Shamwari

For a CD install this is correct, but for a network install the $oem$ dir should be inside the i386 dir. The OemFilesPath statement should point to the root of the i386 dir in your distribution share. Without this statement, the $oem$ dir and all subdirs will be ignored. The driver dir should in fact be in the \$oem$\$1 dir. Regards

Don't know if this is any use to anybody, but this is a tool I have used: WSName Very useful for PC Name = MAC address Also same tool can be used on more than just XP. He add a VB script for serial numbers: ' ' Example VB Script for passing serial number from BIOS to WSName ' ' Edit Const's as required ' ' Note that some BIOS's may be require the serial number to be trimmed to ' fit within the allows 15 characters, my Toshiba Tecra 8100 for example ' returns : 70013268,PT810A-12C52,PMAT2A12C522/S3A0305D001 ' The sticker on the back just says : 70013268J, as I can determine the ' manufacturer and model I can trim this down easily enough ' ' Some BIOS offer the ability to store asset information, I don't have access ' to one of these for testing but I assume the process will be very similar ' ' WMI support was introduced with Windows 2000 (?check this) so you'll need to ' use another mechanism to retrieve the serial number on older Windows machines ' Option Explicit Const PATH_TO_WSNAME = "C:\WSNAME.EXE" Const WSNAME_PARAMETERS = "/REBOOT" Dim strSerialNumber, strTEMP, strCommandLine, fso, WshShell set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") 'Check WSName exists if not fso.FileExists(PATH_TO_WSNAME) then WScript.Echo "ERROR, Could not find WSNAME in " & fso.GetParentFolderName(PATH_TO_WSNAME) WScript.Quit(1) end if ' --- Get the serial number, abort script on error if Not GetWMIStuff("Win32_BIOS","SerialNumber",strSerialNumber) then WScript.Echo "ERROR, Could not retrieve serial number" WScript.Quit(1) end if ' --- If we got this far then we have the serial number, if you want to see it ' --- uncomment the next line 'WScript.Echo "The raw serial number is " & strSerialNumber ' --- Tidy up the serial number, if required strSerialNumber = TidySerialNumber(strSerialNumber) ' --- Uncomment the next line if you want to see it the result 'WScript.Echo "The tidied serial number is " & strSerialNumber ' --- Add leading Alpha characters to avoid DNS confusion strSerialNumber="WKS-" & strSerialNumber 'WScript.Echo "The tidied serial number is " & strSerialNumber ' --- Build Command Line, to check out the command line uncomment strCommandLine = PATH_TO_WSNAME & " /N:" & strSerialNumber & " " & WSNAME_PARAMETERS WScript.Echo "About to run the following command:" & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & strCommandLine ' --- Now call WSName with the serial number Call WshShell.Run(strCommandLine,1,FALSE) ' --- Game Over! ' ---------------------- Helper Functions ---------------------- Function GetWMIStuff(strInstance,strProperty,strResult) Dim colWMIStuff, objWMI, propWMI GetWMIStuff=False Set colWMIStuff= GetObject("winmgmts:").InstancesOf(strInstance) For Each objWMI In colWMIStuff For each propWMI in objWMI.Properties_ If (Not IsNull(propWMI.Value) AND UCase(propWMI.Name) = UCase(strProperty)) Then strResult=propWMI.Value GetWMIStuff=True Exit Function End If Next Next End Function ' -------------------------------------------------------------- Function TidySerialNumber(strSerialNumber) Dim strModel On Error Resume Next ' Turn off error checking TidySerialNumber=strSerialNumber Call GetWMIStuff("Win32_BIOS","Description",strModel) if Instr(UCase(strModel),"TECRA8100") then ' This will a Tecra8100. I know how to tidy up. TidySerialNumber=Left(strSerialNumber,Instr(strSerialNumber,",")-1) ' Trim at the first comma end if On Error Goto 0 ' Turn error checking back on End Function Regards

Is the registry being populated by the OEMPnPDriversPath section? Is the driver directory being copied down? Don't you need a OemFilesPath=\\server_name\distribution_share under the [unattended] section in order to see the OEM section? I know you do with XP. BTW we use "" in the OEMPnPDriversPath statement and it works fine. Regards

34, Married 4 years, 1 boy, makes leaving work easy, and going to work hard! Guess we have the same mentality... suryad: lol, not after 2 years anyway!

I have the same issue with Dell laptop. Prompts to install driver during unattended install. Looking for PnP monitor. If I just ignor this message, setup continues eventually, and the driver seems to be installed correctly- i.e. generic PnP monitor with no exclaimation marks under Device Manager. If I use the Dell restore disk, the exact same drivers are used, i.e. generic PnP monitor. For me, this only happens on Dell laptops. What causes this prompt, I have no idea, but if I ignor it, the installation completes unattendedly as usual.

Bâshrat the Sneaky Many thanks for this info. I was under the impression that the detatch program executed before continuing. I will bear this in mind when adding any more drivers to our unattended install. I also use this method for getting the apps for post installation (McAfee AV, Novell Client, Workstation Name Changer, etc) onto the local HDD in a more efficient manner, so that these apps don't have to install over a network. It has gained us a huge time saving. The WINRARed file is currently just under 200Mb, and the drivers are installing fine on a range of motherboards (about 20 different ones supported at the moment). Maybe I will have to start investigating an alternate method, just in case... Shamwari

frey winnt.sif on CD install = unattend.txt on network install Shamwari

I know that this topic is a little stale, but for those of you out there that need this, this is what we do: * Right click your driver directory (eg. drv) and select "add to (winrar) archive" * Give it a .exe extention, eg drivers.exe * Select create solid archive check box * Select Compression Method "Best" * Add the following under the comment tab: Path=%systemdrive%\ SavePath Silent=1 Overwrite=1 This will extract the drv driver directory to the root of your system drive, usually c:\ * Click ok to create the self extracting executable file, and test that it extracts to your system drive as expected * Add to the root of \$oem$\$1 so that it copies down to the local HDD during the install process * Add the following to your unattend.txt [GuiUnattended] DetachedProgram="c:\drivers.exe" This will execute and extract drivers.exe at T39 on the timeline * You will need your OEMPnPDriversPath statement in your unattend.txt populated for all your drivers, eg: [Unattended] UnattendMode=FullUnattended OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=YES OemFilesPath="\\[i]Server[/i]\[i]Distribution_Share[/i]\I386" OEMPnPDriversPath="drv\00_mb;drv\01_nic\br\1;drv\01_nic\br\2;drv\01_nic\i;drv\01_nic\m;drv\01_nic\r\1;drv\01_nic\r\2;drv\01_nic\s;drv\02_vga\a;drv\02_vga\i\1;drv\02_vga\i\2;drv\02_vga\n;drv\03_aud\a;drv\03_aud\c;drv\03_aud\cr;drv\03_aud\cr\ls;drv\03_aud\n;drv\03_aud\r;drv\03_aud\r\hd;drv\03_aud\s;drv\03_aud\sm\1;drv\03_aud\sm\2;drv\03_aud\t\a;drv\03_aud\t\d;drv\03_aud\v\e;drv\03_aud\v\v;drv\03_aud\y\1;drv\03_aud\y\2;drv\04_tpm" DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore NonDriverSigningPolicy=Ignore TargetPath=\WINDOWS AutoActivate=NO UnattendSwitch=YES FileSystem=ConvertNTFS ExtendoemPartition=1 DisableDynamicUpdates=NO Your drivers should now be automatically installed without the need for the 8.3 filename requirement. I'm not sure if you would be able to use the whole of Bâshrat the Sneaky's excellent DriverPacks using this method, due to the 1024 character limitation on the OEMPnPDriversPath statement when starting from DOS. You may overcome this limitation by starting the installation in a 32 bit environment, such as WinPE/BartPE. This would also overcome the 8.3 file name problem inherent to some driver filenames. N.B. I am not claiming credit for this method, as all this information was taken from this site.

There is a similar problem with excludes. If you have 2 apps that exclude each other, there is inconsistant behavior with the drop down defaults menu. If I take the excludes out, the behavior is as I would expect. I have Office for use on and off campus, and they have different configurations, so I would prefer for user to not have the option to choose both.

Can anyone point me to the 7zip method of shrinking? Do you have to put anything into the commands section? My search of this section of the forum only came back with the buckeyeXP method. Just found it, sorry, I didn't look far enough down past buckeyeXP's method.

What does this do? Why do you need it?

Considering the fact that this PC had a virus, I would vote in favour of a rebuild. In my experience, this is often the quickest way to resolve issues where the root cause is difficult to identify. The last thing I would try is uninstalling the NIC, rebooting and then reinstalling when it is picked up by XP, just in case the virus attacked the IP stack, or just plain got corrupted. It may also be worth talking to the Comms guys who disconected you, in case they have not re-enabled the port properly. Good luck mate, from University of Cardiff.

We use the same sort of driver structure as seen in Bâshrat the Sneaky's DriverPacks, and we can fit a lot within the 255 character constraint. E.g: OemPnPDriversPath="D\C\AT;D\C\AU;D\C\I;D\C\N;D\C\V;D\G\A\1;D\G\A\1\WDM;D\G\A\2;D\G\A\3;D\G\I\1;D\G\I\2;D\G\I\3;D\G\I\4;D\G\I\5;D\G\M\1;D\G\M\2;D\G\M\3;D\G\N;D\G\S\1;D\G\S\2;D\G\S\3;D\G\V\1;D\G\V\2;D\G\V\3;D\G\V\4;D\G\V\5;D\G\X\1;D\G\X\1\WDM;D\G\X\2;D\L\3\1;D\L\3\2;D\L\3\3;D\L\AU;D\L\B;D\L\B\2;D\L\BU\1;D\L\BU\2;D\L\BU\3;D\L\C\1;D\L\C\2;D\L\C\4;D\L\CO\1;D\L\CO\2;D\L\CO\3;D\L\CO\4;D\L\CO\5;D\L\D\1;D\L\D\2;D\L\D\3;D\L\D\4;D\L\D\5;D\L\D\6;D\L\D\7;D\L\D\8;D\L\I;D\L\L\1;D\L\L\2;D\L\L\3;D\L\L\3\B;D\L\L\4;D\L\L\5;D\L\LI\1;D\L\LI\2;D\L\LI\3;D\L\LI\4;D\L\LI\5;D\L\LI\6;D\L\LI\7;D\L\M;D\L\MI;D\L\N\1;D\L\N\2;D\L\N\3;D\L\N\4;D\L\N\5;D\L\N\6;D\L\N\7;D\L\N\8;D\L\NV;D\L\NV\O;D\L\O\1;D\L\O\2;D\L\O\3;D\L\O\4;D\L\O\5;D\L\O\6;D\L\O\7;D\L\O\8;D\L\R\1;D\L\R\2;D\L\S;D\L\SM\1;D\L\SM\2;D\L\SM\3;D\L\SM\4;D\L\SM\5;D\L\SM\6;D\L\SM\7;D\L\SM\8;D\L\SM\9;D\L\T;D\L\U\1;D\L\U\2;D\L\U\3;D\L\U\4;D\L\U\5;D\L\V\1;D\L\V\2;D\L\V\3;D\M\3\1;D\M\3\2;D\M\3\3;D\M\A\1;D\M\A\2;D\M\A\3;D\M\A\4;D\M\A\5;D\M\A\6;D\M\A\7;D\M\A\8;D\M\AD\1;D\M\AD\2;D\M\AD\3;D\M\AD And so on... We are however looking at developing a WINPE solution over the next 12 months. Yes, this is what I was refering to.

Hi Rasmus Yes, I have had the same challenge (not allowed to call them problems). You have serveral options: *Shorten the names of the driver folder- obvious I know! *Change your boot up environment from DOS to WINPE so that you have a 32 bit environment to start Windows XP installation- 255 character limit no longer applies. *Use method 2 of the device driver installation methods where it automatically parses the driver directory for drivers during the installation. No path in unattend.txt required. Regards

Going on the limited information supplied, I am assuming the the other PCs are trying to connect to a share on this XP PC in a Microsoft file and print sharing environment? *Check that this PC has Microsoft file and print sharing enabled in the TCP/IP settings on the NIC. *If enabled, make sure that the Server service is started. If not start it, and also the Computer Browser service. Sharing relies on the Server service. It may be worth manually stopping and starting this service, and then trying to connect to it with another PC. *Check the permissions on the share. You may need to uncheck the simple file sharing to get access to the security settings. *Try connecting by IP address, i.e. \\ip_address\share_name Sorry if this is not your setup, or if I am overstating the obvious. What university?

I'm not too sure if this is a bug, or a change in behavior, but the following is happening: * I check the Default check box for an application that has a dependency on another application, that also has the Default check box checked. * When I save and then "Select Defaults" from the drop down menu, the check box for the application that has the dependency remains unchecked. * When I remove the dependency, and "Select Defaults" from the drop down menu, the application is now checked as I would expect. Am I missing something here? I would like both applications to be installed by default.

The %CDROM% variable is set up when you run the wpi.cmd. This cmd sets the variables and some other stuff, and then calls wpi.hta. It sounds to me that either you are trying to run wpi.hta directly, or you do not have the file that wpi.cmd is looking for in the root of your cd in order to set up the %CDROM% variable.

Patchlink gets my vote, in the middle of doing an assessment of these products for work. WSUS is ok in in a smaller environment or where feedback on who has taken what, is not an issue. WSUS just pushes the patches, etc out, whereas Patchlink actually reports on the status of a patch rollout, ie, who is still vulnerable. It is also platform independant in so far as it can service Macs, Linux, Unix, etc. If you have a purely M$ environment and a load of brusters, and wanted to know what PCs had not taken the patches, SMS would be a good bet. In our environment we support 10-15 000 PCs, so we need to know where out vulnerablities lie.

Thanks for the information about this tool Martin Zugec- it is the first time I have heard of it- just wish I had known about this before!

These are the stages: *Create a boot disk with the LAN drivers you require, and use it to boot to the network. *Logon using the NET LOGON command as Martin Zugec suggested. *Map a drive to your Ghost image share using the NET USE command. *Restore your image. If you use the boot disk I pointed you to earlier, it prompts to logon, and map a drive, so all you will need to do is create a little batch file to restore the image, or do it manually by executing the DOS ghost executable. A little advise- make sure your boot disk, or image batch file loads the mouse driver if you intend to restore the image manually. Regards Shamwari

Create a DOS network boot disk. There are a lot of sites to help you do this, e.g. Bart's Network Boot Disk Hope that helps...

Henk Hoe gaan dit? Download latest driver. Use WinRAR to extract these files. If WinRAR is installed on your PC, just right click on the exe and go to "extact here". When using nLite, to add the driver, just point to these extracted files.