jaclaz

I am personally a 2K user, never needed the fancy stuff of XP, and in my experience, if you remove the unneeded stuff from 2K as well, it will be (slightly) faster (meaning a bit more responsive) than XP on lower end hardware. Just two notes: 1) Using XP or 2003 NTLDR+NTDETECT.COM to boot Win2K provides a faster booting when compared to original Win2K files 2) USB Mass Storage access (pendrives or sticks) appear to be WAY faster in 2K Though not a "mathematically exact" method, a good idea is to always check the minimum requirements Microsoft gives: http://www.dewassoc.com/support/win2000/require.htm http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865 and at least double amount of RAM and speed of processor to get a "working-in-real-life" system. As you can see, memory requirements betrween the two are pretty similar, while a higher speed CPU is required for XP. And of course you can experiment with LESS hardware power: http://winhistory.de/more/386/xpmini_eng.htm jaclaz

Well, then most probably there is something that operates on the drive when XP is running, I guess we are back to square 1: You could try using a monitor tool like Sysinternals ones to check what writes to disk (and it shouldn't) the fact that the drive is D:\ should mean it is not the drive from which Windows XP boots from, doesn't it? Also, you could try running chkdisk TWICE, one after another from Recovery Console, if on second try the volume is not dirty, definitely it is something in the GUI XP that sets the flag. jaclaz

Just "trace" a little the batch, see which is last action it makes, and add right after it a EXIT command. jaclaz

Well, wakepup is Linux, BartPE is NT based. There is not a program or driver (yet) able to "hook" the USB stick during second stage of NT booting if there is not support from BIOS. In other words, you can have a (for example using grub4dos) DOS based "kickstart" floppy, but as soon as you get past the BOOT.INI choices (if using NTLDR) or SETUPLDR.BIN starts, you will get a STOP 0x0000007b - Inaccessible boot device. The topic is discussed widely in the given links. The alternative is using RAMdisk booting, but usually it is not an option on elder machines, that simply lack the needed amount of RAM. Maybe with a VERY small build jaclaz

.... and a prolly large number of those outside it. jaclaz

(bolding is mine) You kidding right? http://www.informit.com/articles/article.a...qNum=6&rl=1 The above three switches don't make sense in the kind of setup you propose: if you booted from it, your C: is already Active since you have just one partition, where else could temporary files go? if you ALREADY copied files form (slipstreamed) CD to the \I386 directory, and actually started WINNT32.EXE from it, you ALREADY have a local source, don't you? The Syntax you need is MUCH simplier: WINNT32.EXE /s:[sourcePath] /unattend:[answer_file] [/noreboot] Of course the contents of the winnt.sif files must be attentively checked, manually or through setupmgr, do read attentively this: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=202 jaclaz

that's a limit of the el-torito stamdard, no workaround possible. Do read this: http://forum.winimage.com/viewtopic.php?t=2454 Not a "pre-made" solution, but a few hints, since everything is DOS based: 1) you can make four .img files (i.e. RAW disk images, either full HD images or partition images) and use grub4dos grldr as no-emulation bootsector from CD/DVD http://grub4dos.jot.com/WikiHome (search for keyword "grub4dos" here on MSFN and on 911CD forum for examples) 2) you can make four .img files (i.e. RAW disk images, full HD images) and use isolinux: http://syslinux.zytor.com/iso.php (search for keyword "isolinux" here on MSFN and on 911CD forum for examples) 3) You can use a device loader app to load device driver from autoexec.bat (or command line) instead of config.sys, there are other loaders besides DEVLOAD.COM, did you try DRVLOAD.COM?, see this for an example: http://vivil.free.fr/usbdosboot/ jaclaz

Unfortunately, there is not (yet) a solution for motherboards that do not support USB in BIOS. Do read this: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...650&hl=BCDL Also, DO NOT double post: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...14316&st=26 See rules: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=18408 #2.a Since you are a technician, you might want to try with an add-on USB card, there have been interesting reports from Dietmar about this in the "monstruous" thread here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14181 (sorry I cannot give you a specific link, and the thread is 100 pages long ) jaclaz

Yes, though the procedure is different. Read these for XP: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=99453&hl= http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=61384&hl= Some more ways "hinted" here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=81788&st=6 And these for Vista: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=95340 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=100630&hl= jaclaz

Though your computering knowledge seems to be far away from mine, i must add that you still have to work on your latin skills... The plural of "forum" is "fora", not "forii", since "forum" is neutral. "forii" would be the plural of "forius" ; don't know whether this word makes any sense though. It was just to add something (almost) interesting. Thanks again to you, Jaclaz ! -- essaion (a please-forgive-my-english-since-i'm-french guy) My Latin is actually VERY rusty. Point taken, thanks! jaclaz

Yes, you see, the build is the progressive number of the compile. Everytime source code gets compiled, build # increases by one. Most of the builds are for internal uses and only a few of them are actually released, when the source code is "officially considered mature" for a final release, the build number is generally rounded to a "hundred" number, just read the already given link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_Windows_XP jaclaz

Right now I have no time to check the file, try leaving the "data" file alone and just remove the "pause" command from replacer.cmd as directed, the messages should flash, but program should work without interruption. jaclaz

Actually, while they may seem "strange", when I ask some questions while trying to troubleshoot a problem: I expect an answer to them . You see, the drive can be 100% OK, but the filesystem on it may not. Do run the said commands and report. jaclaz

First one: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2...P2LaunchPR.mspx http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,117254-page,1/article.html Second one: build 2600 is the Final RTM version, all previous were RC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_stage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_Windows_XP and it took me all of five minutes to find the above with Google! @Beeker47 don't want to seem rude , but are you trying to win a lazyness contest? jaclaz

Hey, what about a new docudrama, after the good ol' one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley jaclaz

If fsutil says it is "dirty", most probably it is. Did you try to run CHKDSK /F ? Did you try to run CHKDSK /R ? If yes what errors were reported in Event Log? Reference: http://www.ss64.com/nt/chkdsk.html You could use chkntfs /X: http://www.ss64.com/nt/chkntfs.html but only AFTER you are 100% positive that the volume is perfectly allright! jaclaz

Well, though very complex, Replacer.cmd is just a batch file, you can easily modify it to suite your needs. The two messages you are having should come from Special.cmd. In the downloaded zip there is a "data" file. Open it with 7zip, inside it there are three files: Clear_WFP_Message.vbs Special.cmd Zap.exe Open with notepad special.cmd and you should find the two messages. You can simply delete the lines starting with echo to get rid of the two messages. Now open Replacer.cmd and search in it for "KeyScr", you should find this: change this: to: to get rid of the PAUSE command (i.e. of the need to press a key to continue program execution) jaclaz

There was a thread related to something similar some time ago, see if you can find there a solution or a hint towards it: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=83032&hl= jaclaz

Well, that won't be difficult, just delete what you don't need! Config.sys: Autoexec.bat (but you cam also leave it as is): However both files could be "better" written, avoiding some duplicates entries, using a [Common] part. jaclaz

This is a multi-configuration autoexec.bat. You cannot say what it actually does unless you look at the accompanying CONFIG.SYS. Moreover it calls a few other .bat and "not-standard" .exe files, each of which can do several other tasks: setramd.bat makeboot.exe archive.exe ... ... runlast.bat It seems to be "hardcoded" for the A:\ drive. Basically it appears to let the user choose between three possible configurations, "NETCD", "NET" and "GIGNET", then (most probably) through setramd.bat creates a RAMdisk where a number of programs and settings are copied and executed. It is not at all difficult to follow it, but you need some basic primer on batch commands and autoexec.bat/config.sys to be able to customize it, some links: http://www.claymania.com/dos-primer.html http://home.att.net/~gobruen/progs/dos_batch/dos_batch.html http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ak621/DOS/BatBasic.html jaclaz

If I may, two pieces of info you might be missing: 1) Microsoft 2K/XP have the utility convert.exe, no need for PM http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314097/en-us 2) It is perfectly possible to install Vista on a FAT32 volume: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...181&st=1712 though the procedure is not really straigtforward jaclaz

I don't see the problem. Just use the round() function to the desired precision, which is (or should be) common practice. Alternatively, somewhere in options there is a "set precision as displayed" or something similar. jaclaz

Also, 7-zip can be configured as a dual-pane file manager, though it's a bit slow in enumerating a volume or directory with lots of files. jaclaz

You can try with original MS-DOS instead of FreeDos: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=16745&hl= Or you can try using either this way: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=16713&hl= http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=19745&hl= This needs either a small FAT16 or 32 partition or a later conversion of the "main one to NTFS. Using NTFS4DOS was never tried (or at least noone ever reported about it). or the new "direct from USB" install: http://www.msfn.org/board/boot_install_USB_key_t61384.html http://www.msfn.org/board/boot_install_USB...html&st=199 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...1384&st=325 (you'll need some work to adapt it from USB CD, or you can use the external USB HD) jaclaz

Not if you don't care about a small edit in txtsetup.sif: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=65541 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=87938&hl= http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=99385&hl= jaclaz