nLite source loading problem

[Olfy]

Hi everyone, I a new to nLite & have a few questions.

I am trying to build a Clean Install DVD from my Sony Vaio XP Pro Recovery disc.

I keep getting the following information message;

"Make sure that the selected folder or drive contains the'i386' or 'AMD64' directory

and proper Windows installation files.

nLite is for a pre-install environment only, meaning that it cannot modify an existing Windows installation.

An easy way is to insert your Windows installation CD and select your CD drive.

Never copy the iles directly to a partition root, create an empty folder first."

I click OK, confirm that I have the correct source folder but it the same message just keeps appearing & will not load the source files......any ideas why? I have tried loading from my DVD drive, from 'copied' files in a new folder, & also from the installed i386 windows folder, but each time I still get the same message.

Any info would be appreciated,

thanks in advance

John

[Ponch]

I am trying to build a Clean Install DVD from my Sony Vaio XP Pro Recovery disc.

Depending on how the recovery process from that particular disc works you might not be able to do that. I'm not familiar with Sony so I'm not sure, but you need a disc that behaves like a standards Microsoft Windows XP installation disc.

If your disc is made to copy an image of a preinstalled XP on your HDD, then its a no go. Can you list the files and folders on the root of the disc ? Can you find an i386 folder anywhere on the disc ?

+See this (I searched for "Sony").

[Olfy]

Thanks Ponch for your reply & link, much appreciated!!

The list of files & folders are as follows:

Folders:

I386

RCD_CSTM

SONY

SUPPORT

VAIO

VALUEADD

Files:

AUTORUN.EXE (Sony Application)

AUTORUN.INF (Setup information)

RDVD1

SONY2.PAC

SONY.I01

SONY.I02

SONY.I03

SONY.IMG

SONY.PAC

SONYDNT.IMG

WIN51

WIN51IP

WIN51IP.SP2

WINBOM.INI

When I copied all the folders & files to an empty folder for nLite to source, it would not load the files as previously mentioned.

I then tried the following....intergrating two sets of I386 folders together......but not sure if it will work; I used a friend's XP Home Ed CD & copied those files to the source folder, replacing the OEMBIOS files etc so that my CD Key could be used. I also then added all the files that were not on his I386 folder to the new source folder (my Sony disc contains XP Pro). But I do not have a Hotfix folder ....does this matter? I tried to load this & nLite worked fine, so I am guessing that there must be something missing from within the Sony I386 folder that stops nLite from loading the source folder.

I went through the whole process of loading & finally burn an iso to a cd-r (it was just under 700mb). The end result appears to be a good copy of XP but I have not tried loading as yet (although I did insert it into my DVD drive & it did not run auto set-up? Don't know why as yet.

I have been following a 'Clean Install Guide written by William Warby based on a Sony Vaio VGX-XL201 media centre PC. This has given me a lot of info.

I will try to load my 'new' XP disc early next week & let you know how it goes (weekend will be too busy for me). ANy further info you may have would be appreciated.

Thanks & regards

John