Start Menu issue

[Esher]

Alright, so I'm trying to design some very specific install images (post SP3 + updates to May) for work here and been having some issues with them. We get them all setup and good to go, they work great before nLite, then we use nLite to customize them.

The problem is once we finish with nLite, most of the start menu icons are missing. All we get left over is Acessories & Startup menus as well as Remote Assistance & Windows Movie Maker.

We've spent hours and hours rebuilding and VMWaring these images trying to get these icons back (Games, Media player, ect) but nothing seems to work. Is this a bug with nLite or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance!

[Kelsenellenelvian]

You need to start with a new\fresh source and do it all in one go.

Please attahc your last session file(s) so we can see what you are doing please...

WAIT!!

I see you say "For work"

Please read nLites license.

5. nLite is free for personal use only, you cannot use it for any company or business purposes at this time.

However, if your goal is still to achieve a updated image there are other tools that can do this.

That are free and usable in a corp enviroment.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Kelsenellenelvian

[Esher]

Don't worry. Not that kind of work. I use the term loosely. It's a LAN thing for my group of friends, no business or company involvement. I'm responsible for making images for easy roll out in case of file system corruption due to overclocking.

I am indeed starting with a fresh source each time and doing it all in one go.

Attached is my last session file.

You need to start with a new\fresh source and do it all in one go.

Please attahc your last session file(s) so we can see what you are doing please...

WAIT!!

I see you say "For work"

Please read nLites license.

5. nLite is free for personal use only, you cannot use it for any company or business purposes at this time.

However, if your goal is still to achieve a updated image there are other tools that can do this.

That are free and usable in a corp enviroment.

Last Session.ini

[Kelsenellenelvian]

KK couple of things:

My runtime addon is WAYYYYYYYY OLD! Please grab an updated version!

Drop the sfc patch. Use nLites built in one. (Probably your issue) Plus you have already chosen nLites. Why add another one?

You say you are adding updates but I don't see them. HOW are you adding them?

Edited June 7, 2010 by Kelsenellenelvian

[johnhc]

Esher, you are running nLite under Vista (or W7) to create an XP ISO. This can be a problem, especially if you are are integrating a Service Pack. Try running under XP if you still have problems after dealing with Kels identified problems. Enjoy, John.

[Esher]

KK couple of things:

My runtime addon is WAYYYYYYYY OLD! Please grab an updated version!

Drop the sfc patch. Use nLites built in one. (Probably your issue) Plus you have already chosen nLites. Why add another one?

You say you are adding updates but I don't see them. HOW are you adding them?

Ah yea. Forgot to check for some updates on those. I've inhereted this project, and didn't really consider that stuff maybe out of date. Stupid mistake on my part.

The updates are pre-slipstreamed with RVMIntegrator. I'll try the suggestions you've made and let you know how it turns out! Thanks again.

[johnhc]

Ah yea. Forgot to check for some updates on those. I've inhereted this project, and didn't really consider that stuff maybe out of date. Stupid mistake on my part.

The updates are pre-slipstreamed with RVMIntegrator. I'll try the suggestions you've made and let you know how it turns out! Thanks again.

Esher, this is my opinion and others will disagree. Using RVMIntegrator or any other SW to process your source before using nLite is just asking for problems. I do everything with nLite and have no problems. Enjoy, John.

[Esher]

Esher, you are running nLite under Vista (or W7) to create an XP ISO. This can be a problem, especially if you are are integrating a Service Pack. Try running under XP if you still have problems after dealing with Kels identified problems. Enjoy, John.

Yea, thanks John. I don't think this is a problem in this case, because if we use the image created by RVMIntegrator (which uses the same ISO engine) it works fine for this particular issue. Though it is something I'm taking into consideration. If it doesn't work out I have an old XP machine I can try it on.. I think.. I haven't booted it up in a year lol.

Esher, this is my opinion and others will disagree. Using RVMIntegrator or any other SW to process your source before using nLite is just asking for problems. I do everything with nLite and have no problems. Enjoy, John.

That very well maybe the case. Honestly, I'm very new to all this. The guy that was doing this for us moved suddenly so I volunteered to take over because it was something I haven't done before. I may very well revise my processes based on this and start this project from scratch. From what I can see, the reason why they do RVM Integrator is not just for the service packs but to get the images as close to current as possible before doing the cool stuff nLite does to the images.

It seemed to work great previously (being one of the users of previous images on my gaming rig), so for now I'm trying to change as little as possible. Especially since the XP images are really not is important as they used to be. Most of us have bought 7 for our overclocking now. My eVGA board especially -loves- Win 7.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Esher

[Esher]

KK couple of things:

My runtime addon is WAYYYYYYYY OLD! Please grab an updated version!

Drop the sfc patch. Use nLites built in one. (Probably your issue) Plus you have already chosen nLites. Why add another one?

You say you are adding updates but I don't see them. HOW are you adding them?

Alright so updated the runtime addon.. 6.8 now (is this the newest version?) and dropped the SFC fix. Still resulting in the same issues though, so I tried again from my Windows XP machine.. Took all freakin day because its a crappy old P4, but still same result.

I also, as an experiment, changed it so nLite doesn't actually do or change anything aside.. So no removals and such, and still its dropping those items from the Start Menu. Now granted, they're dropped but still installed, so we can definately use the image as is. But still, I'd rather have it correctly install everything. Some people may like a slim start menu, but we also have some n00bs that want Windows to look just like normal.

Any other ideas? I still think this is NOT being caused by using RVM integrator first because it worked fine for others in the past. Maybe its something that's changed in nLite?

Edited June 8, 2010 by Esher

[johnhc]

Any other ideas? I still think this is NOT being caused by using RVM integrator first because it worked fine for others in the past. Maybe its something that's changed in nLite?

Esher, I do think it is the RVM integrator. What's left? You can place update packs in the nLite Hot Fix area. I do not use Update Packs, but know that they are available for nLite with all the updates after SP3. I do not think your problems are caused by nLite. Many, many hundreds even thousands of users have no problems you describe including me. Please attach your Last Session the next time you think you need to get some help. Please always start with a fresh copy of your CD files/folders, run nLite only once and run no other SW against your source and let us know the outcome. Enjoy, John.