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For sure, right there on page 1. Thanks. Edit: But I count only 14 files, to include wups2.dll. What am I missing? Another edit: OK, I see, the additonal 5 files come from Windows Installer 3.1. I need to take a break.

Thanks, Shark. The 50-cent question: where can I get those files? A link that would allow me to grab them would sure be great, been Googling and scouring the Windows update site with no success, starting to get frustrated.

Silly question, but where can I download this latest version? FrankE9999 lists 15 files to download, but are they all necessary?

I apply the tweak at that point and it works great for me. THE GUIDE notes that the winnt.sif entry "DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore" is likely buggy, and that is my experience as well. I rely on neither, trying instead to use WHQL certified drivers wherever possible.

As BrandonS Mil noted, for home users, you can set up both Symantec Antivirus (or AVG Free, which I use) and Microsoft AntiSpyware to automatically update on a schedule during the initial install. Real-time protection takes care of the nasties, mostly. You can also configure both--either through the program interface or registry import--to run scans on a schedule of your choosing at that time. This arrangement works well for me, been awhile since I've received any calls about hosed machines (I mostly credit Microsoft AnitSpyware for that). I find that users are pretty good about letting the proggies run their scans and then walking through the removal process when problems are found. Both the programs and the users are getting more sophisticated, knock wood.

Thanks, Asta. While we're on the subject, here's my method: Grab a copy of AutoRun.exe from Tarma Software Research and place it at the root of the CD. The user manual is brief and well-written, explaining in detail how to use the handful of switches employed by this nifty little utility. Then create an AUTORUN.INF file. Mine looks like this: [autorun] open=autorun.exe -q2 -x wpi\WPI.hta cleanup.exe finish.exe icon=wpi.ico As you can see, autorun.exe first runs the WPI app and then let's me run a "cleanup" operation and a "finish" operation. My cleanup is an AutoIt script that calls (and hides) a batch file: Cleanup.au3 AutoItSetOption("TrayIconHide", 1) AutoItSetOption("WinTitleMatchMode", 4) BlockInput(1) Run( @ScriptDir & "\cleanup.cmd", "", @SW_HIDE) cleanup.cmd @echo off IF NOT EXIST "%programfiles%\Rocket\RKlauncher.exe" GOTO Continue ::Locate the CDROM drive if necessary, where AUTORUN.INF exists at the root... FOR %%d IN (c: d: e: f: g: h: i: j: k: l: m: n: o: p: q: r: s: t: u: v: w: x: y: z:) DO IF EXIST %%d\AUTORUN.INF SET CDROM=%%d Call %cdrom%\programs\cleanup\desktop.cmd :Continue RD /S /Q "%systemdrive%\Drivers" ECHO Y | Del "%systemdrive%\WINDOWS\*.bmp" ECHO Y | Del "%systemdrive%\*.log" DEL /F "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\Finis***.exe" @Rmdir %systemdrive%\TEMP /s/q @mkdir %systemdrive%\TEMP @Rmdir %systemdrive%\WINDOWS\TEMP /s/q @mkdir %systemdrive%\WINDOWS\TEMP CLS EXIT I allow users to select a program written by RaduKing during the WPI install. If they choose it, then desktop icons are removed. If not, then not. My finish.exe is an AutoIt script that simply waits for WPI and the cleanup operation to finish before launching a restart script that ejects the CD and prompts the user to choose whether to restart the machine: Finish.au3 AutoItSetOption("TrayIconHide", 1) AutoItSetOption("WinTitleMatchMode", 4) BlockInput(0) ProcessWaitClose("mshta.exe") RunWait("cleanup.exe") Run("restart.exe") Restart.au3 AutoItSetOption("TrayIconHide", 1) AutoItSetOption("WinTitleMatchMode", 4) BlockInput(0) SplashTextOn("", "" & @CRLF & "Installation completed successfully!" & @CRLF & "", 275, 58, -1, -1, 1, "Arial", 12, 12) Sleep(2000) SplashOff() Sleep(1000) $driveArray = StringSplit("DEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ", "") For $i = 1 To 23 $opened = CDTray($driveArray[$i] & ":", "open") If $opened Then ExitLoop Next If NOT $opened Then Shutdown(6) EndIf Sleep(3000) ;Restart option $Yes = 6 $No = 7 $Answer = MsgBox(4, "User Option", "Do you want to restart the Machine?") If $Answer = $Yes Then Sleep(3000) Shutdown(6) Exit ElseIf $Answer = $No Then Exit EndIf Compile the AutoIt scripts and place all files at the root of the CD with Autorun.exe. Takes a little time to set it all up, but it works great for me!

Cool. At the end of the day I tend to think of the WPI interface as a Web page, so why couldn't you create an "image map" that would allow you to hover over the text links to generate the graphics off on the side? It's been awhile since I've done it, but maybe it could work in WPI. I'm currently redesigning my Web site, but let me see if we can't come up with somethng in the weeks ahead. I have a little bit of down time in the summer months, and this could be interesting.

Yes, lionhrt, it looks like maybe you can. Instead of typing a description of the app in the 'prog[pn]=' field you can add a link to an image. Or both, since the RunOnce box isn't going to play well with images. Just put all of your thumbs in a folder called graphics and then link to them in 'config.js' prog[pn]=['<img src="./graphics/continue.gif" width="12" height="12">'] The graphics directory would sit alongside the wpiscripts directory. I imagine you could change the number of columns in the 'useroptions.js' file to make room for larger graphics, adjusting the pixel width and height for each graphic if need be. I just played with it for awhile--no screen shots to offer--and I can tell you I'm sticking with pure text as the WPI GUI looked kinda, well, bad IMHO. And just as with adding <font> tags to the titles, the RunOnce would not appear but the programs DID install. Wierd. Who knows what you may come up with.

Hmmm, what's up? Do you have the 'main.css' and 'boxes.js' files in your WPI version?

I really appreciate the way you have it set up now: No by default, SELECT what you want. And thanks again for staying on top of this.

No, I think you covered them all. I also use WPI as a separate install CD: I might try tagging the titles again with my next burn, sure would be great if it worked for me. @TheeBeets Any luck yet?

@oneless I tried that awhile back with my version of WPI and--I am not making this up--the RunOnce window did not appear when the install started. All of my apps installed correctly, but the actual list of apps did not show up. When I removed the HTML tags from the titles, all returned to normal. Is this your experience?

@TheeBeets I'm using an earlier version of WPI. In my case I can change the general font color by editing 'wpi.css' found in the Common directory: body { background-color: #cdddf5; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-color: #000000; margin: 0px; } The hex value: #000000; produces black. If you want to change the Category Headers color, then you need to edit 'wpi.css' here: .category { font-family: tahoma; font-weight: bold; color : #18339f; font-size : 9pt; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; } To change the line color drawn under the Category Header, you need to edit a different file called 'boxes.js' found in the Scripts directory: { txt += ('<div class="category" color="red">' + cat[i][0] + '</div><hr align=\"left\" width=77% color=\"18339F\">'); oldcat = cat[i][0]; cats += 2; } "color=\"18339F\"" is what you are after, again using hex values. You can get a good sense of this whole hex business HERE. Hope this helps.

Cry me a river. You joined MSFN about a month ago and you are having difficulty mastering one of the toughest install routines available to you? Why am I not surprised. Tell me, can you edit an .msi, work with SFX packages, dabble in AutoIt? And if you are going to work with WPI, how are your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript skills?If this sound s***ty, well, it's intentional. I for one can't abide this kind of whining. You need to dig in, son, move beyond your batch file install routine (beginner technique) to intermediate techniques, then attempt to bite into more advanced stuff. Have you worked through the Guide? All of it? You can't leapfrog from a tricycle to a Ferrari! The name is Hasi001, and remember to bow in silence after you utter the name. How much time has Hasi001 and Kelsenellenelvian and those who went before them already spent on this? Have you read Kelsen...'s guide? If you can't be "bothered," then you are definitely in the wrong place. Whew. I better stop now, sorry. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

@jbjones A loooong time ago I used an Adobe Illustrator 10 upgrade package, installing it with AutoIt. The upgrade was satisfied when it found the 450KB os.dat file that I had copied from my full version of AI9 onto the CD. Here's a portion of that v2.64 script to give you an idea: WinWaitActive, Adobe Illustrator 10 Setup, upgrade installer requires proof Send, {down 2} Sleep, 500 Send, {SPACE} Sleep, 500 Send, !n Sleep, 500 WinWaitActive, Adobe Illustrator 10 Setup, Search a specific folder Send, {DOWN} Sleep, 500 Send, !n Sleep, 500 IfNotExist, C:\\Files\\setup.exe, Goto, next1 WinWaitActive, Find Product Application Folder, Select folder where the product Send, C:\\Files\\AI9 Sleep, 500 Send, {ENTER} GoTo, continue next1: IfNotExist, D:\\Files\\setup.exe, Goto, next2 WinWaitActive, Find Product Application Folder, Select folder where the product Send, D:\\Files\\AI9 Sleep, 500 Send, {ENTER} GoTo, continue Etc., etc. I had it searching for the CD as far as the H: drive. Once it found the CD, then the directory path to os.dat was entered. All of this could be accomplished much more easily using AutoIt v3. If you can do it with a keystroke or mouse click, you can do it with AutoIt.

How about appending an AutoIt script to the end of GUIRunOnce to take care of the cleanup job after WPI is completed: AutoItSetOption("TrayIconHide", 1) AutoItSetOption("WinTitleMatchMode", 4) BlockInput(1) ProcessWaitClose("mashta.exe") Run( @ScriptDir & "\cleanup.cmd", "", @SW_HIDE) Compile the script and put it in the same directory as your cleanup batch. As an added benefit, you will not see any cmd window courtesy of the @SW_HIDE feature. I haven't tested it, but it should work.

Glad to hear it, Lost Soul. Hope bonedaddy revisits this and gets it working as well. Looks like my localstore.rdf does not contain any hardcoded paths, LaptoniC, so this should remain a versatile install package for me at least. Thanks again for identifying the troubleshooting procedure that found the fix I needed.

Hmmmm, nope, not really. I execute WPI from the Startup directory, AFTER my Desktop fully loads. In your case, according to my read of the material HERE, everything is working as it should: you are not executing RunOnceEx from Cmdlines.txt per se, but rather WPI, which in turn writes the RunOnceEx entries to the registry for later execution at First Logon. If you are running this from Cmdlines.txt then the system should be rebooting somewhere along the way...is this the case, perhaps after you click "Begin" but before "Installing applications" appears? Edit: I think I'm in over my head here, sorry idbirch2. Anyone else have any ideas?

@ Lost Soul That's the ticket, works great on this end, I have tested on a clean install.

Bingo! Looks like localstore.rdf, which is responsible for things like iconsize="small," is not carrying over. After I install Firefox and make changes to the browser GUI, the 1KB localstore.rdf file found in the application data directory becomes a 2KB file. But after creating the package, then deleting the application data and uninstalling Firefox, I run the silent install and again have only a 1KB localstore.rdf file, not the 2KB file that was holding my preferences. The prefs.js file is fine, but apparently that is NOT the file that maintains a lot of the settings. Hope this makes sense. Edit: Excellent! So I simply copied my localstore.rdf file to the profiles directory between the "copy" and "pack" phases in Step 2 and everything went well! Thanks for your attention, Laptonic, and this is truly a great app!

For Laptonic: I do not find it either. Instead, I have prefs.js, bookmarks.html, mimeTypes.rdf--as you note--and a few other files in my "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\defaults\profile" directory. So far so good.But when I put Firefox Setup 1.0.4.exe in the extracted Sof directory and run Sof.exe, I find this message at Step 2: And that is where I get confused. I see that prefs.js gets copied, together with the other files you mentioned, and all of my bookmarks are transferred nicely but not my prefs (for example, I set small icons, remove bookmarks toolbar from view, etc.). Could it be that S.O.F is trying to read a non-existent "profiles.js" files when it should be looking for "prefs.js?" Because after I install, I have big icons and the bookmarks toolbar again?!

Are you running WPI from GuiRunOnce or from Cmdlines.txt?

@LaptoniC This worked great for me when working with Firefox 1.0.2, but like Lost Soul and bonedaddy my preferences are not being carried over when I try this with Firefox 1.0.4. For example, I have the icons set to "small icons" and the Bookmarks Toolbar is removed, but the changes do not stick after repacking. I notice in Step 2 that I "should have at least profile.js in the Project-->Profiles directory," but instead I find only prefs.js. Has something changed between the versions that might be causing the problem? Shouldn't SOF be looking for "prefs.js" instead of profiles.js?

No, no ignorance expressed or implied. There are more threads on this topic, together with more solutions for integrating, than one can shake a stick at. Many claim no hack is necessary, others say put the hack in. Many are quite vocal about their preferred method. Somewhere along the way I stumbled across MY solution and am offering it up like about a dozen others here at MSFN. Take your pick, this one works great for me. FYI, Kellsenellenelvian has a similar solution, works great, but I preferred not to have the custom cursors (nifty though they were). Search and you shall find.

Or how about an old-fashioned silent install? From my WPI: cmd1[pn]=['\"%cdrom%\\Programs\\VMware\\VMware Workstation.msi\" ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=Authd,Network DISABLE_AUTORUN=0 SERIALNUMBER=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx DESKTOP_SHORTCUT=0 /qn'] Granted, AutoIt is more versatile, but this works very well.