WinBuilder

**Nuno Brito** · December 15, 2007

WinBuilder is a freeware utility that enables you to create boot disks based on Windows XP/Vista.

This is a very flexible program to which a lot of talented people have devoted time over these last years to create and publish completely free of charge for everyone to enjoy.

Some projects like LiveXP will create a XP Windows PE based boot disk based on a Windows XP SP2 Install CD and produce a very small CD image sized around 31Mb~300Mb that can include a very extensive set of features, freeware programs and full support to SATA drives and network connections.

This project also includes freeware tools to create bootable USB pendisks with easy to follow instructions.

Our goals are simple - create truly efficient boot disks using only legal and freeware tools.

You can download the latest projects and WinBuilder versions at http://winbuilder.net

There is a quick start guide here --> http://winbuilder.net/help/

More screenshots --> http://winbuilder.net/e107_plugins/autogal...autogallery.php

-------------------

For Windows PE 2.x there is a very good project that allows to you customize completely WinPE 2.x images.

It is called VistaPE and more informations can be found here --> http://vistape.net/vistape-screenshots.html

VistaPE can produce boot disks based on WinPE 2.0 using the WAIK or any normal Vista Install DVD as source and instead of giving a command prompt like WinPE it will allow you to use the explorer shell and add as many programs as necessary.

Requirements:

You will need an Internet connection to download new scripts and projects from the download center
You need to run this program as Administrator under XP or Vista
Under Vista you will need to disable the UAC (User Account Control) to handle registry hives

WinBuilder is freeware and you're welcome to bundle it inside your own project distribution and website if you wish.

The projects you find on the WinBuilder site are also freeware and all build steps are composed with simple text files that contain instructions (scripts) of what should be copied or modified - this means that everyone can look inside the script source and modify it as needed.

Hope this introduction wasn't very lengthy - have fun building your boot disks!

Edited June 6, 2008 by Nuno Brito

**GTOOOOOH** · December 16, 2007

So, this is kind of like a BartPE, but a build it yourself way?

**phkninja** · December 16, 2007

Its kind of like BartPE, but better.

**weEvil** · January 16, 2008

Cool. Now if only I knew how to use it. No tutorial?

**benxhi** · March 11, 2008

No tutorial needed its like magic click the play button and ... poof its done

**Nuno Brito** · June 6, 2008

Cool. Now if only I knew how to use it. No tutorial?

ispy made a good tutorial here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4264

-------

Also take this opportunity to mention that we are now beta testing the new 075 version.

Everyone is welcome to try it out, download it from here: http://winbuilder.net/download.php?list.12

Edited June 6, 2008 by Nuno Brito

**Nuno Brito** · September 23, 2008

wb 075 Beta 5 (18-Sep-2008)

Download:

http://winbuilder.net/download.php?view.34

Log of changes

fixed - double 'beta' in form caption

fixed - unsaved change of download server constellation

fixed - default.txt is missing

fixed - 'Index out of bounds' when last download server is deleted

fixed - 'feature' how to remove custom program logo

***     preview as beta 4 a

fixed - some smaller issues with download servers

fixed - ExtractAndRun bug

fixed - internal variables like %scriptDir% can contain commas

added - 'Stop Build on Error' option

fixed - senceless 'v.' in progress window

***     preview as beta 4 b

fixed - sort order bug with mapped folders

fixed - ShellExecuteEx bug when opening documents by associated app

added - Option to name log.html with additional time stamp

added - Option to build log.html immediatelly after build w/o user interaction

***     preview as beta 4 c

fixed - Bug with If,(NOT)EXISTFILE/DIR checking empty floppy drive

added - Loop statement can run between characters, e.g. drive letters

added - Strformat,INC and Strformat,DEC also work on characters

modified - nicer output in log.html

***     preview as beta 4 d

fixed - bug with file type associations

fixed - Convert tool - wrong popup menu

added - Convert tool - remove file from list

added - suggestion how to have certain scripts be selected mandatory

***     preview as beta 4 e

added - RegDelete of values

added - 'Not' option to If command

***     preview as beta 4 f

added - StrFormat can extract path, filename and extentions from URLs

***     preview as beta 4 g

fixed - bug in 'Exit on Error' when extracting files

***     preview as beta 4 h

fixed - Minor code changes and corrections to clean the hint & warnings reported on compile time

fixed - bug 'system error occurs' in clicking log treeview

fixed - newly added web servers for download are not tracked in WinBuilder.ini

***     preview as beta 4 i

fixed - bug when running script from source editor

fixed - delete temporary files after extracting an attachement

added - optional automatic log after clicking the STOP button

***     preview as beta 4 j

fixed - wrong parent's node check marks when selecting with space bar

changed - RegDelete syntax

***     preview as beta 4 k

changed - starting to clean up language support

changed - remove 'charset' from log.html meta content tag

fixed - finally(?) wrong parent's node check marks when selecting with space bar

***     preview as beta 4 l

###     some consolidation with respect to next beta release

removed - 'STOP' in interface editor when using themes other than XDP-classic

removed - 'protected' functionality

added - about 30 items to language translation

removed - new RegDelete syntax, temporarily use old syntax (see magic wand)

***     preview as beta 4 m

changed - new RegDelete syntax again

fixed - some smaller GUI adjustements

added - some more items to language translation

added - System,ERROROFF can get number of lines as optional argument

***     preview as beta 4 n

added - files to be converted can be Drag&Drop-ed from explorer

added - files to be attached can be Drag&Drop-ed from explorer

added - If,ExistRegSection and If,ExistRegKey

added - proxy support

added - 'mandatory scripts' functionality (replaces removed Protect functionality)

cleaned - internal If command logic

***     preview as beta 4 o

changed - WinBuilder always runs in CPU #0 only, also on multiprocessor and multicore systems

added - internal variables %ProjectTitle% and %ScriptTitle%

added - basic raw registry editor support

***     preview as beta 4 p

fixed - script was not shown if there was a folder with a name equal to the script's title

***     preview as beta 4 q

fixed - enable RegRead of expandable strings 0x2

fixed - decode macro names only as first argument

fixed - store changed text in a filebox

added - Show Progress Window also when processing codebox ot buttons.

added - several smaller adjustements

added - autosave option for source code editor

***     preview as beta 4 r

fixed - Changing source folder to a folder already on list

changed - parameter stack added for 'Run' and 'Loop' statements

fixed - bug occurring when a line contained a non-variable '%'

***     preview as beta 4 s

fixed - bug in If,QUESTION with space inside question

fixed - 'Use Path Rule' now unchecked by default

changed - some smaller corrections

***     preview as beta 4 t

changed - now nested 'begin' - 'end' is possible. 'begin' stack added

changed - no flushing window on missing source

changed - dont show scripts of 0 bytes size

***     preview as beta 4 u

fixed - bug in System,GETFREEDRIVE

fixed - bug in previous / next selected: Changes were lost

***     preview as beta 4 v

fixed - bug in macro expanding

***     preview as beta 4 w







********************

Loop statement can run between characters, e.g. drive letters



Sample:



[variables]

%a_searchFile%=Program Files\BootStick_2008_001\Pstart.exe



[process]

Loop,%ScriptFile%,Try,a,z

If,EXISTFILE,%pstart%,ShellExecute,OPEN,%pstart%



[try]

Set,%pstart%,#c:\%a_searchFile%

If,EXISTFILE,%pstart%,Loop,BREAK



******************

New Syntax:

RegDelete,HKLM,Section,Key deletes 'Key' under 'Section'

RegDelete,HKLM,Section deletes the complete 'Section'

Old Syntax:

RegDelete,HKLM,Section,Key,Value deletes 'Value' under 'Section\Key'

RegDelete,HKLM,Section,Key deletes the complete 'key' under 'Section'



******************

'Not' option to If command



You negate an If command by inserting an 'Not'

If,someting,... > If,Not,something ...

If,Not,%var1%,EQUAL,%var2%,command

has the same result as

If,%var1%,NOTEQUAL,%var2%,command



The current NOTEQUAL, NOTEXISTDIR, ... commands are still processes because of compatibility reasons

But before processing they are internally changed into If,Not,...

Therefore

If,NOT,%var%,NOTEQUAL,%test%,...

is invalid and may produce inpredictable results



Try this in CodeBox:

[Process]

Set,%var%,3

If,%var%,EQUAL,3,Echo,"3 is equal to %var%"

If,Not,%var%,EQUAL,3,Echo,"3 is not equal to %var%"

If,%var%,NOTEQUAL,3,Echo,"3 is not equal to %var%"

Set,%var%,4

If,%var%,EQUAL,3,Echo,"3 is equal to %var%"

If,Not,%var%,EQUAL,3,Echo,"3 is not equal to %var%"

If,%var%,NOTEQUAL,3,Echo,"3 is not equal to %var%"



****************

StrFormat can extract path, filename and extentions from URLs:



[Variables]

%DownloadURL1%=http://live.sysinternals.com/Bginfo.exe



[Process]

StrFormat,PATH,%DownloadURL1%,%fnam%

StrFormat,FILENAME,%DownloadURL1%,%fnam%

StrFormat,EXT,%DownloadURL1%,%fnam%



results in:



StrFormat - converted: [%DownloadURL1%] to variable: [%fnam%] with result: [http://live.sysinternals.com/]

StrFormat - converted: [%DownloadURL1%] to variable: [%fnam%] with result: [Bginfo.exe]

StrFormat - converted: [%DownloadURL1%] to variable: [%fnam%] with result: [.exe]



***************

New If commands:



If,ExistRegSection,HKLM,Section,Command

If,ExistRegKey,HKLM,Section,Key,Command



***************

Scripts having '[Main] Mandatory=True' are marked in the tree with a red exclamation mark and cannot be deselected.

In the Interface editor there is a check box 'Mandatory' to set or unset this property.

This protection mechanism can be switched off by the developer by adding [Main] Mandatory=False to WinBuilder.ini



***************

Autosave option



Autosave is On by default.

You can switch it permanently On / Off by using the 'Options' tab in Tools Mode

The 'save' button in the source editor is only visible if autosave is off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This has been a long beta to finish, Peter almost reached all possible letters in the alphabet and beta 5 is a more mature version that is starting to be more turned towards a stable release.

Experimental support for writing/reading hives without resort to win32 functions was also added but is not yet finished due to some bugs in the code that will need to be solved with some luck in time for beta 6.

Other than this, hope you enjoy the beta and let us know what you think!

**payaM** · September 26, 2010

Hi;

Im French newbe so first of all, please forgive my bad English.

Im trying to make WinBuilder work from 10 days, today. I dont want absolute directives, I should like learn by myself. So:

- is there a way to launch a failed process (script like UXP or others)from the place it failed (yes mine are quite usely failing) I mean another way than step by step following the script tree?

- is there a way to choose to copy only the new files PE in UXP wich start reseting then re copying the source disk?

- in the same way is there an option to download ONLY the new items (either the new ones selected, either the new ones changed on the official server)?

Few questions without response even in Google, MSFN, Bootland.

By the way WinBuilder looks like a great tool.

Regards

Paya

**Nuno Brito** · September 26, 2010

Hello,

You will need to provide more details. You see, winbuilder is merely a boot disk engine and there are several projects using winbuilder that create very different results and boot disks.

One advice: If you're not reaching success, try with another Windows Install source, preferably one in English just to test if it works or not.

Also: When an error occurs, you can save the log onto an HTML file that is called log.html

If you post it online, it makes things easier for everyone.

---------------

You say that nobody replied on Boot Land?

Where are your topics, I usually track all winbuilder related discussions and didn't saw yours.

Take care and best of luck!

**payaM** · September 27, 2010

Hello;

I'm really glad you aswer ( and so quickly).

First I dont say nobody replied on Boot Land, but yesterday I got a warning as there is no more member registering.

This is on again today, so I register and I'll post there according to my progress with WBR.

I have a problem with source, I have no CD but a recovery partition (HP pavillion). I burnt 1 DVD and 1 cd which contain XP install but also "preload" applications. Its hard to find out what are the files strictly usefull for XP source.

This is the subject of the remark about copying the whole disk source. In my case XP media center + HP applications are #5.5Giga. If I could avoid copying again and again, it should be great!

By the way I have no access to another official XP CD Install (so no way to choose another langage ?)

Others remaks; Yesterday night I got errors on compiling then I send you a message, then I shut down the computer. Today I restart WBR, no change neither on the source neither on the options BUT COMPILING SUCCESS !

Well nearly success, no way to record my path for Nlite, even after modifiing it in window field...I had to reinstall it in the defaut path. But I egt errors "(nlite-2-process.script) Unrecognized command:"

I send you log.

Again, thanks for your help.

Regards

PAYA

log.7z

**payaM** · October 3, 2010

hello;

further post about winbuilder will be at boot land forum

thanks for reading

Regards

Sign In

WinBuilder

Recommended Posts

Nuno Brito

GTOOOOOH

phkninja

weEvil

benxhi

Nuno Brito

Nuno Brito

payaM

Nuno Brito

payaM

payaM

Please sign in to comment

Recently Browsing 0 members

Activity

Browse