GreenMachine
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Posts posted by GreenMachine
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I must have mis-understood. I guess it was the "etc", "only exception" and "does not do it that way" that threw me off...
I must of also mis-stated: My files are in sub-directories of $OEM$. $OEM$ itself only contains CMDLINES.TXT and INSTALLS.COM. I never reference $OEM$ directly: all my calls use relative paths from inside of it. (See earlier example)
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@WebMedic: Are you sure? I am very open to discussion, but please be sure before you call me wrong. I've been doing installs that way for months. It works exactly as I described. All my files are under a directory with $ ($OEM$), are not copied to the hard drive, and are installed correctly. If it was really hard, you can be sure I would not be doing it, but really hard does not mean impossible or wrong.
Peace.
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Does that make me three? No RunOnce, RunOnceEx, GuiRunOnce, .inf file generation, pre-installatiion file copy, "install" folder for me. Minimalist.
Different strokes for different folks - otherwise we could just have a How-To guide, instead of an idea sharing forum. Keep it cool ...
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It can, and does for me. As Webedic says, $$,$1,C,D etc. are copied to the HDD. That is why I never use them. Root files as well as user-defined folders are not copied to the HDD, can be referenced from the batch file with relative paths, and run from the CD. If in doubt, either watch the CD whilst your programs are running - or eject it and see at which point you get an error.
Example:
CMDLINES.TXT:
[COMMANDS]
".\INSTALLS.CMD"INSTALLS.CMD:
@ECHO OFF
TITLE Post Install Setup
:: ---------- Update MS Components
ECHO Starting DirectX 9 Install.
START "DirectX 9 Install" /WAIT ".\DIRECTX\DXSETUP.EXE" /opk
.
.
.Directory Structure:
$OEM$
- DIRECTX
- IE
- PROFILES
- SVCPACK
That's all. No $anything, no install. No clean up of hard drive later.
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For a more in depth discussion on cmdlines.txt ... Written for Windows 2000, but still relevant. However, it is erroneously stated that files to be run must be on the hard disk. I NEVER copy installation files to the hard disk: all installations are called from a batch file, which is called from cmdlines.txt, and use relative paths to $OEM$ subdirectories on the install CD.
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"About 5 folders" and 6 files in directory 2 ... I vote for a path problem. Long directory names? Quotes where needed?
The strangely numbered directories you see are most likely the temporary directories that hotfixes often use. They are named something like "456156753864328974238549". If the hotfix install correctly, these will be deleted. Seeing them is not a good sign.
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Sorry, I'll try to clarify:
The Variable DEFAULTUSERPROFILE never exists.
The directory %PROFILESDIR%\Default User (Most likely C:\Documents and Settings\Default User) does exist, and contains a file named ntuser.dat. This dat file is where user specific registry settings are stored (The HOT_KEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive). If you want to reference this folder during setup (part 1), you may use the %PROFILESDIR% variable. There is no environment variable to reference this path after part 1 setup, or during normal operation. You can either derive it from ALLUSERSPROFILE, or assume it to be in %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Documents and Settings\Default User if you did not set the PROFILESDIR variable to something else in WINNT.SIF.
You do not see the Default User directory if you have not selected to show hidden files.
I have seen that All Users.WIndows thing before, and now that Webmedic has shaken the dust of ... I remember that this will happen if a directory of USERNAME already exists when the system attempts to create the user profile. You could conceivibly create the file C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\some.txt, and the system would not use the same directory to store a new profile of the same name. Quick and dirty workaround: delete the directories, and the system will re-create them with the correct directory names next logon of that user.
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1) Not sure about the duplicate users. Looks like you're are on a server, no?
2) Webmedic has an answer to this already posted here somewhere.
3) DefaultUserProfile does not exist. PROFILESDIR exists during pre-gui reboot, ALLUSERSPROFILE exists after. You can use %PROFILESDIR%\Default User (wrapped in quotes) in your example. I would just create all your menu items. then xcopy, instead of making each directory. No need to install them to the HDD first: you can copy from where you are (CD:\$OEM$ at this point).
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If I may make a suggestion (or two...):
The script to do the hotfix slipstreaming works great, but is kind of a black box. If it were to be used as a learning device, perhaps there should be a few changes for clarification/simplification.
RAID could be a seperate case study.
MDAC is particular and trickey, perhaps it should not be here as well (I do it from cmdlines.txt).
Perhaps a few more ECHO to screen statements, to have an idea ...
Descriptive directory names. How about HFTYPE1, HFTYPE2, WORKDIR, SAVEDIR instead of 1, 2, 4, 5, respectivly.
The generated log file seems a bit long ...
Please take these words for what they are intended to be: suggestions, and by no means criticism.
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There is a medical term for that ...
Evelynn Wood used to have speed reading classes many years ago that were based on reading phrases, not words, and reading one sentence right to left, and the next left to right, (less eye-movement, refocusing).
I've also heard that Lawyers learn to read upside down - practice for those meetings where the unsuspecting adversaire leaves something on his desk ...
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It can be done, but is a little complicated. I spoke about it onthe bottom of the 5th page of this thread. I have posted a few replies to this, and am not sure anyone other than myself has succeeded. Let me know.
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Well, if you got a log file, I guess I'm off the hook for blowing anything up! I have seen that error screen before, but all I remember about the solution was that it was so obvious, I forgot it. I am not quite sure which Type 2 HotFixes can be applied. I do KB814078, Q327405, Q330994, and Q822925 without incident. Installations (MDAC 2.8, MPlayer9, IE 6.1, JavaVM, .Net, DX) I do seperately.
5 errors, 5 files in directory 2 ... Good Luck!
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If the hardware is EXACTLY IDENTICAL and the software has been installed EXACTLY THE SAME, it'll work. In other words ... forget about it. This is the kind of thing to do if you have a (very) lot of time on your hands, like in a prison cell for a while, not so you can "see the daylight". You'll spend hours trouble shooting, and you will never know for sure. It is still not sure that all seting and serial would be saved in the reg file. Winamp, amongst others, still uses .ini files insread of the registry.
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I've seen that pack. It is just a collection of the post SP1 hotixes, and a batch to run them all (quite similar to the batch files used here). It offers no more than the many batch files posted here for the same purpose. Question is: Do you want to download your patches from MS, or deadknightz?
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The UserData section of WINNT.SIF specifies the Registered User Information, not a Windows User Account, thus the code above does not create an account. Furthermore, it is impossible to create 2 accounts with the same name.
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@WebMedic - just did the same to my version. Oddly enough, there was only one hard reference, so it almost worked as it was. (see above)
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Son of a gun, it looks like that script might almost work off your desktop. But I think the newstyle hotfixes will not be applied (KB814078, Q327405, Q330994, Q822925)
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Normal - 13 to 12 minutes can be up to 45 minutes on VPC. It is running that svcpack.inf file, and has no way top calculate time needed.
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Sorry, Aaron, as you probably know by now the PREP stuff I posted has required hard-coded paths ... I told you I did not want to blow up anything! At least Virtual PC CDs are cheap ...
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Hey, waita minute. I said use WebMedics version! I don't wanna blow anything up! Well ... check the paths, or use the classic D:\XPCD\I386 structure. Good Luck!
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@Aaron: Yes that was the thread. I use one of the first versions, so, yes, I do have to manually copy everything into I386. Anyway, looks like Spheris has got 'cha covered. On the other hand, I haven't blown up anything yet doing it that way. Maybe using different hardware does not have the problems.
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Sorry, but I don't really understand the question. Can you say it in half as many words? The defaults tweaks are reg entries that pertain to the HOT_KEY_CURRENT_USER reg key. The trick to installing them before the GuiRunOnce is to call them via the cmdlines.txt file in $OEM$, or in a batch file called from there. This file is called near the end of setup, and before the GUI boot.
All the per user settings I do are in the file HKCU.reg, included in the above mentioned zip file. These can be imported to any machine via the standard regedit program, by double clicking on them. Certain features, however, will not have an effect on existing user profiles, as this machine is already set up. This includes status bar on, details view, and some others. You can only get them into the default user by copying the whole default user's Current_User registry hive (C:\Docments and Settings\Default User\NTUSER.DAT) to the target machine. If you go that route, you are better off creating a new user on the target machine, make any settings to other software that is installed as well, and then from another administrators account copy the profile to the default user directory (My Computer - Properties - Advanced - User Profiles / Settings - Copy To). You can also customize the start menu, taskbar, desktop, etc.
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Here is the skeleton of my installation, including all .reg files, and a copy of webmedic hotfix script. All you need to add is a slipstreamed SP1 XP distribution, and the MS updates and hotfixes. Read the ReadMe files. There are directory listings of the missing update files.
As for writing a guide ... why don't you try it and write the guide for others!
Let me know if it works out for you.
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Jeez, Aaron, did you need to give yourself a Sunday Flogging? WebMedics scipt does exactly that, in less then a minute, works like a charm, and eliminates those silly cut'n'paste type mistakes. They probably spent more time writing the guide than WebMedic spent on the script. I downloaded from here somewhere ... The title of the thread had "SlipStream" in it. (I looked at that MS guide, too, and was quickly disuaded.)
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How come it creates duplicate user accounts?
in Unattended Windows 2000/XP/2003
Posted
Strange as it may seem I had the exact same thing (with different files). I was convinced it should work, and I burned 3 bad CDs. Could not get those bad files on another CD drive, either. (Different files each time.) I lowered the burn speed from 52X to 32X, and it worked. It had been working at 52X for a while. Bottom line - one never knows! Best test would be to install to VirtualPC through a mounted ISO file. I vote for hardware failure, not software, and VirtualPC will tell you for sure.