mpyr

Hey BTS, Yes thanks very much I got the email and the file you sent. I do appreciate the effort. I have been in bed sick the last few days so I havent' had a chance to compile my list of motherboards (and sata controllers) that I have had problems with but rest assured it is on its way. I have had problems with 3-4 motherboards but if I recall correctly they all were with sata drives. Thanks and I will get the information to you very shortly, mpyr.

That would be great BTS! There are a few motherboards that seem to be trouble for me with the newer mass storage drivers, most seem to be via based boards or at least boards with via raid/sata controllers, and at least one of them is an nforce3 board. I will add a short list here when I go through my notes. And I will send you a pm after I finish with this post. Thanks again, mpyr.

Thanks BTS, That is exactly what I figured, unfortunately I don't have the old driver pack. I just have my old unattended cd so I am not quite sure what to copy and where. I have the driver files in the right spot \dp\m\* and I have the oempnpdrivers path in my winnt.sif, but I'm not sure what else I have to change or even if I have to change it at all. I'm going slowly, testing with virtual pc each time so I will get there eventually but virtual pc is no substitute for the real thing so rigorous testing will have to wait. Here is the crux of my question? Do I have to add/modify any files in i386 besides winnt.sif? txtsetup.sif for example? Maybe if anyone has the old mass storage from about January 15 of this year and the base file that would be awesome. I know it is a lot to ask but I'm hoping someone will be very generous. If not I will mudlle through and report my results. Thanks all, mpyr.

I have an older unattended install that had the mass storage drivers in it using method one. It seemed to work perfectly (no blue screens no obvious problems). I am trying to get that version to work with the new driver packs using method 2 of BTS' setup so that I have more room on my cd and to eliminate the problems I am having with the new mass storage drivers. I am in the process of trying all that now. But, I need the information on how to slipstream drivers that used to be included in BTS' old driver pack, before it was all automated. Because I (stupidly) deleted the old one. Specifically, I need to know what lines to add to the winnt.sif and other files if necessary. It would be great if someone could post the old instructions and I can get going from there. I hope what I am doing is clear but I can provide more information if necessary. Thanks in advance, mpyr.

Hey Bâshrat the Sneaky, I don't mean to fill this forum with this kind of stuff but I just wanted to thank you personally for all the time, effort and patience you have given to this project. You get bombarded by us asking questions (and a certain amount of whining) and you respond kindly and with great humanity. I know how huge a project this is and that you are not exactly receiving any great rewards for doing all this and it seems to me that you have never demanded any reward either. I work on many computers and your driver packs have saved me many hours of work so I am trying to find a way to reward you. I have decided to raise donations for you by making a "United Bâshrat the Sneaky Fund" and you will recieve all the proceeds that I can raise. It may not be much but I look forward to sending you some small reward in the near future. I hope that others will do the same, perhaps with a few dollars or cents from some of the people who have benefited from what you do here. Thank you for all you do, mpyr.

Just a quick question that I cannot find a definitive answer for. Does the option to "Force Installation on exit" force the install of defaults or just the programs that are set to forced in the config? I have searched but can't seem to find the answer. I apologize if this has been asked and answered previously. Thanks in advance, mpyr.

Hey, I used autoit to build a silent install executable. It works for me, very primitive, inelegant and ugly but it works. This works for my version of picasa2 which is 1877. If it doesn't work for you please try to figure out autoit (do a search). Just save the file to the same dir as the picasa install(which has to be named "picasa2-setup-1877.exe" ). Cheers. picasa2setup.exe

@BTS: thanks for the clarification on the ati drivers, but I'm still wondering if compressing the drivers on my cd is an advisable thing to do. I would like to save as much filespace as I can on the cd itself so compressing the correct files is something I would like to try. Are there any files that you would not compress with makecab (besides the inf and cat files)? thanks. mpyr

Hey BTS, Great work and much appreciated. I think that splitting them would be fine for some, where as many of us cannot predict what hardware we may or may not be installing windows on. Hence the very reason we have migrated to your elegant solution to driver installation. If saving bandwidth is a concern for you, and I know that it is for many, might I suggest that downloading the appropriate driver for ourselves may be a solution. I for one would be happy to download the drivers I need (I already have most) and integrate them into the driver packs ourselves. Most of us would only need to know if there is any special method for integrating drivers into the correct structure (I will be doing this to update the graphics pack often). Also, here is a silly little question, I have noticed that the ati drivers (radeon) have been compressed with makecab. Would compressing the rest of the drivers this way be advisable? What I mean is are there certain files or file types that we should not compress (besides the inf and cat files)? Thanks again BTS, if I can help in anyway please do not hesitate to ask. mpyr

Well Done! You're hard work is appreciated by me at least. I am downloading now and I will report any bugs if you would care to hear them. I have 7 machines to install on tomorrow and if all goes well tonite I will try with the new graphics pack. cheers mate, and thanks. mpyr

Here is what maybe a dumb question so i apololgize in advance. What happens when you install it in windows using the ini file. Does it install fine or not?.. I myself tried using your ini but with the full download. It worked fine for me. It's identical to the ini I normaly use to do a one touch setup with another progam. I also use it in my unattended.

Allright, Who was keeping the new version a secret? Fixed now and I am happy.

I haven't found anything to address this either. I'm learning but just not quick enough. I did a search for an answer and found this. If anyone can give me some direction to get it to display properly in 800 by 600 that would be great. thanks.

I tried a few things with the msi and no luck yet. It does install silently with the /passive switch but the program gives me an error when starting it. I will report back with more info if i get any.

I'm not sure it this will help anyone but here are the files you requested. They work for me now. useraccounts.cmd autologon.reg winnt.sif

Hi All, Things were going so well until I decided to play around with adding drivers to my unattended install. I'm using Bashrat's Driver pack method 1 and I'm getting this error on step 3 running RUN_ME_Method_1.cmd after following the instructions. The process will continue as if nothing is wrong but when I test it I get file missing errors so I know it is not working correctly. I know that it is something that I am not doing right, wrong folder name or something. I just can't seem to figure out what it is. I cannot find fault with Bashrat's software or guide as I'm sure others would have found it before this. The fault would seem to lie in my method or perhaps with some strange variable I have not found yet. I have: Updated Bashrat's cmd files using the update prodedure Downloaded the newest driver packs Followed the instructions as closely and as slowly as I can Taken read only attribs off of my files Searched the forum for someone with the same error Turned off my virus scanner (interference with script?) Repeated procedure many times with same result Made sure I tested the install after each failed attempt (with a real pc and virtual pc, both yielded missing file messages) Tested the process by running script outside my unattended install dir (works but does not modify files) Copied files manually to the $OEM$ dir Reached the end of my rope and there is not enough left to hang myself with If anyone has any suggestions I would be pleased to try them (Talk to me like I'm a moron because it's becoming apparent I am not very smart at all). Thanks in advance, M.

Thanks all for your help. I got it working using a combination of things including the oobeinfo.ini and some edits to the winnt.sif file. I will post my sif file if anyone cares. Thanks again. mpyr.

Yes to both questions, the script is processed. I just end up with a User account that is limited and I have to go to safe mode to have access to an administrator account to make a new account that will have admin rights. I tried doing some stuff with oobeinfo.ini but that didn't work either (tried it seperately and together with useraccounts.cmd.) I'm kinda stuck at this point. Thanks for the replies. mpyr

Yes it is. I'm using an english version of windows. Regional settings, if they matter in this instance, are Canadian. Thanks for the reply. mpyr.

Hi all, I've been reading all the great information here for a while and I'm attempting my first unattended install for windows. It all works great and I followed the instructions on the website with great success. I do have a small problem that I cannot find addressed by previous forum posts. I'm using MS Virutal PC to test my install setup and when I finish installing my setup I end up with a limited account instead of an administrator. I've read the website thoroughly and can't seem to figure this one out. Here is my useraccounts.cmd file If someone can give me an idea why I end up with a limited account instead of an adminstrator one that would be great. I work for a computer retailer and I would like to have a unattended install to do the installs but I need to end up with an adminstrator account without a password as the default user. Thanks in advance and for all the answers I've read here in the past. mpyr.