90 replies to this topic

[thunn]

hello. On this page you'll find the NativePE customized preinstallation environment.

In Winbuilder you'll find NativePE on the Downloads page under:

thuun.boot-land.net/WinBldr/XP-2K3/Projects

*It's official!! XP SP3 is now supported as a source

Server 2003 sources are still experimental.

And of course, XP SP2 sources will work as before.


-- See below for the earlier version's changelog.
-- See Winbuilder's download page for further details on recent changes.
--
Here I'll leave some notes about updates if time permits.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- OO Defrag added!
- TrueImage Omni added!
-
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Update, scripting consistency: All instances of %SystemDrive% and %SystemRoot% have been replaced with either the expanded path via some variable if applicable or special characters are used, e.g.: #$pSystemRoot#$p is used instead of %SystemRoot% so that it should never be confused with the local system variable. Usually not an issue, but my system is not necessarily like yours. Additionally, wb versions may not all perform the same.
- Added: PowerISO 3.8 for PE with virtual drive management service for mounting up to 8 images. Manipulate, compresses, and burn common image formats in pe.

- Added: ScriptingCore.script, Adds pre-registered support for WSH, VBS, JS, and OLE automation

- Updated: Create BcdwPE ( for Carfan ) I don't think I can fit another feature into this one.

~ I'll attach an update for VBox here below, I just assume use the prior version for the nativepe server as the setup has grown several MB. ( boo, hiss!! ). When I repackage VBox as a 7zSfx the setup is about 1/2 the size of the .msi., but the eula requires we dl the setup .msi. See below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--changes-- upto-0708
- The Usb script had a reg file which contained many unrelated entries. In these were UpperFilter entries that ruined some disk service functions, also, many networking and other entries. Hopefully the revision will perform as needed for everyone. It makes possible the following..
- ReAdded: Acronis Disk Director with some licensing options it needed. It now has a partner Snapman UpperFilters script in the project PostProc dir.
- VirtualBox revision! working within the limits of the innotek license, vbox is downloaded from innotek directly and installed silently on the fly. It can be uninstalled quietly each time the script runs or left installed on the user's system. A new logo was added for the fun of it.
- Some changes to make scripts portable between projects, currently buildmodel and the Xpe shell are supported in most app scripts. You may google bartPEcore for a Xpe based wb project, you should find something.
--end update--

- Added xxxxBin.script template for binaries over 5 MB. There are 2, avast and firefox.
- Introduced WB Version script to include a tested version of winbuilder. This avoids issues with unstable betas while development takes place.
- Modified several scripts so they're portable and may be removed from this project and used elsewhere. (I'm currently using some scripts as post processing tools for Bart's pebuilder)
- Added: VMWare script modified to include full and thin clients plus option to keep old VM.
- Updated: Netmeter script, added display and some other options.
- Updated: Firefox (v2.0.0.4) for WinBuilder, script revised, loads faster.
- Updated: Opera 8.54, repackaged to save some space (no files removed), file associations and shortcuts repaired, start panel shortcut added.
- Explorer script updated adding shortcut creation support (see desktop rt. click menu).
- System added to administrators group.. net.exe localgroup administrators /add system
- Context menus and control panel cleaned up, non functional entries removed from registry. (cplfix.reg updated)
- Discovered HivesFactory may have an issue when "[" or "]" are found in the folder path to the %BaseDir%. If you receive a hojope.exe error report during the build, try using another folder.
- Minor updates to several scripts, mostly cosmetic.
....updated....
- Some structural changes. Either RAM Drive may be used for any letter (so long as not the same).
- Various fixes to achieve stability.
- Added Filedisk Ramdrive script, also includes shell extension. If option is selected, during the build the normal %ProgramFiles% is transferred to the ramdrive image. At boot time the image is mounted and linked to "%SystemDrive%\Program Files".
Please note that nested NTFS compression is used and does not support mounting of certain images. Also, VDK did not function normally in these tests. The compression ratio however is good, examining the free space of the finished build's disks should be some fun.
- Two new diagnostic scripts, RM RAMtester and UnknownDevices PCI inspector.
- Minlogon now reintegrated without issue.
- A new AIO project package is available that unpacks a 7zSfx exe archive containing all needed scripts and files. It doesn't include firefox or avast, two large scripts, or other bulky unrequired items/options.
- Project updated with misc. changes for WinBldr 71 beta1
- Create BcdwPE script updated: Runs w/o temp files; Drive in use check added to eliminate using any pre-existing drive z: (default letter).
- Various sub-folders added for organization of scripts.
- Early Vista wallpaper added, various bugs addressed.
- Project revised for WB 69 beta XX use, some small additions which include hashtab.dll (see file properties) and NTFSRatio, accessed through rt. click on dir..
- CreateBcdwPE script creates a multiboot image with IMG InRAM and regular PE from CD boot options.
- Three extra boot option fields available in CreateBcdwPE.script to supply bcdw.ini entry information. GeeXboX Linux Media Suite is unpacked from GEEXBOX.exe if the user downloads the file in 'Tools' and checks the option box. Acronis product ISOs are easy to add, DiskDirector Linux example provided.
- Avast Scanner script updated, the new product versions is 4.7.1001.0. UI revised.
- FoxitReader script updated with syntax corrections and a new version of FoxitReader.exe.
- MMC now fully functional (replaces defragnt and updatedevices).
- 7zSfz Backup script saves projects in a highly compressed archive for restoration at a later time. Find it in the Tools scripts dir..
-QuickBurn now resides in Apps and Tools, a 444 KB standalone burning app featuring internal aspi layer and and option to create a bootable iso. Burning begins without confirmation if media is found, hense, QuickBurn. So..watch out!
- FileDiskWB in Tools is to assist with creation of filedisk images that might contain PE or full NT platforms.
- Opera 8.54 is used as default browser.
- Firefox updated to v2.0.0.3 with fixes.
- 'Zune Dark' theme added and the new ResourceHacker script mods bootscreen, startbutton, etc..


notes on use
If the FBWF (File-Based Write Filter) script is used without the ramdisk script, the Ramdrive letter should be changed to "X:" in the Define Fundamentals script.
Some apps (e.g. Avast!) require a FAT Ramdrive at B: (in PE) for encrypted storage. Please keep this in mind when making changes.


As of v68 beta10, Updates may be found in WinBuilder's default project list, however,
If you find you're using an earlier version simply...
Add to or make a winbuilder.ini file:

[main]

WebServer=http://thuun.boot-land.net/WinBldr/XP-2K3/Projects

Run WinBuilder next to it. to access the scripts in the Download page.
And of course, browse if you like...

here

Pictured below, an early test project.. and, some scripts from a more recent project version.

Attached Thumbnails

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Attached Files

•  VirtualBox150.zip   9.48KB   894 downloads

[TheHive]

You project is still being reported as nativeEx_barebone in the Download Center.

[thunn]

thx
Project dir. renamed. to NativePE.

[TheHive]

I will redownload the whole project an test. I now see that the Project name in the download center as NativePE and it wont interfere with other projects.

[Brito]

Looking good!

[TheHive]

I think there is something wrong with the RAM drive Script. When I activate it and build I get the following screen.


When I dont activate the RAM drive I can bootup just fine but I get that Avast error I reported before but you already said that it needs the RamDrive for it to work so that error is expected.


There are two scripts that have Vmware Nic Drivers.
THe "VirtualBoxNIC_AMD_PCNET.script" and the "VMWareNIC.script"

[pscEx]

I tested the project:

Download into a fresh directory, changed nothing but %Source%:

• XP SP2
  • English: Boot into ISO ok
    Network: PENetwork started, Opera went to Google
    Start > Programs: a lot of programs
  • German: Boot into ISO ok
    Network: PENetwork did not start automatically
    after manual start, Opera went to Google
    Start > Programs: empty
• W2003
  • English: Boot into ISO ok
    Network: PENetwork started, Error about DHCP client
    Start > Programs: a lot of programs
  • German: Boot into ISO ok
    Network: PENetwork did not start automatically
    after manual start, Error about DHCP client
    Start > Programs: empty

The current W2003 network issues (DHCP problem) are unknown until now, but it is known that PENetwork has some troubles with W2003.
I do not judge this as an NativePE issue.

But the 'German' results show, that the project is not 'source safe'.
Maybe the FWBF files cause some troubles. I'm sure they are from an English CD.

BTW @Thunn: You should

• Empty the delivered %Source%
• Remove processUPX.Script. It is generated dynamically and should not be part of delivery.

BTW2: I confirm TheHive's RamDrive issue.
Peter

[thunn]

Addressing...Non-English issues are curious. The upx script is a slip.
On RAMdrive...3 settings for the %ramdrv variable are available, pls. check them if you make changes. I will make sure it work's correctly without configuration on the next uploaded project.

[pscEx]

Addressing...Non-English issues are curious. The upx script is a slip.

I apologize for my bad English, I do not understand 'a slip'.
But with my W2003 tests, I switched (because of saving time) UPX off.

Peter

[MedEvil]

I apologize for my bad English, I do not understand 'a slip'.
But with my W2003 tests, I switched (because of saving time) UPX off.

Peter

a slip = ein Ausrutscher

[thunn]

OK. I've performed some tests during which I discovered an issue with the just released WB, version 68beta9.
During the build the "default" hive is not unloaded and the build fails. Perhaps something can be modified in the hives factory as a work around, more testing is needed but this is problem area.
Until this is resolved please use WinBuilder 68beta8 to test this kit which performs as expected.

My other system just booted a test with a RAMDisk script in use. Everthing works.
To make sure the ramdisk script will function, do this:
1. Set the ramdrv letter to B: in define fundamentals.
2. Check the ramdisk script box to enable it.
3. In the FBWF script settings uncheck the option to define the %tmp & %ramdrv variables as X:.

The last step may or may not actually be required because the ramdisk script will be the script to define the settings mentioned because "Ramdisk" is run after "FBWF".

I'll be uploading an update very shortly that includes minor changes in the nativeEX base as well as some other things some of you should enjoy.

[thunn]

A fresh project folder has been uploaded, updates include...
- Latest nativeEX with minor changes, e.g., txtsetup loader prompt option re-added.
- Acronis scripts, DiskDirector and TrueImage, are included with a file list, if no files and sellected, prompts user w/info. (not selected by default).
- New option added to main project page, a button to clean the temp files from the last build. Unlocker.exe is extacted from the script and used silently to free locked folders for deletion.
- The RAMDisk script is enabled and now has an option to sellect between QSoft OEM and Extended drivers. While both drivers are stable each seems to have it's limitations. Switch them as you see fit. Avast is the only application that should use the ramdisk enough to cause it to 'complain', The OEM driver seems to work without issue in this case. You may want to set it to 64MB. for scanning your system.
...
Hopefully Peter or someone else can assist w/testing using a non-English source.
Tests with XPsp2-En went well using WinBuilder 68 beta8.
It's 4AM in NYC...G'night all.

[Brito]

Unlocker is a nice addon!

Nice updates!!

[pscEx]

Hopefully Peter or someone else can assist w/testing using a non-English source.
Tests with XPsp2-En went well using WinBuilder 68 beta8.
It's 4AM in NYC...G'night all.

Tested with WinBuilder 68 beta8 XP SP2 German.

Same result as before:
No start of PENetwork, Start > Programs empty.

Peter

[TheHive]

Dowload youre whole project from scratch on its own NativePE Test Folder using WinBuilder068 Beta9 Updated version.
I would recommend using Qemu from LiveXP. The older one. This new one is real slow to come up and when you launch Opera for example it seems like it is not launching. I have to wait a while before seing it.

The default setup of scripts created a good bootable ISO. No erros while booting or while completed bootup to desktop.




I see you took out the CMD option.

When selecting the Avast script it takes a while to show the gui part of of the script to show up.


When testing Avast on Qemu when it boots up Avast downloads something instead of launching avast the program.


So when i click on Avast it downloads a 5MB file. Then that is done but Avast doesnt launch. I click on the Avast shortcut again and its doing its thing and I get a message about not having enough Ram again. This means I have to restart Qemu again with more RAM and Redownload the 5MB file again.

[TheHive]

Suggestions to the Acronis Scripts.
In the Script gui there is a line that says that the user should see the filelist.
I dont know if Winbuilder has an option for the following.
It would be better if the user could click on a link and use the Winbuilder Web tab to show the information in the Acronis-filelist.txt.

Recommend disabling UPX by default. That way more people will create a working ISO that will boot fine with less RAM.

In youre case for the project I would also recommend using the WB Manager.
It will allow you to specify a good name like

Basic Build using less RAM - Default - No compression and uses less RAM.
Medium - Uses more RAM but files are compressed to save space on Final Build.

Name can change to better suite the Layouts.

[pscEx]

• XP SP2
• German: Boot into ISO ok
  Network: PENetwork did not start automatically
  after manual start, Opera went to Google
  Start > Programs: empty

...

But the 'German' results show, that the project is not 'source safe'.
Maybe the FWBF files cause some troubles. I'm sure they are from an English CD.

I tested in original nativeEx_barebone
Added FBWFldr.Script
Disabled Ramdrive.Script
Set Ramdrive to X: in !Fundamentals.Script
Checked 'Set Ramdrive to X:' in FBWFldr.Script.

Result: Same as above.

Conclusion: ISO with FBWFldr.Script does not run properly when made from German source.
Propably: ISO with FBWFldr.Script does not run properly when made from non-English source.

Peter

[Brito]

thunn, don't forget to upload a script.project file with a clean source directory, otherwise there won't be any message outputing that the source is not valid (the "nudge" effect.. ) for other users

It took a bit longer to startup - probably because of the qemu version has theHive mentioned, and network hasn't worked as expected - but this is likely because of my connection.

The start menu bar would probably work better in classic mode to ease viewing all the programs.

CD/DVD burn program looks really cool and easy to use.

Also liked the overall presentation of programs like foxIt, netmeter and sala's password renew and the overall automated process for RAM boot - they worked very well..

Then I've noticed that Avast wasn't selected by default, checked out the script - really good design. The only problem is that it takes a really long while to load the script into memory just read the interface section - this will be something that I will work to see fixed over the next weeks.

Keep it up!!

[TheHive]

Avast running and scanned drives on Vmware.

[thunn]

Thank you all for testing my project!
To address various questions / commects...

-->Hive, you ran avast and the VM ran out of memory, just set VM mem to 512MB. & ramdisk to 64MB. (I'll change the ramdisk setting). What do you guys think about setting the new RAM value standard to 512MB? If a user has 512MB, Using 384MB. doesn't leave much to work with. If you don't have 1GB. of RAM for your test machine, I say it's time to break the piggy bank.
--Sometimes when you run avast for the 1st time It will update, but not load the GUI. After 1st launch all is normal. It's odd. The loader script I wrote is correct and functions normally in my full 250MB. PE suite, It's very minor. You'll notice a silent vps update is performed if NET is active. Also, it will load faster if you check "unpack at startup" and it won't delay startup much at all, it unpacks as other startup items continue to run.
--The suggestion about using WBmanager is a good one, I'll make other build settings for users in the near future.

-->Peter, I'm guessing if you add a FBWF to a plain nativeEX with nothing else it also has a problem. You're not the only one to have this trouble. Russian users report that even though the FBWF driver is supposed to be multi-language, it has a problem with some non-English characters. This was actually the reason I included many different drivers to choose from in case it might help. However, the driver really is not for XP / Srv2k3 anyway, in fact, the final version which addressed this issue won't even work. Disable it and use one of the ramdisk drivers, that's all you can do. Thank you for performing the tests!

A quick bit of info. on today's project update...
- New script: DefragNT, for basic defragmenting of NTFS volumes, very small prog..
- Clean project temp files button now works perfectly and completely unlocks the %basedir% (main folder) so no active handles are left open. (user's may not notice a diff.)
- The Ramdisk script was replaced because it was corrupted durring an upload. This may help a few things.
- Acronis scripts UI updated.
- Minor cosmetic changes to main UI.
- I've changed a few settings mentioned above including...
FBWF: Free space reduced a liitle, now 10% of RAM vs. 15%. Driver version switched in settings.
Ramdisk: Now set to 64MB., avast won't run out of memory if enabled.
~enjoy!

[thunn]

As of late the CDRecord script is not working correctly, I think it would be nice to update that script with an option to create a bootable or normal data ISO. The existing autoit script could include some extra functions for oscdimg.exe and/or mkisofs.exe. Wouldn't that be groovy? :
Or, I have a sample script that uses input boxes and simple commands for making and burning discs with tools alreaded in the tools folder, I was having trouble with fileboxes displying incorrectly when too close to one another, the UI needs to be reworked and the commands updated, maybe.
For now i'm looking for a tool to make a bootable iso from a drive or folder with an option to burn it. Something as small as possible while providing mentioned functions, nothing fancy. Dirk Paehl's freeware comes very close, but does not include an option for adding a bootsector. It seems reasonable to assume these features wouldn't require any more than half a MB. Closest prog. is perhaps the CDImage GUI, which is about the right size after UPX compression, but not so user friendly if you haven't used many cmdline tools.
Right now I'm working on reducing/restructuring the Infra Recorder package. We're already using most of the core components like mkisofs.exe and cdrecord.exe, though the versions are different. Hopefully it will cooperate. It's a very nice burning solution, if you havent checked it out, it's worth a look.
Another tool I think looks very good is simply called isoburn by ghosthunter who makes a few others as well with various degrees of functionality, this one came out looking sharp, I'll attach it as it's only a quarter MB.. It may be a very good replacement for the Active@ ISOburner prog., it's less than half the size I think. Anyway...

Tell me about your favorite little ISO tool, preferibly 1MB. or less.

See 2 down for the application I sought, also from the creator of burniso...eh, eh.

Attached Files

•  burniso.zip   240.77KB   730 downloads

[pscEx]

As of late the CDRecord script is not working correctly

What is going wrong?

I think it would be nice to update that script with an option to create a bootable or normal data ISO. The existing autoit script could include some extra functions for oscdimg.exe and/or mkisofs.exe.

CDRecord.Script is made to burn an existing ISO to CD, if necessary to empty a RW before.
It is not thought to be a CD authoring tool.

Peter

[Brito]

Tell me about your favorite little ISO tool, preferibly 1MB. or less.

I'm waiting for this one to be released:
http://www.slax.org/get-paid.php


Your development sounds excellent!

[thunn]

OK! the main NativePE project UI is finished after a short period of construction. I hope you all like it.

Now I can get back to tinkering with some other scripts. First one is a EWF script that will work using features from the Boot SDI script. The objective is to automate an MiniNT install for EWF to work. It requires a bootloader that replaces ntldr. This would be helpfull to non-English users that have problems with the FBWF driver. It's not a very friendly driver.

Nuno, That's a very good piece of info in your link, I'll keep it bookmarked. I spent a half hour reading on Linux LiveCD projects too. thanks!

Peter, I know your cdrecord script is for project images, but it didn't work when I tested it. I hope it's looking for "%ISOfile%" and not "LiveXP.iso". If not, that would be the problem. In any event, I found a GUI tool that is well suited to users needs and quite small, as mentioned above, ISOBurn.exe should do the job nicely.
I would still like to see the cdrec. script updated if you have time.

[Brito]

I also like the slax attitude - their projects are neat, my personal favourite is the one that uses XFCE as shell, very sleek looking UI - just wish I could port it to win32 under cygwin in full screen as well..

Looking forward for your next releases..