doestergaard

I have a PXE setup that I want to be able to support UEFI. So far I have been able to make it boot, but I'm stuck at the screen "Windows is loading files..." - it reaches 100% but never goes further. Even 1-2 hours goes by and nothing still happens. (no errors either) I have downloaded Windows AIK and the supplement tools (SP1) - where the 64bit version of WinPE has support for UEFI. (winload.efi) My TFTP looks like this: \bootx64.efi \bootmgr.exe \boot\boot.sdi \boot\boot.wim <-- 64bit WinPE \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD I know that WinPE 3.0 is old, but I dont have the time to upgrade our deployment solution as of right now. Hope someone can help me with this. Thanks in advance!

Yeah, but you are still able to apply images with imagex, which is what my deployment software does. Maybe I have to rewrite the apply part to be using Dism instead, shouldn't take that long to do. I also use the /info for retrieving the Major/Minor version, so that my diskpart script creates the System Reserved partition based on what OS is being deployed. Thanks for your help

Solved: Use Dism to capture images instead of imagex.

Its imagex that came with WinPE 3.0 (AIK), it has never happended before. I captured a new clean image today, and did nothing to it at all, now it starts the apply progress immediatly. I use max compression for my 64bit images and fast for 32bit. Dism also hangs at 0 for about 5-6 minutes, but also applies instantly with the "new" image. Can it be an update that causes this? Because im usually installing a bunch of updates so it is as most up-to-date as possible. All images is being applied from a network share on a linux server, this does not happen with the old images, it is very odd The size of my wims never go above 5GB in size. Thanks again!

Hi everyone, Today I recaptured a full new Windows 7 installation for our deployment server, but im facing issues with the /apply function. The applying progress hangs at 0% for about 7-8 minutes before it starts, but shows constant network activity before it progresses. Finally after that it progresses and carries on normally. No errors shows in the log file, it just has that weird hang at 0. I have rebootet the server and recaptured the image again to see if it helped, but the problem still persists. Its the same for both 64bit and 32bit images. Does anyone in here have any idea why this happens? Thanks in advance!

@jaclaz Yeah, unfortunately is bad. My head just can't get around it. I have seen som third party deployment solutions do this with no problem what so ever. And its not even PXELinux or anything like that. Simple DHCP TFTP, and the boot.wim get loaded instantly without delay. I think i will stick to my current configuration and live with that 10-15 seconds delay, rather than setting up a third party pxe. But anyways, thank you so much for helping me out. daniel

Okay, i did some digging. Apparently, option 252 only gets offered when clients asks for an IP-address, like "ipconfig /renew". I found all the dhcp options available om the cisco site. I noticed, that only a few options is available for Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) - which I think is used by PXE. So, I filtered out the options available on BOOTP, and tried to configure some of them, and they do indeed get offered by the dhcp server. So, digging through the options i see that there is a option 18 "Extentions path", which is descriped as path to a file on a tftp server. http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/net_mgmt/network_registrar/6-1-1/user/guide/users/UserApB.html#wp1024768 I got excited and tried to put in that option, but no luck so far - still slow pxe -.- As far as i understand, option 18 has to be configured like: option 18 ascii "/path/to/filename" But doing so, nothing happens, at all But at least we know now, that option 252 will never ever get offered by the dhcp server when pxe booting, cause it is not part of the bootstrap protocol

@jaclaz Okay, I think I found out that option 252 doesn't even get send at all from the DHCP server From WireShark: RouterConfig: ! ip dhcp pool ADM-NET network 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.224 default-router 192.168.1.1 dns-server 212.10.10.4 212.10.24.252 option 66 ip 192.168.1.3 option 67 ascii "pxeboot.n12" option 252 ascii \boot\BCD, bootmgr.exe ! !interface Vlan10 ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.224 ip helper-address 192.168.1.3 ! Any idea why? :s

Okay, here is the result from the TFTP server log: No surprise is, that when bootmgr.exe gets loaded right after pxeboot.n12, then it takes 16 seconds before any further activity happens. Im still trying to find a way of capturing the DHCP output. Will post these results later TFTP Server SinglePort Version 1.62 Unix Built 1621 [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] starting TFTP service [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] username: admin [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] alias / is mapped to /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/ [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] permitted clients: all [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] max blksize: 65464 [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] default blksize: 512 [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] default timeout: 3 [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] file read allowed: Yes [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] file create allowed: Yes [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] file overwrite allowed: Yes [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] logging: all [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] listening on: 127.0.0.1:69 [05-Jul-15 19:32:16] listening on: 192.168.1.3:69 [05-Jul-15 19:32:24] Client 192.168.1.21:2070 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/pxeboot.n12, Error 0 at Client, TFTP Aborted [05-Jul-15 19:32:24] Client 192.168.1.21:2071 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/pxeboot.n12, 19 Blocks Served [05-Jul-15 19:32:24] Client 192.168.1.21:2072 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/bootmgr.exe, 361 Blocks Served [05-Jul-15 19:32:24] Client 192.168.1.21:8933 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/Boot/Fonts/wgl4_boot.ttf, No Such File/No Access [05-Jul-15 19:32:24] Client 192.168.1.21:8934 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/boot.ini, No Such File/No Access [05-Jul-15 19:32:40] Client 192.168.1.21:8935 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/boot/BCD, Error 0 at Client, TFTP Aborted [05-Jul-15 19:32:40] Client 192.168.1.21:8936 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/boot/BCD, 10 Blocks Served [05-Jul-15 19:32:40] Client 192.168.1.21:8937 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/Boot/Fonts/wgl4_boot.ttf, No Such File/No Access [05-Jul-15 19:32:40] Client 192.168.1.21:8938 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/hiberfil.sys, No Such File/No Access [05-Jul-15 19:32:40] Client 192.168.1.21:8939 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/boot/boot.wim, Error 0 at Client, TFTP Aborted [05-Jul-15 19:32:40] Client 192.168.1.21:8940 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/boot/boot.sdi, Error 0 at Client, TFTP Aborted [05-Jul-15 19:32:54] Client 192.168.1.21:8941 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/boot/boot.sdi, Timeout [05-Jul-15 19:34:16] Client 192.168.1.21:8942 /share/MD0_DATA/PXE/boot/boot.wim, 35631 Blocks Served

@jaclaz Im not even sure if option 252 even works at all anymore. Have tried all what is suggested (other than trying the alternatives, as I dont have the gear for it), still bootmgr tries to contact the WDS server (which causes the delay in the first place) as its first option Also tried the different configuration with the slashed, and placing the bcd file on my webserver - no results Or I can seem to find the logic in how bootmgr is operating, it would be nice to see if I could monitor the dhcp to see what options actually are getting through. I will try to see what I can find. I will post the results here Once again, thank you so much jaclaz

@jaclaz Oh, Wow! This is not an easy task OK, so I have change my DHCP option on my Cisco Router to hand out the wpad.dat file: ! ip dhcp pool ADM-NET network 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.224 default-router 192.168.1.1 dns-server 212.10.10.4 212.10.24.252 option 67 ascii "pxeboot.n12" option 252 ascii "http://192.168.1.3:85/wpad.dat " ! I tried to go to a browser and type in the address, and i gives me back the content of the wpad.dat, so my guess would be it works. Well the content of wpad.dat is as of now "\boot\BCD", "bootmgr", however, giving the source you posted, It looks like you have to write a script, so it would look like: function FindProxyForURL(url, host) {if (isInNet(host, “192.168.0.0”, “255.255.0.0”) ||isInNet(host, “10.11.0.0”, “255.255.0.0”) || dnsResolve(host)==”127.0.0.1″ || isPlainHostName(host)) { return “DIRECT”; }if ( shExpMatch(url, “*193.195.121.106*”) || shExpMatch(url, “ftp://*.site1.co.uk/*”) || shExpMatch(url, “http://*.site2.com/ My question is now, where will I put the bcd and bootmgr in this script and what function should be used to do this? I tried to search on wpad and bcd but it didn't give back any result. Again, thank you very much for helping me out here

@jaclaz Thank you for your reply. I have done some more research on this topic. And as far as I understand, it seems like you don't need a wpad.dat file at all for this procedure to work, but set the string to \boot\BCD. Taking Tiny-PXE-server into perspective, you can see, here: http://labalec.fr/erwan/?cat=28 that under option 252 he directly points to the bcd file. However, trying the same thing on my cisco router, it does not work. If you or anyone can see what is missing from this configuration, it may help getting further. My current router config works, but I still have the long delay of loading boot.wim. Configuration of my router: ! ip dhcp pool ADM-NET network 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.224 default-router 192.168.1.1 dns-server 212.10.10.4 212.10.24.252 option 67 ascii "pxeboot.n12" option 252 ascii "\boot\BCD" ! interface Vlan10 ip dhcp relay information trusted ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.224 ip helper-address 192.168.1.3

Hi Im trying to get rid of that multi-second delay there is, while pxe booting into WinPE. (Without WDS) I have read here: http://www.syslinux.org/archives/2010-March/014174.html that you will use dhcp option 252 to point to a wpad.dat file on a webserver, which contains the path to the BCD file, so the bootmgr.exe knows where to find it. Has anyone here experienced with this? Heck, I dont even know if I have done it right? My dhcp is currently next-server 192.168.1.3 bootfile boot\pxeboot.n12 option 252 ascii "192.168.1.3:85/wpdat.dat" The above configuration is from my cisco router, which does give me the opportunity to experience with this My wpad.dat file: "boot\BCD, bootmgr.exe" Im not sure what Im doing wrong? Any help will be very appreciated guys! Thanks in advance

I have a hard time figuring out how to disable the auto-login on Windows 7. When your PC starts or reboots it automatically logs in. I only have 1 user account on there, but I don't want it to automatically login. Is there somehow to prevent this? Have already tried to tweak HKLM_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and tried control userpasswords2 and tick on "Users must enter username and password". Can you make it show the logon screen with profile list? Thanks!

Hi everyone I'm trying to get a windows service which i have made myself to run just after a Windows OS has been applied to the hard drive. It is a service which shows a screen with various installation information while Windows is being configured. The problem is that I get BSOD 0x0000067 something with CONFIG_INITIALIZATION_FAILED. Just before the computer reboots from WinPE, i patch my service under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\myservice I don't know what im during wrong, cause it works in my current running system, but not if I run a new installation. Hope someone can provide some assistance. Thanks in advance

Anyone?

Hi, I'm trying to figure out how to display a background while Windows Mini-Setup is installing device drivers during an unattend installation. At work we have a background displayed while device drivers are being installing saying something like "Please wait while Mini-Setup is preparing Windows" - and I believe this is achieved with a setting on the WDS server. But how can I set this up manually? (Im currently developing a custom deployment system for home use and it would be nice if this was achievable without using WDS. Thanks in advance. /Daniel

Thank you for your answers. I have read somewhere that you can use RegEx and then display just the percentages of a image progress. Does anybody know if thats is possible?

Hello again Want to thank everybody in here who have helped me coming a long way with my little development project of a deployment GUI for WinPE. It works good as of now but I still want to do more with it. Until now i have turned on the command prompt window during imaging: oShell.Run("%WINDIR%\imagex /apply Z\images\windows7\professional\x64\sources\install.wim 1 C:"), 1, True I have read some places online that you can redirect the output from the command prompt to txt file, but could it be done so that i can display the percentage in my hat window with the innerhtml syntax? For instance strProgress.InnerHTML = "Applying image 0% > 100%" Again thank you to all who have helped me so far!

Hello all Wondering if it's possible to install Microsoft Security Essentials during specialize pass while deploying wim images to the hard drive. So far I've only been getting the "Answer file Error" My unattend file: <settings pass="specialize"><component name="Microsoft-Windows-Deployment" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <RunSynchronous> <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add"> <Order>1</Order> <Credentials> <Password>************</Password> <Username>admin</Username> </Credentials> <Path>\\192.168.10.2\TFTP\packages\MicrosoftSecurityEssentials\silentmse32.bat</Path> <WillReboot>OnRequest</WillReboot> <Description>Install Microsoft Security Essentials</Description> </RunSynchronousCommand> </RunSynchronous> </component>My batch: @echo offecho ===========================================echo Windows OS Deployment Software Installationecho ===========================================echo.echo Installing Microsoft Security Essentials...echo.mseinstall32.exe /sThanks in advance!

Thank you for your reply. But I already have a captured wim image with all updates installed on the share. During generalizing the image (before i captured the wim) i did set it to use a local unattend.xml which contains a "specialize" synchronous command to my network share which points to the new (copied from share) unattend.xml in the Panther folder. Im not even sure if im doing it right? :s

Hi all Im basically writing a couple of hta files to make a installation of windows over the network with PXE to my Home NAS. So far i have made a custom WinPE image with all the hat which includes: A Loader (Initializes the system) A Gui (Input computername, chosing an image and a disk configuration (diskpart) and a username and password. The PXE boot proces and the parsing to the unattend.xml works fine. Also applying the captured image is also great. Im stuck on how i can use those parsed information to complete the unattended setup Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance

Thank you for your replies. Haven't had any luck with it yet. Im using Winpeshl.ini to execute mshta and the OSDLoader.hta It terminates all windows when i tell the script to open the new window. Here is my code for OSDLoader.hta which after initializing the system will execute: oShell.Run "%WINDIR%\System32\cmd /k cd X:\ & %WINDIR%\OSD\OSDGui.hta", 1, false self.close() The OSDGui.hta opens up fine but closes again immediately after self.close() from OSDLoader.hta is being executed and WinPE reboots Thanks again! /Daniel

Does anybody know why this happens? I know that WinPE shutdown when you close startcmd, but how can i leave cmd.exe open so it does not shutdown WinPE? Heres my code: case 4 oShell.Run("%WINDIR%\System32\cmd.exe") document.parentwindow.close() end select end sub Thanks in advance

Hi fellow users! So far I have successfully made WinPE boot and initialize the system with mapping the network share where the files for deployment are hold. I am stuck at getting a select box in my hta script to display my wim files from the folder "Images". When the deployer has entered a computer name, selected the wim file to deploy on the hard disk and chosen a disk configuration (diskpart) he will hit the "Install" button and imagex will begin the process of applying the image to the hard disk. But first thing first, how do i get my select box to be able to see and choose wim files from a folder. my code: HTML <select name="osname" class="selectbox"></select> VBScript sub getWims 'THE CODE I NEED to get working' end sub Thanks in advance!