$OEM$ Folder

[trmfp]

I would like to make a dynamic Windows 7 installer and can get my files to copy over to the hard disk using the XP Style $OEM$ Folders. My problem is that I cannot get Setup to read the "Drivers" folder to load the out of box drivers during setup.

I am loading this from a USB Drive so would like to be able to do a dynamic install and drop drivers into the drivers folder as needed rather than integrating them into the .wim

Thanks for any insight.

Steve

[ajua]

I can't remember now, but I think a different folder can be used to place driver in the root of your media.

Something like $Drivers$, but I'm not sure. Have you read the WAIK documentation regarding OEM folder and drivers?

[MrJinje]

Here is the sample from unattend.chm. If you cannot get it working, post back what you have.

DriverPaths specifies one or more paths that contain out-of-box drivers. These out-of-box drivers are copied to the Windows® image during the windowsPE configuration pass. DriverPaths is a container for one or more PathAndCredentials list items.

By using this setting, you can add boot-critical and non boot–critical drivers to your Windows image before it is installed.

Child ElementsPathAndCredentials

Specifies a local or Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the out-of-box drivers and, optionally, the Credentials used to access them.

This sample has both local and shared directory examples. Adjust to your needs.

<DriverPaths>
<!-- First PathAndCredentials list item -->
   <PathAndCredentials wcm:action="add" wcm:keyValue="1">
	  <Path>\\myFirstDriverPath\DriversFolder</Path>
	  <Credentials>
		 <Domain>MyDomain</Domain>
		 <Username>MyUsername</Username>
		 <Password>MyPassword</Password>
	  </Credentials>
   </PathAndCredentials>
<!-- Second PathAndCredentials list item -->
   <PathAndCredentials wcm:action="add" wcm:keyValue="2">
	  <Path>C:\Drivers</Path>
	  <Credentials>
		 <Domain>MyComputerName</Domain>
		 <Username>MyUsername</Username>
		 <Password>MyPassword</Password>
	  </Credentials>
   </PathAndCredentials>
</DriverPaths>

EDIT: One problem may be not knowing what Drive Letter the USB is. At boot.wim PE stage, you are subject to whatever the current hardware dictates for Drive Letter assignment. If there are 4 partitions on the local HDD, the USB drive, will likely be the G: (C,D,E,F already used). Not to mention how many DVD drives in the machine, or multi-readers. AFAIK this cannot be set programmatically using FOR loop like in a batch file. WIM integration is preferred in this case.

DISM Tool™ is relatively painless way to integrate drivers into your WIM. Take under 3 minutes to add a new batch of drivers. How often do you expect to be adding new drivers, daily, weekly, or monthly ?

Edited November 19, 2009 by MrJinje