QED

Hi Ilko Yes that is the orphan file that is generated in C:\ I ran it again to confirm. I think when this happens, there is no migrate.inf on my USB. When I install using this USB I noticed the USB was getting drive letter E: (first available after C: and D: (2 hard drives)). I thought it should be U: but I didn't care as it seemed to work anyway (except for disappering files). Now when I run WinSetupFromUSB from default C:\ the USB gets migrate.inf (with "\DosDevices\U:") in ~BT folder. In text mode the USB gets correct drive letter U: and everything appears to work as it should. It's good to know this should be relatively easy to fix. Looking forward to v 0.2. -QED

Hi Ilko I've found the problem with the deleted files! It has to do with when I installed WinSetupFromUSB in C:\Program Files. I guess that config file I mentioned which is created shortly after hitting GO is responsible. It gets created in the wrong place. Sorry I don't have a name for the file because it is given the name "Program " (with space at the end). This is the full contents of that file: [Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$" [Addreg] HKLM,"SYSTEM\MountedDevices",,0x00000010 HKLM,"SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\StorageDevicePolicies","WriteProtect",%REG_DWORD%,1 HKLM,"SYSTEM\MountedDevices","\DosDevices\C:",0x00030001,\ 5C,00,3F,00,3F,00,5C,00,53,00,54,00,4F,00,52,00,41,00,47,00,45,00,23,00,52,00,65,00,6D,00,6F,00,76,0 0,61,00,62,00,6C,00,65,00,4D,00,65,00,64,00,69,00,61,00,23,00,37,00,26,00,31,00,33,00,66,00,61,00,37 , 00,38,00,64,00,34,00,26,00,30,00,26,00,52,00,4D,00,23,00,7B,00,35,00,33,00,66,00,35,00,36,00,33,00,3 0 ,00,64,00,2D,00,62,00,36,00,62,00,66,00,2D,00,31,00,31,00,64,00,30,00,2D,00,39,00,34,00,66,00,32,00, 2 D,00,30,00,30,00,61,00,30,00,63,00,39,00,31,00,65,00,66,00,62,00,38,00,62,00,7D,00 [Strings] ;Handy macro substitutions non-localizable REG_SZ = 0x00000000 REG_BINARY = 0x00000001 REG_DWORD = 0x00010001 REG_MULTI_SZ = 0x00010000 REG_SZ_APPEND = 0x00010008 REG_EXPAND_SZ = 0x00020000 I also noticed when I installed WinSetupFromUSB in default location on C:\ the prepared USB has one extra file (don't know which one). I'm guessing it is because that config file transferred correctly to USB? Hope this helps you track down the problem. I'm happy now that my USB isn't deleting itself anymore. Mainstream, here we come!!! -QED

Hi Ilko Can you please confirm, according to your warning box (post 136) if I’m using XP SP3 I should NOT be experiencing the deleted files problem? I also found this in the How-Tos.txt (v 0.1.1): “NOTE: If you are installing windows different than XP SP2 or SP3, some of the compressed files in ~LS\I386 or AMD64 folder will be deleted during Text mode of setup.” I am using 32bit XP Pro SP3 (inc MP11, IE7, all hotfixes up to 25/10/2008 plus 3 mass storage drivers) and my files are definitely being deleted. Is this something to do with hotfixes etc? Have I gone “beyond” SP3? I also have some observations using the re-sync option. After first install, re-sync needed to replace roughly 40% of missing files (by number and by size). To do this it took 75% of time compared to completely fresh preparation. Probably my USB is slow and re-sync accesses the USB much more than a straight copy? -QED

Hi. Firstly, thank you for finally making a GUI! I think a lot of people have been waiting a long time for this. I can’t understand why M$ haven’t done this yet. It just seems so obvious it is something we need. No money in it for M$ I suppose. I’ve done a few installs recently and been experimenting with this program (v 0.1.1) as an alternative to Multiboot (credit to the authors for their ground breaking work, but still a little too “heavy” for my lazy self). I have a few things to feedback but I must first mention the most serious one: I found this one out the hard way. The affected software is 32 bit XP-PRO SP3. Quote from WinSetupFromUSB README.TXT “!!!If your source is NOT Windows XP2 SP2, some of the compressed files in ~LS folder will be deleted during the first part(Text mode). To make another install from this disk you have to copy the missing files, use the program for this purpose and follow the prompts when it finds existing setup folders.!!!” Guys this is irresponsible. We are talking about a point and click program here. As a “power user” I can look after myself but what about the average user who will use this program? Those people will go ahead and complete their first successful install. Not realising their files were “spent” they may attempt to install again using the same USB. They happily format their drive knowing it “worked perfectly” last time, then they get the message “Can’t find install files on USB”!!! There is no apparent explanation for this error and the user has no idea what is going on unless they find the Readme (which was probably on the formatted drive). Although it is a “free program and there are no warranties, use at own risk” etc etc. You really should reconsider releasing the program with such a serious limitation. As it is, the costs far exceed the benefits – re-preparing the USB (for 20 min) before each install is simply not practical. Some user is going to get badly hurt. Your reputations are on the line here. There has been a lot of good work done, it would be a shame to undo that. At the very least you should provide a large warning that the prepared USB will be GOOD FOR ONE INSTALL ONLY. I used the re-sync option. It recopied 6880 files out of original 7017. It takes 19 minutes to copy 450MB (NTFS) to my USB stick. So the re-sync option saved a few seconds. Not complaining about that but it introduced several errors later on in the install. Again the cost benefit is not there – the few seconds saved does not justify the risk of a corrupted install – much safer to do a completely new USB preparation. More on that later, first the rest of my bug report starting back at the beginning… INSTALLATION WinSetupfromUSB default location is c:\ C’mon guys!!! Not cool! Actually I think I know why this was necessary. I chose to install to C:\Program Files\WinSetupFromUSB\ Every time I prepare the USB (hitting GO), the program writes a small file called “Program” in C:\. In this file is some setup info and contains... [strings] ;Handy macro substitutions non-localizable REG_SZ = 0x00000000 etc. When windows starts a dialogue box pops up saying there is a file called “C:\Program” which could cause certain applications to not function correctly. It suggests renaming the file to Program1. USING THE PROGRAM It would be good if the program remembered the last directory where you keep your source files. INSTALL USING USB During boot, the first menu screen only has one option listed “Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup – First and Second Parts. Do we really need an option screen that gives us only one option? I realise there might be some advanced features (press “e” or “b” etc) at this point but isn’t it aimed at the point and click user? After re-sync, on the second menu, option 2 was repeated “Second part of XP + Start windows for first time.” Also after re-sync $OEM$\cmdlines.txt was not run. Lastly, this feature always perplexed me with Multiboot as well. Why is there a need to add an extra line to boot.ini? The user has to manually edit this out every time. Is there some limitation with the technology so the install won’t work otherwise? Is the point and click user really meant to edit boot.ini? Please don’t take these as criticisms. I greatly appreciate all the time and effort that people give so generously. I know that USB install is extremely complicated and that some of the “bugs” I mentioned are due to limitations in the technology (and no fault of the authors). There are many of us out there who look after every computer in our house plus all our friends and relative’s computers. I’ve been waiting a long time for the price of 1+ GB USB sticks to come down in price. That time is now. USB installs are going to be mainstream. I hope you guys will be ready. -QED