Antonino

hi dimo&Co., thanx very much for the update, it all looks pretty carefully organized, which fascinates me. I see u have prepared a wizard, but since I am not familiar with it, would u pls "wizard" me thru the wizard? thanx in advance for this undertaking. in other words, where do I start from and how do I go about baking a minwinned vhd according to u? woops, I guess I have put a foot on my mouth - by wizard above, I meant, quite wrongly, a real or imaginary wizard that would guide the user to baking a vhd from scratch (imagine buying a softwareless computer that u have to feed with os and everything). Now I have found out that "download with wizard" had nothing to do with the technicalities of vhd-making, but it was about downloading the new nthelper on a special basis. The initial misunderstanding was due to my realizing (after downloading the software the regular way) that dimo has placed a lot of software which I reckoned would stand the well-informed in good stead for baking a minwinned version of the os from scratch in a semi- or fully-automatic way. if it is not the case, pls accept my apologies and do not consider my plea.

I beg to differ - I use winntsetup for regular systems, I never use winpe, and I know quite a few people who can share the same situations.

if u want ur printer to keep working in ur minwinned vhd, you might wanna consider the following list to add to your deletion restrictions in the winnsetup remove folder: !\windows\system32\winhttp.dll !\windows\system32\winnsi.dll !\windows\system32\winspool.drv !\windows\system32\winsta.dll !\windows\system32\wintrust.dll !\windows\system32\WinTypes.dll !\windows\system32\winusb.dll !\windows\system32\wldp.dll !\windows\system32\WmiPrvSE.exe !\windows\system32\wmiutils.dll !\windows\system32\ws2_32.dll !\windows\system32\WSDApi.dll !\windows\system32\wsnmp32.dll !\windows\system32\wtsapi32.dll !\windows\system32\advapi32.dll !\windows\system32\APMon.dll !\windows\system32\AppMon.dll !\windows\system32\atl.dll !\windows\system32\bcrypt.dll !\windows\system32\bcryptprimitives.dll !\windows\system32\C_437.NLS !\windows\system32\C_1252.NLS !\windows\system32\CbsApi.dll !\windows\system32\cfgmgr32.dll !\windows\system32\cimwin32.dll !\windows\system32\clbcatq.dll !\windows\system32\CNMLMDR.DLL !\windows\system32\coloradapterclient.dll !\windows\system32\combase.dll !\windows\system32\crypt32.dll !\windows\system32\cryptbase.dll !\windows\system32\cryptnet.dll !\windows\system32\cryptsp.dll !\windows\system32\cscapi.dll !\windows\system32\DDORes.dll !\windows\system32\DevDispItemProvider.dll !\windows\system32\deviceassociation.dll !\windows\system32\devobj.dll !\windows\system32\devrtl.dll !\windows\system32\dhcpcsvc.dll !\windows\system32\dhcpcsvc6.dll !\windows\system32\dnsapi.dll !\windows\system32\drvstore.dll !\windows\system32\dsrole.dll !\windows\system32\fastprox.dll !\windows\system32\FirewallAPI.dll !\windows\system32\framedynos.dll !\windows\system32\fwbase.dll !\windows\system32\FWPUCLNT.DLL !\windows\system32\gdi32.dll !\windows\system32\gdi32full.dll !\windows\system32\gpapi.dll !\windows\system32\iertutil.dll !\windows\system32\inetpp.dll !\windows\system32\IPHLPAPI.DLL !\windows\system32\jscript.dll !\windows\system32\kernel.appcore.dll !\windows\system32\kernel32.dll !\windows\system32\KernelBase.dll !\windows\system32\l_intl.nls !\windows\system32\locale.nls !\windows\system32\localspl.dll !\windows\system32\lprhelp.dll !\windows\system32\lprmon.dll !\windows\system32\mfc42u.dll !\windows\system32\msasn1.dll !\windows\system32\mscms.dll !\windows\system32\msimg32.dll !\windows\system32\msls31.dll !\windows\system32\msvcp_win.dll !\windows\system32\msvcrt.dll !\windows\system32\MSWB7.dll !\windows\system32\mswsock.dll !\windows\system32\msxml6.dll !\windows\system32\msxml6r.dll !\windows\system32\ncobjapi.dll !\windows\system32\netapi32.dll !\windows\system32\netprofm.dll !\windows\system32\netutils.dll !\windows\system32\npmproxy.dll !\windows\system32\nsi.dll !\windows\system32\ntdll.dll !\windows\system32\ole32.dll !\windows\system32\oleaut32.dll !\windows\system32\powrprof.dll !\windows\system32\Print.PrintSupport.Source.dll !\windows\system32\PrinterCleanupTask.dll !\windows\system32\PrintIsolationProxy.dll !\windows\system32\prm0009.dll !\windows\system32\prntvpt.dll !\windows\system32\profapi.dll !\windows\system32\propsys.dll !\windows\system32\psapi.dll !\windows\system32\rasadhlp.dll !\windows\system32\riched20.dll !\windows\system32\riched32.dll !\windows\system32\rpcrt4.dll !\windows\system32\rsaenh.dll !\windows\system32\samcli.dll !\windows\system32\sechost.dll !\windows\system32\secur32.dll !\windows\system32\SensApi.dll !\windows\system32\setupapi.dll !\windows\system32\sfc_os.dll !\windows\system32\SHCore.dll !\windows\system32\shell32.dll !\windows\system32\shlwapi.dll !\windows\system32\signdrv.dll !\windows\system32\slc.dll !\windows\system32\snmpapi.dll !\windows\system32\spfileq.dll !\windows\system32\spinf.dll !\windows\system32\spoolss.dll !\windows\system32\spoolsv.exe !\windows\system32\sppc.dll !\windows\system32\srvcli.dll !\windows\system32\sspicli.dll !\windows\system32\stdole2.tlb !\windows\system32\StructuredQuery.dll !\windows\system32\sxs.dll !\windows\system32\taskschd.dll !\windows\system32\tcpmon.dll !\windows\system32\ucrtbase.dll !\windows\system32\umpdc.dll !\windows\system32\urlmon.dll !\windows\system32\usbmon.dll !\windows\system32\user32.dll !\windows\system32\userenv.dll !\windows\system32\usp10.dll !\windows\system32\version.dll !\windows\system32\wbemcomn.dll !\windows\system32\wbemprox.dll !\windows\system32\wbemsvc.dll !\windows\system32\webservices.dll !\windows\system32\win32spl.dll !\windows\system32\win32u.dll !\windows\system32\Windows.Devices.Enumeration.dll !\windows\system32\windows.storage.dll

thanx jfx, I have opened options.ini and I have come across the last line AdminAccess=1 now what are the possible alternatives and consequent consequences? for instance, what happens if I have the following AdminAccess=0 ??? I also tried running WinNTSetup_x64 drvinstpatch and it said it wanted the names of inf files and me to choose from among 2 options (p and a, patch and analyze) and then file1, file2, etc - I could not get a clue how to go on.

To jfx or whomever else, I have a nvidia video card. the official site churns out updates every month or so. I am consistent in updating - the only thing of it is the size, which I find insane (1.60gb at least). I know for a fact that only 14 files (almost all of them dlls, amounting to a few hundred megs) are needed to manage acceleration and blender, in case one wants to do 3d drawing, but nothing works unless one goes through the inf file which leads to all those files (the 1.60gb mentioned above) copied to a driverstore subfolder that always changes its name on a per installation basis (say nv_dispig.inf_amd64_84b2c943d6816eb7 for 552.22, nv_dispig.inf_amd64_de8e1115ac61e38a for 552.44, and so on and so forth). there is no telling which name will be given, nor avoiding all the installation proper, which entails, over and over again, on a per-install basis, the installation copying 1.60gb stuff on disk. One might also delete the unneeded files, but the installation is the only thing certifying the update and must be carried out in advance - the sole physical presence of the files on disk will turn out the yellow triangle with the exclamation point on graphics adapter in device manager, and the drivers will not be updated - on the grounds that amidst the install "the system cannot find the file specified" or the "file or folder name is invalid". the only workaround I have been able to find so far was to launch winntsetup, image the vhd.vhd into vhd.wim, attach the nv_dispig.inf_amd64_de8e1115ac61e38a folder with its content (1.60gb) from disk and re-apply it "as is" back onto vhd.vhd. when I start vhd.vhd up, now I can install the new driver ok. On sensing that there might have been a folder permission problem in the former case, I wanted to check the nv_dispig.inf_amd64_de8e1115ac61e38a permission list in both cases for possible differences. well, I have found out that winntsetup has "everyone" at the top of the list and "administrator" (like in the users folder) as owner, whereas in the former case the list started from "account unknown" who was also the owner and "everyone" was not there. I did try to replicate the winntsetup list in the former case (the manually arranged procedure, without winntsetup), but to no avail, as it would still interrupt the installation with the same quotations. now, if I am correct in assuming that it is winntsetup that does something to allow the install of the update the way I have described, is there a reg file that I can use to reproduce the same manually without having to go thru the hustle and bustle of re-imaging and re-applying the vhd on winntsetup before I can install the update? if there is a reg file that I can use in order to enable the system to recognize the only 14 vital files as normal install and proceed to the updating ok, so much the better - that would allow me to curb these files into a folder and istall them only in the driverstore folder. If I have not been clear, pls ask me for clarification. after all, I am always available, the complexity belongs to nvidia (it is a pity, the hardware is great, but the software is plethoric). Thanx in advance

thank u ever so much

TX wuliyen, I will, which will act on a new os install. How about having the same on an already installed os? Will I have to start over in order to enjoy the benefits? in other words, if I want to re-apply a wim file from some previous install or other and place my unattend.xml in the unattend slot, will wintsetup take it into account in the apply process or not? if not, I guess I would have to do it all over again from the iso. this is my very doubt and consequent question.

Thanks JFX for the bitlocker script, I have inserted it too, and I believe it is used at the outset, when u first install the iso. how do I eradicate bitlocker from an already installed os? would the same "script" apply? if it would, how and where?

would anybody pls tell me how come I already had offreg.dll in all sorts of folders (system32, syswow64, winsxs, et al.) without needing the reuploading? thanx in advance

so far so good; well, everything is going spick&span! Attaboy, JFX!

Eureka!!! my stupidity has so far prevented me from realizing that \windows\logs is to be left alone, or even junctioned elsewhere (for instance, in ram (z:\ in my case)); it should never be zerobyted, or else a lot of software that wants to write to it cannot do so and hangs. I hope that is the only caveat for my reducing scripts, unless other software wants other folders to be left alone in the windows directory. other directories, the program files ones and the users one, do not impact that much on the system, at least as far as my software and hardware architecture is concerned. I have found this out by replacing the content of each directory in the full system with that of each directory of the minwinned version, folder by folder. Of course, there will surely be other folders in windows that should be left alone, but I have not yet found out which ones. Well, the other one is \windows\temp, which can be junctioned in ram as well.

thanx dimo, btw, did u check the text file I posted yesterday afternoon to see if it had been removed any earlier? that was what was left of defender on my side yesterday afternoon. your file I launched it a few hours ago.

look, this is what I got for a second dos box after pressing 1 - anything unexpected? what do u reckon?

no doubt about that, I only did not know what to do on the first version, which left me with a dos-box-like scenario of alternatives for me to choose from among, and I did not know which would do what. on my second instance, it was a bat which I executed, but did not know what it did or did not in terms of stopping windows defender, which I claim I already have done by my brute force deletion philosophy, i.e. by deleting all occurrences of windows defender both on the disk and in the registry. I even posted a txt listing the only entries left in the registry for u all to check. in spite of my incompetence, I am still talking of windows defender, not of racism whatsoever, which I do not even consider in the least. I am a tech fan, not a politics fan. all that to simply mean my english is infinitely better than my russian, so I was afraid of making the wrong choice out of misunderstanding the options.

well, I have now come across the bat version from github and I launched it, some russian wording came up a dos window and I can't make out what it means. but it did launch and execute. I just hope it has done the job if it was needed.

unfortunately, there is no english translation, so I cannot test it.

that is why one has to have done it beforehand.

excuse me, everybody, if I might appear to be like a stick in the mud, but would anyone explain to me what is wrong with having only the following list of registry occurrences of defend (which means windefend, windows defender, windowsdefender, etc.) and no file or folder occurrence on disk? below is a text file listing all I have found in my registry concerning windows defender. no coming back, no rebutting in in normal everyday operations. never have I had to disable anything, never mind control it, at least this is what I see. am I missing anything? Advanced Registry Search.txt

it has never turned back up again in my case. of course, I have blocked updates and zerobyted "softwaredistribution"'s as well. Am I losing sight of anything? if I am, pls do tell me. of course, if your "good" way in the post above entails that, in addition to losing windefender. with my bad ways I have also lost other useful services, pls do tell me which ones, so that everybody, including me, knows whether to consider such losses or not in relation to their own needs.

yes there is, and it is what alacrán and jfx would probably call "brute force", a deletion of both files from the disk and keys from the registry. just delete all occurrences.

so does that mean we will have no choice between wimlib and wimgapi? can we at least use the latter if that is the case?

jfyi, reboot.pro is back down again; woops, now it is back up again

My dear Jfx, I have just checked with reboot.pro, and ... after so many problems with the website software update, they seem to wanna "start the ball rolling back again". the only thing of it is they want some contribution on our part, which can amount to just €10 per head, if there are as many of us as are needed to cover the expense. the greater our number, the lesser our contribution. since we have worked on wimbooting for years, we would like to still have your sense for synthesis and poignancy which has stood us in good stead for so long. As I and a few others are of the opinion that minwinning is not just a curiosity, but it can also be used for ordinary activity, it would be wonderful to join our knowledge and experience for keeping vhd's so small and still self-sufficient. To do so, I suggest that we should keep a neat modular linux-like database listing which services and dlls are needed for which various apps to still work in our minwinned vhd's. Considering my windows-reducing efforts so far, I started a decade ago with a vision from a discovery of file and folder junctions, trying to limit vhd content to just the files and folders needed to reach the desktop interface. all other files and folders I moved outside the vhd, junctioned it all back in and went on like this for years, until I discovered reboot.pro and met Wimb the Flying Dutchman. He briefed me into stopping junctioning files and folders out and back in again, as he had already envisaged a procedure called wimbooting, whereby the wim pointed to a vhd full of pointers that would guarantee the full funcioning of the system, pretty much the same as I was doing with junction, only a lot cleaner and more sensible. Then the rest has seen us all engaged in trying to reduce vhd more and more until u have come up with your knowledgeable brute-force-assisted minwin that we use today. As I was saying earlier, I have never relinquished using minwinned vhd's ordinarily, customizing my system to my advantage and liking before reducing it. the reduction has not always been so spick&span, so to speak, and I had to see what was to be retained in order for my favorite software to keep working. I have also reused my junctions on those components that not every vhd user shares with me (net framework all installed and junctioned out and back into c:\, and the same goes for my nvidia driver which can stay out of the vhd with its 1.7gigs of stuff - no reason to keep it on c:\). If we just could detect, single out and record what we have found out of services and dlls as to the functions typical of each of them, we could seriously think of using reduced vhd's to full capacity. Don't you think?

great jfx, what u suggest is what I have done so far; what I was advocating is actually changing the default x: drive letter - is it hardcoded in the exe file or can I go to a txt or ini file and change it in there?

sorry about changing the subject - would anyone tell me how to change the default x: vhd drive into any other one when creating it in winntsetup? me, I would be better off having i: as the default vhd drive instead.