CalBoy

Hey Guys. What I was wondering was, has anyone managed to set-up XBMC (or any other media front end) in a way on Windows 7 so that it displays on a TV or monitor etc on start up straight away but still have the ability to remote into the computer (whether it be through VNC or another means) and use the computer normally. Whilst this is happening would it be possible to have the media client still stream the data to the other monitor without showing the computer as being locked? Has anyone managed to do this? Could anyone point me towards a guide or software to make this happen? I thought it would be possible with a multidesktop sort've program. Something along the lines of deskspace. That way I could just remote into each desktop and then leave the XBMC desktop untouched. Any ideas? Could it happen? Thanks in advance and sorry if it does not make sense. If it doesn't I'll try and make myself more clear! CalBoy

Hi guys, What I want to do is make my XP installation auto logon after sysprep so that it can install software. Here is a example of my GUIUnattended part of sysprep. [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=*PASSWORD* EncryptedAdminPassword=NO OEMSkipRegional=1 OEMDuplicatorstring=%DATE% TimeZone=265 OemSkipWelcome=1 The thing is that we have more then one admin account on in the image. How do I select which account to auto logon to? Do I do it in another part of the sysprep file? It only needs to logon once, but it needs to be a certain account to be logged on as. Sorry if this is documented somewhere else. Thanks, CalBoy

Hi all, Currently i am developing my own custom windows 7 deployment set. What i am currently doing is creating a window 7 64bit install with all of my software and updates installed etc syspreping it with relevent information for a silent install then creating a wim image of it. To deploy that image I am booting into a custom WinPE 3.0 boot which them wipes the drive, gives you choices for username, key etc deploys the image then adds the relevent information about the username into the sysprep file. Adds the boot information and restarts. So the computer then goes through sysprep. Now. What I am wondering is, am i going to get any errors deplying this across a range of computers? (Apart from of course drivers for certain computer parts, which can be added into the image.) Is there anything that i could come cross that would not let the image deploy successfully? Or not let windows boot? Will i get any hal errors or will windows take care of that? If there is how would i get around the issue and fix it? I'm sorry if my question is not worded very well. Any help is greatly appriceated. Thanks CalBoy

Sweeet. That worked. Thanks for all the help guys.

Excellent just what I'm after. Where is this GC Unattend folder located? Sorry. My sysprep skills don't go much past generalize and putting it back into OOBE :/ Thanks very much for the help CalBoy

Hey Yesnovato. I apologise if this it too late but I have recently found a tool that might help you with your Adobe install. If you want to deploy the CS4 suite to your Windows Install you should have a quick look at the Creative Suite 4 Deployment Toolkit (You can get it off the Adobe site) it makes deploying it really easy. Sorry if this is too late but I just thought you would be interested. Thanks CalBoy

You have a few choices depending on how much customization you want, however for all options your going to need to have the Windows AIK installed. Very handy tool for all deployment options and I would recommend you have a good look at it and get familiar with its tools. For customization of a Windows install I personally use RT Seven Lite. Which is supported here on MSFN. Its one of the stickies in this Unattended section You can pretty much customize every aspect of a install. However RT Seven Lite isn't your only option. There is also 7Customizer (which is also supported here at MSFN ) which is also a awesome tool and is fully portable as long as you have the files it needs from the Windows AIK installed. There are plenty of other tools out there that can do just as good a job, you personally just have to look through the tools yourself and find which best suites your needs. For the installation of programs after a install you have a few options. Do you want the programs to be installed straight after the install? I.E. on first logon? If so you can make the autounattended to run programs on either first boot or first logon. This methods works fairly well but it means you have to know all of the silent switches or silent installs for all the programs you want to install. Personally what I do for a Windows 7 install is make my own custom WIM files. This involves creating a base image with all of my programs installed sysprep it and then recapture the image, then deploy the image straight up that way once Windows has finished installing all of my programs are installed and ready to go. This method is best explained here on this thread. Hope this clears some stuff up for you not confused you even more :/ If I have made any of it hard to understand just tell me and I'll try and make it clearer Thanks CalBoy

To start with I apologise if this is in the wrong forum and if it is could someone please move it for me. Anyway. Here is my challenge! I have my own custom windows 7 wim deployment that I am currently deploying just using the normal Windows setup and a unattened.xml. What i want to do however is move away from the normal Windows setup and create a fully customizable setup using my own GUI and custom WinPE boot. What i planned on doing was getting the .wim and passing a auto-unattended to it during sysprep, then recapturing the .wim and deploying it using a custom WinPE boot. Using this method however it locks down the Username, password, computer-name etc that the install creates, which I don't want as that means that its not customizable! My question is, is there a way to make the sysprep editable in some form even after the initial sysprep, such as all the setting in a .ini file that the sysprep pulls from when i run the sysprep, that why when the WinPE boots and the user can select their settings in the custom GUI and then the information can be passed to the install so that the sysprep modifies the install. Is this possible? If so could someone show me how or link me towards the correct information? I'm very sorry if its not very well worded, if it is just comment and I'll try and make it more clear. I would love any help what so ever. Thanks CalBoy.

Hi Yesnovato sorry to take so long to reply. The Adobe packages are very hard to install on their own as they use types of installs and protection that are hard to make copies of. Could you give me more information on the version of photoshop you are trying to install? I.E. Is it from the full CS4 package? Have you got your key installed? What version is it? From my experience's it is easier to use the Adobe tools to install their products, but that does mean you have to have the entire Creative Suite. I'll explain more once I have more information Thanks Calboy.

@Computerguru I found a much easier way to install the HKCU settings. Rather then having them run on first logon, why not add them to the ntuser.dat file in the Default user profile. Its much easier and you don't have to fiddle around with your setupcomplete.cmd. Adding the registry tweaks to the .dat is not hard a simple bat file can do it with no errors!

Thanks Computerguru. It surprised me about how long it took to write. When I said a 'clean PC' I meant a 'fresh, untouched windows 7 OS', I'll reword it so it makes more sense. Thanks for the tip! I haven't done much with WPI, but I looked into it the other day. Is it compatible with Windows 7? Thanks CalBoy.

MSI CREATION GUIDE This guide is going to outline the basics for creating custom MSI's To do this you are going to need WinInstall LE Available from here A clean PC or Virtual PC. It has to be clean for the MSIs to be created correctly. Its is always best to make the applications on a untouched OS. If it is on a OS with programs already installed WinInstall LE can sometimes miss some of the settings. ALWAYS make your MSI's on a untouched OS Personally i use VMware to do all of my PC virtualisation. You can use any virutal PC to make the .msi's or even a clean PC. I like to use virtual PCs to create them. I will explain why later. Starting tips: Only create the msi's on the same OS that you plan on installing the MSI's to, by doing this you minimilise the chances for the installation to break and damamge your OS. If you use a Virtual PC it means you can take 'Snap shots' of the PC. This means that it will make a copy of the PC of its current state. Saving you time meaning you dont have to reinstall your PC to get it in a clrean state. This will make more sense later on. (To take a snapshot right click on the Virtual PC tab and hit Take Snapshot. Then put in information for the discribtion etc. To revert to a snapshot right click on the OS tab and select the snapshot manager and select the snapshot to go back to) If you use VMware it means you can install the VMware tools. These advanced tools make changes to the Virtual OS, and increases the performance of the Virtaual PC. The main advantage of installing the tools for MSI creation is that you can copy things into the Virual PC on to the host rather then having to create shares. To install the tools right click no your OS in VMware tools and click Install tools Outline of WinInstall LE WinInstall LE creates it MSI's by comparing two different scans together. A before scan of the OS and a after scan of the OS. Inbetween these two scans you install the programs you want to create the MSIs of. Then when you ran the after scan WinInstall finds the changes and packages them together. This way of MSI creation means that you can configure the program to your needs and WinInstall will notice the changes and include those in the packages. Meaning that you don't have to change the settings every time you install the program. For the sake of this guide I will presume you are using VMware and on a Windows 7 OS. THE GUIDE 1. Get your OS installed and then install VMware tools and WinInstall LE. When creating your share remember it as you need it later on. 2. You can now run the discover tool. Click on Windows Installer Packages. Then at the top left there is a little magnifying glass. Thats the Discover tool. 3. Name the package. Note where WinInstall saves the MSI, you will have to go there to get it later. Select where you want WinInstall to save its temporary files. C Drive works fine but if you have another drive you can select to save them there (results do not differ greatly I find). 4. Select the Drive that the program will be installed to. Majority of the time this is on the C: Drive but remember where you are saving the program. If the program is across more then one drive remember to select both. 5. You can select the defults for both the File and Registry Selection. Once this is done the Before Snapshot will now run, it can take quite some time depending on how big your drive is and how many drives you chose. NOTE: Now is a good time to take a snapshot. Now when you want to make another application all you have to do is revert back to the snapshot and install the application and continue. How ever when you return to a snapshot you lose all of the data that you have created since the snapshot 6. Once the Discover has finished running you can install your application. Once your application is installed and you have put the settings in that you want you are ready to run the after snapshot. (Remember to try and not make many other changes to the computer in between the two snapshots as they will get recorded). 7. To run the after snapshot click the Discover tool button again and select the after snapshot now. WinInstall will now take another snapshot now and compare the two. NOTE: Windows may think that WinInstall is frozen a few times during this stage, even though Windows thinks it is often it isn't. Leave it running and wait as it can take quite some time. Once it is completed you can get the MSI to where WinInstall saved it. If you can't remember where it was saved go to the WinInstall share (which was set during the install of WinInstall) and in the Packages folder there should be a folder of what you named the MSI. In that folder is the MSI. Your MSI is created! To silently install it use the /quiet switch when running the .msi WinInstall is also useful for installing user settings. If there is one program that doesn't keep settings when you run sysprep, you can capture the settings using wininstall by installing the application taking the first snapshot changing the settings and then running the after snapshot. That way you have the settings in a MSI and you can install them silently using the RUNONCE command and the silence switch. I hope i have made the guide clear and if there are any mistakes please let me know and i will fix it. If it isn't indepth enough or is too indepth let me know! Thanks CalBoy

Thanks computerguru. I apoligise, but thats pretty basic information, although I always wondered how they compressed WinXP. Is there any chances of you posting more information about different versions of deployment, I.E. information like the %OEM% folder. Sorry if your about to get to that . I could post a basic guide on creating MSIs for deployment, I.E. so programs that can't be installed during audit mode like Google Chrome (as its kept in the %appdata% folder (I have no idea why. Weirdest idea)) can be silently installed during first boot or first logon. Would you want me to post a guide? Its rather easy Thanks CalBoy

Hello CalBoy, you can restar ur pc before syspreped and Daemon will continue, after that u can syspreped ur image. I hope that helps, good luck Yesnovato No no, sorry i didn't explain it correctly. Its not the installation thats the problem. Daemon tools installs fine in audit mode, but after its installed and i take the image of the drive. When its being installed it has trouble. I'll take a screen shot when I have a moment and show you what i mean. Thanks Calboy

So I figured out my problems with my image. Apparently if I installed Daemon tools the setup didn't like it. So after i syspreped the setup couldn't continue. Anyone else had this problem or found a solution? Apart from this it works great! Just have to use the -u1 command for my image. You should mention that in your guide computerguru. Thanks!

From what I've see in ur attachment I can assuming u're : 1. Using Gimagex to capture ur windows installation, use imagex (non GUI) from WAIK, it's been an issue that gimagex is having trouble in xml specification (such as servicing stack etc). 2. If u're using imagex, u've mistakenly set the flags of the image, for an example ULTIMATE, the command should be: "imagex /compress maximum /flags ULTIMATE /capture z: d:\install.wim "Your Image Name" "Your Image Description" /check /verify" or "imagex /compress maximum /flags "Ultimate" /capture z: d:\install.wim "Your Image Name" "Your Image Description" /check /verify" Note : "/check" n "/verify" it's usefull for wim integrity checking. 3. If ur install.wim is bigger than 4 GB, use UDF for the DVD image. I've been using the imagex from the WAIK. I never use GImageX, only when I'm mounting to do a quick change. I've used ImageX plenty of times and I know the commands and I've checked my commands over and over so it cant't be that. It must be the UDF setting. I'll change it and see~! Whats the different command on oscdimg? Thanks for your help!! Thanks CalBoy

I've used different variations of your imagex command. None of the variations I try are working. I can ran the setup from my computer, and I have recreated the image many times with no change. Is there a limit to the .wim size? I didn't think there was but using windows setup might mean something different. My .wim is the correct place, I've checked plenty of times. Please help!! Thanks Calboy.

Hey computerguru After making my image and using sysprep with the generalise option I've put it into the ISO using your instructions. Then when I try to install the image I get this error Rather odd. Any ideas? Thanks CalBoy

Sorry another quick question computerguru. Does sysprep whipe Office keys? Haven't had much to do with sysprep. Just something i would ask. Thanks Calboy

Hey thanks for the quick answer! Yeah i have a genuine product key so thats fine. What else with the generalize setting do? Also when i run sysprep with the generalize will it wipe all of my application settings? As a few of my applications i setup before hand therefore not having to do it everytime i install windows. I have to install windows across quite a few computers as i take care of multiple computers on a site, so i dont want to have to put the applications settings in for every computer. I've looked into WinPE but I would like to see if this method would be any quicker. Thanks in advance No, none of your application settings will be wiped out. But if your application settings include HKCU registry values (I assume you know what it meant for), such as shortcuts, windows media player customizations, then you may lost them, as for ONLY YOUR CASE, you want to keep this settings once applied, you have to do the following (Personally I DON'T like this, as every of your customer have differrent choice, you shouldn't DO THIS UNLESS YOU ARE SURE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT). 1. Install windows, enter audit mode, install apps, customize application settings (known as application data). 2. Go to %systemdrive%\users\Administrator. 3. From the organize tab, select folder and search options, select "show hidden files and folders" uncheck "hide protected operating system files". 4. Select all contents of this folder (alternatively you may just select the application data (and or AppData) folder). 5. Copy them to %systemdrive%\users\default folder, overwrite any file if required. 6. Then run sysprep, select the generalize checkbox, your application settings will be saved and applied to every computer when you reinstall windows using this sysprepped image. Thanks PLZ Don't forget to post your response. Of course!! What a excellent way to do it! So simple. There should be no worries with the HKCU data, and if there is i can create a .reg file to put them back in on first boot with runonce using the user variable. And any shortcuts that i want to keep I can chuck in the default user desktop folder. Thank you heaps for your help. I will make a image in the next few days and deploy it on a few test machines and see how it goes. Will post my results back here once completed and my recommendations on whether to use this method or WinPE and ImageX. Thanks CalBoy

Hey thanks for the quick answer! Yeah i have a genuine product key so thats fine. What else with the generalize setting do? Also when i run sysprep with the generalize will it wipe all of my application settings? As a few of my applications i setup before hand therefore not having to do it everytime i install windows. I have to install windows across quite a few computers as i take care of multiple computers on a site, so i dont want to have to put the applications settings in for every computer. I've looked into WinPE but I would like to see if this method would be any quicker. Thanks in advance

Hi Computerguru. I was wondering if you could post steps on how to inject windows updates into the installation. Could you do it in sysprep? Its one thing that p***es me off having to always run windows update. Other then that awesome guide! Thanks CalBoy

Nope VBS not gonna work for you. Maybe a better question is - Have you already seen GImageX ? Not sure if it will work for you, but it is an Auto-It based GUI, so no .NET requirement. As for thin apps, installing is very easy, just copy the compiled thinapp to your USB drive and double click. They are portable sandboxed applications - no installation required. To get the idea, check out ThinDownload. Righteo! I get it now. Do i also add my application to the compiled app? Or just .Net 3.5? And once i have my compiled app and run it in windows PE i should be able to use my app (of course if i have done it correctly)?

If i write it in .vbs will there still be the GUI part of it? I'm afraid my knowledge of .vbs is not that large. Sorry i meant WAIK, haha. All ive added to it is imagex and that is all i plan on using it for. I just would like the ability to use a GUI. Thin app.... hmmmm..... i see how to compile it but how do i add this to windows PE? My app is compilied for 3.5 .net. Although this doesnt matter i could compile it for any build. Ahhhh its built from the latest WAIK.

I'm trying to create a GUI for windows PE, mainly imagex. When i try and run the application i just get the 0xc0000135 error. It is just a single .exe with no application .dlls needed. I'm using the lastest version of windows PE downloaded from the microsoft site. I've created the application in Visual Basic 2008, all it does is runs commands for imagex for capturing a image and deploying a wim image. Is there any special way i have to make the application or code i have to write it in? Any plug ins or other programs i have to add to Windows PE to make it run? Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated.