mmarable

For the Wallpaper changer I just copied the files and startup shortcut using the $OEM$ folders. Next, I copy over the wallpapers that I'm going to use. (If you try to use the $Docs you'll end up with some wierd results). Then I have this reg file that set it up. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WallpaperToy] "wallpaperMenu"=dword:00000001 "LastChangeTime"=dword:40eae884 "Folder"="C:\\Documents and Settings\\<user name>\\My Documents\\My Pictures\\Wallpaper\\" "Interval"=dword:00000004 "ChangeWallpaper"=dword:00000001 "UseSpecialDays"=dword:00000001 "SkipTiledImages"=dword:00000001 "FolderPreview"=dword:00000001 "CurrentWallpaperSlide"="C:\\Documents and Settings\\<user name>\\My Documents\\My Pictures\\Wallpaper\\blueorb-1600x1200.jpg" This sets it up to change the wallpaper every hour (what ever the default setting is). Just change the folders to point to where ever you've copied your wallpapers.

No errors here.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It seems that the failing scripts were waiting for a dialog box that never appeared. Now that I found that they work perfectly. Thanks again.

Okay, I'm getting frustrated with AutoIT here and I could use some help. I'm using some scripts that someone posted to install Stardock apps, but I can't seem to get them to work right. I take a clean VMWare PC, and execute the script, and it works perfectly. I compile the script into an EXE and run that, it works perfectly. So far, so good. I add it to my unattended CD, and have XPLode run the compiled EXE and it will run, but the compiled script doesn't terminate. XPLode just stops, waiting for the script to end so it can move on. I pull up a list of the running processes and it shows my compiled EXE still running, even though the application is installed and no errors were generated. I have a new ISO building where I took the execution out of XPLode and just added it to RunOnceEXE, but while CDImage is cranking away I thought I'd ask and see if I'm missing something simple. Thanks

I've started playing around with modifying the Winntbbu.dll file to make custom setup screens and I'm looking for a way to test the file without having to build a complete CD and running through the install. I'm not looking for a way to check how the screen looks, what happens every now and then is that during text mode, setup will stop and give me a message that the file isn't a Windows setup file when it attempts to copy it to the hard drive. This will happen even though I run the modifed file through modifype.exe. So, is there a way to verify the CRC integrity of the file without having to go through the install? Thanks

Here's mine. "Where do you want to go today?" Setup Screenshot

I think I sorted it out. I used a different image for the 103.bmp and it worked. In my oringal one, I had used a gradiant mask in Photoshop to get my background faded like it was a light watermark. In this new one, I used a different base image and didn't fade it in at all, and that worked. Everything else remained the same, I used the same Photoshop file and my final files are still the same size. The only difference is the choice of the base image and not using any masks in Photoshop. I guess you have to keep it simple with the effects when you're building the bitmap in Photoshop.

Okay, I've been messing around with editing my setup screen and goofed it up. When I kept thing simple (I changed to to a grey background as opposed to blue) it was working fine. I decided to add in a background image, so I created a nice looking background for the 103.bmp file, and added it to my CD. Now, it fails during the copy portion of text mode and claims that the file isn't a valid file. I get the following error: The file winntbbu.dll was not copied correctly. The file Setup placed on your hard drive is not a valid Windows XP system image. If you are installing from a CD, there may be a problem with the Windows XP CD. I have the option to retry, skip or quit. So, I thought that it might be a problem with the file size (my edits bring it up to 1,218kb) but checking some of the files that people have posted the file size doesn't seem to be out of whack. Next, I ran it through ModifyPE and that completed without error, but the install still chokes on it. Anyone have any thoughts? I've been searching the forums but most of the problems that I've found posted have to deal with it bombing out when GIU mode starts. Thanks

Changing the hardcoded FILESCD would be great. I use the same FILESCD with different XPCreate installs (SP1, SP2, Win2003, etc) and hate shuffling it around between them.

Right, but seeing that post is over 2 weeks old I was wondering if there's been any movement, as now there are 3 more critical updates in addition to those original 5.

I just created a disk this morning and Windows Update shows 8 critical and 2 recommended patches missing. Any luck in adding these into the download list? Here they are: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB867801) Cumulative Security Update for Outlook Express 6 SP1 (KB823353) Critical Update for ADODB.stream (KB870669) Security Update for Windows XP (KB840315) Update for Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.0 and WinHTTP 5.1 (KB842773) Security Update for Windows XP (KB841873) Security Update for DirectX 9.0 (KB839643) Security Update for Windows XP (KB839645) And these 2 recommended patches: Recommended Update for Windows XP SP1 (817778) 327979: Recommended Update Are these going to be added into the download list soon?

YZ is a bit quirkie. Are you dragging desktop icons onto the dock? That's caused me problems before because the dock icon is then a shortcut to the icon on the desktop. I'd delete the desktop icon and then end up with a blank one in the dock. What works best for me is to open up Program Files and drag the EXE files to the dock. Then it creates shortcuts pointing directly to the executable.

I figured as much. Like I said, it doesn't hurt anything. I had thought about dropping Photoshop to the end, but then the reboot would probably kick in before it finished. I'll live with it, it hasn't been a problem.

I was wondering if anyone else is having a similar problem. I have XPLode running from RunOnceEx. I've noticed that while the install of Photoshop is running, XPLode continues to work down the list and installs about 3 or 4 of the next apps in the list. The installs all work, so there isn't a problem. It's just one of those things that I've been wondering about.

I plug them into $Docs\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures and it works.

Something is creating a folder called "Administrator" in your Docs & Settings directory before the Administrator account logs in. When you log into Windows, if there is a folder with the same username that is not part of the profile Windows creates a new folder and appends .<computername> or .<domain> (if a member of one). Somewhere before the first logon, that "Administrator" folder is being created. What do you have going on in XPLode at T-9? Any files being copied? Desktop icons? InstallRite (or other) installation packages?

Nice find, prathapml. You can also put these paths into $Docs and it'll work as well.

chezy666, I don't think MCT meant anything by it. I suppose it is kind of a gray area, I mean AutoPatcher is a collection of free stuff and all, but he does put a lot of work into it collecting it all and packaging it up. Bottom line, in my opinion you don't have an obligation to get permission to offer this up, but it's the honorable thing to do. Oh, and nice work by the way.

That's what I use, and believe me it is a very sick feeling to find out you formated all your data away.

There was an issue with some of the more recent versions of XPLode and SP2-RC1. Since RC2 has come out I haven't had any problems running XPLode, so Microsoft fixed what ever it was that caused the problem. I wish it would work with Win2003. I've tried XPLode, XPDeploy, and even went back to XPInstall and they all bomb out. I like the idea of having a list (like XPDeploy) when you can select the apps you want to install, like a series of check boxes, and off it goes to install them. I couldn't begin to guess if such a thing is possible, but it sure would be a godsend for me personally. I also don't know if it's possible, but can the logging be expanded? Let's say an install bombs, can the error kicked back be logged? I suppose that all depends on the error handling of each individual installer, so who knows how feasible something like that would be. That's about all that I can think of adding to what you already have, Wraith. You've put together an awsome tool.

Yes, I log in as a user created and added to the local admin group. I've even tried logging in using the actual Administrator's account and it still has the poblem.

Some more info. I've installed basically the same set of applications using an unattended DVD for quite some time. The last DVD works without any issues. This is all that was added since the last version: - "slipstreamed" in the ATA drivers for my card - Added a custom Windows theme - Edited the WINNTBBU.DLL file Now the Lite CD has the theme and the edited setup screens, but the ATA drivers are not included. I thought that it might be the ATA drivers that are on the DVD and not the CD, but I used the DVD to install on a laptop at work that doesn't have the additional ATA card in it and it still has the poblem. I'm tempted to pull the ATA drivers out of the DVD image and see if that works, but I can't do that until I get home tonight. It seems like a long-shot but I've run out of ideas after fighting this for the past 5 days.

Okay, I'm getting frustrated here. I've installed Alcohol120 without problem up until now. I have a "Lite" version of my unattended disk that fits on a CD (the full uses a DVD). The Alcohol installation works on that one. I build the "Lite" CD version of my disk. Just WinXP Pro with SP2, built with XPCreate. It only installs a few applications, with Alcohol being the very first (installed using XPLode). This works great and installs without any problems. I add to the "Lite" CD to build the "Full" DVD. I add Office 2003, Nero, I copy a bunch of files (wallpaper, icons, themes). Everything is installed using XPLode, but Alcohol is still the very first installation. The log for XPLode says that it executes, but it doesn't install. If I try to manually install it I get a Windows Installer error, "The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation." I'm at a loss. I've tried the "Lite" CD and it has worked on 3 different machines, but the full DVD has the same problem on the two machines I have ti DVD drives on them. I installed XP on a box and hand executed each install I had in XPLode. After each one I checked to see if I could run the installer for Alcohol, and it worked after each and every one. I just don't get it. Something I'm adding to make the DVD is causing this, but I seem to be running in circles trying to find it. Does anyone know where this preventative policy is set? If I can reverse it I at least have one way of getting around the problem. Thanks

Well, I figured that it was about time I actually contributed something here seeing that I've gotten a lot of help from the forums. It's a small contribution, but something that I hope is usefull to someone. It's a vb script: Const ForReading = 1 Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile("C:\Install\Favorites.txt", ForReading) Set objShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") Set colEnvironmentVariables = objShell.Environment("Volatile") strQLFolder = "C:" & colEnvironmentVariables.Item("HOMEPATH") & "\Favorites" WScript.Echo strQLFolder WScript.Echo Do While objFile.AtEndOfStream <> True arrFAVRecord = split(objFile.Readline, ",") Wscript.Echo "Folder: " & arrFAVRecord(0) If objFSO.FolderExists(strQLFolder & "\" & arrFAVRecord(0)) Then Wscript.Echo "Folder exists." Else Set objFolder = objFSO.CreateFolder(strQLFolder & "\" & arrFAVRecord(0)) Wscript.Echo "Folder does not exist. Creating..." End If Wscript.Echo "Title : " & arrFAVRecord(1) Set objURLShortcut = objShell.CreateShortcut(strQLFolder & "\" & arrFAVRecord(0) & "\" & arrFAVRecord(1) & ".URL") WScript.Echo "Link : " & objURLShortcut ' Wscript.Echo "URL : " & arrFAVRecord(2) objURLShortcut.TargetPath = arrFAVRecord(2) WScript.Echo "URL : " & objURLShortcut.TargetPath WScript.Echo objURLShortcut.Save i = i + 1 Loop WScript.Echo "Total Count: " & i objFile.Close

I just noticed it this afternoon, but during the very start of text mode setup, when all the various drivers are being loaded, I could have sworn I saw one that said "XPCreate..." something. It flashed too quickly to get the whole thing but I'm almost positive I saw it. What is it? My guess is that it has something to do with RAID drivers being slipstreamed in. It's not a RAID card, but an ATA133 PCI card that I dropped the drivers in the I386 folder. I'm experimenting and trying to get setup to recognize the drives I have hanging off that card so I don't have to mess around with drive letters when setup is complete.