Tomalak

Hello all, Sorry to be the first one impatient enough to ask, but: does anybody know what's up with Tomcat76? Hasn't been seen for a while now... Is he just on an extended vacation (and glad enough to be far away from any computer), or do we have to worry? There's been a patchday recently and his homepage with the list of patches has to be updated, a newer opuc4.cab is available, at least one update (KB953839) should be incorporated into hfslip 1.x and 2.0 (ActiveX killbits are usually hardcoded), and .Net 3.5 SP1 has been released and would reqire an update of his great silent .Net maker tool. Lots of intimidating work to do And TC76 is _the_ expert pushing hfslip development forward Kind regards, Tomalak

Hello all, Microsoft now provides the August 2008 cumulative time zone update: KB951072 It replaces the previous version, i.e. KB942763. Tomcat76, is it possible to provide also an hfslip 2.0 compatible update and offer it for download in the corresponding thread when you are creating a new include file? Thanks a lot! Regards, Tomalak

Hello, During some test installations I repeatedly received an error message at the beginning of the text mode copy phase (immediately after formatting the hard disk), see attached screenshot. After a long and tedious testing phase with several hfslip runs I finally identified the culprit: KB942288 (Windows Installer 4.5), named "WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe". Removing just this file from the HF folder makes the installation work again... I'm not sure whether this is a problem of hfslip 2.0.0pa only (tried 80608a, 80605a and xxx) - can someone reproduce the issue with hfslip 1.7.7? I'm not in the mood of running more tests now and already reorganized all my files to support versions 2.x only Is it possible to support that specific update, Tomcat76, e.g. by another HFTOOLS plugin? And, note to my self: never test the most recent non-standard updates from MS if you don't want to go down the road of desperation Kind regards, Tomalak

Do you intend to also update hfslip v2.0.0 beta? Thanks!Tomalak

Hello all, Just FYI: a new version of the Windows Update Client for Microsoft Update, Windows Update and Auto Update has been published, replacing the previous version 7.0.6000.381: Direct Download Regards, Tomalak

Its quite off topic here, but maybe this could be a starting point for you: c't Offline Update (English: DIY Service Pack, Download) It downloads (via wget) the official hotfix information from Microsoft (a cab file, contains all necessary informations in xml format), transforms it using several xslt files, and downloads everything relevant. What you want is quite similar so it can serve as a base for your solution. Kind regards, Tomalak

Okay, that could the case of course. But I have not enough time this week to test this fully, sorry. And as the problem is gone with SP3 now (no web folder update necessary any more), you shouldn't bother to add this feature as long as no one wants it. I hereby step back from my inital request

Yep, my bad, haven't seen that. I will include it in my next test install. Any idea when you will find the time to update the patch list on your homepage for SP3 as it is final now? I figured out most of the necessary updates myself (and, well, reading other lists ), but these obviously didn't catch KB941569 yet. WU/MU and MBSA are satisfied now (with all the patches included in the logfile I posted), but I'm not sure whether I still miss something. What about the updates for MSXML2 (KB887606) and MSXML4 (KB941833) - are they still necessary? I could only find references to MSXML3 in the changelog (= list of included patches, KB946480) for SP3... Tested all combinations today: hfslip 1.7.6 (rc7) and hfslip 2.0 (pa8), with SP2 and SP3. The error always occurs, it's apparently not connected to SP3 or hfslip at all - I'm pretty sure it was not there during my last installation, but this took place some months ago, perhaps I changed something else in the meantime... Anyway, as this is only a minor annoyance and not a real problem - as explained everything works after the Windows setup is finished - it's not necessary to analyze this further, as long as no one else experiences the problem, and in a more serious way. Thanks a lot! Tomalak

No, it does not. If you try to rename the file and start the installer with a double click on it, it gives you an error message about an invalid installation package (as it is only a patch). So I didn't even bother to copy the renamed file to the hfslip folder and actually try an installation. However, the problem is gone with SP3 now: neither WU/MU nor MBSA report that strange missing Office 2007 SP1 package which contains the web folder update. I guess it's included in SP3 now, even though at first glance I couldn't find it in the list of included fixes... So no need to support installer patches in hfslip at the moment... Thanks anyway! Kind regards, Tomalak

Hello Tomcat76, First of all: thanks for your continuing support, development and all the effort put into hfslip! It's really appreciated! Found the time today to test the new hfslip version (2.0.0pa_80508a), together with a Windows XP Professional SP3 (integrating the service pack was done before, not by hfslip). It worked almost perfect, except two minor issues I experienced - and these may not even be related to hfslip at all: 1) After the installation, Windows Update (and the MBSA) complained about a missing patch, KB941569 (MS07-068). I don't understand that because according to Microsoft's own list of fixes included in SP3 (KB946480) this patch should be already in there. Maybe this is a result of integrating WMP11? 2) During the textmode phase of the setup, the copy routine gave a message like "tweakui.exe copied erroneously" (or similar, was a German message for me). I included 'tweakui.exe' in HFEXPERT\WIN\system32, together with a reg file 'tweakui.reg' in HFSVCPACK - this has always worked with hfslip 1.x in combination with SP2. The strange thing is that the file was not skipped - it was present in Windows later on, and I could use it as expected, no problems. Just this strange error at installation time that I simply had to ignore... Please find the corresponding log file attached. I have no idea where these two issues come from: the new hfslip version, the new SP3, or something completely different... Thanks! Kind regards, Tomalak HFSLIP.zip

Any news regarding this feature? As I haven't found a something about web folders being updated in SP3 (list of included fixes) I guess this is still a required update after the installation of Windows. Is someone able to verify this, I won't be able to try it myself before next week? Thanks! Regards, Tomalak

Hello all, As using Rapidshare isn't really fun (unreadble captchas, even for humans , and regular waiting time), I have uploaded the package also here: SWFLASH.CAB (MD5: 19b1fedd0e6be71f586eeb2b3b47277a, SHA1: 1faf8862f1d10c352699bb4e59c5f27f1223c698). HTH, Commander Tomalak

This update has been reissued a few days ago: Download Not sure what has changed though. The "technical revisions" part of the knowledge base article mentions a change on 2008/03/31, but I don't know whether this affected the executable at all (I do not have the old version for a binary comparison). Just wanted to mention it... Kind regards, Tomalak

It's already built in, but hidden for a reason. Study the code and set the option Regards, Tomalak

Hello all, A short question on the HFEXPERT feature in hfslip: do I understand correctly that using the WIN subdirectory I'm only able to add new files to existing folders, but not to completely add new folders there? I wanted to add drivers to my installation directly this time (not using nLite, and HFEXPERT\DRIVERCAB always showed its own difficulties for me). Therefore I added a "Drivers" folder and subfolders "01", "02", ... to HFEXPERT\WIN, containing all the drivers my PC requires. "OemPnPDriversPath" in WINNT.SIF was set appropriately. The installation failed horribly: directly after the textmode part, booting into the first GUI, I got the error "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000142)" and the setup was terminated. After playing around the full day and doing several trial & error test installations in a VM I finally discovered that indeed this new folder in HFEXPERT\WIN was causing the error. Moving it to $OEM$\$ solved my problem. So HFEXPERT\WIN is not a full $OEM$\$ replacement? I'm just asking as this is (IMHO) not clearly stated on http://hfslip.org/advanced.html, and e.g. HFEXPERT\PROGRAMFILES was explicitly designed as $OEM$\$Progs alternative. Or did I possibly do something else wrong? I don't have logfiles at hand right now, if really required I can of provide them for the working and the non-working version - but the only difference is the placement of the "Drivers" directory. If this is in fact a more or less known limitation: it possible to add the "add folders in HFEXPERT\WIN also" feature to hfslip? How does nLite do that? I don't like it because it does too much magic and fiddles around with too many files in my installation source, but as far as I've seen it does not use $OEM$ and is able to integrate drivers directly to something like "Windows\NLDRV\<ThreeDigits>". I'm just curious... Kind regards, Tomalak

Hello, is it possible to add support for *.msp files - and not only *.msi - in HFSVCPACK_SW1? After installing Windows XP, MU and MBSA always complain about a missing Office 2007 SP1 (huh?), but in fact only the download of a 12 MB file is necessary: "clientsharedmuisp1-de-de_<garbage>.cab" (it is contained, without the <garbage> part in its name, in the full service pack of 231 MB for the German version, but also available as a standalone file). It contains a single installer patch, "ClientSharedMUIsp1-de-de.msp", which is an update for Windows web folders 12. It can be executed by doubleclicking on it, msiexec starts then. Could that execution be added to hfslip so I can automate the installation of this service pack at T-13? Thanks a lot! Kind regards, Tomalak

It's better than nothing but still not perfect. It relies on the (now unsupported and not maintained - might be a problem in the future) SNM script, and it uses an ugly "install DotNet 2.0 first, then apply DotNet 2.0 SP1" approach. Looking in the "known issues" section you see there are still problems with it... It would be so great if the authors could cooperate and, with support by the users for testing, create a solution that revives the "a separate package / standalone installer per DotNet version" again. At the moment I just use the full DotNet 3.5 installer after Windows setup to get everything installed I need - I don't care for DotNet 1.1 any more. Kind regards, Tomalak

Hello, I recently discovered that IE7 updates with a prefix (I like to prepend a number to all hotfixes to keep track of them and have them in a list, e.g. "123_WindowsXP-KBxxxxxx-x86-DEU.exe") are not slipstreamed with current versions of hfslip, Windows Update reports them as missing after installation. This problem disappeard when giving the IE7 updates their original names, i.e. "IE7-WindowsXP-KB938127-x86-DEU.exe" instead of "063_IE7-WindowsXP-KB938127-x86-DEU.exe". I know this was working once (my last installation is from summer 2007, can't remember which hfslip version I used at this time). When did that change and why? I couldn't find the appropriate etnry in the changelog. It's not really an issue, I just want to know where this behaviour from... Thanks! Kind regards, Tomalak

This will probably not happen. I tried to ask for an update, but the thread (http://www.msfn.org/board/Update-silent-NE...er-t107913.html) was closed without any satisfying advice. I replied to it in a post in the original SNM thread (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=720198) but is was never answered. TC76seems to have lost interest in SNM and does not even read this thread any more. Note that this is not a criticism - he does an outstanding job with hfslip, and we owe him much (spend money!). I guess it's too much work to maintain both utilities as it requires a lot of trial and error... I know but I'm not happy with them. I've never used RogueSpears packs so I don't know much about them. But I really prefer building my own packages instead of taking prefabricated ones. Repoducible, in the native language required by me, from original MS installers without external special files, with only the features included that I want, and without too much tedious manual work and hassle. And in case of SNM the tool to provide all this is even a simple plain text script - you can't beat that! I guess I'm going back to install the .NET releases, service packs and language packs only after installation of Windows, setting the "unattended approach" aside. Regards, Tomalak

Then you didn't search correctly. Or you didn't read and understand the results. Come on, it's not that difficult... Clicking on a link is too much work? Super-Magician even provided a direct reference to the corresponding thread (opened by myself ). Yes, he is. He's always helpful when people show respect and work proactively on their problems before crying here.

Hello, sorry to bother again, but I had asked a few questions regarding SNM in a thread in the hfslip forum, see here. Unfortunately it was closed by Tomcat76 (prematurely IMHO) without really bringing enlightenment to me, so I'll try once again... Basically the topics were: TC76 referred to this thread and his last posting. It says: Well, this answer solves questions (2) and (4). It does not contain anything related to question (1), (3), (5) or (7). I do not count question (6) as it was only a suggestion - but it would be nice to add at least the information on 2.0 SP1 (replaces all, not supported by hfslip) to the first posting as it would be much easier to find there. Didn't understand the last sentence - sorry, I'm a noob But the phrase in the sentence before, "haven't found out yet", sounds as if TC76 will try to continue and to find a workaround. Or did you give up, TC76? Any news? Could you please clarify whether you intend to develop SNM further or you abandonded this great tool and we have to find other solutions if we want to install the .NET frameworks during Windows installation? Thanks a lot! Kind regards, Tomalak

Yes, this does work indeed - DNF30 and MS power shell got both installed, with the "Unattended" section on nLite used (to besure I populated its keep list with the output of your "POST_getnewfiles" script). I used version 1.7.1beta_71124a.I have some other problems with it right now, but will have to investigate that further next weekend: the critical updates 939653 and 938127 (both for IE7, was the allowed naming scheme changed?) as well as the optional 920342 got not installed (at least Microsoft Update thinks so). Oh, and the renaming of "Windows Update" to "Microsoft Update" as well in the start menu as in IE7 didn't work. However, this only affected the names, not the functionaliy, using MU worked flawlessly. Thanks, TC76, for your help and resolving the issue with the HFSLIP-nLite combination! Tomalak HFSLIP.zip

Put them into "HFSVCPACK". This one goes into "HFGUIRUNONCE". Fails in combination with nLite, but thats another problem I'm currently investigating.HTH, Tomalak

Hello, I always had problems with HFSLIP in combination with nLite (even older versions than the current 1.4, I have not tested this one yet), similar to the ones above but not exactly the same. As soon as I used nLite's unattended functionality, e.g. for user information, display settings and automatic updates, it broke the first-logon installations previously prepared by HFSLIP: DotNET 3.0 was not installed, the Windows power shell was missing, and so on. No error messages appeared during the installation. I never tried to analyze that further (I didn't touch the "RunOnce" tab in nLite at all, that's not the culprit), even TC76's tool to list the added files and put them in the nLite "keep box" didn't help. Any idea what to look for and how to detect what was destroyed by nLite? Which files should I compare before and after its run, and which sections have eventually to be restored? If necessary I can do some (virtual) test installations today or tomorrow and provide more details as long as you tell me what information you need Thanks a lot! Tomalak

Hello Tomcat76, I'm writing here because I don't know whether you also read the original thread on your silent .NET maker and I guess most interested users can be found here in this forum. Is an update for the silent .NET maker planned? The documentation is slightly outdated, there are additional updates to the ones you already list: for 1.1 "NDP1.1sp1-KB886903-X86.exe", for 2.0 "NDP20-KB917283-X86.exe" and "NDP20-KB922770-X86.exe", for 3.0 "NetFX30-KB932394-X86.exe" and "NetFX30-KB932471-x86.exe". And a few days ago MS released service packs for 2.0 and 3.0. Are they supported by your tool out of the box - if so, how do we have to rename them? Do they replace all of the above mentioned hotfixes? And if not: could you please add support for them and update the documentation accordingly? As the thread is difficult to find and to maintain it would probably better to move these information to your own website and have it there in one central place (or to hfslip.org as soon as it runs stable again)... Oh, and to be really annoying: what about .NET framework 3.5. Is it difficult to add this too (and prepare support for the languagepacks which have not been released yet)? Many thanks, Tomalak