tblo

sorry for missing the xp bit. on this note tho.... this is actually right & wrong. PE or RE can be installed & booted to from a xp machine easily tho it requires some files off a vista dvd (bootmgr anyone!) winpe/re will boot file & can do anything you want to the file's or file structure. However you are right on the note of the WinRE variation of pe. winre will boot fine & youll get the standard dashboard & their respective programs will launch however their respective programs will not work for xp (start up repair & rollback). however cmd & all related stuff work fine. On the note of imagex, it was made for vista yes but microsoft made sure it would play nice for xp & msdn has plenty how-to's for xp imagex bassed deployments. I know this because i had to fix a friends E-machine & the technician who made the restore disks for it made some disk that would bsod right after the windows boot logo scrolly bar animation. I wound up doing a fresh install from scratch. it was a xp machine but vista & winPE/RE was already out so I created a winpe partition set up a bat file to auto repair(format/reload) after a few warnings. (I was a noob back then the bat file used the format command I have sense graduated to diskpart.). see this website for a detailed how-to for dual boot win xp & winPE 2.0. It has you add boot manager & utilize it. In the case of my friends computer I created a bat file that ran bcdedit /import that would change the default boot order straight into pe & the pe recovery script put xp back as defualt agine using bcdedit /import (I created 2 diffrent bcd stores with diffrent boot orders & used bcdedit /export). http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazin...sktopfiles.aspx This is all assuming you care if however you found a solution that already works then you dont need to bother.

I am fluent at bat files hence why I'm using them. Vb is cool and I'd like to learn but ATM I dunno much this hta was a collage of copy paste from of code I saw or read about mixxing in alot of educated guesses and trial/error. I also learned a lil C++ to issue "mshta" x:\tools\*.hta To the command prompt. Woulda been simpler to use a bat but i want a icon and program description oddly I figured out how to write C++ easier then I can figure out how to add a icon and description in MS visual studio 08 4 days research I'm still no closer to adding s icon an description.

I read /skimed through most of this one thing strikes my tho. It is mention'd as part of your project you rehide the winpe/re partition. call me a novice but would it not be easyer and more effective in both quality & effectiveness to simply set everything up (boot wise drive wise ect) then use bcdedit to export the current bcdstore (vista's version of boot.ini) then have your script/project simply use bcdedit /import to reimport the bcdstore after format/reimage. it will not damage the lettering of your drives & if you use the administrative console in control panel in vista to remove a drive letter it will not be accsessible from vista or winRE booted off of a vista disk. HOWEVER it will still be bootable into the winRE that is on it if the values are already in the BCDSTORE drive letter or not. you can boot to it reformat main reapply image reimport bcdstore never reapplying a drive letter(ie: unhiding it) all while booted from it. (I know I Have done it)

First i would like to respond in kind & say thank you for both the welcome & the fast reply(and for editing my code into them nice code box's(now i needa find where to do that at)) Now to the meat & potato's of this post. The steps I outlined were not for the AIK (automated instalation kit) but rather for the OPK (Oem preinstallation kit). as I have used both I can attest that they are the same thing minus a few small but vital diffrences. in both cases you run copype.cmd <arch> <destination> In windows aik you would then use imagex to extract the winRE out of the boot.wim of the vista install disk. This has a down side tho. you can add custom files & stuff through mountrw or capture via imagex but there are some built in pakages that "can be" installed to winpe/re that are not in the version that you extract from the boot.wim & MS ran /prep on that winre version making it impossible to use peimg to add any of these packages.(HTA & scripting support are 2 such built in non apply'd packages.) In the windows OPK there is a base winpe.wim in the same dir as ISO mount & the rest of those good files. this winpe.wim you can add (or not) any packages you want using peimg(the SRT package is the recovery console tho the winpeshl.ini is what makes the diffrence(delete that .ini from any winRE reboot into it & it's now WinPE)) Because peimg /prep was not used on the base winpe you get from the opk there is nothing locked out. (well within reason of winpe/re standards here). I could use that same .ini to auto launch my custom hta sure but the start up recovery & system restore can be handy at times & I would like them available. My hta launches a .bat file & disables the buttons to prevent double running & the bat file inturn relaunches the hta file except that its single instance so it just come back into view hiding the cmd window as it works. also my hta file did have a few small errors that a friend of mine that (that codes html) jus happend to stop by today pointed out. (couldent get him over when i was writing this shiz so the hta i posted before was all mine (with lots of help from the coding guys on microsofts forums that show you the basics of writing a hta. (I started with a few lines of code for a window and a button that told you what OS you had. added back drop figured out how to repourpose the button add another move around ...... you get the idea. what started as 6 line of thir code turned into like 30 lines of mine(first prog i ever wrote first html I ever scripted on my own instead of just changing backdrop url's & hight/width)))) Also first time I ever used diskpart (EVER!) I will be reading your linked post in a moment to see what is in error but in a live test I tried it works perfectly. On the note of my HTA I found that a command line or .bat of "mshta" "X:\tools\recovery.hta" will make it run so i guess my original problem is solved however adding a .bat to the winRE dashboard = "UNKNOWN" with no discription altho it works perefectly using a shortcut .lnk results in "application faild to start. I hoped a shortcut would work as it would allow me to have a icon & add a comment (I had hoped would show up as discription proved nul & void so never found out). So new question is there a way to add a discription to the metadata of a .bat and or someway to manually add a discription to the winRE dashboard(and maybe a nice looking icon)? On the note of HP or DELL I wanted it to look professionally done like theirs would & the .hta i made I think fits the bill. As for robust I'll get to that level one of these days or years but robust is not my concern atm simplicity is. Here is my revised HTA curtasy my friend. same stuff really just moved the buttons & corrected the lack of </p>'s <head> <title>System Image Restore</title> <HTA:APPLICATION APPLICATIONNAME="System Image Restore" SCROLL="no" SINGLEINSTANCE="yes" Windowstate="maximize" Border="none" Innerboarder="no" > </head> <script language="VBScript"> Sub GO blnAnswer = window.confirm("Are you sure you want to continue?") If blnAnswer Then cancel.Disabled = TRUE Restore.Disabled = TRUE DataArea.InnerHTML = "This may take some time please wait system will automatically restart when done." Dim WshShell Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") WshShell.Run "X:\Tools\Recover.bat", 1, true Else Msgbox "Aborted" End If End Sub Sub CancelScript Self.Close() End Sub </script> <body background = "A.jpg"> <text> <center> <p align="center"><font color="Red" face="Times New Roman" size="12"> Automated System Restore</p> <p align="center"><font color="white" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> This is the automated system image Recovery program.<br> This program will FORMAT your computer (ERASE's EVERYTHING).<br> This program will then restore your computer to the state it was in originally. <br> ALL DATA WILL BE ERASED. <br> If you need to backup your data first please EXIT & reboot NOW<br> If you are ready then please click "Restore My Computer"<br> ALL DATA WILL BE ERASED</p> </font> </center> </text> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td width="25%" valign="top"><input type="button" value="Restore My Computer" name="Restore" onClick="Go"></td> <td width="50%" valign="top"></td> <td width="25%" valign="top"><input type="button" value="I've Changed My Mind" name="Cancel" onClick="CancelScript" ></td> </tr> </table> <br> <center> <p align="center"><font color="green" face="Times New Roman" size="6"><span id = "DataArea"></span> </center> </body> On this note lol I am Employed by walmart as a electronics cashier. But computer building is a hobby of mine & I order OEM copys of windows from newegg. The OEM copys come with info on howto reg as a OEM with MS & for "s***s & gigles" & because this is truly a hobby of mine I regesterd myself as one. That was a few years ago but i still get their newsletter & my login still works (I know I used it other day to download the OPK to replace my AIK so I could build my own PE/RE instead of extracting from the disk with imagex so i could add HTA support.) So I guess I am the regesterd OEM. ...... maybe I should get some employee's.

So I'm building a computer for a friend of mine & I wanted it to be as complete in every respect as a OEM the likes of hp or dell. The tower assembled .(check), windows installed booted to audit mode custom progs installed OOBE entered rebooted winpe booted imagex .wim captured.(check), Windows OPK used to make custom winre with all peimg pakages installed including HTA & scripting with /list to verify.(check) ,4 days of R&D to learn how & to write my very first HTA (looks better then I ever hoped).(check), extensive testing of said HTA in windows.(check),final test deploy winre solution & run HTA localy to apply custom .wim & be sure everything works.(check/FAILURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) In windows my custom HTA just runs nicely. In windows PE/RE it asks what program it should open with only option is notepad & browse dose not work. I manually verify'd mshta.exe exsists I also used peimg to verify there was a + meaning installed next to everything cept the jp/ko lang packs (english here mate!). Hell I even rebuilt the winre from scratch just to be sure even tried using /prep. same results I cannot get the HTA to run. I have read & seen other HTA tools meant for winpe/re. Someone please help. my solution uses 4 files self explanitory I am including the code for all files A.jpg <----just some cool looking 1024x768 background make this shiz look cool. ---------------------------------------------------- SystemImageRestore.hta <--problem child gui & 4 days of R&D in a topic iv never before dabled in. scource as follow <head> <title>System Image Restore</title> <HTA:APPLICATION APPLICATIONNAME="System Image Restore" SCROLL="no" SINGLEINSTANCE="yes" Windowstate="maximize" Border="none" Innerboarder="no" > </head> <script language="VBScript"> Sub GO blnAnswer = window.confirm("Are you sure you want to continue?") If blnAnswer Then cancel.Disabled = TRUE Restore.Disabled = TRUE DataArea.InnerHTML = "This may take some time please wait system will automatically restart when done." Dim WshShell Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") WshShell.Run "Recover.bat", 1, true Else Msgbox "Aborted" End If End Sub Sub CancelScript Self.Close() End Sub </script> <body> <text> <center> <p align="center"><font color="Red" face="Times New Roman" size="12"> Automated System Restore <p align="center"><font color="white" face="Times New Roman" size="2"> This is the automated system image Recovery program. <p align="center">This program will FORMAT your computer (ERASE's EVERYTHING). <p align="center">This program will then restore your computer to the state it was in <p align="center">originally. <p align="center">ALL DATA WILL BE ERASED. <p align="center">If you need to backup your data first please EXIT & reboot NOW <p align="center">If you are ready then please click "Restore My Computer" <p align="center">ALL DATA WILL BE ERASED </font> </center> </text> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td width="25%" valign="top"></td> <td width="25%" valign="top"></td> <td width="25%" valign="top"><input type="button" value="Restore My Computer" name="Restore" onClick="Go"><input type="button" value="I've Changed My Mind" name="Cancel" onClick="CancelScript" ></td> </tr> </table> <br> <p> <center> <p align="center"><font color="green" face="Times New Roman" size="6"><span id = "DataArea"></span> </center> <body background = "A.jpg"> </body> ------------------------------------------------------- Recover.bat <-----The real heavy weight doing all the work scource as follows start x:\tools\SystemImageRestore.hta <----(bring back to front so as to hide cmd while working) diskpart /s x:\tools\diskpart.txt imagex /apply x:\images\vista64.wim 1 c:\ Shutdown /r /t 1 <------ yea i know dosent exsist in winpe so i copy'd shudown.exe from vista install ----------------------------------------------------- Diskpart.txt select disk 0 select partition 1 FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL="Vista" QUICK exit