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ribond

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Posts posted by ribond

  1. You can get into this state a few different ways, most of which involve the truncation of the %winpedir%\winsxs directory structure.

    a. bad imaging software/command line (if you're using oscdimg use "-n")

    b. bad cd burn software (NERO seems to work)

    c. xcopying a running disk to the HD (ie -- boot to CD, xcopy contents of CD to HD) -- many files are in use in this state and any that are will be broken (diskpart, etc)

    d. Make sure that if you're building your own images you match the tools to the build -- ie if you're building against xp gold (no SPs integrated) then you should use the 1.0 tools for best results.

  2. Licensing issues aside, I just don't see what BartPe provides that WinPE does not.

    I'm not looking for an OS -- I've got XP for that. WinPE is there for recovery and installation. Sherpya's plugin site looks "neat" but not really usefull for what WinPE is there for.

  3. >Since microsoft has licenced unix technologies from SCO, do you think

    >that it's possible that the rumours of longhorn running on a unix based

    >kernel is true? Or is it just a move to crush linux in the open-licence

    >form that it is?

    Because they want to be less secure? This is more ridiculous than Linus working for MS.

  4. PEBuilder:

    Start-menu - Bart's builder gives you a simple, dynamic and powerful start-menu (Nu2Menu, see screenshots). Microsoft's builder does not give you a start-menu, it uses a command prompt.

    WinPE:

    Feel free to run Progman.exe from inside of WinPE if you want a graphical shell (Windows 3.11 shell program)… the difference here stems from different development philosophies. Bart looked at how to add functionality by increasing size; winpe is about how to remove size and maintain functionality. The shell loses out but there isn’t really a functional loss beyond ease of use.

    ---

    PEBuilder:

    Dos support - Bart's builder has a plugin called "dospe".

    WinPE:

    This is something that WinPE does not provide… Is there a real need? What DOS apps do you need to run from your 32 bit environment?

    ---

    PEBuilder:

    64-Bit - Bart's builder does not support Windows 64-bit editions

    WinPE:

    WinPE supports 64 bit platforms (ia64 and amd64)

    ---

    PEBuilder:

    Network support - PE Builder includes it's own network support tools (bartpe/penetcfg) to start TCP/IP and Microsoft Client. The TCP/IP settings like: dynamic/static ip-address, subnet-mask, default gateway, dns-servers computer-name, workgroup can be changed on-the-fly. You can create pre-defined profiles, that you can select. Microsoft winPE only supports DHCP or fixed settings using winbom.ini.

    WinPE:

    WinPE with xpsp2 has support for (among other things) WMI, which can provide the same sort of dynamic manipulation of machine info (static ip, dns, etc).

    ---

    PEBuilder:

    Build from - Bart's builder can also build from Windows XP Home Edition or from a preinstalled Windows XP version (without CD).

    WinPE:

    That’s a neat trick, but is it really an advantage?

  5. If you have an OPK there are sample files showing things that can be safely removed from WinPE images. in server sp1 the files are SERVERSP1-REMOVELIST.TXT and XPSP2-REMOVELIST.TXT

  6. WinPE's own driver load process isn't really rocket science -- take a look at winpeoem.sif in %winpedir%\system32. Just throw your driver package into a directory under %winpedir%\system32\ (make sure the default entry in txtsetup.oem is the one you're looking for) and add that directory entry to the last section of the .sif file.

    It will load your drivers & you don't need to go mucking with txtsetup.SIF.

  7. Don't pay for it, just wait a bit. Server Sp1 will release and anyone with access to the OPK will get a copy of formatufd.exe, which creates bootable Usb Flash devices.

    I actually booted my computer from a USB link to my Nikon camera (formatted the compact flash card in there with formatufd).

    It was kinda cool. :)

  8. For the record these are the HALS supported by default XP

    GENDEV_MFG = "(Standard computers)"
    E_ISA_UP.DeviceDesc       = "Standard PC"
    ACPIPIC_UP.DeviceDesc     = "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC"
    ACPIAPIC_UP.DeviceDesc    = "ACPI Uniprocessor PC"
    ACPIAPIC_MP.DeviceDesc    = "ACPI Multiprocessor PC"
    MPS_UP.DeviceDesc         = "MPS Uniprocessor PC"
    MPS_MP.DeviceDesc         = "MPS Multiprocessor PC"

    (note that there is non-acpi MP Hal here, etc) You won't see the first two very often any more.

    For the most part you need to keep your images on identical systems. The exception to this rule is in the MP/UP pairs (both ACPI and MPS); with these systems you can create an image on an MP machine and have it automatically downgrade to UP during sysprep. Take a look in the help file shipping in your deploy.cab -- it will talk about an "MPTOUP" setting in sysprep.inf

  9. 1. The net could be failing for all sorts of reasons -- usually the retry will fix it though. Change your startnet to do something like:

    net use x: \\xxx\install

    if %errorlevel% NEQ 0 net use x: \\xxx\install

    If you still experience failures you could make it loop until it succeeds

    factory -winpe
    call NetConnect
    [rest of your script goes here]

    goto :EOF
    :NetConnect
    net use x: \\xxx\install
    if %errorlevel% NEQ 0 goto NetConnect
    goto :EOF

    2. WinPE runs in a weird user context -- make sure that when you net use to another system using local credentials that you tell it where to get 'em:

    Instead of this:

    net use x: \\xxx\install /USER:user password

    Do this:

    net use x: \\xxx\install /USER:XXX\user password

  10. -WinPE is supported by MS. That's a plus in my book...

    -WinPE has native support for 64 bit architectures (amd64, ia64) -- one build process for all.

    -WinPE gets fixes from service packs/hotfixes. Bart gets busted. :)

  11. re: GUIRUNONCE usage:

    [guirunonce]

    "%systemdrive%\foo\foo.exe"

    is the same as

    [guirunonce]

    command0 = "%systemdrive%\foo\foo.exe"

    The command[?] just makes it easier to write out with writeprivateprofile -- it doesn't even impact ordering (which is always done top to bottom)

    RBCC: I'm confused by your syntax.

    This is right:

    [guirunonce]

    %SYSTEMDRIVE%\BATCHES\start.cmd

    this is wrong

    [guirunonce]

    Batch Apps.bat

    1. quote your strings

    2. provide a full path to whatever "batch" is. If you're trying to run a file called "batch apps.bat" then you must have #1 for this to work.

    As a general practice: It's only going to do you good to quote every string in your Unattend.

  12. A handy tool for minimizing WinPE images is included in the OPK cd's under the SAMPLES directory. There's a file in there called SWINPE.TXT that's basically a list of files that can safely be removed from WinPE without impacting functionality.

    Easily scriptable:

    cd /d %winpedir%

    for %a in (swinpe.txt) do del /s /q %a

    NOTE: The list includes all the net drivers -- if you want to keep networking access inside of WinPE you just need to modify the script and remove them from the list before you delete them.

  13. Your post was a little unclear to me, but:

    :If you were asking about using the Recovery Console or Repair Windows options from a cd that has been modified to perform an unattended setup

    This won't work, since setup is preoccupied with whatever is in that winnt.sif.

    :If you had performed an update of your windows installation (xpsp2, etc) and your repair functionality from CD no longer works, that's more interesting.

    Please clarify. Thanks.

  14. RE: Full format vs Quick format. Full format is slightly safer. Quick format may not notice bad sectors, etc

    There is no key available for winnt.sif that will make Setup perform a full format rather than a quick format. If you need to do full format you'll have to do this by hand. May I suggest WinPE? :)

    RE: Disk Config section.

    -it's not supported in any answer file except WinBom.INI

    -Yes it is supported in SP2 in Winbom.ini

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