Some small feature-requests...

[AlBundy33]

First: REALLY COOL PIECE OF CODE

My first way to integrate the hotfixes was during T-13 with svcpack.inf but this takes a lot of time to install - the hfslip-way is definitely the best way.

But I have some wishes for the next release:

1. please add a setting tt HFANSWER.INI to suppress the "I HAVE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS"-"dialog"

2. I need also an option like CREATEISO in HFANSWER.INI to enable or disable the iso-building - I have cdimage.exe in my HFTOOLS-folder an so HFSLIP builds everytime the ISO

3. it would be very nice to set the output-path for the SOURCESS-dir (btw. what means the SS in the dir-name?) and for the ISO-output-folder

4. an extra folder like ROOT would be very nice to put some files on the cd-root (I want to add DOCS, SUPPORT, DOTNETFX and so automaticly on the the image - just to create an orignal xp-cd)

5. this seems to be a strange thing but I hope that there is a solution: If I start hfslip.cmd the console-window grabs sometims the focus and this is really bothering if I want to use another program. Is there a way to keep all hfslip-actions in background?

These are my ideas for the next version.

Did I mentioned before that hfslip is really great?!?

Greetings

Al

[johndoe74]

i second the request for #5 up there. it's really irritating when it steals focus away from other programs. and i wouldn't mind if you guys could add a setting (or PM it to me if it already exists) to suppress the very last "press any key to continue" dialog once hfslip is all done cuz then i have a solution for #5 up there

Edited May 9, 2007 by johndoe74

[fdv]

1. That's the first thing I do when I download a new HFSLIP. Though seeing as I wrote the first set of instructions I guess that's appropriate Open the file in a text editor.

no two

3. That was made so that when someone has problems we here can refer to that folder and ppl know exactly what is meant, among other reasons.

4. The ROOT concept is interesting. Thats' what the SOURCES folder is for really.

5. This is Windows. You can affect scheduling of the 16 bit subsystem but you can't affect whether or not it occasionally grabs focus.

[AlBundy33]

Ok it's no problem remove the "I HAVE..."-dialog but I think this is a good "expert"-setting for people who know what they are doing.

It's also no problem when all have to use the SOURCESS-folder but I think that a configurable ISO-output-folder is a good thing.

I tried to put my folders (DOCS, SUPPORT, ...) to the SOURCE-folder and it really works - they are also in SOURCESS.

To #5: I already said that this is a strange thing.

Al

[johndoe74]

but i have a solution for #5. if only someone could help with my request there. like put some sort of variable in hfanswer to get rid of that last little thing...

[AlBundy33]

but i have a solution for #5. if only someone could help with my request there. like put some sort of variable in hfanswer to get rid of that last little thing...

Could you please describe what you want to do?

Al

[johndoe74]

i already have the solution for "i have read the instructions" and every other place where user intervention is required so i can make hfslip itself totally unattended (it's all build into hfslip - all i did was read somebody else's hfanswer file ), just that it gets stuck at "hfslip is now done, press any key to continue" at the end. once i get that, i can make hfslip disappear completely into the background from beginning to end

Edited May 9, 2007 by johndoe74

[Tomcat76]

@AlBundy33

#1. Already exists. I don't make it public because people should read the instructions. If you look around, you'll find some HFANSWER.INI files in attachments.

#2. Already exists. MAKENOISO=1 skips creation of the ISO as explained in the documentation.

#3. This won't be done. It would make things too complex. The "SS" stands for "SlipStreamed".

#4. DOCS, SUPPORT, DOTNETFX, etc. go in the SOURCE folder, just like the I386 folder and the CD tags. This is explained in Step 2 of the Basic how-to guide.

#5. This isn't HFSLIP stealing focus but the hotfixes. The /Q switch that HFSLIP uses hides the dialogs you'd normally see when the hotfixes are extracted, but even when hidden they take focus. I don't know how to get around that.

[johndoe74]

ok, i'll tell ya how i managed to do it. i used the attached hidec.exe to open hfslip (once all the proper changes were made to hfanswer).

hidec.exe /w hfslip.cmd

makes it entirely invisible, no stealing focus, no nothing only it doesn't quit by itself cuz it gets stuck at the last "press any key" hence i have to end the task manually by guessing that it's finished doing it's magic (it's invisible, remember) when all the temp folders "work" etc. have disappeared

hidec.exe

Edited May 9, 2007 by johndoe74

[AlBundy33]

@AlBundy33

#1. Already exists. I don't make it public because people should read the instructions. If you look around, you'll find some HFANSWER.INI files in attachments.

#2. Already exists. MAKENOISO=1 skips creation of the ISO as explained in the documentation.

#3. This won't be done. It would make things too complex. The "SS" stands for "SlipStreamed".

#4. DOCS, SUPPORT, DOTNETFX, etc. go in the SOURCE folder, just like the I386 folder and the CD tags. This is explained in Step 2 of the Basic how-to guide.

#5. This isn't HFSLIP stealing focus but the hotfixes. The /Q switch that HFSLIP uses hides the dialogs you'd normally see when the hotfixes are extracted, but even when hidden they take focus. I don't know how to get around that.

#1. located

#2. Looks good - I will test it.

#3. And what about the ISO-output-folder? In Version 1.4.2 I tried ISONAME=..\HFSLIP.ISO but this doesn't really work.

#4. works

#5. Hope that somebody will find a solution.

[EDIT]

To #5: What about cmdow.exe? Maybe it's enough to start the hotfixes with

... cmdow /RUN /HID %%I /Q ...

It should be enough to to something like

IF EXIST HFTools\cmdow.exe (
	SET RUNHIDDEN=HFTools\cmdow.exe /RUN /HID
) ELSE (
	SET RUNHIDDEN=
)

and start the hotfixes with

... DO %RUNHIDDEN% %%I /Q...

[/EDIT]

Al

Edited May 9, 2007 by AlBundy33

[Tomcat76]

With ISONAME you can define the name of the ISO. I thought that was clear...

As far as defining the folder is concerned... "Refer to previous statement" on the SOURCESS folder...

I'll check out your suggestion. No promises, though...

[tain]

/hopes are high for #5

[Tomcat76]

AlBundy33--

That doesn't work for me. The hidden dialogs still take focus, ALL file names are shown during the extraction process (including the _sfx_ files), and I'm getting errors all over the place:

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

A subdirectory or file TEMP already exists.

The directory is not empty.

Access is denied.

File creation error - The system cannot find the file specified.

And if I use this in conjunction with START/WAIT, I get tons of DOS boxes flashing in my face too.

However, I'm not sure I get what you mean by this:

... DO %RUNHIDDEN% %%I /Q...

There is no "DO" in the syntax HFSLIP is using to extract hotfixes:

START/WAIT HF\%HF% /Q /X:TEMP (for type 1)

START/WAIT HF\%HF% /Q /T:"%PREP%TEMP" /C (for type 2)

Either way, chances are slim I'll be experimenting with CMDOW.EXE some more. Someone else suggested to move away from CMDOW.EXE to something like hidcon.exe or hidec.exe because of the many anti-virus programs that tag it as a trojan. I'm already working on that.

[glentium]

Well, it's really quite annoying to use the computer with the DOS windows flashing and everything.. So, I think we should leave the computer alone while HFSLIP is running.. after all, it's in the instruction

Edited May 10, 2007 by glentium

[AlBundy33]

Type2-Hotfixes (that with the yellow icon - e.g. WindowsXP-KB923789-x86-DEU.exe) can be extracted with 7-Zip Command-line version (not 7za.exe).

This command-line version is included in the installer - you'll need 7z.exe, codecs-, formats- and lang-folder (just put them into HFTOOLS).

Syntax is the same like 7za.exe but it can extract more archives (e.g. the Hotfixes, RAR, ...).

It's also possible to extract the Type1-Hotfix but the result is a set of _sfx_00xx._p files.

Maybe we'll find a way to use 7z.exe to extract the hotfixes - I think this would be a good solution to fix the focus-"bug".

Al