Some Detailed Explaination Of $OEM$ Folder

[amit_talkin]

Here some detailed explanation of $OEM$ folders...This reference may be useful to Install files on your other drives...I mean You can add files to Your Non-Root Directory...see "\$OEM$\Drive_letter"

A distribution folder is structured hierarchically and contains the Windows XP Professional installation files, as well as any device drivers and other files that are required to customize the installation. Distribution folders typically reside on a server to which the destination computers can connect. Use Setup Manager to create distribution folders.

A distribution folder provides a consistent environment for installing Windows XP Professional on multiple computers. You can use the same distribution folder for all the client computers. For example, if you install Windows XP Professional on various models of similarly configured computers, all your answer files can reference the same distribution folder. In this scenario, the distribution folder must contain all the necessary device drivers for the different client computers. Then, if a hardware component changes, you can simply copy a device driver for the new hardware component to the appropriate location within the distribution folder. You do not need to change the answer file.

You can create distribution folders on multiple servers to help load balance the servers during unattended installations of Windows XP Professional. Creating distribution folders on multiple servers also improves the performance of the file copy phase of unattended installation. This enables you to run Winnt32.exe with up to eight source file locations.

\i386 folder

The distribution folder that includes the i386 folder contents from the product CD and the following files and folders.

\$$Rename.txt file

An optional file that Setup uses during installations started in MS-DOS to convert specified file names from short to long. Each subfolder in the distribution folder that contains file names that you want to convert from short to long must have its own \$$Rename.txt file.

\$OEM$

A folder that contains all the additional files required to complete the installation. If you use the OemFilesPath key in the [unattended] section of the answer file, you can create the \$OEM$ folder outside the distribution folder.

Warning The OemPreinstall = Yes statement must appear in the [unattended] section of the answer file if you are using the \$OEM$ folder to add any more files to the system, or if you are using Cmdlines.txt.

You can instruct Setup to automatically copy directories, standard 8.3 format files, and any tools required for your automated installation to the \$OEM$ folder.

One of the additional files that you can add to the \$OEM$ folder is Cmdlines.txt. This file contains a list of commands that Setup carries out during its GUI mode. These commands can, for example, run an .inf file, an application installation command, or another executable file. For more information about the Cmdlines.txt file, see “Adding Applications” later in this chapter.

Note The graphical user interface (GUI) phase of Setup is referred to as “GUI mode,” and the text phase of Setup is referred to as “Text mode.”

If the \$OEM$ folder is in the root of the distribution folder, Setup copies all the files to the temporary directory that is created during the text phase of Setup.

\$OEM$\Textmode

A folder that contains the hardware-dependent files that Setup Loader and Text-mode Setup install on the destination computer during Text-mode Setup. These files can include original equipment manufacturer HALs, mass storage device drivers, and the Txtsetup.oem file, which directs the loading and installing of these components. These files must also be listed in the [OEMBootFiles] section of Unattend.txt.

\$OEM$\$$

A folder that is equivalent to the %systemroot% or %windir% environment variables. You can use \$OEM$\$$ to store additional files that you want copied to the folders in the Windows XP Professional system directories. For example, if you want to copy a file to the \Windows\System32 folder, place the file in \$OEM$\$$\System32.

You can also use \$OEM$\$$ to place files in a new directory (under %windir%) that is not part of the default Windows XP Professional directory structure. For example, if you want to copy OEM Plug and Play device drivers to a directory called \Windows\PnPDrvrs, place the device drivers in \$OEM$\$$\PnPDrvrs.

\$OEM$\$$\Help

A folder that contains the OEM Help files to be copied to C:

\Windows\Help during setup.

\$OEM$\$$\System32

A folder that contains files to be copied to the C:

\Windows\System32 folder during setup.

\$OEM$\$1

A folder that is equivalent to the %SystemDrive% environment variable. For example, if the operating system is installed on drive C, \$OEM$\$1 refers back to drive C. The use of a variable enables rearranging drive letters without creating errors in applications that point to a hard-coded drive letter.

\$OEM$\$1\PnPdrvrs

A folder that contains additional Plug and Play drivers that are not included with Windows XP Professional. You can replace the name of the folder (\PnPdrvrs) with any made up of eight or fewer characters. Make sure the name of this folder matches the name used in the OemPnPDriversPath entry in Unattend.txt.

Note Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 used Display and Net folders to perform the \$OEM$\$1\PnPdrvrs folder function.

\$OEM$\$1\Sysprep

An optional folder that contains the files required to run Sysprep. Most users do not have to run Sysprep at the end of an unattended installation. For more information about Sysprep, see “System Preparation Tool” earlier in this chapter.

\$OEM$\Drive_letter

Each \$OEM$\Drive_letter folder contains a folder structure that is copied to the root of the corresponding drive in the destination computer during Text-mode Setup. For example, files you put in an \$OEM$\C folder are copied to the root of drive C. You can also create subfolders in these folders. For example, \$OEM$\D\Misc creates a \Misc folder on drive D.

System Files Explanation

The following files are core components of the Windows XP Professional operating system. If you install Windows XP Professional as an upgrade from Microsoft Windows 2000 or earlier, the files listed in Table A-1 are located in the Windows\System32 folder or in Winnt\System32.

Ntoskrnl.exe>>>Executive and kernel.

Ntkrnlpa.exe>>>Executive and kernel with support for Physical Address Extension (PAE), which allows addressing of more than 4 gigabytes (GB) of physical memory.

Hal.dll>>>Hardware abstraction layer.

Win32k.sys>>>Kernel-mode part of the Win32 subsystem.

Ntdll.dll>>>Internal support functions and system service dispatch stubs to executive functions.

Kernel32.dll>>>

Advapi32.dll >>> Core Win32 subsystem DLLs.

User32.dll>>>

Gdi32.dll>>>>

Regards..

>>AMIT<<

[muiz]

Whats so new about this?

[Scubar]

in that diagram it looks as though its showing the $OEM$ folder as a subfolder of the i386 , in which case its completely wrong as the $OEM$ folder stays at the root of the install cd.

[simcam68]

in that diagram it looks as though its showing the $OEM$ folder as a subfolder of the i386 , in which case its completely wrong as the $OEM$ folder stays at the root of the install cd.

I agree, I was always under the impression that $OEM$ was in the same Dir as I386, not in the I386 Dir....

[mmarable]

If you're doing a CD or RIS install, then the $OEM$ folder is at the same level as the I386.

If you're doing a network install, or installing from another type of media (like a WinPE CD, or USB drive) then the $OEM$ will be under the I386 like in the diagram.

[jasirw]

Hi Amit,

You seem to know your stuff so i have a question (rather than posting another topic). Does the $OEM$ folder have a size limit? its just that i've got a succesfully working image using winnt.sif but when i add a large number of applications (i'm talking over 5GB) my installation hangs on the "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware" screen. If i turn off oempreinstall then my folders dont get copied over. I have limited it to exactly this area since when i remove some files everything works again,

Thanks

jasirw

[MAVERICKS CHOICE]

Still a nice graphical & educational posting nevertheless. Theres a coupla extras there I wasn't aware of.

Cheers

MC.