Re: OfflineSysPrep

Galapo, is there a command line for OfflineSysprep? I would find that highly invaluable to for deployments.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

Commandline should be coming in version 2. thecharliec is still coding the alpha version.

Regards,
Galapo.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

Hey galapo here's another rebooting proggie. I don't know if it'll help you more so with the double reboot procedure.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv … /freeware/

The software is called rebooter.exe

Re: OfflineSysPrep

I'm still a bit lost on how this program works.

I have a %90 Universal Image

Image built on Vmware Server
Delete VM Tools
I use the current MakePNF
ROE 937

I have stupid dell GX 620 and GX 520
I have a script to change my hal that works great.
But the damn GX 620 and GX 520 install the wrong mass stroage driver and blue screen 07 beh!

Anyways

I currently ghost with a Bart PE I have ghost 11.5 and i currently run the driver packs off the OS.
I have tired to use Offline sysprep but I can't get it work correctly. Can someone give me like a how to
I have a snapshot that is ready to be imaged.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

Hey guys.  I've been trying to work out a universal image myself and was running into an issue.  2 or 3 days ago I posted this same question at 911cd.net (http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php? … amp;st=740) but hadn't received any responses.  I was hoping someone here that has had success with his OfflineSysPrep program might be able to point out something I'm doing wrong so hopefully I can correct it.  If it's frowned upon that I post this question in more than one spot let me know and I'll remove the post.  Thanks ahead of time guys.  I appreciate everything you guys do.

Here's the original message.

Hey there Galapo. First I just wanted to say thanks for all your time on this project. Now I’m asking out of desperation since I can’t seem to get my universal XP image working and I hoping that you (or someone in this forum) had a second to look at what I’m doing and see where I’m going wrong. Basically I have the vmware machine that I’d like to image. Since I have a very large amount of different hardware I’d like to use this image on I’ve been creating the DriverPack-MassStorage folder using the CreateMassStorageData.exe and I’ve replaced the ntldr with that of the XP x64 system to avoid the ntfs.sys error. Now I’ve tried different versions of sysprep, and my last test was with sysprep.exe version 5.2.3790.1830 with no pre-configured sysprep.inf added to the sysprep folder on my BartPE disk. When running OFP I selected do nothing from the HAL options (just to rule that out as causing the problem), and the only thing that I selected from the advanced options is say “Install all DriverPacks non-IDE Mass Storage Device(s)”. When sysprep opens I selected “Don’t reset grace period for activation” (since I’m using VLK OS), Use Mini-Setup, and set the shutdown mode to quit. Then I clicked reseal, and when sysprep closes I shutdown the machine from BartPE. Then I try to boot machine I always seem to get the error message saying An error has been encountered that prevents Setup from continuing. Windows is unable to start because the registry could not be updated… I’ve seen other people in the forums mentioning they’ve received this error, but almost everyone says it has something to do with their sysprep.inf, but since I deleted mine for testing and still receive the error message I seem to be stuck. Any help would be appreciated.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

OfflineSysprep Issue

"An Error Occurred while trying to update the registry"

I have read this issue is either caused by having a read only sysprep.inf, or having the build mass storage in sysprep.inf

neither of which I have.

what else causes this? how can I diagnose?

I am so close to a universal image lol

Re: OfflineSysPrep

StylusPilot wrote:

OfflineSysprep Issue

"An Error Occurred while trying to update the registry"

I have read this issue is either caused by having a read only sysprep.inf, or having the build mass storage in sysprep.inf

neither of which I have.

what else causes this? how can I diagnose?

I am so close to a universal image lol

This may not be your problem, but this happened to me a couple of times:

OfflineSysprep will copy the sysprep.inf (all the sysprep files, actually) from the OSP folder and overwrite whatever is on the target drive/image. So if you're making changes to the sysprep.inf in your image, make sure you copy it to the appropriate OSP folder (either UnderWindows\sysprep or BartPE\sysprep) before running OfflineSysprep.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

eethball wrote:

Now I’m asking out of desperation since I can’t seem to get my universal XP image working and I hoping that you (or someone in this forum) had a second to look at what I’m doing and see where I’m going wrong. Basically I have the vmware machine that I’d like to image. Since I have a very large amount of different hardware I’d like to use this image on I’ve been creating the DriverPack-MassStorage folder using the CreateMassStorageData.exe and I’ve replaced the ntldr with that of the XP x64 system to avoid the ntfs.sys error. Now I’ve tried different versions of sysprep, and my last test was with sysprep.exe version 5.2.3790.1830 with no pre-configured sysprep.inf added to the sysprep folder on my BartPE disk. When running OFP I selected do nothing from the HAL options (just to rule that out as causing the problem), and the only thing that I selected from the advanced options is say “Install all DriverPacks non-IDE Mass Storage Device(s)”. When sysprep opens I selected “Don’t reset grace period for activation” (since I’m using VLK OS), Use Mini-Setup, and set the shutdown mode to quit. Then I clicked reseal, and when sysprep closes I shutdown the machine from BartPE. Then I try to boot machine I always seem to get the error message saying An error has been encountered that prevents Setup from continuing. Windows is unable to start because the registry could not be updated… I’ve seen other people in the forums mentioning they’ve received this error, but almost everyone says it has something to do with their sysprep.inf, but since I deleted mine for testing and still receive the error message I seem to be stuck. Any help would be appreciated.

Here's the official KB:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/818171

Just a stab in the dark, but try not checking "Don't reset grace period..." I use VLK as well and have had no issues.

If that doesn't work, try reverting back to the default ntldr (just to see if that's the problem) and/or running fixboot on the partition.

Last edited by bdurkee (2010-04-02 07:35:20)

Re: OfflineSysPrep

I appreciate the reply.  I'm not sure what exactly fixed that registry issue I was having, but after starting with a fresh xp load to be imaged, and without checking the "Don't reset the grace period" checkbox I have a working universal image.  The only sort of weird hang up thing that I'm assumed is caused by the Update HAL on First Boot option is the first time the machine boots it says It is now safe to shutdown your computer".  I power the machines off and then back on and the mini setup begins.  Is this normal?

Re: OfflineSysPrep

eethball wrote:

I appreciate the reply.  I'm not sure what exactly fixed that registry issue I was having, but after starting with a fresh xp load to be imaged, and without checking the "Don't reset the grace period" checkbox I have a working universal image.  The only sort of weird hang up thing that I'm assumed is caused by the Update HAL on First Boot option is the first time the machine boots it says It is now safe to shutdown your computer".  I power the machines off and then back on and the mini setup begins.  Is this normal?

Alright, I saw that it was normal for the PC to shut down after the HAL is updated, but does anyone know if there is a way to turn that into a reboot instead of a shutdown?  Obviously it's not too big of a deal, but I was just wondering.  Thanks to everyone for their time.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

eethball wrote:

The only sort of weird hang up thing that I'm assumed is caused by the Update HAL on First Boot option is the first time the machine boots it says It is now safe to shutdown your computer".

The reason this occurs is because on first boot a standard HAL is utilised so as to be universally compatible. The side effect of this is that you get the message mentioned. Upon second boot, then the HAL detected at first boot will then be used.

I power the machines off and then back on and the mini setup begins.  Is this normal?

Yes.

eethball wrote:

Alright, I saw that it was normal for the PC to shut down after the HAL is updated, but does anyone know if there is a way to turn that into a reboot instead of a shutdown?

Yes, all I would need to do is call NtShutdownSystem with reboot rather than shutdown. However, the side effect of that is mentioned here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php? … p;p=161778.

As such, we just have to live with the shutdown.

Regards,
Galapo.

Last edited by Galapo (2010-05-04 10:25:53)

Re: OfflineSysPrep

I'm having a problem where if I use OfflineSysPrep twice on the same image it fails on the mini-setup on the second time around with "SamChangePasswordUser returned status c000006a" error.

Let me explain a little, I built an image, OSP'd it, and used it for a few months. I then imaged it to a new machine, updated some of the software, and re-ran OSP the same way I originally had done it, but this time when the image is deployed, mini-setup fails at boot with the above error and sends it into an endless reboot cycle.

I play around with some images in VMware and I cannot find a workaround...although, if SysPrep is run "online", or within Windows the second time, the error does not show up.

I did research the error a bit, and it's related to instructing SysPrep to change the Administrator password during mini-setup, but I tried with and without a password in sysprep.inf, as well as a blank and nonblank password before sysprepping, but the error always shows up.

Hopefully someone can help me. Thanks in advance.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

A couple of things which can cause this to occur:

1. admin password of system not blank
2. not using the same version of sysprep that was originally used

Regards,
Galapo.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

Galapo wrote:

A couple of things which can cause this to occur:

1. admin password of system not blank
2. not using the same version of sysprep that was originally used

Thanks for the reply, but I did check both of those. I blanked the admin password before sysprepping the second time, would it matter that sysprep set the password the first time? As for the second option, I used the exact same cd I had created for the first.

Like I said, using regular sysprep instead of OSP worked, but I don't know why that would happen.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

Hi,

What is the difference between choosing "Auto Configuration" and choosing "Auto Configuration at First Boot" under the HAL update option in OfflineSysprep?

Thanks

Re: OfflineSysPrep

"Auto Configuration" sets the HAL to that of the current system (in the case of a single system, for example).

"Auto Configuration at First Boot" detects required HAL at first boot of system and sets HAL accordingly (in the case of applying a base image to different systems, for example).

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Galapo.

Re: OfflineSysPrep

Galapo, I'm hoping you can help me with this issue that I've been having with Offlinesysprep.  I guess I posted it in the wrong area the first time so here is a link to details on the issue. 

http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?id=4636

Any thoughts you can give me on what I might be doing wrong would be much appreciated.

Thanks