ldoodle

Thanks. I have downloaded InstallShield Pro 2011 trial and using Cab View I can't seem to extract the whole lot in one go. The Extract file option is only available if I navigate the tree structure to each single file. Oh and each file is in subfolders but Cab View doesn't extract to the right folder paths - it just puts them all in the root of the folder you choose to extract to. What am I missing? I would rather have missing drivers in my build than extract all these files one-by-one!

Hiya, I am building a Windows 7 Pro SP1 WDS deployment build, and I am having trouble finding the .inf version of the HP Quick Launch Buttons. Does anybody know where to find them. I have spent literally all day looking for them! I can't imagine HP (a business outfit) would offer drivers that can't be deployed as part of a mass image roll-out. Thanks

OK, one minor problem. I have a Synaptics Touch Pad and Ricoh media reader. If I add the drivers for either of these to my unattended driver location, I get an error about boot critical drivers could not be used, and it bombs out. But neither of these are boot critical devices. Any ideas?

You can download the windows update drivers from the Microsoft update driver online catalogue. They download as cab files. I use 7zip to extract the contents. http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx You have saved me a lot of hassle. I knew about the catalog but didn't realise it contained drivers as well. Thanks very much!

Hiya, I have a load of HP Compaq 2510p laptops to deploy with Win7. Now the unattended Windows install in itself isn't a problem, but i'm pulling my hair out trying to find .inf based drivers for 3 things; Authentec Fingerprint Sensor Quick Launch Buttons HP hs2300 HSDPA module Now I know they are available as Windows Update has them but that is no good to me. I need a completely unattended install of these laptops. Any ideas? Thanks

Hiya, This can apply to all OS's that use the WIM file but as i'm concerned with Win 7 I've put it here. Is it possible to add/delete/edit individual files within a WIM image? Specifically, I have added custom shortcuts into a custom (captured) WIM and noticed one of the shortcuts has a spelling mistake in the description. I could re-capture the image with the correction but just wondering if there's another, quicker, way?

This is exactly what i've done. I've created an unattend file using the appropriate varibales (%MACHINENAME%) etc for things like computer name, domain name etc. This way I get a truly unattended vanilla install, after which I install my apps, drivers etc, then run sysprep. Once the custom image is captured to the WDS server, I apply the same unattend file which uses the computer name I used when pre-staging it in AD, and all works OK. Thanks for all your help. If I had thought about pre-staging I could have got it done a hell of a lot quicker, but you always forget about the simplest solution!

Thanks for all you help! So, I need to create an answer file for sysprep. I suppose the best thing would be the run sysprep with the gui without an answer file and go through the prompts and then I can add these to the unnatended file, so i'm only adding what needs to be added. When you say the domain join is done after first logon, that means I need to have an auto logon setting in the answer file which then runs netdom. What do I do about naming the computer? I suppose i'll have to script something that prompts for a computer name then joins the domain. This is a very long winded method compared to XP's sysprep mini setup process. Talking about going backwards Microsoft! OK seem to be getting somewhere. However it still prompts for a local user account, which then changes the computer name. I have added a new local user account in the unattend.xml file and this seems to get round it, so just wondering if this is correct. I'm also enabling the local admin account but this doesn't seem to be enough. Does that sound right?

Thanks for all you help! So, I need to create an answer file for sysprep. I suppose the best thing would be the run sysprep with the gui without an answer file and go through the prompts and then I can add these to the unnatended file, so i'm only adding what needs to be added. When you say the domain join is done after first logon, that means I need to have an auto logon setting in the answer file which then runs netdom. What do I do about naming the computer? I suppose i'll have to script something that prompts for a computer name then joins the domain. This is a very long winded method compared to XP's sysprep mini setup process. Talking about going backwards Microsoft!

Just to confirm, this is what i'm currently doing with the native WDS deployment service: 1) Install Windows 7 Pro from WDS in attended mode 2) When it gets to it's first prompt screen, i'm hitting Shift+Ctrl+F3 to reboot into Audit mode 3) Make any customizations (drivers, applications, joining domain etc) - when first entering Audit mode you get the Sysprep tool open, and it opens each time you reboot while in Audit mode 4) This is where i'm stuck. I first tried just using the Sysprep GUI with OOBE selected and Generalize ticked, hoping it would 'remember' domain settings etc from Audit mode. Do I need to come out of the GUI and supply an .xml file to a Sysprep command line? If so what's the point in joining a domain when in Audit mode, as I've read on the MS website that this is how it should be done.

Thanks! I've been trying all day but I cannot get 2 things to work: 1) Prompt for a computer name (it's randomly generating one), despite my XML file not having the ComputerName entry at all 2) Disable the prompt for a local username Both happen if I try and do it the WDS/WSIM native way, and point 2 happens if I use MDT to deploy then sysprep before capture. Point 2 actually breaks the domain join as its joining the domain with the randomly generated computer name, yet when having to add a local username it renames the PC so you can't logon to the domain anyway. Help!! Thanks

Thanks for the reply. I have tried MDT 2010 and it's more complicated than SIM; it doesn't give me any options for customizing the install process for domain join etc.

Hiya, Our environment is Server 2008 R2 WDS with Windows 7 clients. I am trying to build a base image for our machines to blast out to all the others, however i'm stuck at the sysprep stage. This is what I want. 1) Install Windows 7 from WDS onto a PC 2) Install all drivers/applications etc 3) Run sysprep, reboot and re-capture the image 4) Upon reboot, all it does is ask for a computer name and joins it to our domain 1 and 2 are OK, but I cannot work out how to get 3 and 4 to do what they're supposed to. When using the OOBE option in sysprep it reboots and asks for a local username, network location etc. Using the audit option in sysprep just reboots and puts it straight at the logon screen. Neither way puts it in the domain. Sysprep in XP was so easy so why do Microsoft insist on fixing what isn't broke! Thanks

I have managed to sort it. shell32.dll does in fact NOT need to be modified to get the shutdown dialog display the custom image. msgina.dll actually needs to be replaced with your custom one. The reg hack for GinaDLL does not work on the shutdown dialog - only for the logon and ctrl+alt+del dialogs. The best way I found was to customize msgina.dll with custom images, then use cab maker to compress it. Then overwrite the original msgina.dl_ file on the source CD on unattended installations. As for being overwritten by updates - in my experience the only ones that modify msgina.dll are Service Packs. I am running XP SP3 and very much doubt MS will be working on a SP4 for XP!

And how does one overwrite shell32.dll? Even in safe mode it is locked! For msgina.dll, I use a custom filename and use the GinaDLL registry entry to point it to that. Is there not the same way for shell32.dll? Thanks