BleedingEdge

Thanks for that link! Fantastic resource. I am nLite-ing my installs. The reason I don't want IE8 (or any of the dotNet / DirectX updates etc.) actually part of the Windows install is a) because they are subject to update quite frequently, and it's easier to edit a batch file than rebuild a whole OS install, and b ) I work in the music business, and several machines I have a totally stripped bare with nothing added aside from what is absolutely necessary. On these machines, I tend not to install IE updates. Cheers! Martin

Hi guys! Happy new year to you all. I'm currently going through my annual "let's get all the updates together on a disk for installing" procedure. I have a couple of questions about installing Internet Explorer 8 and updates. Please forgive the 'bullet pointed-ness' of the questions - it seems the easiest way of asking them. 1) Is the version downloaded in the IEAK (8.0.6001.18702) the 'base' version with no updates? Or are the various updates and hotfixes integrated in this install? 2) Do you HAVE to restart after installing IE8 before installing any of the updates? Or can I chain IE8 with the updates in a batch file? 3) Following on from that, what are the switches for passive installation and no restart of both IE8 (IE8-WindowsXP-x86-ENU.exe) and the various updates (IE8-WindowsXP-KBxxxxxxx-x86-ENU.exe)? Many thanks! Martin

Hi guys, I have been reading about not being able to directly slipstream Vista SP2 using vLite. That aside, working from an ISO with SP2 already integrated, is it still possible to use vLite to "strip down" the install or not? I wasn't sure if the lack of support for slipstreaming the service pack impacted on other areas of functionality of vLite? EDIT: And continuing that line of thought, do I need to use with Windows 7 WAIK to mess around with Vista SP2? Many thanks, Martin

Hi guys, At first glance, there seem to be some issues integrating IE8 and it's updates using nLite. Is this right? Can I not just get the IE8 install executable from Microsoft (IE8-WindowsXP-x86-ENU.exe for XP Pro, and the equivalent for XP x64) and integrate it as I did IE7? Then the updates (KB976325, KB971961, and KB975364) just go into the hotfix section. There seem to be a few IE8 "addons" floating around this forum, which would indicate that what I want to do is not possible? Is this so? Many thanks, Martin

Many thanks guys!

Thanks Anderton!

Thanks computerwizkid. I don't think NVidia made any Server 2008 specific drivers for the MCP73 boards, because it's a low end consumer system... Thanks! Martin

Hi guys, Do the XP drivers for the ATI Radeon series (currently 9.3) work with Server 2003 or not? I can't find any specific drivers for it... Thanks, Martin

Hi guys, How can I set files to install in target computer environment variable folder paths in Wise Windows Installer Editor? Setting a variable for source files is easy enough, but I can't find a way of doing it for the target machine. For example, I have files that needs to be installed in %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Apple Computer\QuickTime and %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\QuickTime Using the actual windows variable %ALLUSERSPROFILE% as a folder name causes an error on install (C: contains an invalid character - the % I presume). I don't want to hard define the folder structure because %APPDATA% varies for each user. Many thanks, Martin

Hi guys, I have been playing around today with the Nero 8.3.13.0 install, and seem to have found a way to get it to work nicely. I don't know if people are having any difficulties with Nero 8, but I have been, so thought I'd post this just in case Note, that this requires an MSI editor (I've been using Wise Windows Installer Editor, but have loaded it into the IS 2009 demo and it will no doubt work too!). First, I extracted the download package using 7z into a folder called "Nero". I created a transform based on Nero.msi (under data\) and added/edited the following properties: NSC_DEFAULT_OFF - TRUE NSC_OPT - FALSE SERIALNUM_USERVAL - <serial number WITH hyphens here> SERIALNUM_CORRECT - TRUE SERIALNUM - <serial number WITH hyphens here> RebootYesNo - No ProductID - <serial number WITH hyphens here> INCLANGUAGES - ENG [change to your preferred] EULA_AGREEMENT - 1 EULAACCEPTED - 1 DESKTOP_SHORTCUT - 0 AGREETOLICENSE - Yes I also went through the "features", and deleted everything except the required ones, and NeroBurningRomBCAFF604 Now, although this works, I do not *like* doing it this way. I'm guessing the following properties (defined as NULL_VALUEs at the moment) would help: INCFEATURES EXCFEATURES EXCLANGUAGES But I don't know what to put in there. Is it all the features I want included/excluded product codes' (BCAFF604 for example), or the whole feature name (eg: "NeroBurningRomBCAFF604")? Also, if I try and input the properties "USERNAME" and "COMPANYNAME" with the others above, I get a warning message tell me that these variables will be overwritten in the install... And if I continue and include them anyway, they don't seem to work anyway. So although my Nero is installed, those fields are blank at the moment. I'm not worried about slimming down the install media size, so I'm not looking for a NeroLite type thing. I just want to exclude 90% of the features (or, include just NeroBurningRom, the Tools, NeroProductSetup, NeroSuiteInstaller, and SpecialFeatures) Any help just tweaking this so I can get it absolutely right much appreciated!! Thanks, Martin PS: The final install command I used for the above is SetupX.exe /qb TRANSFORMS="customMSTName.mst"

Are you installing on an SP3 system? That hotfix is included in SP3...

I've taken a look at the demo of IS 2009, and it seems to suit me pretty well. Thanks for the help!

Thanks guys!

Hi guys, I have laying around an "el cheapo" PC (bought from a supermarket) which I plan on repurposing as an asset server for all my photography assets and textures etc. The problem is that the motherboard is based on a low end consumer chipset (Nvidia MCP73), and I can only seem to find chipset/LAN/graphics drivers for Vista or Vista SP1. As they are based on the same kernel, will Vista SP1 drivers work with Server 2008? Thanks, Martin

Thanks Raoul! M

Thanks! M

Hi guys, I am looking at purchasing an application to make deployment of applications across several PCs and sites easier. These are computers that are being used on theatre tours where they will have neither a net connection or a "tech guy" to manage them (the sound engineer will be the closest to that). So the whole install procedure needs to be completely hands-off (bar putting the CD in and letting it autorun). Basically, my requirements are: - to be able to create an MSI that will work almost as a bootstrapper for starting and chaining several applications with their silent flags - Repackaging various other "legacy setup" programs into MSIs I have been looking at Wise Package Studio and Wise Installation Studio. Which would you guys recommend over the other? Many thanks, Martin

Hi guys, Referring to the Asus Intel Chipset readme (the relevant section is quoted below): Can I copy ALL the XP inf/cat files over to the $OEM$ directory and the correct one will be automatically installed, or do I have to select a specific chipset? I will be using this disk to install several systems, and the motherboards are not all the same (although they DO use the same Intel driver package - I have checked that). Finally, I will be dual booting some of these systems with XP x64 as well as XP Pro, so I am also creating an x64 install disk. The driver package is x64 compatible (there is an AsusSetup_64.inf file). Can I use exactly the same procedure? Many thanks, Martin ************************************************************ * 8B. INSTALLING THE WINDOWS* XP INF FILES PRIOR TO * OS INSTALLATION ************************************************************ NOTE: The Windows* XP OEM Preload Kit distribution CD contains a setup directory with all the base operating system setup files and installation programs (WINNT.EXE and WINNT32.EXE). The name of the directory may vary depending on the distribution CD (e.g., \I386\). 1. Create the following directory structure under the <WINXP Setup Directory>: \$OEM$\$$\INF 2. Copy the Windows* XP INF files from <INF Extract Directory>\XXXX\All to the directory created in Step 1 above: <WINXP Setup Directory>\$OEM$\$$\INF NOTE: XXXX is the directory name for the chipset of interest. Refer to Section 8 for more details. 3. Create the following directory structure under the <WINXP Setup Directory>: \$OEM$\$1\drivers\IntelINF 4. Copy the Windows* XP INF files AND the catalog files (.CAT) from <INF Extract Directory>\XXXX\All to the directory created in Step 4 above: <WINXP Setup Directory>\$OEM$\$1\drivers\IntelINF NOTE: XXXX is the directory name for the chipset of interest. Refer to Section 8 for more details. 5. Either modify the default Windows* XP installation answer file, UNATTEND.TXT, located in <WINXP Setup Directory>, or create a customized answer file. The answer file must include the following information: [Unattended] OemPreinstall = Yes OemPnPDriversPath="drivers\IntelINF" A sample answer file for preloading the Intel(R) Chipset Device Software files is available: <INF Extract Directory>\XXXX\All\INFAnswr.TXT If you are a computer manufacturer, refer to the Microsoft* Windows* XP Guide to Unattended Setup for more information about Windows* XP answer files and unattended installations. For more information about the \$OEM$ folder, refer to the Microsoft Windows* XP OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK) User Guide. If you are not a manufacturer, refer to the Microsoft Windows* XP Deployment Guide. 6. Run "WINNT.EXE /u:<answer file name> /s:<WINXP Setup Directory>" to install Windows* XP.

Thanks jaclaz - I have to confess that I missed that completely... Ah well, I suppose it will all have to be done the manual way (using the /integrate method) - my plan was to use nlite for hotfix/IE/WMP integration only (thus my need for the other deployment tools). Thanks for pointing that out! Martin

Hi guys, I tend to explain things in a long winded way, so for ease I have formatted my specific questions like this so anyone in a rush who kindly wants to help can get to the nub of my questions easily I am the owner and general "tech" guy of a new theatre production company. In my IT capacity, I have to deploy XP (both x86 and x64) on numerous PCs within the company. Could someone please tell me what the up to date deployment tools are for XP and XP x64? The deployment development is XP x64, running VMWare for testing purposes. I'm assuming (please correct me if I'm wrong): Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 [6001.18000.080118-1840-kb3aikl_en.iso] This is detailed to work for Server 2003 (SP2) and XP (SP2), so I am guessing that XP x64 (SP2) and XP Pro SP3 will be fine. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 Update 1 Is this the latest version of the "Deployment Tools" mentioned on the tutorials? This is dependent on varous other utilities: - Windows Automated Installation Kit (Fine - see above) - MSXML 6.0 (fine, but 6.0 SP1 is the latest release) - Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0.2 (fine, but 5.5 is the latest) - User State Migration Tool 3.0.1 (fine) Now, with these, I am developing the deployments on an x64 machine, but for both x86 and x64 target systems. Do I need to download both x86 and x64 versions of these tools (where there are 2 available) and install them on my x64 development machine? Add to this the obvious nLite and WMPSlipstreamer. Am I missing anything else that people can think of? In terms of the *necessary* tools. Many thanks, Martin Hughes

Hi guys, I am trying to set up an unattended chain for Adobe Acrobat (3D) 8, including updates. The order of installation is: - Adobe Acrobat 3D 8.10 (Base Package) - Acrobat 3D 8.11 Update - 3D Import/Export Update - Acrobat 3D 8.12 Update <Restart> - Acrobat 3D 8.13 Update <Restart> Is it ok to install 8.13 update after 8.12 WITHOUT restarting? Acrobat itself will not be started before a restart at the very end of the chain... Thanks! Martin

Hi everyone, Is it ok to install Office 2007 (silently using a MSP file created witht he setup.exe /admin switch along with the SP2 update in the "updates" folder) BEFORE I install my system drivers (motherboard/graphics/network etc)? I would like to install it from RunOnceEx, but this would be before any drivers were installed (those I am installing as a separate routine because not all our systems are the same configuration...). Would there be any major problems doing it this way? Thanks, Martin

Thank you!

Hi guys, I am creating an XP x64 install disk using nLite for our studio, based on our SP2 MSDN disk (integrating IE8 / WMP 11 etc etc). Is there an up to date list of post SP2 updates available for XP x64 Edition? I know there are packs available, but I would rather download them manually so I know exactly what I am getting (I am ultimately responsible for the running of the systems, so call it professional paranoia ). Another reason is that NONE of the x64 PCs this disk will be used for will be on the internet - they are simply on our internal intranet (which is completely isolated from the external network which has an internet connection). Therefore, I am not too worried about a lot of the security updates, so I can pick and choose my updates. Many thanks, Martin

Thanks jfx!