Multiple $OEM$ Folders

[RedVyper]

Anyone know how to use one $OEM$ folder for more than one OS without having to have a $OEM$ folder for each OS Directory.

In otherwords is this possible on a multiboot DVD

$OEM$

--------$1

----------install

Setup

----------XP

------------PRO

------------MCE

------------HOME

and for all 3 version of XP to use that same $OEM$ folder?

if so how does one go about this?

[prathapml]

You can't make it use the OEM dir at CD-root, or something. Tried it, the only way is to use a normal folder and then CMDs to call that folder - which is not what we wanted in the first place!

What I do is to keep individual $OEM$ folders for each individual setup, and then to use an optimised ISO - that results in no additional space usage for same files being put in repeatedly.

[RedVyper]

I was afraid you where going to tell me that :-(

Well that brings me to my next question then. Lets say I do excactly what you just said and optimize the image with a -o in cdimage.

Now the question becomes since I don't have multiple copies of every file on the cd of course. This would mean I don' thave an exact copy of my source correct? Which in turn means. If I deleted my source from my HD or went to a different PC I couldn't just copy over the cd and be ready to make changes again correct?

Or am I missing something with the optimization switch?

[Alanoll]

The optimization switch purely means the file data will be written twice, however, the file will appear in more then one folder. If you were to copy it over to another folder from your optomized ISO to a folder on your hdd or another computer, you will have two EXACT copies of the file. If you want to see something interesting, open my computer, and single click on the CDROM, and see how large the system thinks it is. Then open the CD, and select ALL, and click properties, the size will be drastically different the more it's optimized.

To sum it all up....

It optomizes to one file, but when copied, it will be BACK TO HOW YOU HAD IT ORIGINALLY WITH TWO COMPLETELY SEPERATE IDENTICAL FILES. Sorry for the caps, but someone else is bound to ask this again.

[snowboard69]

Hi

I think I have just created the DVD that you want.

My boot DVD has a root $OEM$ folder containing SATA drivers for all my OS's.

I then have XP SP2 OS containing a $OEM$ folder to install additional software and another XP SP2 with no $OEM$ folder that just installs the bog standard OS.

I have burnt and tested this DVD and it all works.

Hope this makes sense.

Is this what you are after????

[IGIdeus]

My boot DVD has a root $OEM$ folder containing SATA drivers for all my OS's.

I then have XP SP2 OS containing a $OEM$ folder to install additional software and another XP SP2 with no $OEM$ folder that just installs the bog standard OS.

Can you give an advice?

Best regards

IGIdeus

[RedVyper]

Hi

I think I have just created the DVD that you want.

My boot DVD has a root $OEM$ folder containing SATA drivers for all my OS's.

I then have XP SP2 OS containing a $OEM$ folder to install additional software and another XP SP2 with no $OEM$ folder that just installs the bog standard OS.

I have burnt and tested this DVD and it all works.

Hope this makes sense.

Is this what you are after????

This is exactly what I'm looking for how did you go about this?

[RedVyper]

The optimization switch purely means the file data will be written twice, however, the file will appear in more then one folder. If you were to copy  it over to another folder from your optomized ISO to a folder on your hdd or another computer, you will have two EXACT copies of the file. If you want to see something interesting, open my computer, and single click on the CDROM, and see how large the system thinks it is. Then open the CD, and select ALL, and click properties, the size will be drastically different the more it's optimized.

To sum it all up....

It optomizes to one file, but when copied, it will be BACK TO HOW YOU HAD IT ORIGINALLY WITH TWO COMPLETELY SEPERATE IDENTICAL FILES. Sorry for the caps, but someone else is bound to ask this again.

Thanks I wondered how that worked. :-)

That is a huge help

[Jito463]

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=27733

I tried the same thing here. Basically, the MS guy on the newsgroup (Erik) told me that I had to specify a drive letter (e.g. D:\blah\bleh) where bleh contains the $OEM$ directory.

[snowboard69]

Ok my DVD layout is as follows.

ROOT\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\SI3112

ROOT\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\VT8237

ROOT\SETUP\XP\Professional\$OEM$

ROOT\SETUP\XP\Professional\I386

ROOT\SETUP\XP\Home\I386

ROOT\PRO1

ROOT\HOME1

As the PRO1 and HOME1 are boot information folders for the different OS's I made sure the following files were included.

The Pro1 and HOME1 both contain a WINNT.SIF and TXTSETUP.SIF file.

Both WINNT.SIF files have this under [unattended],

OemPreinstall=Yes

OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\SI3112;Drivers\VT8237"

Both TXTSETUP.SIF Files have entries for the different drivers as explained in other threads.

I also made a cab file from the SI3112 and VT8237 folders called SI3112R.SY_ and VIASRAID.SY_

Professional boots using the drivers and installs all the other software contained in its $OEM$ folder. Whereas the HOME version boots using the drivers and only installs the OS.

Hope this helps you and others.