Im trying to build a nativeEX image to boot over PXE for some file recovery, diagnosis, ghosting etc.
I had succeeded in PXE booting XP images before, but those images where made with BartPE Builder, they worked fine, but the smallest one (with extra drivers and apps) is over 200mb, and i want a smaller one to use in computers with low RAM. So i tought using Winbuilder to build a nativeEX image wich is quite small, and then figure out how to add drivers and apps to it.
The thing is i been stuck for days trying to boot the image over pxe, here is what i have, what i have done, and the error i get.
Using Winbuilder 080 running in Windows 7 professional, using a WindowsXP SP3 CD as source, i run the script with all options set to their default values, the only change to options i made is check "Boot from RAM" instead of "Create ISO" under the create image section. I selected the "i provide the files" option and pointed to the directory where those files (ramdisk.sys and setupldr.bin) are located, i got those files from Windows Server SP1.
After several hours and build fails, i learned that i first had to install the Imdisk virtual disk driver (it would have been "nice" if this was mentioned somewhere in the script´s documentation).
And finally, i was able to successfully build the image, and ti worked fine when emulated / tested from winimage.
So i moved it to my TFTPRoot folder, and pointed my WINNT.SIF file to it.
The other computer connects to the TFTP server, downloads the image from it, and just after the image file is downloaded, i get an error:
INF File txtsetup.sif is corrupt or missing, status 14 Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.
I dont think there is a problem with my TFTP server configuration, because im able to boot the BartPE images perfectly, so i figure it must be something with the image itself.
Just in case, here is the directory structure onf my tftproot:
xpwb.iso (this is the image file created with winbuilder) NTDETECT.COM NTLDR startrom.com startrom.n12 WINNT.SIF
my winnt.sif file:
[SetupData] BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)" BootPath = "\i386\System32\" OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=xpwb.iso" Architecture = "i386"
And my tftp server (tftpd32) points to the startrom.com file
Maybe i need to set (or unset) some option on winbuilder before building the image?, maybe i need a diferent configuration on my tftp server to boot this image?
Please help me out (before i pull out all of my hair! hehe)
Thanks in advance