Couple of minor issues with XPSP2 silent install

[Mr Snrub]

First up, this is a great resource for all things Microsofty - a few days ago I thought making a bootable slipstreamed CD for XP or 2K was "advanced"

I now have my unattended XP SP2 CD almost perfect, just a couple of things I would like to iron out:

During installation, cmdlines.txt is tweaking my HKCU options (hkcu.reg).

After installation the PC logs in to run postinst.cmd, which does further registry tweaks (tweaks.reg), silently installs my apps, deletes the installation files copied over, then auto reboots after a 5 minute delay.

Start Menu issues:

Want to remove the "Help and Support" icon

Want to add the "Network Connections" icon

I have successfully tweaked the other options such as disabling taskbar glomming, hiding inactive icons, highlight new programs, etc., but the above elude me.

ClearType not enabling:

tweaks.reg has this in, but it doesn't seem to work:

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]

"FontSmoothing"="2"

"FontSmoothingType=dword:00000002

Disable menu effects:

Don't want any fading or sliding of menus, how can I turn this off for all users?

Explorer "Use Windows classic folders" option under Tools / Folder Options - how can I set this during install?

Any advice much appreciated

[Aaron]

Explorer "Use Windows classic folders" option under Tools / Folder Options - how can I set this during install?

;Show Windows classic folders
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\WebView]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000000

[Tsunami]

Start Menu issues:

Want to remove the "Help and Support" icon

Want to add the "Network Connections" icon

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_ShowHelp"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowNetConn"=dword:00000001

ClearType not enabling:

tweaks.reg has this in, but it doesn't seem to work:

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]

"FontSmoothing"="2"

"FontSmoothingType=dword:00000002

Use HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop instead.

Disable menu effects:

Don't want any fading or sliding of menus, how can I turn this off for all users?

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\MenuAnimation]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000000
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000000

You can add these all to hkcu.reg, so they will be applied on first logon (and to all users).

[RyanVM]

Just so you know, many of these registry tweaks can be discovered on your own very easily. Use a registry tracer program like Advanced Registry Tracer to compare the registry before and after a settings change. You'll find it works quite well.

[Mr Snrub]

Thanks guys

Aaron - I thought at first I had tried that key, but it was one under HKCU and the key was called "WebView" but didn't work on my last install attempt, thanks!

Tsunami - thanks for the correction and additions!

Ryan - yeah I was using RegMon to pull out the keys modified in realtime but it seems there may be more than one way to control certain features, and only some work when applied with during-install tweaks.

Good job Virtual PC 2004 SP1 makes this a lot quicker than messing about with real CDs!

*toddles off to make another ISO*

[RyanVM]

Good job Virtual PC 2004 SP1 makes this a lot quicker than messing about with real CDs!

SP1?

[Mr Snrub]

Good job Virtual PC 2004 SP1 makes this a lot quicker than messing about with real CDs!

SP1?

Yeah, original release version bluescreened or froze my main machine when trying to install an XP SP2 guest, and took about 4 hours on my secondary PC.

SP1 has really improved stability and performance for XP SP2 guests - now the entire process is ~1 hour to install and put my apps on.

Last I read, it should be available to the public in a couple of weeks.

[Mr Snrub]

Still having problems - Cleartype is not selected, though font smoothing is checked and "standard" is selected.

Menu animations are still enabled, set to "fade effect".

Complete HKCU.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

;=================================
; HKEY_CURRENT_USER
;=================================
;Disable sticky keys
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Accessibility\StickyKeys]
"Flags"="506"

;Enable Cleartype
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"FontSmoothing"="2"
"FontSmoothingType=dword:00000002

;Prevents Internet Explorer windows from being reused
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"AllowWindowReuse"=dword:00000000

;Disable "Links" folder in Favourites
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]
"LinksFolderName"=""

;Stop MSN Messenger loading automatically, disable tabs, etc.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger]
"PassportBalloon"=hex:29,00,00,00
"FirstTimeUser"=dword:00000000
"AppSettings"=hex:30,8c,00,00
"SharePassportCredentials"=hex:00,00,00,00
"DisableTabs"=hex:01,00,00,00

;Disable "Hide inactive icons"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"EnableAutoTray"=dword:00000000

;Disable hiding of file extensions
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"HideFileExt"=dword:00000000

;Show compressed files in alternate colour
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"ShowCompColor"=dword:00000001

;Disable "Most Frequently Used" shortcuts from Start Menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList"=dword:00000001

;Enable "Classic" Windows
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"ClassicViewState"=dword:00000001
"ForceClassicControlPanel"=dword:00000001

;Configure settings for explorer and Start Menu views
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Hidden"=dword:00000001
"ShowCompColor"=dword:00000001
"HideFileExt"=dword:00000000
"DontPrettyPath"=dword:00000000
"ShowInfoTip"=dword:00000000
"HideIcons"=dword:00000000
"MapNetDrvBtn"=dword:00000000
"WebView"=dword:00000000
"Filter"=dword:00000000
"SuperHidden"=dword:00000001
"SeparateProcess"=dword:00000001
"ListviewAlphaSelect"=dword:00000001
"ListviewShadow"=dword:00000001
"ListviewWatermark"=dword:00000001
"TaskbarAnimations"=dword:00000001
"StartMenuInit"=dword:00000002
"StartButtonBalloonTip"=dword:00000002
"StartMenuAdminTools"=dword:00000001
"StartMenuFavorites"=dword:00000000
"StartMenuRun"=dword:00000001
"StartMenuChange"=dword:00000001
"CascadeControlPanel"="NO"
"CascadeMyDocuments"="NO"
"CascadeMyPictures"="NO"
"CascadeNetworkConnections"="NO"
"CascadePrinters"="NO"
"StartMenuScrollPrograms"="NO"
"IntelliMenus"=dword:00000000
"TaskbarSizeMove"=dword:00000000
"TaskbarGlomming"=dword:00000000
"NoNetCrawling"=dword:00000000
"FolderContentsInfoTip"=dword:00000000
"FriendlyTree"=dword:00000000
"WebViewBarricade"=dword:00000001
"DisableThumbnailCache"=dword:00000000
"ShowSuperHidden"=dword:00000001
"ClassicViewState"=dword:00000001
"PersistBrowsers"=dword:00000001
"Start_ShowNetPlaces_ShouldShow"=dword:00000041
"Start_LargeMFUIcons"=dword:00000000
"Start_MinMFU"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowNetPlaces"=dword:00000001
"Start_ShowNetConn"=dword:00000001
"Start_ShowControlPanel"=dword:00000001
"Start_EnableDragDrop"=dword:00000001
"Start_ShowHelp"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowMyComputer"=dword:00000001
"Start_ShowMyDocs"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowMyMusic"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowMyPics"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowPrinters"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowRun"=dword:00000001
"Start_ScrollPrograms"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowSearch"=dword:00000001
"Start_ShowRecentDocs"=dword:00000000
"Start_AutoCascade"=dword:00000001
"Start_NotifyNewApps"=dword:00000000
"Start_AdminToolsRoot"=dword:00000000
"ServerAdminUI"=dword:00000000
"Start_ShowSetProgramAccessAndDefaults"=dword:00000000

;Disable the Desktop Cleanup Wizard
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz]
"NoRun"=dword:00000001

;Automatically sort Start Menu icons in alphabetical order
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu]

;Disable menu animations
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\MenuAnimation]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000000
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000000

;Max your Internet Explorer's simultaneous downloads to 10 (default was 2)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:0000000a
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:0000000a

;Removes Sign up with Passport Wizard when trying to sign in MSN Messenger
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Passport]
"RegistrationCompleted"=dword:00000001

;NoRecentDocsmenu removes the recent documents from the start menu.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsMenu"=dword:00000001

Are there any conflicts in here?

I've verified it isn't the theme I'm applying during install by switching to classic Windows and back, it doesn't affect the "effects" settings at all.