GreenMachine

Spheris! I assume by MS method, you mean MS HotFix Slipstreaming Method, and not MS Service Pack Slipstreaming Method. I slipstreamed it the same as any type I hotfix, similar to the methods used by WebMedic. Could you please explain in a few lines what you mean roll with cdimage. and match date time stamp? When you say fall out of sink, do you mean date stamp sync, or file version sync. I currently use cdimage with a fixed date stamp of 10/10/2003, is that a no-no? Thanks alot Spheris.

You gotta be pretty quick to beat Aaron!

Look HERE

You caught me ... Yes, it was a type II. I had problems with it before, so I unpacked it and found that it contained a type I fix, wrapped with a stop/start service command. I use the extracted type I version. The type II version will also work fine, with the same limitations of the other type II. Thanks: I'll correct the documantation to avoid confusion.

Looks like you edited the above post. The Server Backup you suggested is doable: It is easy to schedule Windows to reboot and it is fairly easy to create a backup script (or calls from the command line). The backup/imaging software I use (Powerquest) must be run from DOS, but I believe the latest versions allow for scheduling from windows. The hard part (or at least the part I don't know...) is to set the boot toogle DOS/XP, XP/DOS. In terms of your client PCs backup, in case you missed it, The IceMan seems to know more about it.

@willpantin: Yes. you can define the icon position. it is somewhere in the HOT_KEY_CURRENT_USER, with the explorer settings I believe, burried in a binary stream. i do not remember exactly which reg key, but you can find it with a before/after registy (hive) comparison. You can create the shortcuts (and desktop) on a working system, place them where you like, and export the registry settings. As for the shortcuts them selves, you will need to copy them do the desktop, or create them from an .inf file, during setup. Remember, to make reg settings for all users, it should be done from the CMDLINES.TXT section. I suspect the key you will need is somewhere near [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]

Yes. I use Drive Image (PowerQuest), and have automated the procedure to save the disk image to CD(s). I see no reason that it could not be carried over to DVD(s). Automating the restore procedure is easy, automating the save procedure is a little more tricky, yet certainly doable. If you install the users PC before delivery, hooking up a DVD burner, and starting the program costs another 15 minutes per system. The moment you have more than one identical machine, installation time for the second machine is reduced dramatically. I'm not sure about the licensing requirements for DriveImage, but I do believe that there are freewares or sharewares that work as well, though DriveImage has a nice, complete scripting language. Ghost does the same (I have not used it, but licensing is probably better). It is really easy, and "Put your CD in the drive and press reset" is a lot faster to say on maintenance calls. Most importantly, you CYA - client has all the tools from the get-go.

Musta misread ... post updated. I remember trying without the ".\", and ran into problems. Knowing me, there must be a reason I left it in.

It's all relative ... I mean I do it using relative paths, from CMDLINES.TXT [COMMANDS] "REGEDIT /S .\REGFILE.REG"File Path is <DISTRIBUTION ROOT>\$OEM$\REGFILE.REG.

You can do it with programs that do not need an install, like many tools, Winamp, and a few others. Most programs, however, require the full installation. I've never used WinDoctor, but it does not sound like something I should need on a fresh installation ... Keep quiet about the script: I think you are the only one using it... I just added a list of hotfixes that work, and where to put them, on the page linked above.

I do it like this, from the CMDLINES.TXT section: RMDIR "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu" /S /Q RMDIR "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu" /S /Q XCOPY ".\PROFILES\AUSER\*.*" "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\" /E /C /Y /Q /H XCOPY ".\PROFILES\DUSER\*.*" "%USERPROFILE%\" /E /C /Y /Q /HIn $OEM$\PROFILES\AUSER and \DUSER I have all shortcuts (preconfigured), and more, to add to these profiles. Alternativly, you could create an inf file to create them.

Now that you mention it ... I have made some changes: create CMDLINES.TXT on the fly, generate RunOnceEx registry entries (Windows Update Method), and added more "hooks" where you may place your own files. Most importantly, I have written some documentation, which you will find HERE, along with the latest script. @beppemito: You can create any install scripts you like, just as before. Run the script to slipstream the HotFixes, and then modify the resulting CDROOT, which you can burn to an ISO or CD when finished.

Why didn't you say you wanted the short answer. I do believe it can be done, I know I have done similar. I think you will still want to boot from the floppy.

You do mean 80 - 100 GB of HDD, not of data, right? All your installation files, WINXP included, do fit on a DVD, right? Sorry to insist, but I am a big fan of HDD imaging, especially for remote problems. OK, 3 CDs...

I think ... As you can boot from a DOS diskette and install XP from a CD, you should be able to copy the I386 and $OEM$ files to the HDD and do the same. There are some issues, like using smartdsk from DOS speeds things up considerably. I don't remember exactly how it works, and I have not done it since NT4 or Windows 2000, but I have installed that way, albeit from the CD instead of the HDD, but that should not matter. There are some things to consider: the MsDosInitiated WINNT.SIF entry, you may only be able to use FAT32, or create a DOS diskette with NTFS4DOS on it, batch files to clean up, etc. About WinPE, I've seen all you've learned and asked over the last few weeks, and if I were you I would give it a rest before attacking WinPE. A few things about WinPE. Firstly, you would probably have trouble even getting a licence from MS, so you would use an "aternative". Documentation is rare. Good documentation is very rare. It is overkill for what you need. Nevertheless, it is kind of cool, and if you are intressted, consult the Meister: Bart. If you do not know Bart ... He is THE boot man. I just look at the post you mentioned. Something like that should work. He uses WinPE in his example, or DOS, just as an environment to copy files. Yo can just hook the HDD up as a slave from windows and copy. If you go the one step further that Jono does (before the Ghosting, which you do not need), perhaps the HDD will boot. The trick is doing it from DOS so that it does not try to load NT stuff, and uses real DOS mode instead. I think you have to initiate the install, i.e. WINNT.EXE from the HDD, so that it will find $OEM$ relative to I386. Just some random ramblings ... do post how you solve it. A question: If the user does not have the installation files to install his PC, I assume that you configured it before it left the shop. Ghosting or Drive Imaging at this point is a piece of cake: You can even write another .CMD file to do it for you! You can easily fit a WINXP, OfficeXP, Photoshop, Visual Studio (etc) installation on 2 CDs. An added benifit, instead of long phone calls, you can tell them to save the data and re-install. Unless they are particularly pretty, I try to eliminate maintenance time. And if they are ... then I'm sure you'd best go on-site...

I agree: the instructions are lame. Put your original XP in the CD drive, and the latest service pack (SP1) in the SPACKS directory. I have not tested a pre-slipstreamed CD. It should work ... but I prefer to start from the begining, with the original XP CD for each CD creation. Hopefully, difficulties posted here will be clarified in the updated README.TXT file. I tried to keep it simple: put the CD in your CD drive, HotFixes in HFTYPE1 (blue and white icons) or HFTYPE2 (setup style icons), and service pack in SPACKS.

As I said BEFORE, dime to a dollar it's 817778 ...

Window Media Player 9 and Movie Maker 2 combined installation. I know I got mine of the MS site, months ago.

Sounds viable. Especially if, as RyanVM (RyanVPC?) says, VPC does not support the usb. That would also explain why all the files where not updated, as they were never installed to be updated in the first place. If WUP is looking for either the files, or the corresponding registry entries, it will fail. Next step is to compare the VPC and "Real" registries, and see if more than one of the updated files are there. As for that WMP error, I've seen it, and that is why I went to the WMP & MM2 setup, which is both silent and switchless. I saw that AaronXP mentioned something about a /DISABLESYSTEMRESTORE switch (DON'T quote me on that ...)

Back by popular demand ... The original posting of my code suffered from some cut and paste errors when posting. Thanks to space provided by our gracious Adminstrator, AaronXP, I have uploaded these files to the MSFN server.

I bet they are missing from the default profile: C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch. I don't know why they are never initialized. I delete everything from there, and then copy the ones I like, so I cannot say if mine were initialized, unless the initialization takes place when you selcet to show the toolbar. If you are copying over the NTUSER.DAT, it would be a good time to do any housekeeping in the default profile. (C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\) If you come up with an easy way to copy the profile and NTUSER.DAT, do tell.

I have most all updates that appear in windows update, critical and recommended (4 remain in WU) installed in this fashion. I slipstream the type one, and simply install the type two, as well as DirectX, WMP, etc. It seems to work - I trust it enough for my purposes. Whether it is the supported or recommended way, I cannot say, but my acceptence criteria is, to say it nicely, rigorous at least. If I had to support this, I would perhaps read the fine print of my microsoft support contract, but only for legal protection. I say GO FOR IT!

BlinkDT: I would say the quoted post is close, not quite correct. Yes, you can preconfure NTUSER.DAT, copy it over, and all your settings will be applied to the new users. 768 kb is a perfectly acceptable size for NTUSET.DAT - it is probably not corrupt. C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\NTUSER.DAT (your actual milage may vary ...) cannot be updated from the CMDLINES.TXT file, or the SVCPACK.INF file, as it is in use at the time. I would think you can copy it over from GuiRunOnce, the only inconvenience being that the settings will be applied to new users, but not the Administrator, as that account has already been initialized. I have not tried it, but I'm sure it can be made to work. If you are not that confident in your programming skills, this may be the simplest answer. You should then use any account other than the administrator, and you have your settings. you could also remove the administrators profile - not the account, just the files (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\), and it would generate a new, updated profile, settings included. I just import the settings I need into the registry from CMDLINES.TXT, and I manage to have adjusted all as I like it. You could export your entire NTUSER.DAT, weed out what you know is irrelevent, and import it during CMDLINES.TXT, and you would probably find it works for you. There are many solutions to creating a custom default user profile, the difficulty is in automating the procedure. Perhaps manualy coping the NTUSER.DAT after set may even meet your needs. As far as explicit instructions, I cannot help you there until I understand what you final objective is (what's wrong with the MS default profile?...), and what method you choose to implement it. You should also consider updating the default user profile once you have all your software installed as you like it. I do not try to auto-install much software (mainly software that does not require an installation program, my favorite type). Once I have completed my installation manually, I copy the configured profile setting over to the Default User profile, using the My Computer right click - properties - advanced - user profiles / settings, copy to ... Hope that helps.

Sorry, specialk, I was not ignoring you. I posted it HERE

Geez, I post one long script, and you are on me like flies on poop! No, seriously you are absolutly right. I don't know about others, but it is very rare that I even read any code that is larger than one screen. My posts, on the other hand, do tend to get long winded, but I can do it all by myself: I don't need to quote anybody!