DAEMON Tools 4.0

[BoardBabe]

spn: As kelsenellenelvian says, download AutoIt3 and compile the above script to an .exe file. Put the .exe file in the same directory as daemon400.exe and run the compiled .exe file from WPI with no switches.

If anyone are interested I have an AutoIt script that also changes the language. New updated language files for v4 are not yet posted, but as I am the Norwegian translator pm if you need the new file (1044.dll).

[muiz]

i dont like auto it , i like my stuff silent and hidden.

there must be a way

[RogueSpear]

I'm having major grief in repacking this bugger. I've repacked literally around 100 apps and this is maybe the 3rd one to give me such headaches. The 2nd one was .NET 2.0 which I still can't get to install from svcpack.inf. I haven't given up on this yet, but it's not looking so promising either.

[InTheWayBoy]

muiz - AutoIT is slient, and can be hidden. If you looked at what they said, you take the script and compile into an .exe. You can then run that .exe, which only shows up as an icon in your system tray. I like to keep it like that, so that I know when it's working. You can also take it a step further and disable the icon, resulting in a totaly silent install. This is what I do with my silent installers...the autoit script handles all the work of installing the application, and then it's compiled into an .exe. But the autoit .exe and the install source are then packaged into a 7zip SFX. The end result is a single file that will install your application silently.

In a case like this, where the developer didn't include a way to silently install, this is one of the few ways you can make it work outside of repackaging.

[RogueSpear]

I like to think of AutoIt as a last resort myself. I can always get a smaller file size through repacking, they seem to install quicker, and are much more reliable. But when the fat lady sings, sometimes you gotta go with what works.

[MHz]

Unless it is a simple program to repack then

Repacking Disadvantages:

1. Chances of adding the registry entries 100% correct?

2. Will not be upgradable. Trying could unleash problems.

3. The program installed may not run incorrectly.

4. Runtime files added by original installer not present with a repack?

5. Repacking a NSIS correctly is guesswork.

6. Crucial driver files not loaded correctly.

...

...

@muiz

You may get silent with repacking, but atleast AutoIt is safe by using the original installer.

@RogueSpear

I mean no direct insult to your repacks, for the above. Just declaring the possibilities.

You do carry alot of weight on those shoulders. I draw the line on what to repack and just repack the programs that I know that I will get right. Good luck with it.

Personally, v3.47 looks good until a managable version is released. DAEMON Tools developers go to great lengths to stealth the installation and workings of the program.

Hmm, AutoIt as the last resort? Oh please, that phrase is wearing thin. Created originally by people who cannot use AutoIt correctly in the first place.

DOS, VBS, JS...better then AutoIt at managing installations? Very questionable for those without the knowledge.

[MCT]

IMO, DT 4 is just DT 3.47 with adaware :S

[RogueSpear]

@MHz, don't get me wrong, I've used AutoIt plenty of times where I felt it was appropriate (Microsoft Student, activating Adobe applications, etc). And it certainly has enabled me to do an awful lot that I otherwise would not have been able to do. Maybe my background would clarify where I'm coming from. My initial purpose and to this day, my main purpose for repackaging applications to .msi files, is for deployment via Group Policy. Upgrading an app then is as simple as telling GP to uninstall the old and install the new. At some point, maybe about a year ago in these forums, I found a how to on making 7z based switchless silent installers. For the most part they've never done me wrong either.

I've learned so many little tricks to repacking things, the stuff you need to watch out for, that I'm pretty confident in not only my abilities to repack something, but also that I know when to say when. I fully realize that there are some apps that simply aren't meant to be repacked. And this new version of Daemon Tools is starting to look like one of those apps

While there are some pros and cons to every method, one of the things that drives me to my methods is saving space. I have plenty of installs that dictate using a CD instead of a DVD and 700MB is pretty restricting. Plus there's just the comfort zone I'm in with that method. I know it well, so it's what I tend to default to.

[MHz]

@RogueSpear

No problems. You seem to have a good solid background for what you have learnt to further yourself. If someone can repack DT4 then sounds like you are the person for the job.

Your still on a CD like me. Accumulating hotfixes are making it harder to squeeze stuff in. I also keep a separate software CD with fully automatic installs which I have been maintaining for about 5 years now. It keeps me for all the programs that do not fit onto the windows cd. It did go into DVD but I felt like a slave to it with all the updating, so resorted back to CD.

I am not directing a view below directly at anyone.

Just generic lines being used that display some kind of dislike for AutoIt, but people will use it as a last resort scenerio??? AutoIt for me is a full solution without have to rely on any other language to do anything else needed to complete a task on an unattended CD. I have good control of installations, except for the downright ugly ones such as DT4.

You do not see me posting for help with installers but coming up with solutions that can be handled with AutoIt. Ofcourse other AutoIt users supply so much good scripts to help others. AutoIt is my 1st and last choice with Installations and I certainly would not utter words of not using an AutoIt solution from another for the sake to it being an AutoIt script. i do not see a good AutoIt solution with DT4, I have not tried, but that reboot sucks before even attempting it.

I do not try to downgrade any other language so I would expect others to be the same. Some people just like the simplicity of a single DOS command to do something and I can understand that. Others that can do more should not be looked upon as people who do something that is a waste of time. Just like VBS can be frowned upon by some as being more then one line of code, wow.

That is my say at present. I have shown an opinion in defence. I am going to rest now...

[digitalfrost]

Well I'm also in the process of repackaging DAEMON Tools, so far I'm able to install the necessary services successfully, but I get the error "Initialization error. This program requieres at last Windows 2000 with SPTD 1.21 or higher. Kernel debugger must be deactivated" even tough SPTD service is running

[RogueSpear]

@digitalfrost, that's where I seem to be stuck as well and I have a feeling that the measures implemented in DT to protect itself against being blocked are going to make this an very difficult if not impossible repack.

@MHz, having been a VBscript guy for so long now I've gathered a long list of annoyances and to tell you the truth, I found AutoIt to be a huge breath of fresh air. It is frustrating though. AutoIt can do so much more than vbs, but not everything that vbs can do and vice versa. So I have to maintain skills in both languages.

EDIT: BTW, when I said I like to think of AutoIt as a method of last resort, it was not meant as a bad remark on AutoIt itself. The same would hold true for VBscript or any other language for that matter. I just hate to dig in and write code for installing a single app. I prefer to keep my scripting to system maintenance or configuration chores.

Edited November 17, 2005 by RogueSpear

[InTheWayBoy]

But when the fat lady sings, sometimes you gotta go with what works.

Bingo!

[MHz]

I have added a solution into the AutoIt thread. It handles both parts of the installation automagically. It will work fine from RunOnceEx. Not sure what would happen from installing at Cmdlines.txt time, as to wherher it would be still a 2 part install as no services run at that time to worry the forced reboot required.