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OK, that's all the incentive I need. The kids took a look at this forum today, some where pretty intimidated by the excellent stuff they saw (hasi001's WPI blew them away), but they are up to the challenge. Stay tuned.

@hasi001 VAIOs rule, rock-solid reliable. And I Love the theme, the glossy look is where it's at.

@a06lp: you are reading my mind. I'm no Photoshop expert, but I'm pretty good at adapting graphics that I find on sites such as WinCustomize.com (check the ObjectDock section). Was gonna PM hasi with such a suggestion, but he's doubtless busy and, what with the Christmas vacation over, so am I. But... I have about 10 elementary school students who might want to take a crack at it. You know, develop some button/background themes that could be packed as SFX self-extractors: just drop them in the WPI directory and start clickin'! The originals would also be repackaged so the user could revert at any time. The new graphics would all bear the original names and sizes, so users would not have to rework anything. The work would be along the lines of my post found in Bonedaddy's thread re "Show your latest WPI." My new avatar, for example, IS my "Start" button. I tend toward "clean" vs. "flashy/farout" themes. My students are 11-12-13 year-olds. I think they would be thrilled to contribute to a project such as this. It will take some time, but if you have the patience, I know that they can get it done. What do y'all say? Thumbup or thumbdown?

Don't know what to tell you, prathapml. I don't use the app myself, but they failed on two test installs today. Has nothing to do with the switches and apparently everything to do with Yahoo! drawing a line on package sizes: Looks like Yahoo! rolled the dice and I lost, as I needed a little more DLL magic from the app. v5.6 produced a common DLL error message during the install, defeating the unattend, but v6 installed nicely on the same machine and opened with no problems. On the second machine, however, v6 installed great but produced the above DLL error when trying to access. Both machines are completely up-to-date in terms of Microsoft "critical" installs. We all stay on top of our Java runtime installs in large part thanks to RyanVM. I see a few people keep VB runtime on their list of default installed apps, and I plan on joining them. Looks like vbrun60sp6 is out.

HTML. Build a few Web sites and it's a piece of cake.

Howdy, Asta. I don't know, I'm just putting this on my WPI list. Here's an update, however: I tested this install routine on my heavily used production machine a few hours ago and everything went fine as described above. But when I put it on my clunky testbed machine I received a "GoCreateInstance for the MyYahoo DLL failed" error message. The solution for a reliable install of v6, at least for me, is discussed HERE. After taking the gent's advice and silently installing msvbvm50.exe with the /Q switch FIRST, then installing Yahoo! 6, it worked fine. I must have been up-to-date on the first machine. You can get the latest Visual Basic run-time file HERE. Maybe this msvbvm50.exe thingy can be slipstreamed into the I386 directory, if that's where it lives?

I'm not a JavaScript person so I can't explain this, but my RunOnceEx menu does not appear if I add tags to the "prog[pn]=" field. No joke. I get a nice looking interface, but when I say 'go' the running install menu does not appear. The programs are installing nicely, and ultra silently. Mind you, I'm kickstarting this whole thing from the Startup directory and not GuiRunOnce. So when the programs begin to install, I'm looking at the desktop oblivious to the whole thing. Sorta spooky.

I found a full copy of YPager v.6.0 (build 1750) HERE. It installs nicely with the /s switch and appears to be much more stable than an earlier release I had been messing with [5.6 (ymsgr_1333.exe)]. The command/switch combination used to kill YPager following the install, as noted above and in other posts, did not work for me, but tskill YPager /A run from batch did. Hope this helps.

Thought I'd throw this in to keep the creative juices flowing. Given that WPI is an .hta app, why not include a few choice hyperlinks of your choosing? I have a Web site with a "Contact Me" page, and it can be easily reached from WPI by clicking a link: In another case, Stardock's ObjectDock is well-received by users but tends to corrupt under heavy pressure. A self-extracting SFX that kills the ObjectDock process before replacing a few critical .ini's is just the ticket and can be run directly from the interface, no need for a check-box/RunOnceEx procedure: In both cases it's important that the [target=_blank] attribute be used when creating the link.

@Astalavista: Really like the nice, clean interface, awesome Globe graphic! @Bonedaddy: Same deal, really clean looking, especially like the way you worked to organize for neatness. Can you tell us how you were able to color-code the categories? I've been playing with it now for awhile with no luck.

@xy16644 Not that I know, it seems to work for me just fine. Found it in the Registry Tweaks thread, but I don't envy anyone trying to locate that discussion these days.

OK, I'll call this rev1. I reworked some of the graphics (it occurred to me that clicking ANYWHERE on the screen stops the countdown, so I included an image), found a solution to the install/cleanup issues, and have all the apps installing as they should using a combination of standard silent switches, RyanVM's silent installers, InstallRite, and AutoIt. And it's already formatted to handle three columns worth of apps, 'cause you know that's where I'm heading. Pretty pleased, but I'm sure much tweaking lay ahead. Happy New Year, y'all!

@Astalavista: Nope, that's just gonna leave a blank space next to a check box. Tried it. @bmn: I'm with you on that one, as you may have picked up from previous posts. I found a solution in my case, one that cleans up post-OEM install files and fires up the WPI via batch file. I know, I know... But it only momentarily produces a blue flash that the average person will most likely just disregard. It works like this: 1. Download the AutoRun utility produced by Tarma Software Research. I use it to create reliable Autorun.inf files, but as I recently rediscovered, and as the authors note, "it will even function without that file." Indeed. 2. Create a batch file called "RunWPI.cmd" that includes your cleanup work: @echo off TITLE Flash... COLOR 1f ::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 ::Run WPI... autorun.exe -q2 %cdrom%\wpi\WPI.hta ::Remove $OEM$ mess where it exists... RD /S /Q "%systemdrive%\Drivers" ::Remove setup files... DEL /F "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\RunWPI.exe" DEL "%windir%\Temp\AutoRun.exe" DEL RunWPI.cmd CLS EXIT 3. Archive the two files as an SFX using WinRAR, with the following comment: ;The comment below contains SFX script commands Path=%windir%\Temp Setup=RunWPI.cmd Silent=1 Overwrite=1 I called my SFX "RunWPI.exe" and placed it in the "$OEM$\$Docs\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" directory. Since it is an executable it will run from Startup, kickstarting the batch file that--powered by AutoRun--fires up the .hta file and cleans up immediately afterward. Note that I have an Autorun.inf file on the CD for versatility, but it is not required. Just change the file reference in the batch file to any file that exists at the root of the CD. Tarma's AutoRun utility can also install multiple files in turn, and from varied locations: @echo off TITLE Flash... COLOR 1f ::Locate the CDROM drive if necessary, where test1.txt 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\test1.txt SET CDROM=%%d ::Open files found on the Desktop, the CD in my drive, and in my server's shared directory... autorun.exe -q2 "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\test2.txt" %cdrom%\wpi\WPI.hta \\Server1\share\test3.txt CLS EXIT AutoRun can also install files in "RunWait" mode using the "-w" switch, allowing users to run a .cmd/.hta/.cmd combination, but you would want to use the CMDOW utility to hide the batch files from view. The AutoRun utility from Tarma deserves a close look by anyone interested in installation issues, IMHO. A search for "Tarma" on MSFN produced zilch, surprisingly. With WPI's six command lines and this tool, you can install to your hearts content!

Another option is to edit the WPI.hta file directly: In the first table row, delete the attribute [bgcolor=#18339f]. This will make the row transparent. You can go a step further and delete the attribute from the next row. Do the same for the bottom two rows (look for the [<tr>] tags) to create a seamless Window. Lastly, how about messing with the height of the rows to produce a different effect? Look for the attribute [height=xx] and play with the numbers, it's good fun.

Nope, that wasn't me. Hey, cut me some slack, it was over a year ago. The point was that his data almost certainly IS recoverable (there seemed to be some debate on that earlier in the thread, and maybe still?) but it's probably going to cost some money. XtremeMaC may have found the solution. I'm going to bed.

OK, I found further reading about WMI HERE, but I'm not a programmer. Can you provide a real-life example of how this script would be implemented to initialize RunOnceEX from CD? Real tutorial-type leg bone connected to the hip bone stuff for dumb-dumb heads.

The same darned thing happened to me about a year ago while installing on a new ASUS P4C800-E, what with SATA, SATA RAID, and IDE controllers (note to self: never use primary machine as testbed machine!). 200GB of ISOs down the tubes! Along the way I discovered that the real money in this computer industry lay in the data recovery side. :angrym: I did find one top-notch program, cost an arm-and-a-leg, but it allowed recovery of a mere three files on a trial basis. Talk about hell! I could see ALL of my files but recover only three! Yes, they were all there, even after a fresh partitioning, format, and install on what had been my "storage" drive. I could tell you stories from my days with the federal government that would curl the hair on the back of your neck: certainly in your case, the data is ALL there and it is ALL recoverable. Sorry, the program name escapes me, but it was not the kind of program you find on a warez site. You got to pay to play. I didn't pay. For me, it was an opportunity to start fresh, and everything has worked out fine.

Yeah, here's my registry entry for power settings, I also like everything set to NEVER: ;Change Power Management Configuration, to wit: ;0 - Home/Office desktop ;1 - Portable/Laptop computer ;2 - Monitor on for presentations ;3 - Network computer (no Wake-on-LAN) ;4 - Optimized for high performance ;5 - Optimized for power saving [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg] "CurrentPowerPolicy"="3" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies\3] "Name"="Always On" "Description"="Monitor, Hard Disks, and System Standby power options set to NEVER." "Policies"=hex:01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,32,32,00,00,02,00,00,00,02,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,14,f2,06,00,00,00,00,00,84,03,00,00,00,00,00,00,08,07,00,\ 00,00,00,64,64,64,64,95,71 Check your own registry keys against these values after making the changes to be sure.

Oh, no doubt, WPI is far superior to RunOnceEx. I have it running via a file copied to the Startup directory, and not from [GuiRunOnce], which is great if you use any AutoIt installers as I do. Plus, I added an Autorun.inf to the root, so now I can pop the disc into a machine and...pow...WPI pops up in all its glory. Great if you want to add something at a later date. The ability to configure a default range of apps and have them auto-install after a set countdown is right in line with RunOnceEx, but as others note you have MUCH more flexibility with WPI. This is worth the effort, IMHO. FYI, this is a mature app, don't be spooked by all the "bugfix" talk as your time and education investment will surely pay off in the long run.

@Astalavista It appears to have everything to do with the amount of text entered in the description. Diskeeper 9, for example, jumps around until about 50 characters are removed from the description. There's doubtless a way to make the descriptor boxes larger by playing with the hardcode in totip.js (hasi001?), but that might look awkward, especially in the case of short descriptions (housed in long boxes) like your Metapad entry. As it currently stands, it looks like you can work with seven (7) lines of text comfortably.

@dlevens Wow, you're right, I've never tried to run commands from within an SFX. Looks to me like you are already in a modular mode, and my old method--the $OEM$ "drop it all on the hard drive" and then run the installs--is no good for WPI. As of this moment, all of my installation files are RAR'ed as a single archive. This was a stopgap measure adopted in recent weeks because I was running out of room on my CD. As you note from longstanding practice, and as I only recently surmised, it is much better to archive each install individually if necessary. Then one can extract/install/delete in one shot. I am only now migrating to WPI and need to rework a few things, but when done there will be no "Extracting setup files.../Removing setup files..." entries in my WPI interface. Clean and simple, that's the way we likes 'em. But I still think it would be a good idea to have hidden Before/After install options built into WPI, just in case.

Yeah, my Diskeeper entry looks like this: pn=7 // start value ******************************************OK prog[pn]=['Diskeeper 8 Professional'] desc[pn]=[''] cmd1[pn]=['%systemdrive%\\Extras\\Diskeeper\\Diskeeper.exe'] cmd2[pn]=['%systemdrive%\\Extras\\Diskeeper\\DK\\DPE.msi /qn'] cmd3[pn]=['%systemdrive%\\Extras\\Diskeeper\\DKU\\DPEup.msi /qn'] rega[pn]=['%systemdrive%\\Extras\\Diskeeper\\Diskeeper.reg'] dflt[pn]=['yes'] forc[pn]=['false'] cat[pn]=['Utilities'] ordr[pn]=[70] uid[pn]=[''] deps[pn]=[] pn++ And I will have to break my "Windows XP PowerToys" entry into separate components if it grows. But gentlemen! We are off topic, so let me bring it back by wishing you all a Happy New Year.

Think I found a solution to my problem as discussed earlier in a... ahem... different thread. I have my install files packed as an SFX and would like to make the unpack procedure dependent upon whether or not the user chooses to install ANY application from the WPI interface. I would prefer not to have two entries in the WPI interface referencing the unpack process and later the cleanup process. hasi001 has put "hidden (forced install) programs" on his list, but we all need our sleep. In any event, a confirmation dialogue appears when using the 'forced' mode, at least in the WPI version I have, defeating the timer countdown to an unattended install. Maybe the thing to do here is just keep things modular and SFX each app separately?!? I don't know if this will add to the overall size of the CD, but it might actually make things move more quickly especially if only a few items are selected. With six (6) command lines now available, this should be doable for all but the most intricate installs. Unpack/Install/Delete! So, for wishes, removing the confirmation dialogue when in forced mode would be nice. Also, hidden before and after installs--tied to other programs in the list--that operated without user intervention would be cool. This WPI app is so close to perfect as it is, well... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Here's my first cut at a working WPI based on one of hasi001's later releases: I rar'ed my files for the curious, to include a separate folder containing the Photoshop .psd files for anyone who might want to play with them, which can be downloaded HERE. The "Begin" button is an animated .gif, spinning cubes with a pause so as not to be too irritating, I like it. I'm still testing a few of the installs so don't regard the config.js as gospel by any measure, but I intend to get it all working. Any item shown as "selected" should install just fine.

Roger that, I'm getting a little punchy here from lack of sleep and not paying attention. Hope to post some results in the appropriate thread soon.