ESM69

this is weird i went ahead and burned my install disc with the RunOnceEx.cmd that searches for and installs from the CDRom however, during the file copy stage i saw it copy the $OEM$ files that i wasn't seeing when i was testing with VMWare sure enough, the files and folders are on my c:\ not sure why it worked this time and not when i was testing with VMWare meh...feel like a tool for wasting your time, -X- E--

well, something is teh suck and i don't know what didn't work again well, i'm tired of playing with this atm...i found the RunOnceEx program that basically creates the RunOnceEx.cmd file, but also has a bit of code to identify your cd-rom drive; and, then installs from the cd and not the <install> directory, etc i had that working the other day; so, i'm gonna go with that just to get the system back up and running however, it's really pi$$ing me off that i can't get this to work...i'm sure, since i have nothing better to do, that i'll fiddle with this and try to figure out WTF is going on once, errrrr, if i get it figured out i'll definitely post my findings/info/etc thanks, -X- for your time and suggestions take care E--

haven't had time to test this yet RL sucks a$$ sometimes as soon as i get a couple hours to go through things and make sure my source files are what they should be and then test i will i'll post my results as soon as i can E--

ok, a couple small differences between my WINNT.sif and yours MsDosInitiated: mine: ="0" yours: =0 OemSkipEula: mine: =Yes yours: ="Yes" to double quote or not to double quote, that is the question maybe? hard to tell when double quotes are needed or not...my quotes, with and/or without, were all setup via the SP2 Deploy Tools have to go to work now so i'll try to remember to play with this tonight/tomorrow and see what i get...i can kind of see the MsDosInitiated value being a difference maker E--

well, i don't have a lastsession.ini file in my current source i'm using nLite just to create the .iso, nothing else i create unattended.txt through the SP2 Deploy Tools, rename to WINNT.SIF and move it to my i386 folder i'm gonna take a step back from the ledge and try creating my image with CDImage and take nLite out of the equation altogether i'll update in a bit E--

question, does it matter if i create my winnt.sif through the SP2 Deploy Tools versus nLite if i'm using nLite to create the .iso? i can't imagine it would as a text file is a text file is a text file; but that question just popped into my head thanks, E--

for giggles, here is my winnt.sif something just occured to me that way back when i wasn't doing a "fullanattended" install...i think i left it so i had to enter a pc name, workgroup, and maybe a couple other values maybe i'll give that a try and see what it gets otherwise, blah, i'll just run the installs from the disc since the files will be there...just wanted to not have to worry about the few basic security items question: does casing matter...does "A" = "a"?, etc oh well, thanks anyhow, E-- ;SetupMgrTag [Data] AutoPartition=0 MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="Yes" [unattended] FileSystem=* UnattendMode=FullUnattended OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall="Yes" UnattendedSWitch="yes" TargetPath=\WINDOWS WaitForReboot="No" DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword="y" EncryptedAdminPassword=NO OEMSkipRegional=1 TimeZone=10 OemSkipWelcome=1 [userData] ProductKey=* FullName="Erik" OrgName="x" ComputerName=Erik [Display] BitsPerPel=32 [TapiLocation] CountryCode=1 [identification] JoinWorkgroup=x [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

no, nothing is being copied over...the RunOnceEx.cmd executes and sets up the registry for the first reboot; but that's it as for an av, i am turning it off at the moment when i'm doing these...i've another problem with my OS which is why i'm trying to get this back up lastly, below is the snapshot from within the .iso file showing my $OEM$ folders and contents $OEM$\$$\System32: $OEM$\$1\Install (ignore the cleanup.cmd and cmdow.exe in this folder...i'm not calling the cleanup.cmd file and it was late last night - or early this morning - and i wasn't paying attn to the fact that i put a copy of cmdow.exe in this folder too ) gotta figure out why nothing is copying over thanks again E--

i added a 'pause' to my RunOnceEx.cmd file and found that cmdow is not being copied to \windows\system32...i just did a search of my "c:\" (on VM pc) and cmdow is definitely nowhere to be found...i'm not sure if cmdow not getting copied over is my main problem or something else anyhow, what i've been doing is to use that XP_SP3_Base to make a .iso file and tested that it loaded in VM Machine and that i hade that "base install" then, i unzipped that .iso file to XP_SP3_062509 so i could mess around with my "source" data and if/when i screwed things up, i could just go back to my XP_SP3_Base main source and start again when i did this in the past, i remember being able to update my current source and just roll on...i'm not sure if i used nLite or what back then...i don't recall having to delete anything, etc also, here's the $OEM$ folder structure you asked about: $OEM$ folder: $OEM$\$$\System32 folder: i really appreciate your feedback, -X- E--

i'll delete those files and try it again thanks, E-- edit: nope, same thing

$oem$ is at the root of my install, same level as i386, etc stupid thing is, a few years ago (2-3) i had this working but didn't keep up with it...starting over now and nothing's workin thanks for the help E-- edit: the folder i'm working from is the "XP_SP3_062509" folder

i didn't have the double-quotes, so i added them and just re-tested...same thing, nothing is copied over also just noticed that it's adding some gibberish at the end of my hostname and the workgroup is not what it's supposed to be "erik-f3f08c8622" not sure what's up with that *sigh* thanks for the help, E-- here's the first part of my winnt.sif: ;SetupMgrTag [Data] AutoPartition=0 MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="Yes" [unattended] FileSystem=* UnattendMode=FullUnattended OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall="Yes" UnattendedSWitch="yes" TargetPath=\WINDOWS WaitForReboot="No" DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

during my install, the files/folders under $OEM$ are not copying over to my install HDD i'm using an XP install i know part of it is working because after the first reboot the RunOnceEx commands attempt to run...however, all i get is "Windows cannot find 'c:]install\Firefox_Setup.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To Search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search", etc...every app i have in the RunOnceEx file does the same thing i don't have a cleanup.cmd function so i know my files should still be on C:\install, etc the RunOnceEx.cmd file does what it's supposed to do...i just can't get the actual files to copy over``` i'm using nLite 1.4.9.1 to create my .iso that i'm using with VMWare to test my setup any help would be appreciated tyia, ESM69

OS: XP Pro Sp1a MB: ASUS A7V333 CPU: AMD ATHLON1700+ @ 1.98ghz HDD: 120gb seagate (oops, actually, 114gb since MS changed the math RAM: 512MB PC270O - corsair w/heat shield VID: 32mb ATI all-in-wonder SOUND: sound blaster live DISPLY: 21" viewsonic FREE SPACE: 40-50gb Nothin fancy, but it does the trick...especially since i OC'd it from 1.46ghz to 1.98ghz use mainly for dvd backups , gaming , and, if time allows, surfing porn

hello from sunny colorado... first post...been reading over the site the past few days...already have many questions and many new ideas hopefully, i won't break too many of the rules