[Automatic system image install?]

Like many of you on this forum I reformat/reinstall regularly and often and so we have come here in an effort to make this process quicker. My questions is this: is there a program or a way that I can create an image of a complete system that I can then make a bootable dvd that would put that image back onto the hard drive? I want to install XP and all of my programs and tweak it just the way that I like and then essentially make an image of all the files on that drive and compress them into a package that can be written onto a clean drive and the system would be in the exact state as when I made the image. For my setup I have one raptor drive for my OS and programs, all of my documents and media files are saved on other drives. I just want to put an image onto a DVD that I can boot from and then reformat the raptor drive and put the image back onto the drive when I want to start over fresh. Is there a way to do this?

Acronis True Image comes to mind

[System recovery partition]

You can use Acronis Trueimage it will make a hidden partiton and you can access it by pressing F11 at boot to recover any selected partiton, also acronis is giving away Trueimage 7 for free i know its older version but it works

Register now and receive Acronis True Image 7.0 for Free!

http://www.acronis.com/mag/vnu-ati7

Filling in the form will get you an e-mail with a link to a page with your account password to the site. Going to the link will get you a serial number via e-mail. You can then log-in to your account and download the software.

uh, it's only crippled 15 day trial software

[[Release] FireFox V1.5.0.9 and Thundbird V1.5.0.9]

I tried it the other day using VMWare......Firefox installed with no problem, Thunderbird never installed.

Hmm strange. The Thunderbird is build the same way as Firefox. It works for me under VmWare. Maybe its a problem in you're stettings in nLite. Sorrie i can't give a solution. Did you rip out all outlook stuff?

My settings are essentially the same using last session.ini if that's what you're referring to, but as far as Outlook, no I keep that installed, but that shouldn't present a problem. I did a seperate install of both Firefox and Thunderbird instead of the compilation, which works well enough, so the problem has been fixd with this method.

[[Release] FireFox V1.5.0.9 and Thundbird V1.5.0.9]

Thanks for sharing

We just download addon pack and use nlite to incorporate it? It has both Firefox and Thunderbird?

Yes just use like any other nlite addon. It has indeed both programs

I tried it the other day using VMWare......Firefox installed with no problem, Thunderbird never installed.

[Trimming Office XP Installation]

I was wondering if there is any such utility like nLite for Office XP? The full installation with SP-3 is around 625 mb. I want to add a number of additional utilities to the disk. Is it at all posible to cut it down to the basic applications & leave out the not required features?

Mind you all I am trying to do is expand my knowledge base.

Office Resource Kit [ORK] will do it

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

Also do a search on this forum for Unattended Install Of Office XP

[nVidia SMBus Drivers]

Just wondering, do nf4sys.inf and nvsmbus.inf do anything other than changing device names to "nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge" and "nVidia nForce PCI System Management"?

The logical explanation to me would be to do with the Athlon 64/X2's inbuilt memory controller, which Windows doesn't know about, so the names are just changed to stop the infamous yellow exclamation mark in device manager and any prompts to install drivers.

Assuming that's true, why are they otherwise different, in that nf4sys.inf installs a "null" service and nvsmbus.inf references machine.inf and what do these respective changes do?

Thanks.

I'm having a problem here with nVidia drivers, and I think it's possible that your post would explain my dilema, except for one. Please be patient, I'm a newbie at this.

When making my unattended CD, I noticed that all my nVidia drivers _except_ the SMBus drivers installed i.e. audio/video/ethernet/display drivers. I didn't really take notice of the device in the *system devices*, but only looked at add/remove programs and noticed the NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management drivers wasn't listed in the options to be removed, only the other drivers had that option. When installing them all manually, after installing an nLited XP SP2[without drivers], the SMBus drivers appeared in the add/remove programs..........then being more curious, I did take notice in the System devices, and noticed both entries for nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge and nVidia nForce PCI System Management. I'm assuming by being a *null* service as you mentioned, that you mean when looking at the properties section of those drivers where it says that "no drivers are required or have been loaded for this device", when making a query on the driver details???

So if the SMBus drivers are not loaded, why when I install them manually after a fresh nLite install, does it show up in add/remove programs? When I first made an nLite with adding the drivers, I was concerned about this, so I remade it without a driver installation. Is it therefore correct to add the drivers into an nLited install and not be concerned whether or not it shows in add/remove programs, but makes those changes in the system devices??

Thanks!

I see you PMed me even though you replied to a post by Glen.. This is why I didnt notice this sooner.. Couple things, being they are simply for the sake of a name in device manager, I wouldnt even both with them. But, if you do, I would not be concerned about the Add/Remove Program entry..

It is probably not there because the driver installer program from nvidia probably adds it.. Since you are not running the installer, it doesnt show up..

I usually only integrate the drivers need to get the install done (IDE/RAID in particulair).. Beyond that, they are updated so often and I like to have the very latest drivers, so I just install the rest after I am in Windows.. I know some may have a purpose for installing them from a integrated source though.

Either way, at a minimum, dont bother with the Add/Remove.. If you install a new driver without uninstalling them it wont hurt anyway.. Not saying you might not run in to trouble if you dont uninstall the other drivers though..

It's kinda funny to intall them in the first place, if it's only for the sake of a name change with a *no drivers loaded* dialog box showing up in the drivers details page. And as you say, they are updated frequently enough, so it's not so important to have them installed as an unattended install, it just was a concern of mine......to have nLite be more complete in the installation............in other words, I wanted to get this working. I just didn't realize it was a *null* device. I'll keep an eye out on *uninstalling* them at a future date. Thanks for your info!!!

Typically updating drivers with newer versions doesn't lead to install problems. Even if you haven't done an uninstall first.But never say never in the wonderful world of complex software

If you use installers, normally they add additional programs besides the actual driver. This utilities you don't need for windows to run at all.They can be diagnosis utilities for example or simply manuals etc etc, It's up to you to decide if you want those. If not, it's no problem to integrate drivers and there's no need to worry about uninstall options not being available.

I'm glad both you and bilemke have put my mind at ease, and you're absolutely correct in saying that there's always some *garbage* installed besides the driver you only wanted to install in the first place. Thanks for your input!!

[nVidia SMBus Drivers]

Just wondering, do nf4sys.inf and nvsmbus.inf do anything other than changing device names to "nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge" and "nVidia nForce PCI System Management"?

The logical explanation to me would be to do with the Athlon 64/X2's inbuilt memory controller, which Windows doesn't know about, so the names are just changed to stop the infamous yellow exclamation mark in device manager and any prompts to install drivers.

Assuming that's true, why are they otherwise different, in that nf4sys.inf installs a "null" service and nvsmbus.inf references machine.inf and what do these respective changes do?

Thanks.

I'm having a problem here with nVidia drivers, and I think it's possible that your post would explain my dilema, except for one. Please be patient, I'm a newbie at this.

When making my unattended CD, I noticed that all my nVidia drivers _except_ the SMBus drivers installed i.e. audio/video/ethernet/display drivers. I didn't really take notice of the device in the *system devices*, but only looked at add/remove programs and noticed the NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management drivers wasn't listed in the options to be removed, only the other drivers had that option. When installing them all manually, after installing an nLited XP SP2[without drivers], the SMBus drivers appeared in the add/remove programs..........then being more curious, I did take notice in the System devices, and noticed both entries for nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge and nVidia nForce PCI System Management. I'm assuming by being a *null* service as you mentioned, that you mean when looking at the properties section of those drivers where it says that "no drivers are required or have been loaded for this device", when making a query on the driver details???

So if the SMBus drivers are not loaded, why when I install them manually after a fresh nLite install, does it show up in add/remove programs? When I first made an nLite with adding the drivers, I was concerned about this, so I remade it without a driver installation. Is it therefore correct to add the drivers into an nLited install and not be concerned whether or not it shows in add/remove programs, but makes those changes in the system devices??

Thanks!

My system is

ASUS A8N-SLI nForce4

AMD Athlon64 3500+

1GB OCZ DDR

eVGA GeForce 6800GS

74GB WD Raptor sATA

250GB Seagate sATA

[XP reading CD-Rs]

i use a $40 oem sony drive, and have -never- burned at any speed slower than the max. haven't burned a bad disc once out of about 250 cds.

my last burner is a different story tho. i had to burn slow AND verify each disc byte-by-byte before i could be sure it was okay. (it was a panasonic drive, i haven't bought anything by them since)

I'd rather wait the extra time to do a good burn. It probably is more reliable in other machines as well. I now have BenQ 1650 & 1640 DVD writers, and I still don't max out on the speed, as I said before, all my media was all the same [Verbatim], and all the CDs were burned using the same speeds/formats.

I use cheap [Memorex] DVDs now on a spindle, and have come across a few duds already...........but that's another forum.

Well, I'm willing to give ISOBuster a shot, I'll give it a try when I get back home tonight.............

oops, I started a new post elsewhere in this forum re: my results on this.......

[XP reading CD-Rs]

Well, I can't say that ISOBuster was 100% complete in extracting _all_ the files that were *corrupted*, but it did extract quite a few of them successfully, ones that even Linux couldn't read. I don't usually use ISOBuster for this type of use, so it was something that I learned for the future, thanks to those who recommended it. It did *read* all the files in my directories in name only, so I was rather impressed with that alone. I can at least say it saved me a few hours of work I still must do as a work-around to recover the balance of MP3s through other means, but not at all as much as I would've have had to do with what XP could not read [800+ mp3s] or what Linux couldn't read [24+ mp3s]. It still boggles the mind however.

[XP reading CD-Rs]

When Windows reads a CD it must follow certain criteria. Other os's or programs may be able to bypass those windows' criteria and read the CD anyway. ISOBuster is a good example.

Taking care on how you burn your CD's will assure a more reliable READ later on.

I always shut down all running programs, especially AV and AS programs before I ever open Nero to burn a CD. I use a little utility called "End It All 2" that does this for me. I also burn all my CD's at 8 or 16x.....never the 40x plus that Nero says I can use, if I want to.

One simple rule to follow, is: "The slower the burn, the better the burn".

For the greatest compatibility with other readers, always burn SLOW.

I'm anxious to see the results tonight with ISOBuster...............I do the same for the burning techinique, I always shut down everything, and I always burn usually at the slowest rate or a notch higher. I also would rather wait the extra time to be sure of a good burn. The CDs in particular I'm having trouble reading with, have been burnt the same as all my other CDs, and my choice of media is usually Verbatim, so it's bewildering on what happened......

[XP reading CD-Rs]

Well, I'm willing to give ISOBuster a shot, I'll give it a try when I get back home tonight.............

[XP reading CD-Rs]

May have something to do about the type of session /format in which these CDs were written. If you are able to read them in linux, then copy the stuff from that option.

The format I used was Joliet as all my CDs have been, burning them with Nero on an XP machine. The CDs are almost 100% full, so I only used a *finalize* procedure for each one............when I realized that Linux could read these CDs, I immediately, copied them onto a *common* partition being FAT32, as I use NTFS on my XP partitions, which Linux cannot write to The hard disk I copied them to is also NTFS so, I had to go back to booting Windows to finally move my files.

The problem is I still don't understand why Linux read these *unreadable* CDs......could be that Linux has better CD drivers? I'm grasping at straws here.

isobuster is often possible to read cd/dvd that windows xp cant read

Windows cannot even access the drive because of the *so-called* corruption, so any software would not be able to access it, eg, MP3 player, etc., so I don't see how Isobuster could access a non-accessible drive.

[XP reading CD-Rs]

Hope this post is in the correct forum. I'm in the process of backing up all 40 CDs of MP3s I've made in the past onto a hard disk. I had no problem copying 32 of them, but the last 8 were not recognized by XP. I received a "corrupted disk" error. These CDs will play however, in both my portable CD/MP3 player as well as in my DVD player. I've 2 DVD writers, and neither of them would let XP read the CD-Rs. I've tried reading the CDs on other computers, also with no luck. I booted to Linux on my machine, and voila, with the exception of about a dozen songs, the balance of the 8 CDs were readable/playable within Linux.

Is Linux more forgiving or what? Obviously XP on 3 different machines wouldn't read the CDs at all.

Weird!!

[Slipstream Office 2003 SP2]

I have been going through the intermediate section of the unattended setup of WinXP and come to the section on Office 2003. There, it tells you how to slipstream Office 2003 SP1, and it works as I have tried it [though not tried to install Office after slipstreaming].

So, I began to think about slipstreaming Office 2003 SP2. I have the necessary file: Office2003SP2-KB887616-FullFile-ENU.exe

So, I followed the instructions as for SP1 and changed as necessary for SP2:

msiexec /p C:\SP2\MAINSP2ff.msp /a C:\Office2003\PRO11.msi SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb

msiexec /p C:\SP2\OWC11SP2ff.msp /a C:\Office2003\OWC11.MSI SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb

Everything went well, unexpectedly? I have yet to try to install from the resulting files, but I would bet my left testicle that it will work.

Does anyone know any differently?

BTW, if anyone wants the SP2 file, mail me and I'll upload to somewhere for you.

Thanks to all on the forums. I have learnt so much since finding this site.

Regards from Thailand [i'm English actually]

I went one strep further by using office resource kit (ORK) from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&DisplayLang=en to complete the package with an unattended Office 2003 SP2 install

[reschange doesn't start ..What is wrong?]

hmmm seems youve been working on this problem for ages now have you tried adding your graphics drivers to your instillation,, it could be a picky card that needs its drivers installed before hand in order to bump its res to the desired one,,

whats your graphics card ? is it new ? old ?

just a thought but try that out and see if it helps any

It's a ASUS N6600 256 mb (6 months old) ,do you think I can use the driver pack A (DriverPack Graphics) from Bâshrat the Sneaky's DriverPacks to slipstream??

Does anyone has experiance with this A-pack??

I've got a GF6800GS. I've tried Bâshrat the Sneaky's DriverPacks (A-Pack), which are the same as my 81.98 drivers. Both methods of install, still result in a 640 x 480 rez at final boot up. Have you succeded at all in your install since?