Daemonforce

For making ISOs I normally suggest a burning program like Nero or Alcohol. What you're trying to do is copy media from an optical drive onto a harddisk for backups and emulation. I suggest you grab a copy of ISOBuster(I use an old version that doesn't need registration), extract the CD image as RAW content in .iso format. I think you'll like the result.

I stay as far away from nLite as I possibly can. Mainly because nLite is a tool that focuses on deployment. If you remove some critical stuff, Windows will gripe at you. If you remove some things that other programs look for, you're screwed. If you try to change the layout yourself, you're screwed. You see where I'm going with this? If you're going to remove stuff, I suggest you do it yourself. That's what I do.

Sorry for the bump, this thread bothered me. That's actually spot on. They're essentially what I am when I'm sleeping and thinking about what I'm going to do when I fix some problem. o_O A BPA is just an advisor that makes suggestions that help management, production solutions, the work environment...They basically tell you how to do your job without actually telling you. It's not like having three bosses droning over you all the time, it's like having a whiney bratty little child nagging you all the time. They are commonly found in the sales department of large and small businesses alike since their advice is frequently needed. They're what I find to be the worst breed of worker from Microsoft since 90% of the time they just preach the benefits of having this in the workplace or that Microsoft product will help you.

You're using the official 2004 model. 2005 model is based on Windows Server 2003+SP1. I'm going to get things the way I want and shift it straight into Vista. I shouldn't have to worry about outdated crap. =/

It wouldn't surprise me if he's reading this on an Intel based Mac. o_O

I started messing with PE a few years back when Longhorn was still in 4xxx stages. As far as I was concerned, I liked LHPE more because of the way setup started. Ever since I started using the XP OPK it looks like we're taking two steps back on an OS that already needs help. Since troubleshooting and deployment can be done with PE, I can't really gripe about it. =/

How is that not free? o.O I got it for free. The Windows XP OPK (Windows XP SP2 PE) is available to all OEM System Builders on the registered level. Mcfly, go to http://oem.microsoft.com and that will sort everything out. You won't find the ISO but you'll find a zipped ISO.

You're getting a missing EULA error at the BSOI? o.O You could probably inject the file into I386 with something like WinISO.

I'm sure at least CuBie has found a way to fix the programs menu to the point where it can show programs listed. He had some documentation and a fix for it but those fixes are lost to the winds of time(along with his sucky webhost). Does anyone have the fix for this? Can anyone just list the fixes so we can get on with life? =/

I have already stated several times that I do not have access to Windows XP Embedded right now and I have no method of obtaining it anytime soon. I have access to everything else at the moment though. When I say everything else, I mean it. =/ The way I look at it, my standpoint in the matter of PE is quite a complicated one. I don't want to use something that does everything for me with little effort(BartPE) and I don't intend to go the easy route(XP Embedded) because it will quickly become an invalid option in the long run. This clearly makes BartPE comparable to a bit of futile trash(which is why it needs to be focused elsewhere). I am at a point with PE where even NT Embedded would have been a good solution if it weren't for the fact that Win2K was released to get through the Y2K issues and file system problems of NT. There was a file system "jump" at the time and it became a real mess. When I look at another jump from NT5 to NT6, I look back and expect a similar set of problems to arise. With that in mind, I want to create a PE that not only does what it is intended to, but more than the average end user can expect from it. I'm all about finding the absolute limits of WinPE in terms of what WinPE is capable of doing now and(with the proper licensing and guidance) what it can be. That functioning limit appears much much closer with each consecutive PE manufactured: |--------------v-------v---------------v-----------------------v----------| Compat...03PE...XPPE............2KPE.......................LHPE...Limit That is what I see right now. In the near future that scale is likely to mirror and XP will look as horrible as 2K does now. I'm going to ride the XPPE bus until the compatibility focus shifts into Longhorn(Read: NOT Vista). You may be wondering why this is and I'll be honest that I've even stepped back a few times to reevaluate why I'm even touching beta builds. XPPE looks, acts and functions very much the same way "Whistler" did in prerelease stages and continues to amaze me in terms of going straight into a 32-bit color mode and installing without critical problems. Anyone that remembers installing Win9x and goes straight into the preinstall environment knows that it's very limited in terms of hardware detection and appearance. Anyone that has ever installed a Windows OS released prior to this millenium knows that the 16 color GUI is a very ugly place with bare minimum hardware detection and frequent problems. That started to change with the release of NT-based operating systems and became so refined that XPPE looks and feels flawless. For those of you that don't follow: XPPE = good. LHPE appears to function in a very strange manner compared to XPPE. It's almost as if we've taken two steps forward and five steps back. Where does a preinstall environment need a ramdisk? I see a write filter capability...Is it being used? Why does it have a write filter? Are these native to LHPE? Would they have served better in XPPE? Why do I boot a new VGA driver and find myself back in that ugly 16 color mode? Can this be changed? I have several questions and I'm finding my answers one step at a time. After several weeks of evaluation and testing, LHPE does appear to be worth messing with. The files are newer than anything I've documented and we're finally using a method that doesn't use the Blue Screen of Installation! It just flies straight into an 800x600 GUI! Weeeeeeeee! If I can fix the minor issues present in LHPE and get it to my working advantage, we might be able to drop several problems on our end as well as half the issues posted in this subforum. It's quite a step up and an impressive one. I guess what I'm saying by posting this is that XP Embedded is outdated and not worth messing with when I have a newer possible alternative. Even though I'm justifying a beta over a full package product that I've never touched, I still won't have any idea what can go wrong with XP Embedded until I try it. More than likely the quirks I've found in LHPE will not be something that can be found in XP Embedded. It isn't likely the other way around either. Moving forward is good, but nothing can change the fact that XP Embedded is something that I need as a base and structure guidance to fall back to in case of a complicated scenario that LHPE isn't able to conquer as is. At this point it would be interesting to know how to add a write filter to XPPE without aid of XP Embedded since I have newer files to work with.

If only for three days.....=/ Blah. X_x' As far as I know, this dependency list is noble to WinPE built from VRMPVOL_EN. I am not using files from the OPK to get things done. I detest BartPE and the design of it but that doesn't mean PENetCfg is a bad tool. I use it because it works. I would be **** lucky to get a copy of XP Embedded right now so I'm not going to push for it right now. Besides that I hear of people having problems when adding Internet Explorer to their builds.

Custom for my servers. It suffers intermittent crashes if I don't build it. Dell gives purpose to things like Drive Image and Ghost. I've been working with this computer for 5 years and I still haven't needed either program for it. I'm not going to look to Dell if they start selling AMDs either. Like that will ever happen...lol

I had to do without a DVD drive for several years until this one. For all I care a DVD is just a CD with 7x the writable space(NOTE: No I'm not overburning DVDs....Yet. o.O). Neither could I but it took a bit of clicking to find what I needed. The Bootscriptor site wasn't much help to me so you might want to stick to the CDShell site too. You're not doing anything wrong. o.O You just don't know what want or what you're doing. Look for the command list and don't worry if you get CPU halts in vmware. There are weird issues when using memdisk over diskemu, so only use the one that works on your stuff.

I look at the serious bloat that I've been giving to several PE builds and noticed that adding certain files break functions more than work them. It's time to change that. Lets make a list for everything we will eventually need past explorer. Whether they're a system need or just cosmetic fixes, post them! Drive Formatter/Copier: \system32\diskcopy.dll ????? Net Drive Mapping/Net Places: \system32\netplwiz.dll Netsetup Wizard \system32\hnetwiz.dll Wireless Config: \system32\wzcdlg.dll Network adapter: \system32\PENetCfg.exe (Just use it ) \system32\PENetCfg.ini (Open Startnet.cmd and add a line) Remove "Installation Failed." prompt: \INF\ie.inf Lets keep this going. Can anyone help me make the desktop properties tabs bigger?

Well I didn't know how to use Diskemu when Winbeta released the ultimate XP disc, but that didn't stop me. o_O Go to CDShell.org and it will explain everything. When I went there I finally noticed something I was doing wrong at the end of each line. It's just like Microsoft's programming. You'll get used to it.

Why don't you like CD Shell? I like it because I can configure it to the highest extent that I like without making something look like total crap. I have yet to see BCDW but I bet it's nifty. My first exposure to multiboot disks was a year ago when WinBeta introduced a 4-in-1. Ever since then I have used CD Shell because it looks better. I have a disc that conforms to my needs too.

I'm having strange problems in vmware and I want to know if anyone has ever conquered these issues: 1. XPPE can have a custom profile directory in order to fix Explorer's nag when loading. LH4051 just reboots when trying the same thing. Any idea why? 2. The VGA driver sucks in LH and Vista. Is there any way to get it out of 16 color?

Sweet...EWF for the win.... I'm sure it exists somewhere in Longhorn as well.... Any idea how I can add this function?

I might look into it since I hear so many good things about it. I doubt it's anywhere different to what I'm doing though. =/ Does it have "write" access to the CD when booting? I'm starting to think I should just move the profiles directory to a virtual drive. =/

I really got sick of the process when doing patched builds every few months. I just made a batch of commands that call a patch one at a time with the integrate switch. It makes life a lot easier for me.

Why would you need the WGA tool for Win2K? o.O Wait...Why do you even need a CD key? O_o You shouldn't be having either problem.

****! >.<' I really wanted a good competition for Knoppix....Ah well. I believe that I need to make the system drive "rewritable" because Profiles keep crashing PE.

Yes! That is definitely a given. I have spent much time messing with this. Some people decompile Windows builds to understand how it works....Txtsetup is more than enough for me...lol. If you remember the process Win3.1 went through, I think you'll look back and say "N00bed!" o_O Kekekekeke! In any case it's a lot of hit and miss when testing. For some reason adding the folder "Profiles" anywhere on the disc root or i386 will cause my builds to halt at startup and die. I'm not sure what's causing this but I know Explorer is to blame.

From what I've noticed, WinPE can only shutdown if you kill the shell or initiate a crash command. Does your build include reset.exe/shutdown.exe?

Actually, not quite true. You need an editor (notepad will do), a windows cd, and a way to create the hives. I've managed to do this, a bootable pe, with about 30mb. I've used perl to parse the infs and create the hives. Then I modified them (set a shell) with reg.exe. Using cdrtools, i created an iso wich booted. Just to prove it was possible to do without the OPK or BartPE. I've also modified the txtsetup.sif to lower ram requirements, ignore acpi and not load scsi drivers. <3!