Bottled

If you've got a large USB key to spare, and a board that can boot off USB devices, then go for it

LOL, I'm sure it's possible. Make a program that goes through WINNT.SIF checking all the entries are valid by checking them against a list, then it checks the GuiRunOnce group for batch files. Then make it check these batch files checking that all pathnames are valid, replacing %systemdrive% with (root of XPCD directory)\$oem$\$1 and replacing %systemroot% with (root of XPCD directory)\$oem$\$$ etc. The other program could check the properties of exes in a directory, and see if any match the characteristics of known installers, then write a line to a batch file based on the installer used, and write nothing if a file matches no known installer (but give a report on what was not added at the end). I'd do it myself, but we've only just started learning VB in school, and we're just got past command buttons and basic math

Could somoeone possibly make an Unattended XP CD tester? Something that checks the WINNT.SIF for errors and mising files, and checks batch files to see if everything exists? Could be useful for avoiding having to go through a Virtual PC installation only to find you got 1 line wrong, then fixing the line and testing again Of course, another program suggestion could be one that can check exes in a directory (and subdirectories) and generate a batch file for silent installations based on the installer

LOL, makes you wonder what would happen if you did

What has NV done now? ó_O

Okay, here we go, dithering: Note:- All images hosted courtesy of Natomic.com, Go and download some free gaming fun This is my original 16 million colour gradient, okay? I save it as a 20 colour GIF (256 colour shows little difference to the original, so this is just to show you the effect) and the image looks like this: Oooh err, not nice, here's what it looks like up close: All of the colours are clearly separate. Now we add some Diffusion dithering: Looks a bit better, a little smoother, here's the zoomed pic: Pattern dithering yields some better results: Looks much nicer, and a lot closer to the original image Zoomed: All of these were created in Photoshop 7, but most cheaper paint programs like Paint Shop Pro can also pull off these tricks So there you have it, examples of dithering, enjoy.

Good plan Batman

Use dithering? As for the X-rated setup screen, that progress bar was well placed

Like I said, tried pulling the CD, it still tried to replace the files, and when it couldn't find anything, installations were messing up all over the place :|

Actually, I 'pulled the CD' (unloaded the ISO) when I tested this with Virtual PC, and WFP still tried to replace the file, then half of my apps wouldn't install becuse uxtheme.dll couldn't be found :| What would be nicer would be a way to easily include them in the I386 folder. I've used makecab on my uxtheme.dll and have uxtheme.dl_, would it be enough just to copy and paste it into I386, or does more need to be done?

Just thought I'd add, it's not ">null", it's ">nul", otherwise a file called "null" is created in the same dir as the batch file

I know, it took me 20 minutes to get past the '10 minutes to go' bit

Jenius Testing it out on a Virtual PC now, will let you know how I go

Nope, even with @echo off, if you use the copy commands, it still shows the X files copied message. That's right, I should've really included an example

A very simple fix if you want to get rid of the 'X files copied' message when you use the xcopy or copy command in your batch files, such as for installing Winzip: When running the xcopy or copy command, place the text " >nul" (including the space) after the command. ">" is used to route all program output to a file, so you can create a log by using " >install.log" after a batch file. By using "nul" after this, it routes all program output to, well, nowhere, which prevents it from being displayed in the cmd window, meaning it gets rid of messages that "@echo off" doesn't On a side note, if you want to create a full install.log style file, use " >>%systemdrive%\install.log" instead, as " >" overwrites the file, whilst " >>" appends to the file, adding onto the bottom of it