Force a copy of I386 folder to C:\

[creol]

This is probably a trivial question, but for some reason I cannot figure it out. I tried /makelocalsource and /copysource:Foldername. I just want to leave a copy of the I386 folder that is used during install on the HD once it is complete.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you,

Creol

[phkninja]

You could add an xcopy command to the commands.txt file to copy the i386 folder from the sourcedisk to the HDD

Edited January 3, 2006 by phkninja

[creol]

Yeah I am doing that now. (I should have mentioned that) but it seams that if the install makes a local copy already why couldn't it just leave the copy there once it completes. Maybe this is silly but I am trying to speed up the install as much as possible.

Actually I am using the unattend method, but it pulling the files off of another server. The total install time seams to be about 30-40min. Not too bad when you figure that a Ghost image is about 15min and we are always making changes to the image requireing us to re-sysprep. Plus we were doing alot of application setup that I can script on the fly now without making new images each time.

[phkninja]

What do you mean makes a local copy already. As far as i was aware it copied the bootloader and drivers to the hard-drive (only what is needed to bootthe setup program) the installs the rest from the cd.

The reason a ghost image takes less time is because its like a zip file. It takes all the files on a harddrive and compresses them into an image file. But it does not do any configuration, the reason why windows install is slow. it has to configure the registry etc to know which files to use for the hardware. Ghost image doesnt care about configuration, it just put on a copy of what was there when the image waas created (like unzipping an archive)

[creol]

This is the unattend command that I use. Keep in mind that I am booting using BARTPE and grabbing the install files from another server.

I:\winxp\i386\winnt32.exe /debug2:I:\LOG\Debug.log /makelocalsource /s:I:\WINXP\i386 /unattend5:I:\WINXP\BOOT\Unattend.txt /syspart:c /tempdrive:c

The I:\ drive is a maped drive to \\Server\Installpoint

The benefits over Ghost are:

1. I don't need to have 10 different images for 10 different machines.

2. I can slipstream patches to the installpoint anytime I want.

3. I can automate via runonce or script any install I need prior to the userlogon.

4. I can add drivers for new hardware anytime I want (or remove them for that matter)

5. I have made BartPe setup so that I can put the CD in the PC and walk away and it will finish the entire install without any user intervention.

Back to my original question... I can see that during the inicial install it copies over the entire I386 folder. why can't I make it keep that folder in place once it completes instead of deleteing it? Is there some way to do this?

Thanks again!!

[krismark]

A copy of i386 would be useful to me as well. And what about seting Install path to look at that directory.

[Sonic]

@krismark : Answer here http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=64215 (delete first copy i386 part ...)

[Jazkal]

I add my I386 source directory to my $OEM$\$1\ directory. It automatically copies the files over during install, and from some testing I did a while back (results posted on MSFN somewhere), it was quicker than using xcopy.

[BoaSoft]

add to winnt32 command line /copydir:i386

i386 ~~t13 full copyed to windows folder.

After install aply this reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]

"SourcePath"="C:\\WINDOWS\\"

"ServicePackSourcePath"="C:\\WINDOWS\\"

"CDInstall"=dword:00000000

No prompt WFP insert disk after damage protected files - restore silent!

[Powerhouse]

There was an Old Post about doing just what the OP asked. It was the #1 Trick, called Make a Flat (not sure why it's called a flat though).

I run the Source.bat and Source.reg file from Runonceex.cmd using this...

REG ADD %KEY%\006 /VE /D "Copying Source Files to Windows Folder" /f
REG ADD %KEY%\006 /V 1 /D "%windir%\source.bat" /f

This copies the i386 folder under Windows\Source\I386 and copies this to the Registry as well.

If there is a faster way than this, I'm all for it (as xcopy takes a long time on older systems to copy the i386 folder).

I add my I386 source directory to my $OEM$\$1\ directory. It automatically copies the files over during install, and from some testing I did a while back (results posted on MSFN somewhere), it was quicker than using xcopy.

So under $OEM$\$1 did you just put the i386 folder? What about registering the folder through the Registry as has been posted above, so Windows looks for the i386 folder on the C:\i386 when it need extra drivers\reinstalled software\etc installed?

@krismark : Answer here http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=64215 (delete first copy i386 part ...)

According to your information, I can just copy the following to a batch file (more like a *.cmd file),

@echo off
title Copy CD to hard disk ...
for /f "skip=4 tokens=3" %%p in ('reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /v SourcePath') do set source=%%p
xcopy /s /y "%source%" "%systemdrive%\i386\"
set source=%systemdrive%\
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /v "SourcePath" /d "%source%i386" /f >NUL
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup" /v "Installation Sources" /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "%source%\" /f >NUL
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup" /v "SourcePath" /d "%source%\" /f >NUL
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup" /v "ServicePackSourcePath" /d "%source%\" /f >NUL
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Transaction Server\Setup(OCM)" /v "Source Path" /d "%source%\" /f >NUL
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSDTC\Setup" /v "Source Path" /d "%source%\" /f >NUL
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\COM3\Setup" /v "Source Path" /d "%source%\" /f >NUL
exit

and that will copy over the i386 folder even before my Runonceex.cmd file is ran? Is the above code for WindowsXP or for Windows2000? As all the registry settings I have seen only involve this one (in some way, shape or form)...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]
"SourcePath"="%systemroot%\\Source\\"
"ServicePackSourcePath"="%systemroot%\\Source\\"

[Sonic]

You can run the batch (as CopyCD.cmd for example ...) anywhere and execute it when you want ... in cmdlines.txt / RunOnceEx ... (and I'm testing in T-13 in repair mode with RunOnce / RunOnceEx )

The batch will read the location of original i386 folder ... and copy the folder in c:\ (you can change the path ...) and set all regkey about the path.

I have found these keys with this test : I have installed windows with D:\AOCD\i386 folder ... with Registry Crawler I have search all D:\AOCD\i386 and 7 keys are found so I modify these 7 keys to avoid any problem of location.

Goodbye.

[grubel]

Is it possible to keep temporary I386 folder create when unattended method is use ?