33 replies to this topic

[Mintaka]

I join to that appeling.
If is there somebody that can update informations about network based windows installations or can post link to relevant place, please help us.
In this days probably solution based on GPXE which is amazing boot loader http://www.etherboot.org/ can be helpfull.

[Biswajit]

I have 3 machines and i want to install winxp (unattended installation) from one pc to the other two pcs through lan connection. how do i proceed? pls hlp me.

Thanks and regards
biswajit

[steve6375]

I have written up into a sort of Tutorial, how to set up your Win 7 PC as a TFTP&DHCP server so you can PXE boot any other PC on your network.
It includes booting to a grub4dos menu and/or a WinPE3 OS. I hope it helps someone getting started with PXE booting in a home (non-server) environment.
http://sites.google....b/tutorials/pxe

The steps are not that difficult (even I could do it!) and it may help to explain some of the fundamental principals of PXE booting so you can read other guides with more understanding.

[ralgith]

I join to that appeling.
If is there somebody that can update informations about network based windows installations or can post link to relevant place, please help us.
In this days probably solution based on GPXE which is amazing boot loader http://www.etherboot.org/ can be helpfull.

Yes, gPXE is "nice", however it is severely outdated and no longer maintained. You should be using iPXE instead. This is an actively maintained fork of gPXE by one of the original developers. It is much more up to date and has more functionality than gPXE. It also has a very active mailing list, and frequently has new code added to the git repo.

As for the guide in this thread being "out of date", so what? The instructions are still valid, you just change the versions and/or download old versions to match the date of the guide.

[Ben321]

I looked at a lot of these guides to set up my TFTP server for the first time, but I didn't find any of them to be 100% complete. Sure there were useful things in each one, but I did not feel any of them to be a sit down, here's all the steps to do it walkthrough. So I made one.

This guide will hopefully show anyone how to take a blank XP box, and end up with a fully functioning TFTPD32 based server. I did extend it a little bit to include how to slipstream a lot of XP drivers into the install, as well as sample files to make it fully unattended. This is the exact method I used to create a server that rolls out completely unattended installs, including drivers, and with use of the $OEM$ folder, automate complete applications and registry tweaks. With enough time, you can customize it to have a one or two keystroke complete isntall, without using ghost.

This is the first guide I've ever written. Any input would be nice.

 

And the fact you showed how to slipstream drivers was an imediate, "FORGET THIS" for me. I didn't even bother to read the tutorial. The moment you advertised it with these extra steps of driver slipstream bla bla bla, I decided to not even bother reading the tutorial. I'm NOT a network administrator. I'm NOT a professional computer engineer. I'm an amateur geek, who just wants to be able to say for the sake of accomplishing something cool "Hey look, I booted my computer without a harddrive, using the network connection".

 

I found NOTHING online that was directed at ametur geeks like myself. They ALL are aimed at professionals, with the assumption that the target audience already knows SOMETHING about the target. Let me tell you I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about how to even do a fraction of the steps needed to perform a "network boot". And then I saw your post and you looked like a "savior" with this regard, but then you have to add COMPLICATED CRAP ABOUT SLIPSTREAMING DRIVERS!!!!!!!!! What does that even mean? You know I don't really care.

 

Here is what I want. I want you to create a tutorial that fits the below description.

 

I want to know a BARE STRIPPED DOWN ABSOLUTE MINIMUM set of steps on how to bet a computer to boot using the current version of TFTPD32. The help file provided with TFTPD32 is using VERY outdated pictures and descriptions of the capabilities to, rendering it almost useless for the current version.

 

I want a step by step tutorial for the CURRENT version of TFTPD32. It should have a BEAR MINIUMUM number of steps to JUST GET THE TARGET COMPUTER TO BOOT. I don't care about drivers here. I don't care about slipstreaming. I don't care about anything else. I just want to know how to send a boot image to the target computer, so the target computer can boot.

 

And with the tutorial should be a single download link to a file that is a KNOWN working image file, that is GUARENTIED to boot my computer when I follow the tutorial steps.

 

I tried a number of ISO's following other instructions around the net. I tried a standard MS-DOS 6.22 image designed for a 1.4MB floppy, but the target computer claims that the image file is too big refuses to use it claiming there isn't enough free memory in the target copmuter (despite the fact the target computer has 4GB of RAM!, so 1.4MB is TINY by comparison). Then I realized that the full 1.4MB file wasn't in use, just the first 10s of kB. So using a hex editor I went past all the actual data and truncated the file so it was only a few 10s of kB in size. But then it failed claiming the disk was either unbootable or a bad image.

 

Then I tried the file pxelinux.0 that I found on the net. This STARTED to boot, but then failed to finish, claiming it is missing the "kernel" (whatever that is).

 

So I'm about at my wit's end trying to find a COMPLETELY WORKING TUTORIAL and a COMPLETELY WORKING AND SELF CONTAINED BOOTABLE ISO (meaning it won't try to reference something outside the ISO like a "kernel", but will be a fully bootable OS by itself).

[andriusst]

What a pathetic post. This is not a shop where you paid money and can demand a better service. Get your head out of your @$$ and use google. Should not take more than 5 minutes to find what you looking for and another 15 to get it working from scratch.

[ralgith]

And the fact you showed how to slipstream drivers was an imediate, "FORGET THIS" for me. I didn't even bother to read the tutorial. The moment you advertised it with these extra steps of driver slipstream bla bla bla, I decided to not even bother reading the tutorial. I'm NOT a network administrator. I'm NOT a professional computer engineer. I'm an amateur geek, who just wants to be able to say for the sake of accomplishing something cool "Hey look, I booted my computer without a harddrive, using the network connection".

 

I found NOTHING online that was directed at ametur geeks like myself. They ALL are aimed at professionals, with the assumption that the target audience already knows SOMETHING about the target. Let me tell you I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about how to even do a fraction of the steps needed to perform a "network boot". And then I saw your post and you looked like a "savior" with this regard, but then you have to add COMPLICATED CRAP ABOUT SLIPSTREAMING DRIVERS!!!!!!!!! What does that even mean? You know I don't really care.

If you cannot be bothered to slipstream your own drivers, then you'll never get this to work. See below.

 

Here is what I want. I want you to create a tutorial that fits the below description.

 

I want to know a BARE STRIPPED DOWN ABSOLUTE MINIMUM set of steps on how to bet a computer to boot using the current version of TFTPD32. The help file provided with TFTPD32 is using VERY outdated pictures and descriptions of the capabilities to, rendering it almost useless for the current version.

 

I want a step by step tutorial for the CURRENT version of TFTPD32. It should have a BEAR MINIUMUM number of steps to JUST GET THE TARGET COMPUTER TO BOOT. I don't care about drivers here. I don't care about slipstreaming. I don't care about anything else. I just want to know how to send a boot image to the target computer, so the target computer can boot.

Did it ever occur to you that this is virtually impossible due to the large number of possible network configurations, pieces of hardware, operating systems, etc...? Didn't think so!

 

And with the tutorial should be a single download link to a file that is a KNOWN working image file, that is GUARENTIED to boot my computer when I follow the tutorial steps.

1. This is illegal for Windoze, so you'd only find Linux.

2. Even if it was legal, Its pretty much impossible without slipstreaming drivers since every computer uses different hardware. Duh!

 

I tried a number of ISO's following other instructions around the net. I tried a standard MS-DOS 6.22 image designed for a 1.4MB floppy, but the target computer claims that the image file is too big refuses to use it claiming there isn't enough free memory in the target copmuter (despite the fact the target computer has 4GB of RAM!, so 1.4MB is TINY by comparison). Then I realized that the full 1.4MB file wasn't in use, just the first 10s of kB. So using a hex editor I went past all the actual data and truncated the file so it was only a few 10s of kB in size. But then it failed claiming the disk was either unbootable or a bad image.

This is because you're making an assumption that the message referred to being too large to hold in a RAMDISK, rather than being too large for something else... like transfer over the tftp protocol... not that I'm saying that was the issue mind you.

 

Then I tried the file pxelinux.0 that I found on the net. This STARTED to boot, but then failed to finish, claiming it is missing the "kernel" (whatever that is).

Well, not sure how you can call yourself even an amature geek without knowing what the kernel is.

Try this: http://en.wikipedia....nel_(computing)

pxelinux.0 is just a loader, and you need to know how to use it. Which you don't.

 

So I'm about at my wit's end trying to find a COMPLETELY WORKING TUTORIAL and a COMPLETELY WORKING AND SELF CONTAINED BOOTABLE ISO (meaning it won't try to reference something outside the ISO like a "kernel", but will be a fully bootable OS by itself).

Since you aren't willing to put any effort into this, too bad. You wont get what you want. Next time, try being less rude, obnoxious, and ignorant. Trolls suck. We would gladly help you, but you have to help yourself. Maybe you should actually try the guide you just ran down. Its better than most! So stop being an ignorant arse, take some time to learn things, and maybe you'll upgrade from Worthles Troll to Amature Geek.

[Sha0]

I found NOTHING online that was directed at ametur geeks like myself.

Everyone has to start somewhere.  Unfortunately, you seem to think that:

1. It's as easy as 1-2-3 to boot your diskless computer to Windows
2. You can skip past the learning phase straight to the doing phase
3. Griping about the fact that you cannot download knowledge will somehow make it possible

Right now, it's a lot like you're asking, "I want to change the banana peel on my bicycle!"  Nobody can help you with that.  Right now, you don't know what you don't know, so don't fool yourself into thinking you do.  You need to understand how to incorporate drivers into Windows if you ever want to create an image and boot it without a local hard disk drive in the system.

 

Or you can try using one of the WinBuilder projects, where it's possible that a handful of mouse clicks will accomplish all the magic for you.

 

Welcome to the reboot.pro forums!  Please relax a bit, and "enjoy your stay," one small step at a time.

[coder]

actually It's as easy as 1-2-3 to net boot your computer to Windows

 

read how to do it with Serva here,

http://www.vercot.co...indowsPXE1.html

 

I've tested it myself with XP, 7, 8, and Ubuntu Desktop Live and works..

Edited by coder, 12 March 2013 - 05:32 PM.