jaclaz

Also, don't forget the "automated" tool to do that, here: http://www.usboot.org/tiki-index.php http://www.usboot.org/tiki-index.php?page=download Though I haven't tested latest releases, early ones did work rather well, so that the new improved ones should be almost perfect. I must find the time to try it with Win2K... jaclaz

Some info is here: http://z3.invisionfree.com/Boot_Land/index.php?showtopic=155 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=135 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=808 The problem is which OS is actually inside the .ISO. jaclaz

My personal opinion: None. Services usually use some processor time too, and when starting, expecially services that are dependent on others can introduce some "lag" time. Theoretically, (in a perfect word), there should be no differences, but installing hotfixes over existing files can sometimes cause some leftovers can remain, expecially as Registry entries. One thing to check is the actual size on disk of the Registry in your "standard" install as compared to the "nlited" version, I have found that a small registry (and a defragged one, with ERUNT) can make a difference in overall responsiveness of the system. jaclaz

Out of curiosity, what is the reason why you put a direct or indirect link to ReactOS in every other post you make? ReactOS is NT oriented, has nothing to do with Win9x/ME. jaclaz

It is possible, though it would be "strange". Do the other USB ports on the same PC work allright? If yes, as generally the same Motherboard USB controller drives more than one port, it is possible that is a "real hardware" error (i.e. a contact in the port being intermittent, something physically bent or incorrectly inserted, a cold soldering, ...) You can check the "tree" of your controller ports with an app like SIW: http://www.gtopala.com/index.html or SIV: http://siv.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/ If the controller somehow is failing, several ports, not just one will be affected. Most probably you could do the testing with a USB stick rather than with a Hard Disk. It could also be a problem of too much power drainage from USB ports, you could also check that.... jaclaz

Oh, I see. I never needed/had the occasion to use it, usually resetting the password is more than enough, however the size of Rainbow Tables appears to be impressive: The time to download one of them on a non-DSL connection (and even on a DSL one) should be quite relevant. Maybe it is easier/faster to use pwdump2/3/4/5/6: http://www.openwall.com/passwords/microsof...nt-2000-xp-2003 and use the online form: http://lasecwww.epfl.ch/~oechslin/projects...crack/index.php? jaclaz

I cannot say what the motivation is, but the shutdown command always had that limit also in 2K/XP: http://www.ss64.com/nt/shutdown.html Mainly because you don't use it normally with such big a delay, it is much more convenient to use either the old AT command: http://www.ss64.com/nt/at.html or the newish SCHTASKS: http://www.ss64.com/nt/schtasks.html And, in the case of a shutdown depending on a certain action having been completed, the "proper" way is to use a conditional check (for example in the case of a file download, check the local filesize every, say, ten minutes and IF filesize is correct, initialize the shutdown) jaclaz

Maybe if you change the F to F: i.e. a proper drive letter id, it will help. However you don't seem to need the complete path (including the drive letter) if the batch file is in the same directory as the SETUPPRO.EXE, i.e. this should be OK: @ECHO OFF ECHO. ECHO Installing Office 2003 Professional ECHO Please wait... start /wait SETUPPRO.EXE TRANSFORMS=Unattended.MST /qb- jaclaz

@travisowens I'll give you one: Pros: 1. Portability I have in my wallet a 1Gb USB flash disk: http://www.kingmaxdigi.com/product/superstick.htm with an install of BartPE and a few portable apps . I take it with me all the time. You will agree that having a CD in your pocket is not really comfortable. About write cycles, they are at least in the thousands operations for flash based devices, no real problem whatsoever in normal use (NOT if used as bootable OS with stick formatted NTFS without EWF/FBWF), it is much more easy to scratch a CD and render it unreadable or just unreliable. jaclaz

Really? I would like to see someone recover or blank an XP password wuth gparted.... jaclaz

Just re-read phkninja's post above it has a link to it. jaclaz

If it is a simple partition problem FREEWARE TESTDISK is more than enough: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk jaclaz

@kiki burgh FYI, they are not that similar, the other thread involves booting a "whole" XP System, i.e. NTLDR+NTDETECT.COM+BOOT.INI with a directory structure like \Windows, this one involves booting an INSTALL, i.e. SETUPLDR.BIN+NTDETECT.COM+TXTSETUP.SIF with a directory structure like \I386 or \minint, similar to a BartPE or elder releases of WinPE. jaclaz

Perfect! jaclaz

Yes, what I meant was that unlike a well made "universal install CD", the WinPE solution will probably imply having several different disks for several different "type" of machines that usually are scattered around in a work environment. This, while being unconvenient enough when we are talking about CD's, becomes, as I see it, not a very viable solution when we come to USB sticks(s). Otherwise one might need to realise something more like this COMMERCIAL prog does: http://www.binaryresearch.net/products/the...imaging_utility Which however (imaging rather than unattendedly installing) is a time-saving method in Corporate environments. Yes, it CAN be done, as explained in one of the links I gave you before. The problem that still has to be resolved is that the USB stick made along method 4) must be re-generated after each use, see this also: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=92644&st=4 If you're looking for a one click solution, then you are right, it CANNOT be done. jaclaz

Maybe you are trying to make more things together and one interferes with the other. Files like UNATTENDED.TXT are not "standard". What I would do: 1) Leave alone (for the moment) nlite and any other software 2) Recreate a duplicate \I386 directory with EXACTLY the same files listed in the file attached here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=25362 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=25362&st=8 for the full XP version, this is Professional, use the Tacktech link given before for differences if you have Home, DELETE any file that is not in that list, ignore anything that is not in \I386 or one of its sub-folders 3) Manually apply the XP SP2 as detailed here: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windo..._slipstream.asp 4) Add the missing "root" files, as in here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...16381&st=18 This way you should be able to make a "generic" or "standard" CD. Once you have done that and it works in Virtual PC, (with the key on the back of your laptop), you can start thinking about integrating drivers and what not with nlite, RVM Integrator, making it Unattended, etc. jaclaz

Yep, but you see, that would be another "particular" solution, not a "general" one. And besides I don't own a stick with a "protect" switch.... ....the other way would be to use a Production Tool to make the partition on stick Read Only, but again it would cover only the sticks that use the particular controller the Production Tool was written for. jaclaz

No, as said, technically the particular app Partition Magic is not just a bootloader it is a program that has besides a bootloader (that only is used in the initial part) the functions of a (minimal) Operating Sustem embedded in the application itself, i.e. it has INSIDE itself a Video (with graphics), keyboard and mouse driver, it can access hard disks and write to them. These are the typical functions of an OS. There are no technical difficulties in making a bootloader capable of loading an .exe, but the .exe needs to be independent from any Operating System, which is not the case for the greatest part of them. jaclaz

Well, you must think to a VM as a Virtual Machine i.e. a "normal" PC simulated in software. If you build a "normal" PC and you forget to connect to it a Hard Disk, you won't be able to install an OS, right? When you "build" your Virtual Machine, you need to attach to it a Virtual Hard Disk, as well as a Virtual CD-ROM, check your documentation, when you do "New Virtual Machine" you are offered the choice to which hardware you want to attach to it. See this: http://www.virtual-strategy.com/article/articleview/1624/1/ jaclaz

Well, no, you don't have a CD with just Partition Magic in it, you have a CD with a (minimal) Operating System that runs Partition Magic (possibly contained within the Partition Magic code itself). In other words, that particular program has in its code all necessary code to interface with the PC bios, keyboard, screen, hard disks, mouse etc. This is NOT how normal apps work, they all need support from an underlying OS. Depending on the type of app, and of the calls that it makes the underlying OS can be DOS, Linux, Windows 9x/me, Windows NT/2K/XP/2003, VISTA, etc. jaclaz

I.E. something more like a "Recovery CD" than an Unattended Install... jaclaz

No, the .ISO seems OK, as clearly indicated, it has a problem with the hard disk. Did you configure properly an HD attached to the VM? jaclaz

Yes, it is doable. You need a command line ripper, like AKRIP: http://www.sonicspot.com/akrip/akrip.html Search for "CD ripper" on google, you'll find many of them. A MP3 encoder, like BladeEnc or LAME, if the ripper has not MP3 capbilities. An ID3 tagger, like: http://www.id3-tagit.de/english/index.htm All in all, I would suggest trying EAC: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ that does support command line parameters: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/eac11.html http://www.digital-inn.de/exact-audio-copy...ne-options.html jaclaz

Well, a bootable CD implies that an Operating System boots from it. Maybe what you are trying to do is not a bootable CD, but rather an AUTORUN one, i.e. one that, once inserted in a PC with Windows 9x/Me/NT/2K/XP/2003 already installed on it, and on which the autorun feature of the CD drive is enabled, starts automatically the installation of the program. Here is a freeware app: http://autorun.moonvalley.com/autoruninfeditor.htm but there are many others, here are a few more: http://www.ezau.com/latest/articles/083.shtml jaclaz

The method is described here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14181 (Yes, LOONG thread) I tried to sum up most guides/howto in this post: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...181&st=1988 jaclaz