Maelstorm

I know quite a few people have been looking for this. So here it is. The location in the registry for the content, layout, position, and size of items on the Windows 10 Start Menu is here: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CloudStore I am going to warn you though, much of the data is binary. It looks something like a C struct or attributes of a C++ class. There does appear to be UTF-16 encoded strings in the data too, so it looks like it copies the shortcut information into the database. I wouldn't try to modify the data as it may corrupt your user profile and make your start menu unusable. So using regedit.exe, you can export the key and then reload it at a later date to restore your start menu. You will have to restart StartMenuExperienceHost.exe for any changes to take effect. Enjoy.

I went from Windows XP to Windows 10 a few years ago and I have gotten used to it. Right now, I'm trying to add a php file template to show up on the New context menu when I click on the desktop. I found a few way on the web, but I can't seem to get it to work. I've been modifying the registry directly. Here's what it currently looks like. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.php] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.php\OpenWithProgids] "VSCode.php"="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.php\ShellNew] "NullFile"="1" "FileName"="%ProgramData%\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Templates\\template.php" This latest incarnation was followed from here which did not work: https://superuser.com/questions/1572416/populate-new-files-from-windows-context-menu Any ideas on what I need to do?

I've been looking through the files of a WinPE 3.0 and for the life of me, I cannot seem to find where WinPE starts setup which installs Windows. Now I know about cmdlines.txt, winpeshl.ini, and the registry key HKLM\System\Setup that runs winpeshl.exe. So, from boot.wim, how does windows setup get started?

I can build Windows XP All In One install DVDs in my sleep. Well, my script builds it. I have been looking through the forums, online, and the deployment documentation from Microsoft, but I am still confused about how this works. Here's what I have been able to gather so far: Instead of an i386 directory, there's a install.wim file that contains the installation image. Instead of winnt.sif, the unattended answer file is now an xml file. There is the Windows System Image Manager which shows a bunch of components and packages which I have no clue about. Windows PE? In WIn XP, Win PE was made from the Win XP installation files. How is it done now? The image that I have is Win 7 Pro SP1 AMD64. I don't plan to do any upgrading to ultimate or anything. In Win XP, there are several hooks which can be utilized by custom code to perform various tasks. Do these hooks exist in Win 7? How does one use them? Hotfixes. Before, you could specify a command line switch for a hotfix and it would integrate itself in the windows install. Does that method still apply or has the procedure changed? Related to #6: How does one now install additional software like flash player, acrobat reader, Seamonkey, Firefox, etc...? Which hook do you use? Before, I would start a very elaborate installation from cmdlines.txt which would in turn call my WINSETUP.CMD which would then kick off the software installation.I will probably have more questions beyond this. But this should get me started.

Is there a command line disk wipe utility that works on WinPE? I'm running WinPE 1.6. I tried HDDERASE.exe and it won't even load.

I have an update. It turns out that dd does not work under WinPE 1.5/1.6. So, I tried one of the other tools mentioned, specifically mkbt. It seems the following command line works quite well: mkbt -x -v -c Z: C:\BOOTREC.DAT So I've integrated it into my boot disk. This is all strictly testing right now. I am currently writing a HTA menu system that will run under WinPE to control everything based on what the user selects. As for testing, the following is the batch files that I am using to do this with under VMWare 5.5: MakeDisk.cmd @ECHO OFF START /WAIT CMD.EXE /C "\Program Files\Misc\PrepDisk.cmd" START /WAIT CMD.EXE /C "\Program Files\Misc\Install.cmd" vol1u START /WAIT CMD.EXE /C "\Program Files\Misc\Recover.cmd" EXIT PrepDisk.cmd @ECHO OFF diskpart /s "\Program Files\Misc\DiskPart.ini" ECHO. format c: /q /y /fs:ntfs /v:System format z: /q /y /fs:ntfs /v:Recovery Install.cmd @ECHO OFF REM Setup SET PARAM=%1 SET TARGET=C: REM Parameter Check IF /I "%1"=="MCE1U" ( SET SOURCE=MCE SET CONFIG=mce1u.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="MCE1A" ( SET SOURCE=MCE SET CONFIG=mce1a.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="MCE2U" ( SET SOURCE=MCE SET CONFIG=mce2u.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="MCE2A" ( SET SOURCE=MCE SET CONFIG=mce2a.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="RTM1U" ( SET SOURCE=RTM SET CONFIG=rtm1u.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="RMT1A" ( SET SOURCE=RTM SET CONFIG=rtm1a.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="RTM2U" ( SET SOURCE=RTM SET CONFIG=rtm2u.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="RTM2A" ( SET SOURCE=RTM SET CONFIG=rtm2a.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="OEM1U" ( SET SOURCE=OEM SET CONFIG=oem1u.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="OEM1A" ( SET SOURCE=OEM SET CONFIG=oem1a.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="VOL1U" ( SET SOURCE=VOL SET CONFIG=vol1u.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="VOL1A" ( SET SOURCE=VOL SET CONFIG=vol1a.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="TESTU" ( SET SOURCE=VOL SET CONFIG=MasterUnattended.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) IF /I "%1"=="TESTA" ( SET SOURCE=VOL SET CONFIG=MasterAttended.txt GOTO :PROGRAM ) GOTO :ERROR :PROGRAM REM Final Setup SET SOURCEFILES=X:\WINXP\%SOURCE%\I386 SET CONFIGFILES=x:\WINXP\CONFIG\%CONFIG% CHDIR %SOURCEFILES% IF /I "%SOURCE%"=="MCE" ( WinNT32 /syspart:%TARGET% /s:%SOURCEFILES% /unattended:%CONFIGFILES% /makelocalsource:all /copysource:lang /dudisable ) ELSE ( WinNT32 /syspart:%TARGET% /s:%SOURCEFILES% /unattended:%CONFIGFILES% /makelocalsource /copysource:lang /dudisable ) ECHO. XCOPY %SystemDrive%\WINXP\OEMFILES C:\$WIN_NT$.~LS\$OEM$ /S /E /Q /Y GOTO :EXIT :ERROR ECHO. ECHO Code Ed IM Key ECHO ============================================ ECHO MCE1U Media UA ECHO MCE1A Media A ECHO MCE2U Media UA ECHO MCE2A Media A ECHO OEM1U OEM UA ECHO OEM1A OEM A ECHO RTMU1U Retail UA ECHO RTMU1A Retail A ECHO RTMU2U Retail UA ECHO RTMU2A Retail A ECHO VOL1U Volume UA ECHO VOL1A Volume A ECHO TESTU Volume UA ECHO TESTA Volume A ECHO. GOTO :EOF :EXIT GOTO :EOF Recover.cmd @ECHO OFF REM install recovery partition ECHO Build Directories MKDIR "Z:\MININT" MKDIR "Z:\Program Files" ECHO Copy Data XCOPY /S /E /Q /Y "X:\I386" "Z:\MININT" XCOPY /S /E /Q /Y "X:\Program Files" "Z:\Program Files" COPY "Z:\MININT\ntdetect.com" "Z:\" COPY "Z:\MININT\setupldr.bin" "Z:\ntldr" ECHO Install Boot ECHO. MKBT -x -v -c Z: C:\BOOTREC.DAT DiskPart.ini select disk 0 clean create partition primary size=40960 select partition 1 active assign letter=C: select disk 0 create partition primary select partition 2 assign letter=Z:

My brain went for a walk on that post. Heh, this entire thread actually. I think dd would be the best tool to use in this case since that is the tool that I am most familiar with. I'll play around with it and see if I can get an automated setup working. Thank you so very much for the help.

Ok, I think we have a misunderstanding of what I am asking for. I did get this to work, manually, but I need a automatic method to do this. I'm not asking for the Master Boot Record, but the *VOLUME* Boot Record. The MBR that we all know and love is at CHS 0, 0, 1. This everybody knows about, and all the tools and suggestions given deal with that, except mkbt which gives an error about it only works with floppies. What I'm asking for is the boot sector *INSIDE* the partition that is pointed to by the MBR. That's what BOOTSECT.DAT is when you install the Recovery Console. The volume boot record for the first partition is at LBA sector 64 for Windows XP installations (At least all the ones that I have seen), which is the start of the first parition of the drive. The boot code that loads ntldr on NTFS volumes starts there and spans 16 disk sectors for 8Kb of data. It is referenced as $Boot in the MFT, but there's no way that I'm aware of to get at it.

Those tools are nice, but not what I am looking for. I need a tool that will read the MBR, then write the specified volume boot record to a file. Just like WINNT32.exe does when you install the Recovery Console. It makes a file called BOOTSECT.DAT in the cmdcons directory of the boot partition. I'm looking at writing my own, but I would rather not as I know absolutely nothing about C/C++ programming under Windows. -EDIT- I did find a tool called Findpart http://www.partitionsupport.com/utilities.htm that does what I want, but it's a 2 step process to make this work. The problem is getting the start CHS data out of the list and into the command line for the getsect command.

Ah, so that's what the problem is. Can you recommend a command-line sector extractor so I can extract the boot sector of the partition? I don't have any tools to do that for hard disks. I've searched all over google, and I did find a couple of tools that would seem to work, but they do not. Something like mkbt.exe from BartPE would be just the ticket that I am looking for.

How do you boot Windows PE 1.x (I'm using 1.6) from a second primary partition or harddisk using boot.ini? I've tried several things, but have yet to get it working correctly. Note that this isn't a dual-boot of WinPE in the same partition as WinXP, but it's in a different partition/drive. Here's the layout: Harddrive 0: Part 1: ~475GB Primary/Active - Windows XP Part 2: ~20GB Primary - Windows PE Here's what I have tried: In boot.ini, copy the WinXP line and modify it to point to D:\i386 :--: Failed Installed cmdcons, copied bootsect.dat to D: and point to that in boot.ini :--: Failed Point to D:\i386\setupldr in boot.ini :--: Failed Point to D:\i386\ntldr in boot.ini :--: Failed Copy ntldr to d:\ and point to that :--: Failed I'm out of ideas. Do you guys have any? I'm getting desperate to get this to work as this is the final hurdle that I need to cross.

Any word from Redmond about a OEM Preinstallation Kit for Windows 7? Or is it even needed anymore?

Actually, Microsoft learned their lesson with the Vista driver fiasco. Windows 7 will use the same exact drivers that Windows XP uses...From what I am told.

Unpack deploy.cab on your Windows CD. It's in \Support\Tools. Once you have the file unpacked, look at ref.chm. It has most if not all options as well as other information and tools.

Add/Change the following lines to your unattended setup: [unattended] UnattendMode=FullUnattended UnattendSwitch=Yes TargetPath="\Windows" Repartition=Yes WaitForReboot=No OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=Yes

I found a solution. It seems that when you use the /makelocalsource option, it will not copy the files in X:\$OEM$, so when you reboot the machine and run it off the HD, the files are not there. I tried copying the $OEM$ files to the root of the HD, and that didn't work either. I discovered though, that in the root directory, there's a couple of very interesting directories: $WIN_NT$.~BT $WIN_NT$.~LS Both directories have an $OEM$ sub directory. I tried BT first and that did not work. Not suprizing since that directory looks like a primordial \Windows directory. In the LS directory, it had two sub directories: The afore mentioned $OEM$ and I386. Looking at I386, it's the same as you would find on a Windows CD. I copied the $OEM$ files to the LS directory and the text mode installer saw the files and copied them correctly. Now everything seems to work just fine. I used the same unattneded.txt file that I was using when booting straight into the windows installer. The command that I used: XCOPY X:\$OEM$ C:\$WIN_NT$.~LS\$OEM$ /S /E /Q /Y You can if you want, but this issue came up because I was installing from WinPE. PrepDisk.cmd @ECHO OFF diskpart /s "\Program Files\Misc\DiskPart.ini" ECHO. format c: /q /y /fs:ntfs /v:System Install.cmd @ECHO OFF cd \WinXP\i386 WinNT32 /syspart:C: /s:X:\WinXP\i386 /unattended:X:\unattended.txt /makelocalsource /dudisable DiskPart.ini select disk 0 clean create partition primary select partition 1 active assign letter=C:

When I start a Windows XP Pro SP3 install from WinPE 1.6, the %OEM% folders do not get copied. Do I have to copy this manually?

I was having this exact same problem myself. After partitioning the disk and formatting it, I ran winnt32 to copy the files to it, rebooted, then nothing. Black screen with a cursor blinking at you. This program fixed the problem. Thank you.

What makes you think so? Retards are everywhere on this planet. It might as well be a banned user that's frustrated or something. Maybe I'm stereotyping, but I have found that alot of intrusion attempts on my network is from Asia, China specifically. And there's quite a bit from South Korea. I would have to say about 50% to 20%. The rest is from other places like Russia, Brazil, East Europe, even Africa. I guess that's how being cynical warps your thinking.

Well, if it is a real live human, then I would have to say that it's a group based out of China...but since I don't have the IP addresses used, I can only guess. But seriously though people, ever heard of respecting other people's property?

Ok, I've seen the 2 or so threads about getting logged off, but this is a little different. I can log in and view posts, but when I try to search posts or start a new topic, I goto an error page that says that I am not logged in. When I try to log in again, my info is ignored and I remain logged out. I have to either restart the browser or clear my cookies to restore normal functionality. I'm using Mozilla Seamonkey 1.1.17 as my browser.

Anyone having problem with HTAs not working correctly in Windows PE 1.5 & 1.6? The probme that I am running into is that the two functions window.alert() and window.confirm() do not work under WinPE's hta, but they do on the regular system. Any ideas on how to resolve this? What is insteresting to note though, is that the equivalent functions in scripting languages like VBScript DO work.

Consider the following code: <html> <head> <title>Test</title> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" application="yes"> var idData = "item"; </head> <body> <span id="item"></span> </body> </html> How do you access, say item.innerHTML by referencing idData? I tried using idData.innerHTML but the interpreter throws an error. Any ideas?

Sorry about the long wait between posts. My computer blew up on me and I had to fix it. The harddisk for my C: drive went belly up and had to be replaced. The perfect instance of using a Windows AIO install DVD. As for the ram drive, I did get the evaluation version from Christian working, but only as an installable driver....I'm currently working on integrating it into the WinPE build. I'll let you guys know. Ok, then how do you get it to work then? I would perfer to use a MS only solution. I'm using WinPE 1.6 (2005) based on Win2003 SP1. -- EDIT -- I got it working integrated with Windows PE. Now it boots up with no virtual memory error as well. Thanks to everyone who replied.

You didn't mention it, so where do you get the ramdrv.sys file? I found something interesting though. http://members.fortunecity.com/ramdisk/Dow...oad_and_001.htm has a download that gives you a run-time installable ramdrive that is installed on the fly from a .bat file. It does work, but since it's evaluation, you get a nag screen, but it does work. -- Update: 04-24-2009 19:40 PDT -- I finally got around to installing the Windows DDK CD that I bought from Microsoft. It supports Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. It seems they all use a similar build environment. Using the ramdisk package from Microsoft, and the DDK, I rebuilt the driver. You can download the DDK here: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/ddk/default.mspx I'll post back to see how it works. Oh, if you do run the build, and you get an error about jvc is missing, then you have a space somewhere in your paths. The DDK build tools do not like spaces in any of their path names.