nLite - Windows reduction tool

[Alanoll]

and this digital signature has nothing to do with WHQL, right? Because i would wonder then why all the new betas of drivers etc. has no digital signature, when its so easy to 'add'. a driver which has whql always looks nicer for peoples than a driver without one.

This is NOT the same as the digital signature provided by Microsoft for drivers etc. The signature for WHQL certified drivers is generally provided in a seperate .CAT file. ModifyPE is simply modifying the internally stored checksum for the file to match that of the original (unmodified) file. This is done because the windows install routine refuses to copy files whose checksums do not match the pre-defined values (presumably to prevent someone from adding a virus etc to a windows install CD).

I don't know the dirty details of how ModifyPE does its job, but apparently it is possible to fool the installer into thinking that a modified file is in fact the official one from MS so that it will get copied. Again, this is simply for copying the file from the Windows CD during the install and has nothing to do with driver signing or digital signatures for other files (e.g. hotfixes). In most cases, you Windows setup will note an error or warning in one of the setup logs when it notices a modified file.

Regards,

Matt

not entirely accurate. The errors arise because after modifying a file, the checksum is never updated. So during install, windows checks the file after copying to insure the it is valid, by checking the checksum and making sure the file is good, like using a MD5 hash to verify a file was download correctly. ModifyPE just recalculates the checksum so that windows then can verify the file is not corrupt.

It doesn't just arise from files that are original to the disk. I've added for example modified renamed kernels and had Windows setup copy them for me (i added them to txtsetup.sif) and I got that same error. After recalcing the checksum, the copy was fine.

There are files you CAN NOT modify because they are digitally signed. layout.inf i believe is one of them.

[war59312]

Hey nuhi yea I did. Twice.

Is everyone else running 1.1 or 1.0?

Maybe I have to have 1.0 as well? If so creator needs to make it 1.1 compliant.

Thanks,

Will

[Troglodyte]

Hello everyone,

I am the same Trog from such forums as 911cd.net (BartPE) and AMDZone. I was very surprised to see such a tool available, and ever since the days of 98lite I have been hoping that it would become a reality. For years I have been doing this the manual way, with the help of such processes as the one described here http://home.earthlink.net/~vorck/, as well with some of my own.

So thanks to nuhi I won't have to do it the hard way anymore

Thanks so much...

Only one little problem though, the popularity of this program seems to have made it widely unavailable. I would at least have used version 0.94, and wait for mirrors to become available. Unfortunatly though, this version seems to suffer from a bug, previously mentioned in this thread that causes it to "hang" when reaching the step "Building File Lists" under Windows 2000.

Anyway, to get to the point, I would glady offer to host the newest version(s) of this wonderful program on both my free ISP Web Space and my personal FTP.

If someone is willing to send it to me, and nuhi doesn't have a problem with me doing so, that would be great.

Thanks again,

Trog

[MCT]

Maybe I have to have 1.0 as well? If so creator needs to make it 1.1 compliant.

i have 1.1 it works well 4 me

[John0877]

anyone know where a mirror for 1.1 is cause all ive found is .94 from the main post in this thread

nuhi awesome job. im testing an iso now in Virtual PC

[MCT]

we're talking about .net framework 1.1 (atleast i think so )

the current version of nLite is 0.94

[John0877]

we're talking about .net framework 1.1  (atleast i think so )

the current version of nLite is 0.94

oh ok heh

[nuhi]

@war59312, i really can't tell what it is, try googling it

@Troglodyte, thanx

Try to unselect Manual Installation Support option, that solution is on the first page of this topic. That helped many people with building file list bug.

About distributing...well lets wait for a fix of that and some other bugs.

I fixed music.wma bug, trying to fix System Restore and building file list bug...then we can call it almost stable and release a next version.

[Troglodyte]

I have aquired the newsest version, beta 9.3, but this problem persists

And thanks for the tip, nuhi, but unchecking the Manual Installation Support option did not help

Unfortunatly though, this version seems to suffer from a bug, previously mentioned in this thread that causes it to "hang" when reaching the step "Building File Lists" under Windows 2000.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Until then, I will keep trying other things...

[MCT]

latest beta is 0.94

[bonedaddy]

@ troglodyte

check your mail

bonedaddy

[Troglodyte]

@ bonedaddy

Thanks, but this version didn't help my problem either....

I forgot to mention that I am trying to build using Windows XP SP2 RC1 as the source... not sure if that makes a difference in respect to my problem.

Update: I think I discovered my problem... one or more of the xp source files must have been corrupted... as I copied everything from the CD again, and then slipstreamed (manually, as in not using nlite for this step) again also...

So, so far so good... its just odd that I was able to use this same "corrupted" copy to install Windows XP SP2 RC1 a number of times without even a hiccup....

OK... nevermind... now it is stuck at step "Processing files:

- hivesys.inf"

Another very small thing I did notice though, is that although it is kind of hard to explain, the GUI in version 0.94 acts strange... When you move the mouse up and do along the components menu, the selection follows it, and plays the default Windows sound...

[Troglodyte]

OK... it finally compiled by using version 1.0 (Beta 9.3) - (28.05.2004)

This naming structure still has me confused...

[nuhi]

@Troglodyte, so it works now ?

Yes, that was a temporary version name, but changed it fast.

0.94 is the newest.

edit: lol, selection triggers the sound...thanx for noticing it

[Troglodyte]

so it works now ?

Yes, yes it does... I was able to finally compile the ISO and install a fully working XP installation in VMWARE.

So not only did it work, it worked quite well I might add... I ran into a few missing file problems during text mode... but knowing how dfficult it is to prevent them (at least back when I did some of this manually it was), I understand how easy it would be to miss a few... and I also ran into a few missing files during the Driver installation and Installing Network steps... But the later was also expected, as I unchecked all MS Drivers

If it helps you any I could probably provide this list of "Missing Files" pretty easily.

Anyway, incredible job, not only was I astonished when I saw that the final size of the resulting ISO file was only 158MB, the booting of textmode setup and the installaton was also dramatically faster....

Thanks so much, I'm sure this tool will only improve over time and gain a large "cult" following much like Bart's PeBuilder....