Is it possible installing xp this way?

[victor888]

I am neary abondon the way of installing xp from USBCDROM derived from mass production tool.

While USBCDROM still have a little advantage, auto run fuction. For some users they like MASS PRODUCING the usb disk again and again with different contents i.e. xp with different drivers.

I hope, in USBCDROM, only minimized files & progs exist, and once mass produced then no need mass produced for ever.

Here I hope to install XP this way: Only basic files for installing xp are on USBCDROM, such as file structure, i386\TXTSETUP.SIF, WIN51*.* etc. Certainly the USBCDROM has XP boot secter. There line such as:

SETUPSOURCEPATH=\xxxx\

SETUPSOURCEDEVICE= \device\harddisk1\partition1

in the txtsetup.sif at where physicaldrive1 is usb removable or usb fixed drive.

thanks for reply.

Edited December 21, 2008 by victor888

[davidville]

Yes, it is possible.

First, I formatted the USB HDD/Flash drive with a logical partition, otherwise the drive assignments got skewed (e.g., I install XP with multiple partitions but the USB drive was always assigned the letter D:).

Then I set all the CMD scripts in $OEM$\cmdlines.TXT on the CD to search for a file on the USB drive to define the drive the files are.

Then all the updates/driver/... run directly from the USB.

Hope this works for you & good luck.

David

Edited December 21, 2008 by davidville

[ilko_t]

Have a look at this thread:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=119742

Not tested if booted from CD-like media.

Downsides- USB card readers or other internal hard drives may and does shift USB disk location- \device\harddiskX\partitionY.

[jaclaz]

Another idea (mind you completely and utterly UNTESTED ):

Using the 30/40 Mbish image with "XP Kansas City Shuffle" or "Fake Signature method" and grub4dos on the CD part and your updated setup on the HD-like part.

Since it is "Disk Signature" dependent, there should be no problems with \device\harddiskX\partitionY.

Here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/install-usb-driv...OS-t122505.html

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21242

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=21939&hl=

The newish USB installer by pcuser for UBCD4WIN uses this technique:

http://ubcd4win.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11375

jaclaz

[victor888]

Thanks above.

That is true I need to try.

Here, I still wonder if I put I386 folder in one ISO and use grub4dos map it as HD1, does the PROTECTION MODE still work? Because I setup from real usbcdrom not an iso.

Try to make it clear:

The usbcdrom takes grub4dos as boot sector, the content is only xp files and folders which doesn't contain I386 folder. After booting grub4dos maps usb disk ISO which contains I386 folder as HD1, and then chainloader the boot sector file of XP setup cd.

[jaclaz]

Try to make it clear:

The usbcdrom takes grub4dos as boot sector, the content is only xp files and folders which doesn't contain I386 folder. After booting grub4dos maps usb disk ISO which contains I386 folder as HD1, and then chainloader the boot sector file of XP setup cd.

Sorry to say so, but you appear to have completely failed to.

Could you try to further explain your thoughts?

If I get it right, and I am not at all sure to do so, what would it be the advantage over a "plain" XP from USB install?

I also cannot see the use of Autorun on a stick that is used to install XP.

jaclaz

[victor888]

Sorry for making you confused.

I am still thinking of the installing xp from usbcdrom and put I386 folder on a USB disk (not in an ISO image).

What is the advantage compared with plain install xp from usb?

Obviously, this way is simple. No need to run USB_MULTIBOOT_10, no need to revise NTLDR, no need to care USB drive type, no need to care drive letter shifting etc.

Why I think of taking grub4dos as bootsecter because it can make ISO as HD I still suspect what the PROTECTION MODE has protected. As you know, the setup procedure in started from USBCDROM with grub4dos, only I386 folder on hd1 made by grub4dos.

So much, sorry for not fully understanding the principle of FAKE DISK SIGNATURE METHOD.

[jaclaz]

Hmmm, let's see if I can put down a "schematics" of your idea in the way I may be able to understand it:

The USB stick (modified with Manufacturer's Tool) has two parts, LUN1 (CD-ROM) and LUN2 (HD-Like device).

Th PC is booted from the LUN1 (CD-ROM), which contains:

grldr as no-emulation bootsector

menu.lst

WHAT ELSE?

The LUN2 (HD-Like device) contains:

\I386

WHAT ELSE?

The point you seem to have not fully considered/understood is the way NTLDR or SETUPLDR.BIN actually boot.

Until you are in "real mode" (read Text Mode, including BOOT.INI choices or the blue screen SETUP) the information from BIOS (and the ones "faked" by grub4dos) are trusted.

As soon as you "switch" to "protected mode" (read black screen/loading progress bar) ANY info from BIOS (and from grub4dos) is ignored, it simply vanishes in thin air, a new scan of the hardware is performed and unless a given hardware is found AND an appropriate driver for it is loaded, the booting will be aborted, possibly with a 0x0000007b BSOD STOP ERROR.

The exception being that of a driver that is loaded "forcibly".

The only known one to be working is the RAMDISK.SYS driver used in conjunction with the SETUPLDR.BIN coming from SERVER 2003 SP1 or R2 (NOT "gold", NOT SP2).

There may be other possible ways, but it seems like the topic is not of much interest:

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1507

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=5512&st=7

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=5512&st=9

Would you be "game" for this?

The "trick" of the "XP kansas City Shuffle" is simply that of loading through grub4dos mapping a smaller image that appears to the NT booting IDENTICAL to the actual partition on hard disk.

During "real mode" the mapped image is accessed, during "protected mode" the real partition is loaded.

This allows for two newish things:

1) booting from USB on computers with no or defective booting from USB support

2) speed up the booting on computers with USB-2.0-chips-but-only-USB-1.1-speed-support-while-booting, since only the files in the smallish mapped image is loaded with the USB BIOS routines whilst the large number of files on the partition are loaded through the native NT drivers, at USB 2.0 speed

In the particular case you posed, it could have the "advantage" of having a "fixed" LUN1 booting (but still with the "USB_multiboot" tricks) a "variable" part on LUN2, in other words you would only need to run the Manufacturer's Tool once and setup the DISK SIGNATURE of the LUN2 once, after which you would be free - within limits - to change the contents of LUN2 with ordinary file tools.

jaclaz

Edited December 21, 2008 by jaclaz