Reference for WinNT.SIF (unattend) values?

[JohnKaufmann]

Yeah. Rabbit holes are deep. .

Isn't there another choice besides red pills and blue pills?

Thanks for that final present,

John

Light Blue Ribbon Campaign for Freedom of Skin

Edited September 26, 2012 by JohnKaufmann

[JohnKaufmann]

... what I ALWAYS do and suggest ... is (JFYI):

1. NEVER use a path with spaces
   
2. NEVER use (unless really, really and I mean really) needed any filename that is not conforming toi the good ol' DOS 8+3 convention
   

...

As I was assembling a PE, I thought about this comment and wondered if you have a solution for subdirectory names like "Application Data" and "Local Settings" -- for which (as noted earlier in the thread) there are corresponding registry values, but which apparently have no corresponding WinNT.SIF (or other PE) setting.

Likewise, do you remove settings like "Personalized" and "PersonalizedName" from the desktop.ini files? -- or just remove desktop.ini files altogether? Is there a way to control this from the PE?

John

Edited September 27, 2012 by JohnKaufmann

[jaclaz]

You can call me "coward" as you like , but what I ALWAYS do and suggest (in the "better be safe" than sorry approach ) is (JFYI):

1. NEVER use a path with spaces
   
2. NEVER use (unless really, really and I mean really) needed any filename that is not conforming toi the good ol' DOS 8+3 convention
   
3. NEVER use either the "desktop" or an user profile
   

(talking about drivers/programs, etc. connected with setup)

Of course whatever is already in the "standard" setup is tested and works OK "as is" (no need to change it) BUT, if you want to make changes/additions, if you follow the given advice you have less risks of having a "botched" install or to find later issues when using the program or burning a CD or

Example (obviously exaggerated), if you install (unattended or attended) a program, if it is in:

C:\Programs\myprogram

and the executable is called

nice_app.exe

you have a "safer" approach than having it in:

C:\Program Files\my semselessly long name for a directory\another senselessly named sub-directory\this is the actual directory when the program is\here I am a very smart and modern program that foos and bars really nicely.exe

Possibly everything will work OK nonetheless , but is there a real reason to risk it?

jaclaz

[JohnKaufmann]

You can call me "coward" as you like ...

No. I'd call you a teacher.

Thanks again for the quick reply.

John

Light Blue Ribbon Campaign for Freedom of Skin

[jaclaz]

There are many similar directory settings in the registry (like AppData, AllUsersPath, DefaultUsersPath, HomeDrive, HomePath, MediaPath, ProgramFilesPath, ...) that presumably have deployment antecedents, but the for most part I have not found those antecedents. That's the kind of reference I was seeking. Though I have learned a lot of good stuff, I have to conclude that the reference I just described does not exist.

JFYI:

page__view__findpost__p__1013624

jaclaz

[tomasz86]

Thanks jaclaz for quoting me

I haven't tested it yet but I think that it should be possible to set all variables in HIVEDEF.INF including %programfiles%, etc.

Edited October 3, 2012 by tomasz86