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LeveL

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Everything posted by LeveL

  1. Even though in vLite it says removing the "Component Cache (winsxs)" does not save much on the ISO, it did save a lot on my ISO like 100Mb or even more. Nuhi, will it be possible to remove everything from winsxs thats currently being removed in vLite but keeping the ability to use Windows Update? I am no expert but my guess is that Windows Update does not require much, like one file it looks for and isn't there? I might even try to find out which file(s) it needs to work again without having to put all that junk back into winsxs. After using Filemon to determine which winsxs files and/or folders Windows Update cannot find, it keeps coming up with these three folders from winsxs: x86_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16386_none_07289f4cca5f6990 x86_microsoft-windows-servicingstack-mof_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16386_none_3c64bd972e1fd7b5 x86_microsoft-windows-servicingstack-msg_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16386_none_3c68a7f72e1c56b2 These folders only amount to 12.1Mb. By putting these folders into my vLite'd installation (from a previously vLited installation just not "extreme") I can visit Windows Update without getting that error BUT it is stuck on "Checking for updates" Its getting there though Nuhi, if I can fully fix this I will of course report back with exactly the files and folders needed BTW when I RAR those 12.1Mb folders thay only amount to about 1.5Mb so it wouldn't add much to the ISO to put these back in but more than this is needed, how much more I am still working out...
  2. No, more like 600Mb or even less if you removed everything. Unless you're talking about x64 only? Good question. Vista is beyond bloated, it is ridiculous. Thankfully, Nuhi is changing that.
  3. Yeah but Nuhi there are a few advantages. 1 - Your install time is literally cut in half. 2 - It saves a lot of space (my WINDOWS folder is only about 1.7GB) 3 - Despite what you say about it not saving much on the ISO it did for me - my ISO went from about 755Mb down to 641Mb, its the difference between being able to fit it on a 700Mb CD or not! But like you say its a dangerous thing to remove because for a start, you cannot update Windows at all after this component is removed, it throws an error code 80070002 But Nuhi - are you removing a lot more than just hotfix backups? I just wonder if theres any way to "refine" this so you would lose all the excess junk from winsxs but keeping the ability to install hotfixes from Windows Update? I hate that winsxs folder. I am surprised you have even put something in vLite to deal with it. Still, to be honest, I never even do update Windows because I re-install it so often, its a very useful feature for me since I am after the fastest install, smallest footprint which for me, is more important than whether or not I can update Windows. But thats just my personal preference.
  4. Are you talking about removing the entire winsxs folder? Surely not? It has all the .NET Framework and C++ classes there! I am struggling to use vLite at the moment on Vista... keep getting a BSOD but its not because of vLite, its doing it on the old beta and the new 1.1RC which I know worked in the past, I am gonna do it all on XP in VMware, where theres a will theres a way.
  5. Prog: vLite 1.1RC OS: Vista Ultimate BSOD: Non-descriptive "0x00000024" (Ntfs.sys). The BSOD is the generic message: A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. I can start vLite, browse to the source folder, then vLite asks which type of install to work on, Basic, Home, Business, Ultimate... about 3 seconds after I choose Ultimate, it gives the blue screen. I tried it shutting off my firewall (Comodo) and anti-virus (NOD32) but it still gives the same BSOD. Whats really sick is Microsoft even used the cleartype text on blue screens, WTF? Don't think anyone apart from me is having this problem with it? The only other 0x00000024 I can find (on the whole internet this is) is happening on XP and its not with vLite. I shall try reverting back to the older vLite 1.1b EDIT: Nope, same BSOD with vLite 1.1b which I know worked in the past. I even turned off every program, disconnected from the net and everything, still the same BSOD. Ah well, I will install XP in VMware on a 30GB disk and do it that way, sigh.
  6. OK so I want to make a "live rescue CD" where you can boot into Windows XP as a live environment. I want to make this as small as possible so I will strip most stuff out with nLite but whats confusing me is - for example if I remove "Thinkpad" does that mean the live CD would not be able to load itself on a Thinkpad laptop? Likewise if you want firewire in the live OS - does it all work the exact same way as it would if you were actually making an installable disc? The stuff in your system you want working is all the stuff you need to keep? Because its a live rescuse environment, I am removing all the stuff I wouldn't usually dream of removing like sound drivers, DirectX, OpenGL, none of which would be needed in a live environment, its only going to be used to access my system whilst its "offline" really. Just wondered what sort of rules to follow... like if I remove Printer Support then there would be no printer support in the live OS, right?
  7. LeveL

    KB934238

    WU says I need this and yet I have not got the .NET Framework 3.0 installed. However, I do have a related directory: C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Thats as far as it goes, theres nothing in that directory. Pretty bizarre. As Tomcat76 says, this hotfix is a mess... it does not even put a .cat file in, the only thing I can see it puts in so you could reognize its even installed is a log file "XpsEPSC.log" in the WINDOWS folder and of course... CCleaner could potentially delete that log file. I just wonder why, since I have never installed the .NET Framework 3.0 its saying I need this hotfix?
  8. OK thanks but I am doing this post install, its not to integrate or slipstream the hotfixes - its to install them all in Windows "post install". Why would anyone want to do that when they could just visit WU? Well, what if you ripped out the BITS service, Windows Update service and didn't even have IE6/IE7 because its been nLite'd? You're not able to update Windows in that situation UNLESS you have already downloaded all the hotfixes and have a batch file that installs them all.
  9. Nope, Microsoft have made it extremely tough for some reason. It was easy with XP, there were references to all the KB****** numbers in the WINDOWS folder. Not anymore with Vista though. Yes, you CAN delete useless backup files from the installed Windows, you can even delete them from your mounted WIM image and they won't expand at all but lol, this is the entire problem because deleting those old backups does not save you any space on the ISO whatsoever, all it does is speeds up the install a bit (because its 1700 less files to expand thats all) You can just mount the WIM image on the command line with the WAIK tools and delete the contents of this folder: Windows\winsxs\Backup\* I leave the Backup folder there but delete every single file inside it, but like I said this only speeds up the install time, it does not take one single byte off the size of the ISO. Maybe Nuhi is already working on this... I am out of the game im afraid, I have no clue why Windows is still storing "Backups of backups" or where these old backup files are. Have you ever looked inside that folder "Windows\winsxs\Backup" ??? ITS A TOTAL MESS! Theres 1700 files there and they all have absoluely gigantic filenames that do not even mention which KB hotfix they belong to, or what belongs to what, or anything, these "files" arn't even *.* files because they do not even have extensions on them. I gave up on it. How can you know whats what when theres 1700 files there and none of them even hint at KB numbers? Its crap the way Vista installs, I hate it!
  10. In the past I have always installed *most* hotfixes with these switches... KB000000.exe /Q /O /Z However, I noticed HERE it uses: KB000000.exe /Q /N /Z /O Other times I have seen: KB000000.exe /Q /N /Z Now, this only applies to the hotfixes with no icon, I mean like this: So my question is - what do all those switches mean? I know the /Q will mean "Quiet installation" but as for the /N /Z and /O I don't know what those do. Also then there are other hotfixes that need: KB000000.exe /Q:A /R:N What does "/Q:A /R:N" mean? These types are packed inside compressed exe's that look like this: Sometimes, these types might have an MSI based installer inside, in which case you'd extract the files out of the hotfix and use these switches for an MSI based installer: KB000000.msi /quiet /norestart Those switches speak for themselves and say what they do. I just wonder what /Q /N /Z /O and /Q:A /R:N mean? Whats even more confusing is when looked through the HFSLIP batch file it has no mention at all of /Q /N /Z /O or anything like that, it only lists two possible switches - one is /Q:A /R:N and the other is /quiet /norestart so does this mean that /Q:A /R:N is a universal command that can replace /Q /N /Z /O completely? I know /quiet /norestart is for MSI and is a seperate deal.
  11. http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/windowsxp-kb905474-enu-x86_761a7c60ac99315db71687d65d415da5cec6c0d4.exe Thanks the_guy Its the Holy Grail Now just gotta get the thing installed.
  12. 10/10 for observation for me... sorry man I have been running around like a blue assed fly the last few days.
  13. Sorry, I had it installed in VMware and have since re-installed, but I am getting back round to it. I will check the log file for the link-to-exe once its updated again.
  14. Thanks DarkShadows, I am slowly working it out. Up to now its only a few that are still popping up despite already "installing" them. The suggestion by Yzöwl worked, the Windows Update Agent is sorted out, its just the WGA notifications one... (Cue the horror film music)....... KB905474
  15. And it doesn't ask on first visit to Windows Update? OK thanks, I shall give it a go.
  16. I am installing Hotfixes silently post install on XP SP2. I know for Windows Update to even scan for whats needed, the "Windows Update Agent" needs installing. So, by looking at how HFSLIP handles this problem, it seems to also use an additional .cab file as well as the actual update agent itself. You need (for HFSLIP) these two files; WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe (v7.0.6000.381) ??? http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsU...Agent30-x86.exe MUAuth.cab - the mysterious (and tiny) cab file that just has a .xml file inside it: http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7/windo...lone/MUAuth.cab So to silently install "WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe" I am using this command: start /wait WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe /q /o /z This does indeed install, because it adds the file "wups2.dll" to the system32 folder. Alas, its not enough, Windows Update STILL insists on installing this AGAIN before it will scan for updates. I can only guess I also need to do something with the file MUAuth.cab but what? What do I need to do with this? HFSLIP seems to repack the cab file (just to make it smaller, nothing more) and adds it to I386 with lines in the setup files (txtsetup.sif and dosnet.inf) to unpack this file, hmmmm. TommyP please help me! I wonder, do I simply need to xcopy this cab file to system32 BEFORE installing the Windows Update Agent, or what? I have no clue, I don't get why MS have to play games like this on us all the time, you cannot even update Windows unless this agent thing is installed first. Even installing it doesn't install it! The real bad thing is I have installed Windows in VMware and now I have installed this agent I need to re-install it again just to "uninstall" this agent and try to do it silently, d4mn I knew I shouldn't have installed it from the WU website, oh well.
  17. Cheers Tomcat76... I will figure it out. 76... same year I was born Crap innit
  18. It is weird because a few months ago I did XP with HFSLIP and it all worked out fine. I blame Microsoft.
  19. Thanks to TommyP and everyone else who makes HFSLIP possible! I have slipstreamed everything into Windows XP apart from the "User Profile Hive Cleanup Service" Just posting because I had three hotfixes that are still required... 1 - KB892130 - I visited "Microsoft Update" and before it would scan for required updates, it said "Software Upgrade for Some Windows Components Required" then below there is a details link saying I need "Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130)". I do not have this hotfix in any of my HFSLIP folders because the hotfix (KB892130) is not mentioned on the Windows XP SP2 Update List After clicking "Download and install now" for that "Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130)" I scan for updates and Windows Update says I need: 2 - KB905474 - Windows Genuine Advantage Notification. The link address on the Update List page for KB905474 is a dead link - LINK TO EXE So assuming I just need the file WindowsXP-KB905474-ENU-x86-Standalone.exe I found this file HERE. NOTE: I tried HFSLIP both with the original file and with an extracted file renamed to WindowsXP-KB905474-ENU-x86-Standalone.exe and neither worked. I have checked the HFCABS folder and do not have LegitCheckControl.cab in that folder (which I read could cause the problem on other posts about this hotfix) 3 - KB933360 - Update for Windows XP. Installing this update enables your computer to automatically adjust the computer clock on the correct date in 2007 due to revised Daylight Saving Time laws in many countries. I do have this hotfiix in HFSLIP's "HF" folder. This is just directly downloaded from the link on the update list page. I am using nLite to remove a lot of stuff, IE7, WMP11, Windows Update etc are all kept but a ot of other stuff is removed. However, I did make sure to paste the "KeepFiles" list from Vorck.com into the nLite "Advanced" option. HFSLIP.LOG file: HFSLIP_Log_File.zip
  20. OK thanks Nuhi, its that tiny (60Kb) one. Mods can close this now if they want to.
  21. BUMP Anyone know where Vista stores all those useless old backup files for Hotfix uninstallations? I don't want to ever uninstall any hotfixes and thus do not want the extra "old" versions of any files as backups taking up space, its the difference between being able to make a CD sized functional ISO and not being able to, those backup files add at least 150Mb to the ISO.
  22. Although in nLite under services there is no option to remove the themes service, sometimes it does get removed - is this because of the removal of "Luna Theme" under "Multimedia" ? I don't want to keep "Luna Theme" but I do need to keep the Themes service for .theme files and .msstyles files.
  23. Yeah I did delete 1,700+ files in the folder "Windows\winsxs\Backup" and it made no difference to the WIM image size. But because of that - I know the OLD hotfix backup files cannot possibly be stored there, maybe not even the uninstall files either, because why would removing that backup folder save no space in the WIM image *if* the old DLL's and EXE's were all stored there? Surely if the old hotfix DLL and EXE files etc are stored in "winsxs\Backup" then this is the only place they are going to be stored? I can't see Vista having a "backup files of backup files". Anyway, I have already checked this with a program to find duplicate files and indeed, whats in the "winsxs\backup" folder is NOT duplicated anywhere else in the WIM image. Not according to the dupe file checker anyway. Its so much harder than it was on XP. On XP, 99% of the hotfix CAT files are here: C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE} This indicates which hotfixes are installed and whats not (although these are not backups they are just CAT files) I guess on nLited installs nLite has already taken care of all the duplicate files and the hotfix uninstall files? This is why its hard on Vista - because you search the whole C drive for a KB****** number you have installed the hotfix for = no results! So then how can you possibly know where the backup files are? Or even the CAT files for the Hotfixes? Its driving me mad now with these hotfix uninstall files - where oh where could they all be? I am only ever talking about the Backup folder inside winsxs, nothing else. winsxs is a scary folder to mess with, in fact I do not even delete the Backup folder itself, just its contents, leaving an empty Backup folder there. Removing the contents of "Windows\winsxs\Backup\*.*" from the WIM image does not decrease the WIM image size no, but it does really speed up your install time, because its 1,700 less files that need to be expanded! Also, yes those 1,700+ dupe files in "Windows\winsxs\Backup" (which my dupe file finder says are not dupes) do take up space on your hard disk when Vista is installed, about 300Mb to 400mb. Thats with all the November and previous hotfixes, I am not sure how big it is on a default install with no hotfixes. I have not had a chance yet to look at a SP1 DVD but you're right... if we can somehow find out which OLD files are there, not just "duplicated" and "useless" files, they can be deleted and it will save maybe 150Mb in the WIM image. What has really thrown me back is discovering that winsxs\Backup seems to not even contain any duplicated files and yet it saves nothing on the size of the WIM image when you remove the Backup folder, as in this image, it starts at "Catalogs" and there is no "Backup" folder in sight meaning the Backup folder has no duplicate files, apparently...
  24. OK here is the mounted Vista folder, completely scanned. Its already been run through vLite and all other images except Ultimate have been removed. Therefore - none of these duplicated files are because of other variants of Vista, the image only contains Vista Ultimate. It says out of 40,953 files, 13,045 files are duplicates! This amounts to 2.90Gb out of a 7.64Gb installation. But look at the image, there is no "Windows\winsxs\Backup" folder even listed! A lot of files from system32 are in that winsxs folder but of course if they are in system32 then they are system files and are needed. So theres no way for me to know which files are there because of the updates, I am going to have to do this instead: 1 - Install Vista thats not had any updates integrated into it. 2 - Make a snapshot of the installation (files and registry) 3 - Install a hotfix at random (any MSU type hotfix, it doesn't matter which one really) 4 - Do another snapshot and try to work out where these "Backup" files are being stored. Because the Hotfix backup files are indeed backup files (old files) I can only guess that they only appear once in the installation, somewhere, its just a case of finding out where Windows Vista stores all these useless files. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edit: This isn't Vista related but it might at least give some clue: http://searchwincomputing.techtarget.com/t...1148154,00.html Someone asking how to do it in Vista but no one answers: http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/9715...ckup-files.html CCleaner does have "Hotfix Uninstallers" listed under "Advanced" maybe that works on Vista, I will check into it. I can use CCleaner and take before and after snapshots to see what changes. Its annoying because the KB number does not even appear in Vista so you can't just find it like you could in XP. For example in XP its here: C:\WINDOWS\$hf_mig$ But then I only have one KB folder in that folder. But then again i am running an nlited Windows XP so nLite probably already by default removes the excess backup files. In XP theres no updates listed if I have "Show Updates" ticked in "Add/Remove Programs" (this is on a full but nLited Windows in that I slipstreamed hotfixes into it with nLite)
  25. Yeah but I am taking already rebuilding it into account! (choosing to just include the "Ultimate" image in vLite). I can do that before deleting the Backup files and then run it through vLite again and it doesn't change size. File comparison that shows all the duplicate files... NOTE: This scan is from a mounted WIM image that contains ONLY "Windows Vista Ultimate" so none of the duplicate files are from other variants of Vista, because the WIM image only contains Vista Ultimate, it already HAS BEEN rebuilt with vLite to contain only Vista Ultimate. Its only scanned about 5000 files out of about 40,000 files and in the first 5000 files its already found 3604 out of 5317 files are the SAME file! I underlined this in red on the image above. Ignore that 24% its just how far through scanning it is. What I am saying is, after integrating all the hotfixes, the ISO size goes way bigger, the "Backup" files Windows saves (so you can uninstall hotfixes) are not just there once but twice, or three times, who knows, thats assuming those files are backed up to "Windows\winsxs\Backup" but like I said I have deleted all those and the image size does not change and so that means those Backup files are duplicated somewhere. Its taking a long time to compare them all, I will post a completed screenshot when its finished, I think when you click the [+] in that program it shows the other locations of the files, but I can't do that yet because its still scanning. I think the 1700 or so files in the Backup folder are also somewhere else but you don't need them because they are just backups! OK so if the dupes are in system32 then you do need them and I will have to try and find out where the Hotfix backup files are. I don't care about uninstalling hotfixes, I never ever want or need to and I don't want a load of old backup files taking up 350Mb in the (uncompressed) image! Probably between 50Mb and 100Mb when its a compressed WIM image.
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