background_cli.bmp and it is in the sources folder. I replaced it with yours but suspect it will go away when I do another build. Thanks, John.

nekiman, you are welcome. I think W7 Professional x64 will be OK as long as you do not integrate an SP (which you are not doing). I don't know about 32 bit updates, but if WUD showed KB936929, it should be OK. I have not used the WMP11 integrator you are using, so let us know if it works. Sounds like you are learning fast. Great on the VirtualPC system - will pay many dividends. I think that IE8 AddOn will be fine, but in English. Enjoy, John.

nekiman, thanks for the Last Session. It is always useful. It looks OK, but I see you are running nLite under Vista (or W7) and this can be a problem if you are adding a Service Pack. Did your original source come with SP3 or are you using nLite to slipstream it? You did not say what WMP11 Slipstreamer you found, but if it is booogy's, just install it on your machine, place the WMP11 installer followed by the WMP11 updates and nLite will use the slipstreamer to integrate WMP11 and all its updates. There is always some confusion between hot fixes and updates. I tend to treat the terms as the same. I think originally, MS intended that hot fixes could be applied to a running system to correct problems without causing interruptions (restarts). In the case of nLite, all updates obtained from Windows Download Site as KB type updates should be OK. There are some exceptions and IE8 is one of them. For some reason MS decided that IE8 could not be slipstreamed on XP (only Vista and W7), so nLite cannot handle and an AddOn is required. Sp0iLedBrAt has given a good link for IE8 AddOn (and a great one for the picture guide), but the problem you may have is finding one in Greek. In this case you have two basic choices. One is to make one your self. There is an AddOn maker (I have not used). You add the IE8 AddOn into the hot fix section followed by its updates. Two, is to run the IE8 installer from the RunOnce exit out of the Unattended section. Here is a great guide for XP x64 on running stuff from RunOnce. Please don't be intimidated by it, but it is really a good lead. Kurt_Aust does not run IE8 from here, but many other things such .NET Framework. Since I run XP x64, I am not familiar with 32 bit updates, so I can't help you with individual update problems. I recommend that you do some searching here, on Google and especially RayanVM. See if you can find Greek AddOns and Update Packs. I think it will make you like much easier. Please look at Sp0iLedBrAt's pictures, read the guide posted in the sticky area above and consider a virtual system for testing. VMware Server, VirtualPC and VirtualBox are all free. If you are running W7 Professional or above, then 32 bit virtual support is available (requires some DLs - free). I suggest you try something simpler to start with. Just a few changes and updates and then test on a virtual system. Enjoy, John.

nekiman, I should have pointed out in my first reply - attach your Last Session as requested in the RED above and do not paste a large amount of lists in the forum. I cannot read Greek, but you have obviously included files into your Hot Fix section that are not valid. The .msi file and the one below it are not valid and HMTCDWizad is also. As the Task name says, the Hot Fix section is for hot fixes, AddOns and update packs, not general installers. IE8 will not integrate directly, neither will WMP11. Basically you need to do some research here. Look for an IE8 AddOn and WMP11 Slipstreamer from booogy. Also please consider an Update Pack, although finding one in Greek may be a problem. Please try RayanVM forum and use Google (or your favorite search engine.) Enjoy, John

nekiman, Windows updates do not need converting, the .exe files are what nLite needs. Just point to them in the Hotfixes, AddOns and Update Packs Task. Enjoy, John.

HardwareGuy, Weird. I notice you don't have any text mode drivers. Have you given up on using AHCI mode? You haven't run nLite more than once against the same source, have you? Enjoy, John.

vasili0s, please attach your Last Session. Enjoy, John.

vasili0s, Ponch means RED message and attach your Last Session. Have you seen this type of site? I really don't know what you mean by LocalAcccount - please tell us and tell us what your symptoms are indicating a problem. The user accounts that you specify in the Unattended task of nLite are created by the nLite.inf file during install. It can be found in your nLited folder, compressed into NLITE.IN_. You can extract it and see the accounts being created there. Search on the account name. Please tell us more about unicode XP and LocalAccounts. Enjoy, John.

HardwareGuy, I am glad you have resolved your issue. The messages you quote are coming from Windows Setup, which nLite does not modify in any way. I do not understand why the nLited CD install looks different from the original CD install. You really did not answer my question and it is also really not important that it be answered. What I wanted to know, for your running system, installed from the nLited CD with E as your system disk, was, what was C and D assigned to - partitions on the single disk? No big deal. BTW, nLite should be run only once against your freshly copied files/folders and should be run under XP, not Vista or W7. Usually we insist on seeing your Last Session to make sure. If you want to look any further, please attach your Last Session (as requested in bold RED letters above). It can be found in your nLite folder or CD. Enjoy, John.

Thanks for your reply. I have cleared cache (completely) many times and deleted all msfn cookies. What has helped is that a few days ago the forums were unavailable for some time. I have had no problems since. I usually never log out. Thanks, John. Thanks for your reply. It seems like whenever anyone has a problem with a browser (or other applications), people suggest another bowser. My son is trying to talk me into using Chrome, and I have tried it and like it (fast) except for some things I am used to having in IE. I have used Firefox before IE did tabbed browsing and liked it except for the fact that there were several sites I visited regularly that did not work and forced me to go back to IE. This quickly led to shortcuts being out of sync and other settings problems. I do not think I am going to change browsers just because one of the forums I visit has a problem. The fact that it has gotten much better since this forum was down several days ago, and it happened to you, tells me it is a forum problem and not mine. It may have something to do with my settings, but then it should be consistent. Thanks, John.

In unattend.chm, I find that the MAC address is formatted 00-11-22-33-44-55. Enjoy, John.

HardwareGuy, unfortunately, we have not seen nuhi (author/owner) here in a long time. I am almost positive there never will be a Professional version, and quite possibly no upgrades or bug fixes. There are non-free programs that do this, but I am not familiar with them. You did not say what C and D were assigned to. I'll do some more pondering, but no ideas right now. Please let us know about C and D assignments. Enjoy, John.

HardwareGuy, I think you are saying that you are just curious and will not try to really determine what is going on with the nLite install. Interesting. If you will right click My Computer, select Manage then Disk Manager you will see a graphic display of your disks. Right click your problematic partition and select the "Change drive letter and paths...". I think you will find this a way to change your E to C. I am curious what C and D are assigned to if anything. In general AHCI will give you better performance than ATA, but does require text mode drivers. Of course, nLite has nothing to do with selecting the install disk, you do that at the front end of install. When you used the ATA setting (no F6), did you use the nLited CD or just the original? I suspect that if you had used the nLited CD, it would have installed on the C not E. I also suspect the condition is caused by your machine. You might consider the Dell forum or an e-mail to Dell support. Enjoy, John.

maxXPsoft, thanks for all you great help! I will do some more builds and hopefully learn more. Enjoy, John.

fdlchris, I cannot answer your questions. I asked you to look in the oobe.inf file. I think it contains the list of files. If you were to copy all these files and the oobe.inf into a folder, then right click the oobe.inf and click Install, I think it would do the copy for you. I am not real knowledgeable of .inf files, but if you are brave, create a System Restore point and try it. The second question about delaying the expiration date very likely violates the forum rules concerning illegal activity, but I do know anyway and would not answer if I did. Again, if you are not really computer savvy, I would suggest you start over. Good luck, John.

Tripredacus, I Have tried no other browser. I suspect it is a SW problem on the board considering that I did not have this problem before the big change and I do not have the problem on any other forums, including the ones that use the same basic SW. Thanks, John.