GreenMachine

Mine is just like DarkB's: Installed via GuiRunOnce, entry in add/remove, size=4088 Mb. I'm waiting till I really need the space to uninstall. (Was someone talking about BloatWare?)

As Aaron said, both for the fact that they are just switchless (no extras), and that only DX9 and WMP9_MM2 are switchless (true OPK). These are developed to go in the OPK (OEM Pre-installation Kit). Just a convienience, though one could easily do something similar with IExpress, WinRAR, WinZip, etc.

For a .reg file, it would be more like: "REGEDIT /S .\REGFILE.REG"In this example the .reg file is place in $OEM$ directly, and given the name REGFILE.REG. The previous example would result in an "are you sure" prompt. Executeable programs (.EXE, .BAT, .COM, .CMD) can be called as in the previous post. Remember, CMDLINES.TXT is not "called" or "run", it is parsed. This means that commands like "XCOPY" or "DEL" will not work here, without including a call to CMD.EXE (sorry, don't remember the syntax, it is in the link above...) Also, any reg settings to be applied to the default user should be run from the CMDLINES.TXT section, as the default user profile is the "active" profile. It can, of course, be done later, but with much less ease.

I believe only the DX9 and Bundle are switchless.

Different strokes for different folks: I'm sure Sun Java is better, and I would love to use it, but what makes ME sick is finding the files it writes all over the system .somethingorother, and tracers, not to mention the stupid little icon in the system tray. I looked all over thier site, too, and even after following their directions, I could not control half of those things. Perhaps later releases have improved, but I got so frustrated I just dropped it. (I will note those switches, just in case.) Calm down! You mis-read...

Oh, you had to make me work! setup.exe /Q:A /R:N mpsetup.exe /Q:A /R:N /c:"setup_wm.exe /Q /R:N /NoPID /DisallowSystemRestore"Those are the commands used inside the combined installer, the first being MM2, the second WMP9. Inisde the combination is (I believe...) the file that is used above. The message does not chow in GuiRunOnce, as SystemRestore is running (maybe...)

It has to do with a "disablesystemrestore" or "disallowsystemrestore" switch (whatevah...). AaronXP has posted about it, but you will have to do the search to find it. The WMP9 and MM2 combination and DX9, from the same site, are switchless, silent installations, you have the standard WMP9 web download (I believe...).

Thanks, Westi. Putting in WinMess 5 was a big compromise: I don't think I could swallow MSN Mess ... at least for now.

It is the Windows Messenger .MSI that prevents installation from SVCPACK.INF, not IEXPRESS. It won't work with WinRAR either. Silly me, I went to all the trouble to use V 5, as I thought it was the version that would continue to work. Thanks (kinda...) for the tip. Does this mean that Windows Messenger is history, or is there a newer version that will continue to work? I'm sure WinRAR is al least as good, but this meets my needs fine. Free and already installed as well. EDIT: After re-reading above link, Windows Messenger BELOW 4.7 will not work, and this is 5.0.

I decided to go the lazy route, and did a screenshot show for repackaging DotNet to a silent, switchless installation. You should be able to adapt it to fit your needs/special cases. I must note, however, that I repackaged three .msi installers - Windows Messenger 5, Journal Viewer and DotNet - and DotNet was the only one able to install from the SVCPACK.INF file: the others seem to need the shell. MS does say that .msi installations should be done from GuiRunOnce, and both Windows Messenger and Journal Viewer work fine from there. Look HERE

I was just writing up a 1-2-3. Should post it this evening ... unless someone beats me to it. (Hmmm who would you be alluding to ... !)

Drunk again, I guess ... it seems there was more than one Cut & Paste error on the HotFix List section. I have corrected the list. I will try to answer your request about IExpress this evening, as well as that about Sun Java. I have made a few slight modifications, most notably I replaced CABARC.EXE with MAKECAB.EXE, which is used to re-create the SP1.CAB and the DRIVERS.CAB. Certainly not a time saver, but it does save over 50Mb on these two files. Thanks for pointing out the typo. If you have other comments or suggestions ... please don't hesitate to post them.

From the previous chapter of link above: Choosing a Method for Automating Post-Installation TasksMicrosoft is like numbers: you can quote them to back you up on anything (and it's opposite...)

Did you edit that first post? Looks like more questions than the first view. You can log all that is written to the screen by creating a second CMD file that calls your first, piping it out to a log file, as in: (commandhere.exe from previous post, could be commandhere.cmd) FIRSTCMD.CMD > %SYSTEMDRIVE%\LOGFILE.TXTWhile you are testing you could simply put in a PAUSE, and scroll up the screen, and investigate anything else. HFNETCHK is similar to QFECHECK, but more in depth with more detailed reports. The name of the hotfix files themselves is irrelevent. CMDLINES.TXT is parsed if it is present, OEMPreinstall=Yes will initaite the copy of <CD>\$OEM$\$* directories to their corrosponding entries on the HDD.

Don't take it personally: there are probably those amongst us who have more questionable licenses. If you say it's legal, that's good enough for me. I would suggest you run QCHAIN.EXE after the Hotfixes, in case it is a version thing. I'm not so optimistic, but you should do it before troubleshooting further ... I would love to find an example of where QCHAIN.EXE really fixed something ... Otherwise, keep splitting the list of hotfixes in 2 until you find the guilty party. You did not state if you are running from CMDLINES or GuiRunOnce. (Sorry, i did not read the link to the end.) Updates like q817778.exe will only work correctly from GuiRunOnce. That seems like a long list of hotfixes. Alternativly, as you are a shop and perhaps in less of a hurry that some of us here, why not try the script I wrote? Perhaps the slowest resulting in the largest distribution, but I do believe it is the most stable. Look HERE if you are intersted.

Actually, credit goes out to XtremeMaC for the link I posted, who seems to have a friendly fast server with lots of space.

You can find them HERE

Thanks again, XtremeMaC, 'though I did think there was more to it than that. I got it before I knew about the "disablesystemrestore" switch. And thank you for leaving it in .exe format.

CMDLINES.TXT and SVCPACK.INF are run at almost exactly the same point in setup: Using one or the other is not faster. GuiRunOnce is a different matter, and the system is in a different state when this is run. I, like you, have not measured, but I, too, believe they run faster there, either because inventory control has less sorting to do, or other drivers may be acting differently. CMDLINES.TXT is never copeid from the CD to the hard drive, thus the CD spinup when it is run. When the hotfixes are run, files in use are not copied over, rather a temp file is made, and added to a queue of files to be renamed during next reboot. QCHAIN sorts out this list to insure versions are overwritten in a correct maner. It is only needed if two or more hotfixes update the same file, and even then it may not be needed, depending if the updater has the internal QCHAIN bug corrected. Far easier to maintain your installation builder perhaps, I just hope you re-run all those hotfixes after each time you are asked to insert the XP CD. Sorry, Numinous, but you've outdone yourself on this one.

@XtremeMaC: Your SVCPACK.INF: Why do I see media player .cat files? you should not be extracting these type of setup files unless you know what you are doing, and even then ... Also, you surely do not need the dummy.cat I would say that the fastest way to install the hotfixes is from the GuiRunOnce section of setup. The slowest is probably the from the book Microsoft method I use in the XPCREATE scripts. I (obviously) use the SVCPACK method, as in XPCREATE, and consider the end result as good as I can get. And yes, it is slow. If you want your user data on another disk, define it in WINNT.SIF, in the PROFILESDIR setting. Be sure the disk is formated and active during setup (D:\ may be the CD drive ...) I don't know much about all those other programs. You may want to avoid a headache, and try a slightly less sophisticated CD if you are new to it ... @DaveXP: Thanks for convincing me I still have a few brain cells left. That is the article I saw. If you google "WMP9_MM2.EXE" the only thing you find is my post. Do you still have the link?

@Geckotek: That's correct, just that one file, and call it without switches. @XtremeMac: That's just it: there is no info about the WMP9/MM2, but I know that I found it on Microsoft's site (or I was REALLY spaced out). I have it - do you have anyway I could post it to you? About SVCPACK.INF: I think that there is only one hotfix with 2 .cat files. Put both in the appropriate section (both SVCPACK.INF, and the SVCPACK directory) The restart might be another problem entirely, perhaps you have a non-slipstream-friendly hotfix. I think the 33 mark is where it deals with the cat files ...

Thanks, X. I thought that there was the combined WMP9/MM2 setup, not the two individual ones. I found the file once on MSs website, but have lost all trace of it. I have a copy, if I could get it to you. I know others have been interested in it. It is 20Mb. For those that do not know, the DX9NTopk program allows you to install DirectX without any switches or program patches. I install MM2 during setup, under my control, to avoid it from being installed later, via Windows update for example. (On the other hand, this board does not like MSFN in lower case, as in your links...)

@XtremeMaC: Good point. In fact, 27 Mbs have been extracted from the 9 Mb rollup, and replace their compressed counterparts. Further more, you cannot compress any of them, as update.exe, or at least the update.inf file, references them in their uncompressed name format. The update program, or the full hotfix itself, must be run to update the registry and such. I would think no one (here) would mind if you mirrored the Windows Media Player / Movie Maker 2 and DirectX OPK files listed HERE - I cannot get them - especially in a self extracting form for those of us that do not wish to install all the compressors... The files are about 10 and 20 Mbs.

I hoped this would not happen ... you copied my code ... took me forever to see it: UnattendedSwitch=Yes should read UnattendSwitch=Yes. Sorry.

Semantics of the word "SlipStreaming" aside, could some please enlighten me as to how to "roll" an ISO. I think I have it figured out ... but I can't figure out how to light it. Seriously ... does this just mean create an ISO with a tool like cdimage, or is there a step I am missing somewhere. Please?