xpman

Thanks, that is actually what I am already doing (to be able to roll out the settings to all users via CopyProfile). I was just wondering why it should not be possible to configure an essential part of the setup using autounattend. My conclusion is that Microsoft really does not *want* to offer this easily. Anything else you can put into the xml file. Looks intentional. Unless - which I still hope - I am just missing the right solution.

I have successfully injected Windows Server 2008 R2 into install.wim of Windows 7, also injecting the server license files into the corresponding boot.wim. Server 2012 R2, however, does not seem to have the sources/license subfolder that 2008 R2 used to have. Still, the windows setup complains when I try to install from an install.wim where I added 2012 R2. This means there presumably are license files, but I have no clue where. Using search in the Windows 8 / Server 2012 unattended forum and in the multi-boot forum did not yield anything; neither did plain googling. Could anyone please point me at instructions how to merge Server 2012 R2 including license files?

Ok, it looks like for now, the following reg key actually do the job. Still, I would prefer to configure this within the answer file ... but I guess no one has succeeded in that? [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Usage]"SystemSettings_Privacy_EnableAppsUseOfAccountInfo" = "1;130316713108741481;SettingsPagePrivacyGeneral;SettingsGroupPrivacy;SystemSettings_Privacy_EnableAppsUseOfAccountInfo""SystemSettings_Privacy_AdvertisingIdEnabled" = "1;130316713138441397;SettingsPagePrivacyGeneral;SettingsGroupPrivacy;SystemSettings_Privacy_AdvertisingIdEnabled""SystemSettings_Privacy_EnableCollectionOfUrlsAppsUse" = "1;130316713186078936;SettingsPagePrivacyGeneral;SettingsGroupPrivacy;SystemSettings_Privacy_EnableCollectionOfUrlsAppsUse""SystemSettings_Privacy_LocationEnabled" = "1;130316713379516147;SettingsPagePrivacyLocation;SettingsGroupPrivacyLocationGlobals;SystemSettings_Privacy_LocationEnabled""SystemSettings_Privacy_WebcamEnabled" = "1;130316713511393711;SettingsPagePrivacyWebcam;SettingsGroupPrivacyWebcamGlobals;SystemSettings_Privacy_WebcamEnabled""SystemSettings_Privacy_MicrophoneEnabled" = "1;130316713715452903;SettingsPagePrivacyMicrophone;SettingsGroupPrivacyMicrophoneGlobals;SystemSettings_Privacy_MicrophoneEnabled""SystemSettings_Language_Web_Content_Control" = "1;130316991480728246;SettingsPagePrivacyGeneral;SettingsGroupPrivacy;SystemSettings_Language_Web_Content_Control"

Is there any way to configure the Windows 8.1 privacy settings as part of automated setup? It looks like I can skip the audit (i.e. do what you manually do when using express settings), but I do not find a component that contains the indivdual settings such as location tracking (to turn them off). After installation, I tracked down SystemSettings_Privacy_EnableAppsUseOfAccountInfo within the current user's "Control Panel\Usage\" keyHowever, after disabling everythin, the value is set to 1. Strangely enough, Google hast 3 hits for that value name. Within this forum, I did not even find a post searching for "privacy". I would already be glad for suggestion what to search for instead, I have not even found a list of the real audit sub-stage names so far (i.e. how each screen within user audit is actually called, so I can search for it).

Before reading on, please remember I am using makefiles in the msys shell environment. Probably an oddity around here (?) The following gives just the right split swm files to put onto a FAT32 USB stick or a non-UDF DVD. As I said I tried this twice with Windows 8. $(IMAGEX) //split ""$(ROOT_WINNT61)/sources/install.wim"" ""$(ROOT_WINNT61)/sources/install.swm"" 2048 The following is the statement I use to integrate into a copy of an English Windows 7 x86 install.wim -@$(IMAGEX) //export ""$(SRC_ABS_W07SP1DE)/sources/install.wim"" 1 ""$(WIM_TARGET)/sources/install.wim"" "Windows 7 HOMEBASIC x64 Deutsch" I hope this helps a bit? It is just what I copied from other threads essentially. On a side note, what still confuses me is the naming for the injected images. - It seems setup.exe uses the display name from install.wim if it is unique, or the image name if it is not. - Post-fixing all images with the architecture, I also end up with the same version being in the install.wim twice (once with the original name, with never seems to have x64/x86, and once with the post-fix). Does imagex really just use the name strings to identify a version? - I am mainly asking because I see nothing via imagex /info that suggests the CPU architecture for the image.

Let me see what I manage to prepare. I have been at this topic for about 10 years now and I am constantly updating my process here and there. To give some first answers: - Yes, I integrate x86 and x64 versions (still having trouble with what the image name really means since imagex shows something a bit different than the list in setup.exe). - I use an x86 basis (Win7 Ultimate before, now I started working with Win8 Pro) since I figure it will boot on any machine - I generally use a set of make files running on the MSYS environment; not sure if I should have done it (the escaping of special characters is frequently annoying) but it is a good and working process - the previous I do on a Windows Server 2008 R2 (i.e. x64), but I see no reason why it should not run on any machine Regarding the Win7/8 specifically, I really just had a bunch of imagex calls to merge the various windows versions into one wim, then split it, and with the help of ei.cfg ran a manual installation. I will see that I post the actual imagex call I used. @everyone helping so far: thanks! I am again and again amazed how knowledgeable people are around here. and how friendly!

jaclaz Already a good thing to know I am not alone with these kinds of problems :-) Since I still have these issues with isolinux 5.01 (and 5.00) in vmware (iso) and on a real machine (usb), I am continuing my "experiments". So far, Windows 8 setup seems at least to list all windows editions in my install.swm (I renamed the install.wim to _install.wim_ so I hope it is not somehow taking in from there). EDIT: I just went through a complete installation with a split wim file! The first time, I had an "offline locale" error, after formating the partition again it worked. Do you also have these issues with isolinux 5.0x and SETUPLDR.BIN? I searched for the "MBR Magic" problem, but the typical root causes don't match (chain.32 has a different version than isolinux.bin - I fell into that trap already and found it; the bootloaders are not the right ones for the chain method - well, I didn not change them at all from my previous project).

jaclaz Already a good thing to know I am not alone with these kinds of problems :-) Since I still have these issues with isolinux 5.01 (and 5.00) in vmware (iso) and on a real machine (usb), I am continuing my "experiments". So far, Windows 8 setup seems at least to list all windows editions in my install.swm (I renamed the install.wim to _install.wim_ so I hope it is not somehow taking in from there). I will update my posting, of course. Do you also have these issues with isolinux 5.0x and SETUPLDR.BIN? I searched for the "MBR Magic" problem, but the typical root causes don't match (chain.32 has a different version than isolinux.bin - I fell into that trap already and found it; the bootloaders are not the right ones for the chain method - well, I didn not change them at all from my previous project).

Thanks! I also had a look at the other thread, and also posted a reply there. Regarding my WinPE 4.0 issues, with the single install.wim, 1. I still get no option to repair windows RESOLVED: I at least found the issue with regard to the "repair windows" option. There are at least 3 setup.exe you can call, two on the installation medium (root and sources) and one on the root of the live windows (X:); you (I) simply need to call the latter for the repair option to appear. 2. I have to enter a key for Windows 8 first before I get the selection of Windows versions (maybe the default behavior for Windows 8?) RESOLVED: Not sure how I missed this Apparently, instead of deleting ei.cfg like for Windows 7, now we have to create one ei.cfg in the /sources folder. [Channel] Retail [VL] 0 3. then, I just get to see a subset of the contained versions (there are 31 in the image, I checked) EDIT: I used my PRO key and the ones that show are all the contained PRO images; strangely, that holds even for Windows 7 (what kind of windows 8 key check would select also windows 7 pro, given that they changed the edition scheme?). So there is some consistency, but I cannot manually select e.g. Windows Server before entering a key. I tried this with my Windows Server 2008 R2 key, which was not accepted by Windows 8 setup. though. RESOLVED: see #3 above; I didn't check out the issue with my server key, though. What I forgot to mention is that I called setup (both from root and sources) manually from a cmd prompt through an injected winpeshl.ini. Maybe I need to use an additional paramter to call setup.exe? It seems extremely strange, though, that I can only see a subset of the contained images. Should I maybe just stick with WinPE 3.0 (provided I can install Windows 8 from it)? (Another reason to switch was that I think there is .NET 2.0 included?).

First of all, thanks to all of your for the helpful replies! I successfully managed to convert my iso and usb making to support large files (new mkisofs and NTFS usb stick). My contained Linux distributions are also still booting nicely. Unfortunately, this has not solved of my original problems so far related to Windows 8 / WinPE 4.0. And I have issues now with things that previously worked (sorry). With regarding to splitting the wim, I think I had used VMWare Player's easy install mode *with* a split wim file. Thanks for pointing this out though, my problem-related searches did not turn this up! From In Windows® 8, Windows® Setup does not support installing a split .wim file. I would fully concur with your conclusion. I just find it strange that the page is from 2012, describing "How to Split a Windows Image (.swm) File to Span Across Multiple DVDs" and states: Applies To: Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 Maybe they just mean you cannot rename the split files anymore or something like that? I am of course quite sure you tried splitting and are speaking from your own experience. I just tried each option once so far. I am mostly asking because to use a large install.wim from USB, I needed to move from isolinux 4.05 to isolinux 5.01 to use exFAT or NTFS (used the latter, actually). This is now giving me additional trouble with - vmware tests (some "MBR magic" missing problem inside vmware whenever I use chain.32 to boot bootmgr or SETUPLDR.BIN) - similar problems from the real usb stick; sometimes leaving "fs" out of the chain.32 line helped, but then I get the next problem: - booting my existing modified XP boot disk folders (NTDETECT fails) I would hope there is a single thing that I am missing at the root of all of this. Naturally, I might not have been the best idea to change isolinux, winpe, iso/usb formats at the same time (altough the NTFS seems to work very nicely - unless this is what breaks NTDETECT).

Hi, after some years of absence, I just stumbled across your posting. I is awfully nice for you to post onto such an "old" topic! I had perfect results now with just splitting the install.wim. (by the way, not that it matters but also Windows 8 setup counts the % of copied files just using the first install.swm as a reference. I thought they would have fixed this as it does of course only give a correct percentage if you have a single install.wim ) Thanks!

Hi, I have been successfully integrating and using a Windows 7 AIO DVD/USB solution. Now I tried to add Windows 8, which on the face of it worked well. imagex lists all the Windows 7 and 8 versions (x86 and x64) to be inside of the install.wim (I am using the split swm files in the iso then). However, unlike with WinPE 3.0 from Windows 7, booting x86 WinPE 4.0, setup let's choose nothing. No partition, no Windows version. I get to the point that I can enter a product key (which I cannot skip, either). I know Windows 8 setup is supposedly using rather the product key to determine what version you are installing, but I guess that cannot tell it whether to use x86 or x64; sure, the official way is to just use the corresponding DVD. Still, I see people referring to Windows 8 AIO discs and still none of my searched reveal anything on how to select the OS version manually. I also know that ei.cfg is gone, so that cannot be a reason, either. Altough I will eventually use some answer files, the option of a manual installation of an arbitrary version should still be there. I hope I am just searching wrong (like "windows 8 setup select version" and the like). Could anyone please point me in the right direction? SOLUTION: 1. create ei.cfg in /sources folder with the following content: [Channel] Retail [VL] 0 2. to use the setup.exe repair function from a winpeshl.ini command line, call setup.exe on x: not on the installation medium (DVD, USB).

Thanks for all the hints. There are of course limits to the support for REG_EXPAND_SZ as I already noticed when exporting such a value; however, there are tons of places where environment variables are used in the registry, so I would not believe that expansion strings are not supported at all. The reason why I would like to have this is to be able to use variables like %windir% - which seems impossible otherwise. From all the postings, I could still not find an answer to my "padding problem"; looking at ways like reg2exe does not see promising. In this case, I could simply export the hex dump of any path from the registry; this is not exactly what I wanted, I wanted to have readable strings (even in in a cmd file for reg.exe and not in a .reg file). Still, I got lots of new reading material, maybe something turns up. Again, thanks for the replies.

I am trying to get the following path imported into RunOnceEx '%windir%\firstrun.bat'. 1. I found no way doing it with .reg files (version 4) 2. Using REG.EXE from the Win98 resource pack leads to a strange padding of the value REG ADD HLKM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx\0001\001=%%windir%%\firstlog.bat REG_EXPAND_SZ leads to 001 and "%windir%\firstlog.batat" in the registry Exporting this value leads to a binary string in the .reg file 3. Using regedit, I do not seem to be able to use REG_EXPAND_SZ, only binary values 4. Lastly, HLKM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx\0001\001 also leads to a Key named HKLM under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE I accepted 1, but problem 2 keeps bugging me. How can I correctly use REG.EXE?

I never had any troubles with my my Windows 98SE, but checking on it now I find I have the same problem. More precisely, I get the blue screen after the second reboot, right before the first logon (after the first reboot, there just is a short PnP detection phase). I also found the problem described here, but no solution besides "blaming" VMWare posting 1 posting 2 Unfortunately, I had made several changes since I lasked checked in Win98SE: went from 32 bit to 64 bit hardware, although I kept my XP x86 in one case upgraded to VMWare server 1.0.10 and 2.0.2, respectively replaced Nero by mkisofs to create my ISO files I now made two setups to compare: 1. ISO from my Win 98SE OEM CD 2. ISO made with mkisofs using the same files as in 1, using cdshell to boot my floppy image In both cases I use the same floppy image with MSBATCH.inf on it. 1. works perfectly on VMWare 2. gets me the blue screen using VMWare, but it works using VirtualPC My ISO file is smaller than 800MB, so I guess it's not a file order problem. To be sure, I even copied the files onto the HDD and started setup from there. I don't know how more equal 1. and 2. could get than this. Still, 2 does not work. Of course I would prefer being able to stick with VMWare for all testing; it had so far not let me down in any way.

That's a nice idea. Thanks, I haven't gotten around to trying it, though. What I did try is splitting the install.wim, and that worked almost perfectly. imagex.exe /split Install.wim Install.SWM 4096 /check The only issue is that I think the copying progress is measured only on the first file: After a suspiciously short period of time, I had 100% there for quite a while (I actually thought the method did not work properly); then, after waiting the usual amount it takes setup to copy the files, the expansion started. Not a real problem, but something that could throw off a user of the DVD who doesn't know about the details. I still think I will give the first method a try, too, since I do not need to modify the install.wim files (just copy the clg files); I also hope this could be nicely combined with the selection of an answer file from WindowsPE (at least I have not found another way to make one DVD for multiple computers like it's possible for XP). I used mkisfos and oscdimg.Oscdimg -u2 create UDF file system only and add big files. Oscdimg dosn't support big ISO9660 files. Maybe hence the missing setup support. And mkisofs -iso-level 3 at big ISO9660 files. Big files are possible within ISO9660:1988. Thanks, so if I understand you right: - You can make udf-only with mkisofs, but then you do not get large file support (which I thought udf always has). - To get large file support with udf and mkisofs, you need to add iso with at least level 3.

First of all, thank you (once again) for your great help! This is an interesting conclusion, thanks. I was afraid this might be the case; this means that I will check out splitting the wim file or simply having multiple small wim files and pass their names to setup.exe, i.e. imagex.exe /split Install.wim Install.SWM 4096 /check or setup.exe /installfrom: install.w08.wim The latter might actually be less work since there is no need to merge the install.wim files. By the way: did you use mkisofs for these tests? I am using the most current version you recently pointed me to (2.01.01a75), and using -allow-multidot -no-iso-translate -relaxed-filenames -allow-leading-dots -U -udf -N -l -d -D -graft-points -no-emul-boot -b loader.bin -sort iso.sort I only get Value too large for defined data type. Same even when just using "-udf". When using -r -udf -iso-level 3 -graft-points -no-emul-boot -b loader.bin -sort iso.sort, creating the iso works - but then I have an iso part again.

For this purpose, I always use RegShot. It scans the registry, then you can make your changes manually, make a second "short", and compare the two. But even then, you can get any number of results, from a single change to hundreds of them. It still is manual work to find the right keys/values. I am not sure if there is a tool that would detect "last" changes by itself; what point it time would it choose as reference? I have no experience with InstallWatch, it would be interesting to see how intelligent it is in mapping a change to the application installation reliably.

I am successfully using a merged install.wim containing the x86 and x64 editions of Windows 7. The unattended installation also runs though as intended. However, when I also add the Server 2008 R2 to the image, setup fails during the WindowsPE pass with one of two errors: "A requird CD/DVD drive driver is missing ..." "Windows cannot open the required file E:\Soures\install.wim. ... Error code: 0x8007000D" (I only got this lately after changing my sort order a bit) My mkisofs settings are as follows (I also tried -udf): -iso-level 3 -r -allow-multidot -no-iso-translate -relaxed-filenames -allow-leading-dots -N -l -d -D -joliet-long -graft-points -no-emul-boot -b loader.bin -sort iso.sort My sort file is as follows (probably not self-explanatory, but I'll add it just to be sure): z:/deploy/root.cdsh/boot.catalog 10000 z:/deploy/root.cdsh/loader.bin 9990 z:/deploy/root.cdsh/cdsh 9980 z:/deploy/root.win5x/win51* 9970 z:/deploy/root.win5x/win52* 9970 z:/deploy/root.win5x/*.htm 9970 z:/deploy/root.win5x/wxp? 9960 z:/deploy/root.win5x/wxp? 9960 z:/deploy/root.win5x/w03? 9960 z:/deploy/root.win5x/*.xml 9950 z:/deploy/root.win5x/bootfont.bin 8000 z:/deploy/root.win5x/wxpcorp??sp3/I386/* 1100 z:/deploy/root.win61/boot 9960 z:/deploy/root.win61/bootmgr 9960 z:/deploy/root.win61/*.xml 9950 z:/deploy/root.win61/setup.exe 9950 z:/deploy/root.win61/autorun.inf 9950 z:/deploy/root.win61/sources/* 9950 z:/deploy/root.win61/sources/setup.exe 9955 z:/deploy/root.win61/sources/boot.wim 9955 z:/deploy/root.win61/sources/install.wim 9000 z:/deploy/root.win61/sources/W*.xml 9951 z:/deploy/root.apps/apps -8000 (cdsh is my boot-loader, win5x and win61 the XP and 7/Server 2008 R2 roots; I basically merge all the different OS root directories into my multi-boot iso.) There is no immediate problem creating the iso file with the listed settings, despite the fact that install.wim now is larger than 4gb. All postings regarding iso-creation did not help me - I can create the iso. All postings regarding search order I tried to take into account - the files are sorted properly as far as I can see. My understanding from other threads is that if the iso/sorting problems are solved, really large install.wim files should be usable. So where did I make a mistake?

Let me also add that this is not a file sorting problem on the disc; all boot files are at the beginning. I also used an unmodified "single" boot iso where I just added the winnt.sif into the I386 directory. This works. Maybe I did make a mistake within my setupldr.bin? [i tried to attach it but it seems I am not permitted to do so] Since I am using the x86 version of the OS, I left the AMD64 folders alone. I only changed the occurrences of I386 to w03c. Still, the problems is unsolved, I haven't got the faintest clue why winnt.sif is ignored in the four-letter boot folder.

I had integrated the Intel storage drivers with the version 8.9.0 a while ago. Using Fernando's enhanced driver pack for my ICH10 chip, this worked perfectly. When switching to the 9.6.0 version, I started getting blue screens in my virtual test machine (STOP 0x7E). This happens during textmode setup right after the drivers are have been loaded, when the actual setup is started (EULA page, etc.). After some frustrating trials, I found iastor.sys to be the problem. Using the 8.9.0 sys file, setup continues. To avoid having to use different versions of my DVD for testing and real installations, I would appreciate it if I could indeed use the latest drivers also with my VM. I have attached my txtsetup.sif snippet for the drivers that I made based on Fernando's txtsetup.oem. What I find strange is that the sys file should actually be loaded at all in a VM since the corresponding hardware is not there; but why else would I get a blue screen with one sys file and not the other? [SourceDisksFiles] iaStor.sys = 1,,,,,,3_,4,1 [HardwareIdsDatabase] ; iaAHCI.inf PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2681&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_ESB2" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2652&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_6R" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2653&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_6M" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C1&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_7RDH" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_7MMDH" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2821&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_8RDHDO" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2824&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_8AHCI" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_8MEM" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_9RDODH" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2923&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_9AHCI" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2929&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_9MEM" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3A02&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_10DDO" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3A03&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_10AHCI" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3A22&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_10R" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3A23&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_10AHCI" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B29&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_PCHM" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B2F&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_PCHM_1" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B22&CC_0106 = "iaAHCI_PCH" ; iaStor.inf PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2682&CC_0104 = "iaStor_ESB2" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2652&CC_0104 = "iaStor_6R" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C3&CC_0104 = "iaStor_7RDH" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C6&CC_0104 = "iaStor_7MDH" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2822&CC_0104 = "iaStor_8R9R10RDOPCH" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&CC_0104 = "iaStor_8ME9MEPCHM" [SCSI.load] ; iaAHCI.inf iaAHCI_ESB2 = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_6R = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_6M = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_7RDH = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_7MMDH = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_8RDHDO = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_8AHCI = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_8MEM = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_9RDODH = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_9AHCI = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_9MEM = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_10DDO = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_10AHCI = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_10R = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_PCHM = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_PCHM_1 = iaStor.sys,4 iaAHCI_PCH = iaStor.sys,4 ; iaStor.inf iaStor_ESB2 = iaStor.sys,4 iaStor_6R = iaStor.sys,4 iaStor_7RDH = iaStor.sys,4 iaStor_7MDH = iaStor.sys,4 iaStor_8R9R10RDOPCH = iaStor.sys,4 iaStor_8ME9MEPCHM = iaStor.sys,4 [SCSI] ; iaAHCI.inf iaAHCI_ESB2 = "Intel(R) ESB2 SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_6R = "Intel(R) ICH6R SATA AHCI Controller (added by Fernando)" iaAHCI_6M = "Intel(R) ICH6M SATA AHCI Controller (added by Fernando)" iaAHCI_7RDH = "Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_7MMDH = "Intel(R) ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_8RDHDO = "Intel(R) ICH8R/DH/DO SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_8AHCI = "Intel(R) ICH8 SATA AHCI Controller (added by Fernando)" iaAHCI_8MEM = "Intel(R) ICH8M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_9RDODH = "Intel(R) ICH9R/DO/DH SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_9AHCI = "Intel(R) ICH9 SATA AHCI Controller (added by Fernando)" iaAHCI_9MEM = "Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_10DDO = "Intel(R) ICH10D/DO SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_10AHCI = "Intel(R) ICH10 SATA AHCI Controller (added by Fernando)" iaAHCI_10R = "Intel(R) ICH10R SATA AHCI Controller" iaAHCI_PCHM = "Intel(R) PCHM SATA AHCI Controller 4 Port" iaAHCI_PCHM_1 = "Intel(R) PCHM SATA AHCI Controller 6 Port" iaAHCI_PCH = "Intel(R) PCH SATA AHCI Controller" ; iaStor.inf iaStor_ESB2 = "Intel(R) ESB2 SATA RAID Controller" iaStor_6R = "Intel(R) ICH6R SATA RAID Controller (added by Fernando)" iaStor_7RDH = "Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA RAID Controller" iaStor_7MDH = "Intel(R) ICH7MDH SATA RAID Controller" iaStor_8R9R10RDOPCH = "Intel(R) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/DO/PCH SATA RAID Controller" iaStor_8ME9MEPCHM = "Intel(R) ICH8M-E/ICH9M-E/PCHM SATA RAID Controller"

Thanks for the links! I actually had recently downloaded what I thought to be a current version of the cdrtools (with the described success). Now using the 2.01.01a75, graft-points behaves "intelligently" and only causes the data to be stored once (saving about 800MB). I had started reading about cygwin and inodes, my first impression was that I am generally out of luck on Windows. So I am glad to hear that it should still work. For the OEM folders, I do have a solution, of course. The only thing now might be identical files between XP SP3 and 2K03 - if there are any. Was the reference to cygwin and inodes just a hint or does this save you considerable space? The latest version of the tools now also comes with a man with useful information on file priorities; I still think some occasional problems I have with the DVD come from boot files being at the wrong position. What puts me off a bit trying this option is the fact that all files have to be individually listed in the sort_file; I would have hope to at least be able to specify directories, too, e.g. for the 4-letter Windows boot folders. Again, a big thanks to you, cdob!

cdob, first of all, thanks for all your help! I think by now it appears safe to say that the OEMFilesPath does not work with CD installs. It just seems strange to me that in all the years nobody has really had and pursued this problem. Anyway, it took me a while to get started with mkisofs.exe (which I am using under Windows but from a makefile within msys, so half of the time I am struggling with the right escape sequences). Graft-points are working, but the $OEM$ folders take up individual space. The man page for mkisofs only mentions space reductions when inodes are cached (which apparently cannot be done under Windows), but nothing about the same for graft-points.

Thanks for the suggestions. Not according to all the documentation, but it could well be since you'd use this in network install scenarios (if I am not mistaken). Since this is not what I am after, I never tried it, though. On hard disk, I only have one $OEM$ directory, I think it will probably depend on the burning tool if it makes anything useful from this. Currently, I am using Nero, but that is quite unintelligent regarding junctions or adding the same folder twice. For mkisofs, the manual only mentions hard links, but not junctions. I must say I never really used mkisofs or cdimage.

Could someone maybe post their list of 2K03 R2 boot files? Seems like a last straw since it would be strange that this is caused by a missing file. I even added an I386 directory with winnt.sif to the CD-root to be sure I didn't overlook any instance of I386 anywhere; that didn't work either, winnt.sif only seems to work from the floppy disk. I also saw some suggestions for problems with the 64 bit R2 version in the meantime, many for 32 bit (pre R2), but by now I am wondering: has anyone actually gotten server 2003 R2 to work in a multi-boot scenarion with a winnt.sif? I am getting a bit "desperate".