1 Reply by Seizure

(23 replies, posted in Universal Imaging)

I appreciate your help, but I am not trying to create a CD solution. I am actually using hard drive images sealed with Sysprep. However, your idea to insert a "dummy" boot loader, execute the needed scripts, and then hand the system over to Windows sounds like what I will need to do.

Now, my only issue there is that I need (want) a solution where I won't need separate partitions. Is there any way to get a DOS environment running from an NTFS partition without damaging the pre-existing Windows installation?

The theoretical situation I have in my head sees it like this: Install environment that will let me run .bat and .exe files. Reseal system. First boot up, DOS runs my scripts. Hand system over to Windows/mini-setup. At end up mini-setup, remove traces of alternate environment.

Which is why I need it to run off the same partition, you see. I can't really just have a useless partition (well, useless as far as out customers are concerned) just sitting there, and I really don't want to have to deal with adding re-partitioning sequences into the setup.

I tried looking all this up online, but didn't find anything promising so far. Thanks again for all the help guys!

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2 Reply by Seizure

(23 replies, posted in Universal Imaging)

Hey, sorry for the double post, but I had a question. I know about using cmdlines.txt to run commands immediately after mini-setup (but conveniently, before user login), but is there a way to run commands immediately preceding the mini-setup phase? I've seen talk of factory mode, but based on the descriptions, it seems to be a special mode for configuring the image on a particular machine, and then you have to reseal again anyways. What I need is a way to run a .bat file at the first boot of the sysprepped image, but before mini-setup. Is that possible?

Also, so you guys know, so far, I've got my sysprep/image solution to a point where I can deploy the image to both intel and AMD machines; across any ACPI system, uni or multi (as far as I can tell, any computer we're likely to get is going to be ACPI); and from what I've seen so far, with only two drivers mission at most on any installation, usually unimportant ones like audio, modem, etc. It used to be that when we used our old images, or... a clean CD installation *shudder* we'd be missing nearly every one, including the ethernet and/or wireless! I will hopefully find a good system for getting me and my co-workers to collect the drivers it misses into our own third party pack.

I'll be showing off my setup, but I want to wait until it's done and completely tested first, so thanks to anybody who can help me answer my question. I still have a few kinks to work out, though I think I know what to do about them. It's just a slow process.

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3 Reply by Seizure

(23 replies, posted in Universal Imaging)

UIU has an excellent ROI and all they do is automate the sysprep and driver injection process. Whatever they are doing can certainly be done manually, no?


mr_smartepants wrote:

Well I've heard that sysprep is not that fun to play with.  But Galapo has written a very nice tutorial using his "OfflineSysPrep" utility (your 3rd link) and I intend to follow that path hopefully soon because it has the best results with DriverPacks.
I'm a newbie in this arena also.  So maybe a more experienced person will stop by and offer assistance to us both.

Well, I guess I'll try that out too. I'll let you know how it works out for me!

Edit: a question...

http://www.vernalex.com/guides/sysprep/general.shtml wrote:

Before finishing I usually edit the registry and remove references to the template user account name (why it should be unique) by doing a search. I do this because some programs hardcode paths to the profile directory and that will be problematic if this becomes the template settings.

Was this fixed in Sysprep SP3 or do I still need to do this?

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4 Reply by Seizure

(23 replies, posted in Universal Imaging)

thank you for your response Mr. Smarty Pants.

http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?id=4849
This one explicitly states it does NOT bother with different HALs, which I need as we get some extremely old/weird computers pretty often. Otherwise, would this be the correct one? It seems pretty intimidating to a newbie as is, let alone with whatever additional steps I need to configure multiple HALs... but whatever, I've jumped head-first into more ridiculous things before I suppose.

http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?id=1682
This one might also be a possible choice? But once again, it doesn't cover how to setup multiple HALs... though it does point you in the right direction if you need to, I think.

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=22064 (linked from http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?id=3312)
This one might be a good candidate, but it's explanation isn't detailed at all, and seems to assume you are experienced with sysprep and universal imaging, which I am not. It tells you what to do, but expects you to know how to do it.

Does anyone have advice on which would be the most efficient/effective method? I don't really have a problem with teaching myself from the ground up, but I'd like to at least narrow it down to one method to learn first. As well, if the appropriate method doesn't include multiple HALs, I would appreciate some pointers about where to find such information as well.

Again, thanks so much for any help

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5 Topic by Seizure

(23 replies, posted in Universal Imaging)

I know there are like a dozen stickied threads for making universal images, but to be perfectly honest, although I am knowledgeable with computers and Windows in general, universal imaging is not something I have any prior experience with. As such, I'm not sure which of them is the correct one to be following. So sorry if there is a thread for exactly this already.

I work at a repair shop, and all our images are very outdated, and the person/people who produced them have long since quit. Instead of using discs, we simply ghost the images onto the customer drives, and then let the machine boot and run a mini setup. So these images need to be compatible with ANY machine someone might possibly own. Desktop/laptop, intel/amd, ATA/SATA, absolutely nothing is guaranteed to be similar between any two systems.

So basically, I need to know how to make a SINGLE universal image that I can ghost to a drive, boot up, and then have it be installed unattended, with only a few options such as initial user name, computer name, etc come up as prompts. However, I'd obviously like timezone and other such things that are always the same to be automated.

Thanks in advance, and again, sorry if this is a "dumb thread".

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