MOONLIGHT SONATA

Hi Nepali, Don't forget our all-weather friend nircmd.exe. It alone can do wonder in your all batch operations with its repertoire of marvellous set of switches and commands. In your case you just put the nircmd.exe file inside your $OEM$ folder and write in your cmdlines.txt like below: [COMMANDS] ".\nircmd.exe execmd installs.cmd" ".\nircmd.exe execmd user.cmd" Enough to solve the problem! @MOONLIGHT SONATA

Nois3 This is the most surprising part of life and the most amazing shocker are our own lives; today, i find none other than you, who comes across me with the better language that i expected yesterday from someone for today.. Thanks, mate. I like you. About, Profiles, tomorrow I'll comment, it's still past midnight in my time zone. Little sleepy my profile right now. See you tomorrow. MOONLIGHT SONATA

Nois3 Will you write a guide on Default User Profile and How to Manipulate It to User Advantage? You know and you may not know that GreenMachine's Evergreen Article named "Customizing the Default User's Profile" has still not lost an iota of Chlorophyll. There he wrote: Again in the end he wrote: Finally, take a look at Copy Admin profile to Default user, How can I make it? where Boasoft posted his code. Look at the dicussions there and see how many people achieved success with it. In same breath, I advice you to browse Windows XP SP2 Post Install Script Pack V1.02, particularly the introductory post by Roguespear where he included such thing into his script bundle. Discussions in this context will continue; After you look at those. Finally, about your use of language in reference to me; well, it's my misfortune that I've come across you tonight. I hope there'll be a better tommorrow for me.Computing is not the first language we're taught. Certainly, next day someone will come across me with better use of his first language. @illusions I still say you'll face no problem after doing that. Living in illusions is better than living in shadow of nightmares. Just pass by the comment of Nois3 for the moment; try it and let us know what you feel. MOONLIGHT SONATA

Dear illusions, You're facing this problem just because you're only Removing Favorites from the USERPROFILE. And not Applying that into the Default User Profile. Thanks to the Cerebral Genius of our mate Boasoft, you can do these, and I request you do these as late as just before the Final Reboot from Cleanup.cmd(or whatsoever name you call it) By doing so you are saving your finally edited Admin Profile as the Default User Profile. So, next time whenever a new user account is created, it'll not face any "Favoritism"! I hope this helps. MOONLIGHT SONATA

@wriggerz Setting The Windows XP Visual Effects to Adjust for "Let Windows Choose What's Best For My Computer" Using The Registry... Value 0 = Let Windows Choose What's Best For My Computer Value 1 = Adjust For Best Appearance Value 2 = Adjust For Best Performance For Example, Running the command below, will Set "Let Windows Choose What's Best For My Computer" Option/Mode: START /WAIT REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects" /V VisualFXSetting /T REG_DWORD /F /D 0 Select Value=2 for your needs. Hope this helps. MOONLIGHT SONATA

@RogueSpear Seen your script pack 1.02. You've almost wiped out all the loopholes. Thanks. One ideological difference still remains though. There'll be problem of usability if you first delete Accessories, Internet Explorer link from Start Menu Of USERPROFILE and then copy the Profile to Default User. In doing so, as I envisage, every user added afterwards will be deprived of those valuable shortcuts, as those users are internationally accepted as Users who doesn't know opening their Calculator by START>RUN>(calc+ENTER). For them finding Calculator under Accessories and also finding Internet Explorer link in Start Menu is,well, Virtual bliss. In my opinion, it would be better if only Remote Assistance.lnk is removed at that point as you've implemented already; then, copy the hive to Default and finally you delete Accessories and IE from admin profile. I may be wrong in reading your mind, rectify me as I can improve upon... My point is that as an Admin, i'm very reluctant to go to every user's desktop just to give them back their Shortcuts. "OLD HABITS DIE HARD" -- applicable to me(for my reluctance) and also my users(for they only know to learn by shortcuts)!!

@Delprat, Thanks. Finally my wait ends. I thought it skipped everybody here. I tried instantly, and it works perfectly. Moonlight is in cloud 9....Moonlight is in Moon! Thanks.

Oops! attachment refuses to get attached. A paltry 506 KB, while global space left is 4.1 MB. What's wrong with it? Hey, dear moderators, why i couldn't upload just 506 KB? Inconvenience sincerely regretted. Very sorry to all.

For those who really find FlashCredits difficult to download because of expired link (Ref: FlashCredits beta, An customisable slide show for UACD), here I include the last developed version of FlashCredits for any future download needs. FlashCredits, those who aren't in know of, is a beautifull little flash scroll developed by Fritz Saxi.

For those who really find FlashCredits difficult to download because of expired link (Ref: FlashCredits beta, An customisable slide show for UACD), here I include the last developed version of FlashCredits for any future download needs. FlashCredits, those who aren't in know of, is a beautifull little flash scroll developed by Fritz Saxi.

Dear AndrewParker, Thanks that you find the concept of flashcredits worthy . The programmer, our Fritz has, for some reasons known only to him, discontinued developing it. Long Live the King! Only it's me who still keep it close to my heart, for What Fritz developed generously was in response to a sudden idea flashed in my mind once upon a time. Just I still couldn't debunk it from my heart. I do believe that there's no point in discussing about FlashCredits in this thread, as after almost no input here for its development in recent times, I do feel sincerely that discussions in this context should go back to the original thread where the concept of FlashCredits surfaced for the first time. We all know, and agree that "Home is where the heart Is". please go to this link for your needs:Acknowledgement Card, Please!, Not a Bad Idea, Members. Thanks. MOONLIGHT SONATA

@Bezalel, could you please elaborate more as i don't have access to Win2k OPK. How, such things could be added to setupldr.bin? I wish you reflect more on the issue. Thanks.

Dear Yzowl, Is that really possible? Of late i miss any input from you, whatsoever. Whenever you find an iota of time in your busy schedule, just find time to look into it. till then, i await to hear from you.. Thanks. *****MOONLIGHT SONATA

Dear Bilou Gateux, Nope, after numerous try with evaluation version,I still find the nag box after post-GUI mode access from the RAM Disk. All along I set the size to 16 MB, no more no less. No, my intention is not to copy any .7z archive to ramdisk and thereafter run setup from there. What i primarily want is to run all my custom batch and vbscripts from the ramdisk as also to copy files here and there. Reason? No content even if someone foricbly restarts the machine, just to see how i run and what i run. Thanks to some work from both me and Martin Zugec, now we can schedule and impart some protection to our Installation Disk based upon BIOS serial Number and Hard Disk Serial Number. It's good for the safety of our Disk Media as well as all the hard work that goes into making such a UACD. Being paranoid about security, I intend to run all protection imparting files from RAMDisk. And, Dear, a few people already proved my concern justified by showing unwarranted curiosity about all these, one of them even restarted the Machine. Imagine, if it's done from Hard Disk! Thank you. *********MOONLIGHT SONATA

Thanks. I knew that you'll understand what i mean (of course only when i give my piece of mind. You cann't do thought-reading; or do i suppose otherwise!) Branding your safeboot.exe into start menu will give me utmost pleasure. I want it to go into every uA install that i do in future. waiting for your kind response.

@Bilou_Gateux, Sorry i couldn't post in 2-3 days time, i took almost 7 days. Excuse me. Well, your all files and commands are working perfectly, but the RAMDisk is not. I used the Free Version of RAMDisk you suggested. The problems that i noticed with the free version are as follows: 1. Even as the Ramdriv.inf file in its [DiskAddReg] Section has the HKR, "Parameters", "Format", %REG_SZ%, "NTFS" written, After install it uses FAT File System. Size is set to 16MB and Drive letter can be successfully pre-configured. All that I said is when i tried devcon command in desktop, after download. But during install, even after the commands carried out successfully, there's no RAMDisk ready for use after GUI Mode. 2. In frustration, I tried RAMDisk evaluation version. In this Case, RAMDisk is ready to be used after GUI Mode(thanks to the same set of your files and commands in $OEM$). But, its a nagged version and whenever my batch files tried to access the RAMDrive, A message box with caption "Windows-Fatal Application Exit" pops up and My large 7-zipped Archives like Nero and Office XP failed to install being deprived of Memory. What to do? Can a free RAMDisk not be usable which can give atleast 16 MB RAMDrive? I'm in a soup. Waiting for your kind response. @MOONLIGHT SONATA

Yzöwl, Here i explain: 1. safeboot.exe should boot the XP installation from which it's executed. I mean, if it's executed from 1st partition, it should boot that partition's XP into safe mode. If it's from 2nd partition, you understand what i mean. Hereby i suppose Windows XP resides in both the partitions as safeboot.exe works in only XP environ. Saying such i mean it'll read ARC Path Naming Conventions in boot.ini and modify it as per its need.It may have to change the default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(x)\WINDOWS for the purpose of booting the current partition into safe mode. This way your safeboot.exe justifiedly frees itself from booting a single partition in a hard disk and rightly implements itself for the purpose of a multi-boot scenario. Is it possible? 2. With enormous hope i assume that it's possible. If your answer is yes, i come to the final stage of my idea. Imagine how OEMs brand their Windows XP by including a menu item below "RUN" command (if my memory is short, pardon me) which says like "How do you like our Customized Windows XP?". This item can be linked to any EXE or HTML or any Mail Address. I want it should look just like below in my machine(or any members machine): "Trust Our Man Friday 'Yzöwl' For SafeBoot Needs" I hope i've not hurt you by saying so. I say it as that's what my heart wished to say. Thanks. @MOONLIGHT SONATA

Dear Yzöwl, downloaded it and used. very nice. however, it works perfectly in one partition, i mean it reboots to safemode directly. In another partition, it reboots and multi-boot menu waits as per time-out value set. What's there in the batch file? could you please discuss more with your code? BTW, i think you compiled it with QBFC. Am i right? The way your .exe file boots perfectly in case of one partition, i've some idea to grow it into a better solution. please discuss how your batch does the job. Thanks. @MOONLIGHT SONATA

Dear jaclaz, It's interesting. My earlier brush with a script from cancerface yielded no positive results. your and his looks a lot have in common. I'll give it a try, but i always test in real install instead of VMs. So, it'll take a couple of days as i've to get ready a few more things for the next install. BTW, in this context i wish to mention a few more observations that may interest all of us. Here are they... 1. Just to fix timeout to 0 could be done without a script. I've noticed that setting, [setupData] OsLoadTimeout=0 in WINNT.SIF file really fixes the issue. 2. However, if our WINNT.SIF looks like below, [setupData] OsLoadTimeout=0 OSLoadOptionsVar="/noexecute=AlwaysOff" OSLoadIdentifier="Windows XP SP2 UnAttended" then, /noexecute=AlwaysOff gets inserted into Boot.ini but doesn't serve its purpose as boot.ini then looks like, [boot loader] timeout=0 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /noexecute=AlwaysOff /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn So, disabling software-based DEP couldn't be handled properly as the default /noexecute=optin is enetred irrespective of what we set under OSLoadOptionsVar. To me it seems that it's only fit for 64-bit edition, directly. 3. As for the OSLoadIdentifier="Windows XP SP2 UnAttended", it really doesn't take off at all. Boot.ini still shows only "Microsoft Windows XP Professional". No effect. I'll much like if such things could be managed by a batch file as you, Yzowl and prathapml tried to formulate for the timeout issue. Thanks.

@Bilou_Gateux, What you said & faced when you installed @ T-39, is just the same that i had to suffer with AR RAM Disk using [Hiveinfs.Fresh] AddReg=RAMdisk.inf,Setup method. Indeed, it's replaced by MS RAMDisk after GUI Mode completes. As you said. I hope, that'll not be the case with T-12 cmdlines.txt method. I'll post my experience in 2-3 days time, when i'm supposed to test one install. Thanks.

@Cancerface & prathapml & Yzöwl, Hey, i've finally tested out all the three ! Dear prathapml, replace.exe works well, but if not those ~10 seconds!. Anyway, it serves its purpose fully. Thanks for week long support that you've provided me. @Cancerface bootfix.bat has given me error not at run-time, but after reboot. Message was that of finding no boot.ini. I booted from BARTPE bootcd and really found that there's no boot.ini in SystemDrive. I find no apparent error in your bootfix.bat file, but in the end i've to swallow the error. No offence meant. Never mind! Finally, Dear Yzöwl, As I expected, your advice works flawlessly. There's so much to learn whenever you post your code for us. In every interaction that we're fortunate to have with you, you surprise us by advising new and new ways to handle our problems. More and more we learn from you, more and more we realize how little our knowledge base is! Till date, i didn't find an iota of bug in scripts posted by you. And sorry, sometimes i do really search bug in your post just to believe that we interact with someone whose scripts not only have Midas touch, but also comes from someone who is more humane. Thanks, take my indebtness as my gratitude for these awsome scripts@Yzöwl.

Dear Bilou_Gateux, Thanks for the reply. I've just one more question: As i envisage, you recommend using ramdiskpro.inf which is what made by gosh. Now, there's a difference in registry settings between gosh's .inf file and your RAMDISK.TXT(annexed by you at the start of this topic). While Gosh advices controlset001, you prescribe currentcontrolset. Now, as i wish to use the ramdisk right after the post-GUI reboot, which will be the best option to try? Am i not to go through the default user profile which is the only profile available before login? Your reply in this context will erase all the doubts in my mind regarding the issue. waiting for your kind resonse..

@Bilou_Gateux So kind of you. Could you found any clue as to why the commissioned RAMDisk size is paltry 1 MB? I would have been really satisfied if it remained at 16 MB. Anyway i'll give cmdlines.txt+ramdisk.cmd method a try with "DiskSize 01000000" and see what's in store for me. BTW, please unearth Method II,if it's not already lost, my guess is it'll be more adventurous. Please. Thanks... N.B. You didn't mention even a word about No. 4. Was it really not mentionable?

@ Bilou_Gateux & jaclaz, Did you miss my post? This confirms how busy both of you have been these days. Whenever you find time, please respond to my queries. Thanks. ----MOONLIGHT SONATA

@Cancerface & prathapml & Yzowl, Many many thanks to 3 Musketeers for providing me with 3 different ways to handle this problem. Oops! I'm going to toss to decide which one to try first. But still I've one dilemma: As I want to try this method as late as possible, T-9 stage and [setupParams]|Userexecute is the late-est control point. Do you find any technical issues if it's executed from T-9 minute mark. Anyway, I'll try all the 3 solutions seperately and surely do inform you and seek your advice thereafter. Thanks, mates, you made my day today. So kind of you. ----MOONLIGHT SONATA