Driver Installation Order with Nlite

[barnold]

Hi,

I'm using Nlite to create an unattended install of XP with SP3 on multiple hardware models. My question pertains to the driver installation order that Nlite uses.

In the "official guide" ( http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/34/) it says when you are installing drivers via winnt.sif to name the driver folders starting with numbers to assure that they are installed numerically in the correct order

like this:

000_chipset

001_network

002_graphics

003_tv_out

004_sound

005_monitor

006_keyboard

007_mouse

008_and_so_on

As I said I am using Nlite for this disk (not winnt.sif) and want to know if I still need to name the folders in this order. Currently my disk is working well on multiple hardware models and I did not put much thought into the folder order because Nlite doesn't appear to care what order I put them in.

In the i386\NLDRV folder nlite has a bunch of folders: 001, 002, and so on.. but the order is completely random (i.e. 001 is a storage driver, 002 - 004 are audio drivers, 005 is a network driver, then there is a storage driver a few folders later, etc)

My folder structure is in alphabetical order because thats how Windows likes them

Audio

Network

Storage

USB

Video

I purposely have not included any chipset or cpu drivers because i don't want to take a chance and hose my disk (which is working well so far) by accidentally implementing them in the wrong order.

From what I have read it is important that the chipset driver be installed first. If I change to a numerical folder structure and add a chipset folder I might change it to look something like this:

000_chipset

001_storage

002_network

003_graphics

004_sound

005_usb

I guess my questions are:

1) Do I need to use the numerical folder structure if I'm using Nlite?

2) Does Nlite even care about the folder structure?

3) If Nlite doesn't care about the folder structure, is it smart enough to install the chipset drivers first?

4) Does the above folder order look good?

Thanks!

brian

[SSX4life]

Personally I think you are over thinking

Look into BTS Driver packs unless you have specific drivers you are needing. www.driverpacks.net

[barnold]

Thanks for the response.

I initially tried the driverpacks and they slowed down the installation time dramatically. I'm 90% done with this disk and removing all my manually-added drivers (which are working great) and trying out the driverpacks again is unnecessary.

Can you or anyone else comment on my question(s)?

I'm very curious about the order in which Nlite integrates drivers.

Thanks!

brian

[PaulMcCulloh]

Was just searching the forum for the same information. Intel is quite adamant about driver installation sequence:

[The Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility] should be installed

immediately after

installing your operating system

and any operating system service packs, but

before installing any other device drivers

.

. . . In order to be able to install any chipset-related drivers (e.g. graphics, IDE, etc.), your operating system must first be able to recognize your chipset.

Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility Installation Sequence

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/inf/sb/cs-009271.htm

Is control over driver installation sequence available in nLite? If not, how is this handled?

thanks much,

Paul