Another $OEM$ question

[Leticron]

Hi all,

I'm trying to understand the "mechanics" behind the $OEM$ folder. Is it automatically invoked just because it's there or how does that work ?

The idea is to build an unattendend- DVD, enter my Lic-# in PID.txt so that the correct version will be automatically installed and activated with the correct number.

Or should I just put my number under [DefaultImageSelection] in setup.cfg ?

-le

[COOLCOMPUTERGUY]

The $oem$ folder not to be confused with the one found often in sources is placed on the root of the installation media or seperate media. Subfolders inside $oem$ are automatically copied to different locations depending on the special name of the subfolder. In order for $oem$ to work you must select the option to "use configuration set" in WSIM so that 'useconfigurationset' will appear on your autounattend.xml.

Example: if I have a folder named $oem$ on the root of the install media (vista dvd) and placed inside of this a folder called $1 ($oem$\$1) than all the files and folders I place in $1 will be copied to the root of the install partition.

These could be silent installs of 3rd party programs.

If inside $1 I place a single folder named for example "install" than this folder and anything inside it will be copied to %systemdrive% (system partition root).

If I configure my install with auto logon than I can add commands at pass 7 oobe (first logon commands) to automatically execute any programs or scripts inside "install' before windows loggs on for the first time.

The draw back is it copies the entire contents of the install media to "windows\configsetfolders" for future reference which could slow the total time of install down by about 3 minutes.

This will also add another 3 gigs to your hard drive but can be autamatically deleted with a synchronous command at pass 7. Simply delete "windows\configsetfolders".

The other method is to use imagex.exe tool from WAIK to modify the install.wim file be mounting the image to view the contents which would appear just like the installed folders you would find on your system partition so you would simply place "install" in the root directory with users, program files, windows, etc.

The advantage to imagex is no wasted time copying extra folders and no extra data to the system partiton to save disk space.

Still of course you would need your synchronous commands.

The reason I use $oem$ system is its easier than mounting and dismounting with imagex and I can quickly modify anything inside $oem$ if somthing doesn't work like I expected.

After everthing is perfected I might switch to imagex.exe.

Edited November 5, 2008 by COOLCOMPUTERGUY

[COOLCOMPUTERGUY]

The waik docs contain info on $oem$ if you open help and go to the index and select topic $oem$ and then select "understanding configuration sets" which explains all the foldrers.

[Leticron]

Ah...everything becomes a bit clearer now. In fact I confused the location of $oem$ with the one under sources.

Thanks a lot coolcomputerguy for pointing that out.

-le