109 replies to this topic

[Brito]

This project is now listed on the Boot Land FAQ

[was_JFX]

This test is success
http://img190.images...ntsetuptest.gif

an "autologon" checkbox would be nice on tweaks

Yes, currently autologon is silently done if no password is used. I will add a checkbox and also one to skip OOBE, or better one checkbox for both .

This project is now listed on the Boot Land FAQ

Thanks Nuno

[was_JFX]

Version 1.4 Released

WinNTSetup now allways set the 'UnattendedInstall' in winnt.sif so Unattended settings and Also Driverintegration settings will no longer be ignored.

Added some Icons the Bootdrive, note WinNTSetup cannot 'fully' detect a bootable configuration so bootsect.exe is still recommanded even if all Icons are green.

[Lancelot]

nice to have it available again

[Filip Hasa]

Hello JFX,

please can you build native 64 bit version for WAIK amd64 image?

Thank you

[was_JFX]

Hello Filip,

I never really used VistaPE and Win7PE.
Does the x64 version not allow to run an 32 bit program or has WinNTSetup a problem with the WOW emulation?

Ok here is the first x64 Build, let me now if it works.

[Filip Hasa]

Hello JFX,

"problem" is no WOW on WAIK amd64 ;o(

Nobody did it.

Thank you for amd64 build.

FIlip

[wendy]

Since my computer died, i have been using laptops to make the next build for the replacement box. [its a home brew with vista/7 (10.60, 10.61) as the OEM DOS, but Windows XP and 2K are going on too.

Anyway, i decided to give this proggie a whirl to see what it does / does not do.

Many of the settings are being made by way of HIVEFIX.INF (see windows setup here), and WINNT.SIF.

Note that there are two kinds of character-mode setup,

1. dos version (copies files to $win_nt$.~BT and ~LS, and

2. NT boot version, which builds the Windows directory, and processes all of the hives. Since Hivefix runs at the end of this process, one can see from here what will work and what does not work in this context.

My experience with it is that some of the features (like mount windrive) don't work as advertised, but this can be generally overcome (by editing Migrate.inf). All the same, it has the makings of a very useful front-end to a multi-system boot disk.

Hint: Windows does not assign drive letters until it is booted, so the NTLDR drive can be anything, as well as the SystemDrive. My lappie boots from primary partition #2, which XP sees as D:, while C: is the system drive.

Here are some ideas i came up with.

1. The ability to save and load settings. This is essential if you want to set a multi-boot cd with ntsetup.exe as the front end.

2. Ability to prepend a directory to the default i386. for example, something like g:\home;g:\ would look in g:\home, and the g:\i386 for the file when building windows installs. This would effect multiple installs for different computers.

3. The "default user" and "all users" can be named in vista style, even in Win2k. see my HIVEFIX.INF for details (i use users\default and users\public in the style of vista here.

The next attempt is to modify migrate.sif by hand, to see if i can get the boot and windows drives as P:, Q: respectively. As in OS/2, ram drive is R:, S: is the first cdrom.

On the main, it works well.

[was_JFX]

My experience with it is that some of the features (like mount windrive) don't work as advertised, but this can be generally overcome (by editing Migrate.inf). All the same, it has the makings of a very useful front-end to a multi-system boot disk.

This function reads the current DosDevices entire inside the MountedDevices key from the registry and rename it to the slected driveletter. Normally this shut work fine but in a default LiveXP it seems this entries get not updated. I will see if there is a better way for this.

Hint: Windows does not assign drive letters until it is booted, so the NTLDR drive can be anything, as well as the SystemDrive. My lappie boots from primary partition #2, which XP sees as D:, while C: is the system drive.

I know but you will need NTLDR on an active primary partition, to be able to boot

1. The ability to save and load settings. This is essential if you want to set a multi-boot cd with ntsetup.exe as the front end.

Okay, I will add this.

2. Ability to prepend a directory to the default i386. for example, something like g:\home;g:\ would look in g:\home, and the g:\i386 for the file when building windows installs. This would effect multiple installs for different computers.

I'm not sure i understand want you want to say.

3. The "default user" and "all users" can be named in vista style, even in Win2k. see my HIVEFIX.INF for details (i use users\default and users\public in the style of vista here.

I wanted to add such a function, used winnt.sif or the HIVESFT.Inf. Well it worked nice in the x86 version but sometimes caused trouble in the 2k3/XP x64 Setup.
I will check if your HIVEFIX.INF, hope it can fix this problem

BTW: Is not a frontend, it is thought as a replacement

[wendy]

It's indeed a wonderful replacement. I've used it a few times.

I tried by editing migrate.inf early in the piece, but this (or something) hung the install. I think the trick is to feed it as an INF late in the process, before the first boot. [ie put an Addreg section like i do with HIVEFIX.]

The thing about a second directory is so that one can have a base install, and various difference directories, for different computers or something.

NTLDR does not see "drive c:" as such, it sees the root of an active partition. My laptop over there is quite happily booting from an active partition D: and the files on C:. Still, it's my little project.

[wendy]

I've been playing around with WinNTSetup 1.40 against Windows XP on some of my laptops now. It seems to work very well.

You don't need the cd disk in the drive, so you can put a different one to modify setup. I used winpe to do this. It is in the cdrom, which ye access via the bios boot-menu option.

cd d:\fenster\system32\config
reg load hklm\setup system
regedit
(rename the drive keys in the HKLM\MountedDevices key)
reg unload hklm\setup
exit

I set my laptop up to have

P: Boot drive
Q: System drive
R: ram drive (in the fashion of OS/2)
S: cd-rom (in the fashion of OS/2)

If you put a usb-stick into the system, it gives it an unused letter, like c: - how cute.

Attached Thumbnails

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[was_jaclaz]

I know but you will need NTLDR on an active primary partition, to be able to boot

NTLDR does not see "drive c:" as such, it sees the root of an active partition. My laptop over there is quite happily booting from an active partition D: and the files on C:. Still, it's my little project.

Just in case, a NT boot floppy (or floppy image mapped with grub4dos) can be used allright to boot a system, I guess this could be added as an option.
http://www.xxcopy.com/xxcopy33.htm
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=4213



jaclaz

[was_JFX]

Hi wendy,

sorry for my delay posting here, I'm currently a bit busy.

You are right, there really was a problem with migrate.inf creation, so drive letter assignment wasn't working since switched to Unicode.

This one should fix it: WinNTSetup_v141

@jaclaz

Sound interesting, but actually I wanted it to be as simple as possible. And if there still problems with Grub on some hardware it's not an option.

However I have some problems to realize to new features for version 2, so for now there are only bug fixes on the to do list for the current version.

[was_jaclaz]

And if there still problems with Grub on some hardware it's not an option.

There aren't ANY documented ones!

It's a simple myth, spread around by a rather authorative font :
http://www.boot-land...?...c=9295&st=8

There may be incompatibilities with some ways grub4dos is used (i.e. installed to the MBR as grldr.mbr vs. installed to bootsector), that's all.

Some of these have been reported on fuwi's thread:
http://www.911cd.net...o...1702&st=166
http://www.911cd.net...o...1702&st=226
http://www.911cd.net...o...1702&st=242

Every documented incompatibilities found have been always fixed and/or a workaround for the peculiar case has been found.

However I have some problems to realize to new features for version 2, so for now there are only bug fixes on the to do list for the current version.

No hurry whatsoever.



jaclaz

[wendy]

An NT boot floppy does not load DOS letters. It uses the partition sequence.

So if you have like the laptop example: with two copies of Windows XP on it:

disk(0)partition(1)\fenster Q: or D:
disk(0)partition(2)\windows P: or C:

All ntldr needs to see is disk(0)partition(1)\fenster or disk(0)partition(2)\windows.

[was_JFX]

There aren't ANY documented ones!

It's a simple myth, spread around by a rather authorative font :

Ok, it was just a myth I readed often around the 'Boot' forums. Anyone want to play MythBusters and prove that there are no problems

An NT boot floppy does not load DOS letters. It uses the partition sequence.

So if you have like the laptop example: with two copies of Windows XP on it:

disk(0)partition(1)\fenster Q: or D:
disk(0)partition(2)\windows P: or C:

All ntldr needs to see is disk(0)partition(1)\fenster or disk(0)partition(2)\windows.

You can also use driveletters insteed of the ARC-Path in boot.ini. Sample use

C:\Windows="Boot Windows from the Active partition of drive 0 in folder \Windows"

D:\Windows="Boot Windows from the 2 Volume of drive 0 in folder \Windows"

I know but you will need NTLDR on an active primary partition, to be able to boot

Sure there are other possibility's but what will the TXTMODE of Setup do
It will update the Boot configuration of the active primary to be able to boot in the GUIMODE.
So there is not much sense to change to an other way, if in the end it will be the same.

[wendy]

v 1.41 did fix the drive letter problem. I installed a copy of Windows XP onto a non-active partition G:, although this would have been called D: had Windows had its way. No migrate,inf was used.

very well done!

[was_jaclaz]

You can also use driveletters insteed of the ARC-Path in boot.ini. Sample use

C:\Windows="Boot Windows from the Active partition of drive 0 in folder \Windows"

D:\Windows="Boot Windows from the 2 Volume of drive 0 in folder \Windows"

Is this tested and confirmed?

I mean for non-standard "\Windows\" path?

AFAICR the old rule for chainloading a bootsector (the way we used to multiboot with DOS or other OS with BOOTPART, in the old times of NT 4.00) made no difference with drive letter, i.e. C:\boosect.dos or D:\bootsect.dos resolved to "bootsect.dos on the same volume NTLDR is", maybe it has changed with newer versions of NTLDR?

Or maybe this is accurate (from READM_GRUB4DOS.txt):

Copy GRLDR to the root directory of

		drive C: of Windows NT/2000/XP and append to C:\BOOT.INI

		this line:



			C:\GRLDR="Start GRUB"



		That will be done. The GRLDR should be in the same directory

		as BOOT.INI and NTLDR. Note that BOOT.INI is usually hidden

		and you must unhide it before you can see it. The filename

		GRLDR shouldn't be changed. If GRLDR is in a NTFS partition,

		it should be copied to the root directory of another non-NTFS

		partition(and likewise should the menu.lst file be). If GRLDR

		is compressed, e.g., in a NTFS partition, it will not work.



		Even if the drive letter of this disk has been changed to

		other than C by the Windows device manager, it seems you still

		have to use the letter C here in BOOT.INI, otherwise, NTLDR

		will fail to locate the GRLDR file.



		And what's more, if you are booting NTLDR from a floppy, you

		will have to write the GRLDR line in A:\BOOT.INI like this:



			C:\GRLDR="Start GRUB"



		and shouldn't use the letter A like this:



			A:\GRLDR="Start GRUB"



		(Note that in the case when BOOT.INI is on floppy A, the

		notation "C:\GRLDR" actually refer to the file A:\GRLDR).

But must be "interpreted", i.e. the C:\ or D:\ letters are NOT necessarily the drive letters you actually have in your Windows once booted, (that may have been "shifted/renamed") but rather the drive letters that Windows would assign by itself along the Rules here:
http://support.micro...kb/234048/en-us

The following are the basic disk drive letter assignment rules for Windows 2000:

• Scan all fixed hard disks as they are enumerated, assign drive letters starting with any active primary partitions (if there is one), otherwise, scan the first primary partition on each drive. Assign next available letter starting with C:
• Repeat scan for all fixed hard disks and removable (JAZ, MO) disks and assign drive letters to all logical drives in an extended partition, or the removable disk(s) as enumerated. Assign next available letter starting with C:.
• Finally, repeat scan for all fixed hard disk drives, and assign drive letters to all remaining primary partitions. Assign next available letter starting with C:.
• Floppy drives. Assign letter starting with A:
• CD-ROM drives. Assign next available letter starting with D:.

jaclaz

[was_JFX]

Is this tested and confirmed?
I mean for non-standard "\Windows\" path?

Yep, but it's not so easy to determinate the right letter, I guess the 5 rules your posted are correct.

[wendy]

The \WINDOWS\ bit is just used to find the windows setup. I've installed Windows 3.51, 4.00, 2000, XP and 2003 all in directories named \FENSTER\, and even \WINNT\.

The drive letter that Windows is installed on, save WinNTSetup, is set by way of the drives that setupldr sees when it looks at the drives in text-mode. If ye have a USB drive plugged in, and the system is installed onto a secondary partition, this can leave a hole in the drive letters.

Once the system is setup, the drives are set by way of the registry settings.

[was_jaclaz]

@Wendy
Yep.

The default for NT 3.5 and 4.0 is \WINNT\ .
The default for 2K is as well \WINNT\ .
The default for XP is \WINDOWS\ .

At least in XP , if you completely remove the BOOT.INI, it will try load the system from C:\WINDOWS\ .


jaclaz

[adric]

When I run WinntSetup to install from a hard drive and I use some of the reg tweaks such as security tab etc., I see the following errors in the setuperr.log after installation:

Error:
Setup detected that the system file named [c:\windows\system32\rshx32.dll] is not signed properly
by Microsoft. This file could not be restored to the correct Microsoft version.
Use the SFC utility to verify the integrity of the file.

***

Error:
Setup detected that the system file named [c:\windows\system32\syssetup.dll] is not signed properly
by Microsoft. This file could not be restored to the correct Microsoft version.
Use the SFC utility to verify the integrity of the file.

***

If I leave the tweaks off, the log is clean.

[olegpov]

@adric
You have described Correct behaviour of Windows setup.
Question and in what your question?

[adric]

My question is why am I getting these errors when selecting registry tweaks and not when leaving them out. I thought I made that clear or did you not read past the error messages

Please explain what correct behavior of windows setup is and why I will sometimes see such errors and sometimes not.

Thanks

[was_JFX]

Not all of these tweaks are only registry settings, some will also need patching system files to work.
Windows Setup will detect changed files and list them in the setuperr.log
There is nothing to worry about.