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Windows Services don't automatcially start


stein_brian

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Hoping somebody can shed some light on what I'm doing wrong. I used Nlite to create a slimmed down installation of Windows XP with SP3 to use on a Dell Mini laptop (Inspiron 910). I even followed a guide I found online for using Nlite installs with the Dell mini's. Everything seemed to go ok, the ISO was created, burned to a disc, and installed Windows XP fine. However I noticed as soon as I logged in that there were some issues.

Most notably with the exception of like 2 services, none of the Windows services started up automatically, even though many were set to 'Automatic' startup. If I clicked on each service and chose Start, they all started no problem so it wasn't like they couldn't start. It just seemed like they never even tried. I rebooted a few times and even reinstalled SP3 successfully but the behavior of the services remained the same - they would only start if I went into Services and told each one to start one at a time. Now I know if I wanted to I could create a login script/batch file to tell every service to start but I shouldn't have to do that. Has anyone come across this and could possibly help me out?

What I also found and i add this in case it helps to shed any light on where I went wrong was that I pretty much had no programs installed. Even though I selected in Nlite to keep Internet Explorer and made sure not to remove anything remotely related to IE, when I would double click the icon it would ask me what I wanted to use to open this up and the only choice i had was Notepad. I went into the Program Files directory and there was nothing for Internet Explorer. I had to go into %Systemroot%\Inf directory and located the IE.inf file and choose to install it from there. Is that normal? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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stein_brian, don't really know, but I suspect you have run nLite multiple times against the same source, so, please attach (not paste) your Last Session.ini. Make sure to always start with a fresh copy of your CD files/folders, do all your work in one nLite session and integrate only one SP. Please report when you have a solution, so others can benefit. Enjoy, John.

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Thanks for the quick reply! OK here is the latest situation. I decided to do it over again from scratch and this time instead of following the guide I followed, I ran through it myself and just used my own best judgement on what to remove and what not to remove. The other big change I made, though admittedly don't know if it did anything or not, was when I get to the Services tab section where most of the guides I've read advise that you leave everything the way it is, I actually went thru it and changed all the services from 'Default' to either 'Automatic' or 'Manual' based on my experiences. The issue now is that Internet Explorer is still not installed. This time however if I go into C:\Program Files I can see the Internet Explorer folder unlike last time but inside of that is only a folder for Connection Wizard. And if I double click on the IE icon on the desktop it brings up the 'Open With' pop-up. So I'm going to have to go back to the INF file and install it from there - WHY? I am attaching the last session.ini file as requested. Thanks!

Last_Session.ini

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Just to add to my above post, other programs as well that are supposed to be included are also missing just like IE is. For example, I told Nlite to keep Windows Media Player, and if I go into Program Files I see a folder for it but inside the folder is empty. God knows what else is missing! Any ideas on what I did wrong or what I'm missing? Thanks!

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stein_brian, you can always add to a post with an edit. Whenever I have seen symptoms like yours, it is almost always due to running nLite more than once against he same source. Are you sure you have always started with a fresh copy of your CD files/folders? Please read again my first reply. You should not need to edit any .inf files. Have you edited any .sif, .ini or .inf files? Why did you specify 'ComputerType = Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC' (I use Automatic) and what do you use for an Internet connection (you remove Ethernet (LAN)?) You also should not need to alter the services. They work just fine with defaults. What kind of source CD do you have - OEM, Retail, Recovery, or ...? Are you using a virtual system, if not, I recommend one - VirtualPC, VirtualBox, or VMware Server - all free. Enjoy, John.

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Yes I am sure this time I started with a fresh copy - I totally deleted my original directory, created a new folder, and copied my Windows XP with SP3 cd to the new folder and worked off of that. Also, I don't edit any files, I simply had to right click on the IE.inf file, choose Install, and then IE installs, don't know why. The only reason I changed the ComputerType is b/c one of the guides I found mentioned that for my particular model of laptop, they had to change it to make it work but I can certainly try again just using Default. Coonect to internet via a LAN - I thought it said I could remove Ethernet LAN if I install my own NIC drivers, which is what I did after the install? The media I used was an ISO downloaded from my technet account - it's Windows XP Pro with SP3. I've used it many times on other mahcines I've built. No, not currently using Vmware for this, I have a test laptop that is the model I need to put the Nlite version of XP on. ANy ideas why Windows Media Player wouldn't be there, or other things like Wordpad, etc?

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I think you can change ComputerType to automatic, normally Windows installs the right HAL by itself.

Also, i recommend you to only disable the services you don't want, I can see you have removed a lot of them.

Alerter

Application Layer Gateway

Beep Driver

Error Reporting

Fax Service

Health Key and Certificate Management Service

IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service

Indexing Service

Message Queuing (MSMQ)

Messenger

Network DDE

Performance Logs and Alerts

Route Listening Service

Secondary Logon

System Restore Service

Telnet

Text Services Framework

Uninterruptible Power Supply

Volume Shadow Copy

Just disable the ones your are sure to not need and leave the others in the default state, it's the safest.

maybe also keep NetShell Cmd-Tool, i'm not sure for this one.

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stein_brian, I now suspect your source is the problem. Sometime these CD images have been modified (SP3 added, etc) by some method. Then nLite messes up the ISO. Please post a screen shot of a Windows Explorer view of your files/folders. I suggest you try making an ISO from the source unmodified. You can use nLite if you wish - just uncheck all tasks except Create Bootable ISO. See if that installs and runs. Enjoy, john.

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Sorry johnhc, not sure exactly what you mean. When you say make an ISO from the source unmodified, what do you mean? I'm interpreting that as not using Nlite at all, thus not stripping down XP at all. Do you want the screen shot from my source meaning from the original Windows XP cd I used and copied to my source directory? Or do you mean after Nlite runs on that directory? My whole intention here is to shrink the size of the installation so that it fits onto my Mini dell laptop that only has a 7.5GB hard drive. If I run the regular install, by the time I get thru with that and Office install I'm well under a Gig left. Sorry but you could clarify what you're recommending? I just want to make sure I follow your steps corectly. thanks!

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stein_brian, I think I understand what you are trying to accomplish but having a small system that does not work will not serve. You can use nLite to create your ISO and burn your CD, just don't make any modifications. This is an experiment to see if the source even has a chance of working. Please open your unmodified source folder with Windows Explorer (just double click the folder). Take a screen shot and post it for us to see the files/folders it contains. You can choose to not make the CDd with no changes but I am afraid I am out of ideas. You can wait till we get a look at your screen shot, but that may not clear the issue either - your choice. Enjoy, John.

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OK I understand, so I'm just testing it. I am attaching a screenshot of the unmodified source - I literally just finished copying the contents of the CD to the source folder and haven't even opened up Nlite yet so I can guarantee this is a clean, unmodified source. I am also going to just burn the ISO using Nlite as suggested and try to install from it just to make sure that works. Assuming it does, that is where I will need assistance in properly shrinking down the install with Nlite but properly preserving the programs I need to keep like IE and Windows Media Player, etc. Thanks!

source.doc

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stein_brian, I see no problems with your source. I wonder why the .NET folder is there however. Do you want .NET Framework installed? That folder may be more than 200 MB. Please let us know how your experiment goes. There have been a number of posters here trying to slip netbooks, but none lately. I suggest you do some searching for their experiences. Enjoy, John.

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Are you using the same CD-RW every time? If you are, then the nLite burn program does not erase the files that are on it, and it doesn't tell you otherwise (I have found). Use 'Imgburn'. It's free, and it does the job right.

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HowdyDoody, nLite will be more than happy to erase your rewritable media, if you tell it to Erase in the pull down menu on the Create Bootable ISO page. It dose it much more quickly than my Nero and does not eject the disk when the erase is complete. Enjoy, John.

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Thank you both, very good points. Though just for the record, I use a brand new CD-R each time (even used a DVD-R one time).

Also for further info, the source test worked fine, meaning I installed use the ISO created thru Nlite from the original source with NO modifications made. So it's obvious for some reason something during the removing components part is removing the programs I tell it to keep. Do either of you, or anyone, maybe have like a reference guide that they used that seems to work well while also shrinking the size of the install? Thanks!

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