pertinent exerpt from above link...

Changes made using the SET command are NOT permanent, they apply to the current CMD prompt only and remain only until the CMD window is closed.
To permanently change a variable at the command line use SetX
or in the GUI - Control Panel, System, Environment, System/User Variables

Changing a variable permanently with SetX will not affect any CMD prompt that is already open.
Only new CMD prompts will get the new setting.

You can of course use SetX in conjunction with SET to change both at the same time, but neither SET or SetX will affect other CMD sessions that are already running. When you think about it - this is a good thing.

It is also possible (although undocumented) to add permanent env variables to the registry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment]
(using REGEDIT)

System Environment variables can also be found in [HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]

Have a great day M8

I tried batch file wrappers way back in the dim dark ages.  Found that when you set comspec it sets in in the local shell environment only, not the master environment. If the CAD app then spawns another shell, it inherits from the master environment - where comspec is still as it was. This may have been peculiar to the app. Being a DOS app it would be expecting only ONE environment! So I really had no choice but to set it in the master environment.

However, recently DOSBox has been able to run my apps without issue, so I'm thinking I can put comspec back to 'standard' and leave it that way. I have had it set to command.com for so long now that I had completely forgotten that this computer was non-standard in that regard. I only picked it up during a compare with the computer that slipstreamed first time!

Cheers..

I am not really interested in updating hundreds of references in the base program to force checking the command interpreter.
IE test to see which one your using then attempt to locate CMD then verify it is a valid CMD ect...

Since you must force the change to command
the ball is in your court to be aware that this will cause you issues and
for you to then have to correct any problems you create by doing so.

However I am sure you are not the only one who has or will do this.
this post can serve as help to others who find themselves in your situation.
I will update your title so it will serve that purpose

Thanks so much for sharing the problem and the solution with DriverPacks

Welcome and have a great day!

PS I could be convinced to program the DriverPacks BASE to exit with a "critical error" if the command interpreter is not CMD

PSS it might make better sense for you to write a batch file (wrapper) that
sets your comspec to command
calls the CAD app
resets comspec when the CAD program exits

So I'm guessing that the slipstreaming process must launch a command shell to run un7zip, and command.com didn't like the parameters passed to it. Not that I know how the DPsBase app is put together, but it might be better to force a call to cmd.exe rather than relying on Comspec to contain the right thing!

Thanks for looking at my problem. I hope this resolution helps someone else too!

MD5 sums on both packs are correct, and both packs extract just fine if I do the un7zip manually.  Unfortunately the manual unzipping doesn't solve the problem as the temp folder gets cleared at the start of the slipstreaming process.

I get the same error with QSC disabled and the folder deleted. Note that the QSC folder was empty.

I got around the problem by doing exactly the same process on a different computer, and it all worked fine. I would still like to know why it doesn't work on my main computer though! Are there any pre-requisites for the system, or does DPsBase contain everything it needs?

Um... mass storage is unzipped for M2... so the files can be cabbed and integrated...

D'oh! Yes, of course!

I was assuming he thought all of the packs would have to get extracted, and he was waiting for that to happen.

please try as Helmi suggested and verify the MD5 on the mass pack...

and disable QSC or delete the QSC folder or both - please report the result afterwards!

Excellent details for a first post Well Done!

Is it correct that you are only including DPMS and DriverPack Chipset?

Please check the files for corruption (MD5 and/or 7-Zips archive test functionality).

I'm having a problem with slipstreaming. It doesn't seem like 7zip is actually extracting the driver packs. Log is:

2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT> DriverPacks BASE 8.12.4 initialized.
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT> Host environment: WIN_XP Service Pack 3 on X86 CPU.
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT> Created temporary working directory.
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT> Imported proxy settings from Internet Explorer.
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT> Start scanning for DriverPacks for the wnt5_x86-32 platform.
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT>     Detected DriverPack Chipset 902!
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT>     Detected DriverPack MassStorage 901!
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT>     Could not detect any 3rd party DriverPacks for wnt5_x86-32.
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT>     Finished scanning.
2009-02-22 11:02:05 : <INIT> Detected settings file "C:\DPsBase\DPs_BASE.ini".
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> Windows XP Home Edition -  OEM SP3 detected.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [Settings]\DPsMethod not specified: default (2) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [Settings]\finisherMethod not specified: default (GUIRunOnce) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [OptionalSettings]\KTD not specified: default (none) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [OptionalSettings]\QSC not specified: default (yes) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [OptionalSettingsOther]\ATI_cpl not specified: default (None) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [OptionalSettingsOther]\Nvidia_cpl not specified: default (None) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> wnt5_x86-32_disc is the selected installation platform .
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> Imported settings from settings file.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [OptionalSettingsOther]\ATI_cpl not specified: default (None) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <INIT> [OptionalSettingsOther]\Nvidia_cpl not specified: default (None) was set.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <GUI>  Initialized GUI.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <GUI>  Created a list of all available language files.
2009-02-22 11:02:06 : <GUI>  Set the last used language, English, as the GUI language.
2009-02-22 11:02:12 : <GUI>  Saved settings!
2009-02-22 11:02:12 : <GUI>  Closed GUI.
2009-02-22 11:02:12 : <SEL>  Selected module: mod_slip_wxp_x86-32_disc_m2.
2009-02-22 11:02:12 : <PREP> Removed all attributes from \I386.
2009-02-22 11:02:12 : <PREP> No previous DriverPacks installation found, Prep stage will be skipped
2009-02-22 11:02:12 : <SLIP> Extracted DriverPack MassStorage to a temporary working directory.
2009-02-22 11:02:12 : <CRIT> No settings file found for DriverPack MassStorage: the file "C:\DPsBase\tmp\DPMtmp\DriverPack_MassStorage_wnt5_x86-32.ini" could not be found!
2009-02-22 11:02:55 : <CLNP> Temporary working directory successfully deleted.

INI file is:

[General]
; preferred language
prefLang    = "English"
; yes/no, enable or disable the wizard-style buttons, if not specified: yes
wizardButtons    = "yes"
; yes/no, enable or disable the GUI, if not specified: yes
GUI        = "yes"

[Settings]
; disc/bartpe/multibootDisc
instPlatform    = "disc"
; trailing backslash is allowed, but not necessary
location    = "F:\XPCDwDRIVERS"
; none/all/select, if select, specify them below, if not specified: all
DriverPacks    = "select"
; 1/2, method to install the DriverPacks, if not specified: 2
DPsMethod    = "2"
; GUIRunOnce/RunOnceEx/custom, if not specified: GUIRunOnce
finisherMethod    = "GUIRunOnce"

; this section is optional!
[OptionalSettings]
; none/all/select/paths/patterns, enable or disable Keep The Drivers (KTD) , if not specified: none
KTD        = "false"
; <path>, to specify a custom KTD cache location, if not specified: default (%SystemRoot%\DriverPacks)
KTDlocation    = "%SystemRoot%\DriverPacks"
; yes/no, enable or disable QuickStream Cache (QSC), if not specified: yes
QSC        = "yes"

; you should only add this section if you've set [Settings]\DriverPacks to "select"
[SelectDriverPacks]
DP_Chipset    = "yes"
DP_MassStorage    = "yes"
DP_MassStorage_textmode = "yes"

I have verified that the driver packs are complete, by manually unzipping them. The 'missing' file is there. 7z.exe and un7zip.exe are in the /bin folder, and both seem to run as I would expect, when launched manually.  At the time the error comes up, there is a 'tmp' folder created, which then gets deleted when I OK the error. But there is no DPMtmp subfolder in it.  I have tried manually creating these temp folders, and un7zipping the driver packs into the appropriate place, but these all get deleted again at the start of the slipstreaming process. I have un-installed and re-installed several times (the above log is the first run after a clean install), but nothing seems to get it to unzip the files. There is about 25Gb of free space on my C: drive. I am logged on as administrator, under WinXP Home SP3.

Any suggestions?