For Scripted WinPE Bootdisk Builders

Discussion in 'Paragon Drive Backup Product Line' started by Arvy, Jan 15, 2012.

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  1. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    As my "noob" contribution here, for those users of Paragon Software who may prefer building their own Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) multipurpose "rescue disks", I have created and uploaded two Winbuilder scripts. They have been tested with both x86 and x64 builds using the current Win7PE project release (available at http://reboot.pro/12427/ ) but they should work with any Winbuilder PE1 (WinXP), PE2 (Vista), or PE3 (Win7) project.

    The two scripts that I've made available initially have been designed for including Paragon's Backup and Recover 2012 and/or Hard Disk Manager 11 Suite in your own WinPE build. They can be downloaded by logging into the Winbuilder web site here (preferred). Alternatively, I've also made them available for download from my own web server (compressed in 7-Zip format) as Paragon-BR2012.7z and Paragon-HDM11.7z (temporary).

    PLEASE NOTE: To use either of them, the "Path to Files" entry must be set within the script to point to the properly licensed and installed Paragon application. They won't work otherwise and that requirement applies even in the case of free editions for home users that require an installation key from Paragon.

    The two scripts are almost identical except for interface cosmetics. Because they will be used in a self-booting WinPE environment anticipating no requirement for live disc "shadow copying", no provision has been made for installing Paragon's "Hotcore" service driver. Nor is it necessary to include Microsoft's VSS service in your WinPE build unless you want it for other reasons. Both scripts do include an "Install Universal Image Mounter" option (derived from Paragon's freely available CNET download package) although its usefulness is also questionable in the circumstances and that option is unchecked by default. Because Paragon (unlike Acronis, EaseUS and some others) does not use clunky device class filters to bypass the operating sytem's own hardware abstraction layer, these scripts should support any storage device that is supported by your OS natively.

    User comments and questions on the scripts themselves are welcome, of course, but please do not ask me to provide instructions on bootable WinPE creation with Winbuilder. It would require more space than this board provides and much more free time than I have available. All kinds of info and help can be found on the Winbuilder web site.
     
  2. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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  3. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Hi,

    Thanks for that.

    Just tried it out.

    There seems to be an error when building 64 bit ( haven't tried 32 bit ).

    Paragon won't start unless %Windir%\SysWOW64\prgiso.dll has been copied into the build SysWOW64 directory.

    BTW - how do you get mounting to work?

    As far as I can tell , you need to get the archive added to the archive database - no obvious way to do that from your scripted build.

    Also - you might consider excluding a few items - no point in copying the paragon ISO and rmb folders into pe.

    Your script is a great idea - nice easy way to add it into winbuilder.
     
  4. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    Basically, the script just copies into the PE build the complete contents, including subfolders, of whatever Paragon application source folder is selected in the script's interface.

    For some strange reason (?!) Paragon includes the prgiso.dll file in its own WinPE program folder, but does not include it in the installed HDM12 program folders. So, if the latter is used as the PE build source, that DLL gets missed completely. I'll revise the script so that it puts prgiso.dll into the PE build's SysWOW64 or System32 folder as required. Thanks for the heads up.

    As for its archive handling capabilities, they are whatever they are in the Paragon source program that is reproduced by the PE build and there's really not much I can do about that I'm afraid.
     
  5. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Thanks Arvy.

    I am not sure that even the paragon supplied winpe media does mounting.

    I might boot it up at some stage and check.


    It makes sense - you don't need to mount with Paragon - volume explorer and file transfer wizard do the job.


    I posted up the world's simplest pe building app. on this site quite a while ago.

    You needed to get hold of a 32 bit pe3 from somewhere ( if you use 32 bit win 7 - you already it - winre.wim. For those who aren't using 32 win7 - just get a copy of the 32 bit win7 repair disc - they are all over the place ).

    Al it did was mount that copy of winre and throw in Paragon , a handful of dll,s and a couple of other little apps. - like 7-zip and some others which have been around since the days of bartpe.

    I found that a lot of stuff could be excluded from the paragon app - because it wasn't going to be used from any kind of boot media.

    I have put HDM12 in my current build by hand - it just runs portably and is about 60 mb.

    It is possible to make it even smaller - by removing a lot of the images - it doesn't look very pretty if you use the ultrasmall (TM ) version - but it works fine.
     
  6. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    UPDATE: Revision 004 of the Winbuilder PE script for HDM-12, with prgiso.dll added to the support DLLs included in the build, is now available for download from the reboot.pro project server or alternatively from my own server.

    Thanks again to SIW2 for the heads up about that missing DLL. You could try checking the script's option to include the UIM image mounter in the PE build to see if that improves its archive handling features, but I doubt that it would make any difference. Paragon seems to shut down all of those capabilities automatically when it's booted into a WinPE environment. In fact, as mentioned eleswhere in these forums, some of them get "greyed out" even in the normal Windows environment under some circumstances. Seems a bit quirky to me, but I suppose Paragon's developers have their own good reasons -- or think they do.
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2012
  7. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    You're welcome.

    1.Another approach is to put prgiso.dll in the Paragon\Program folder instead of system32\syswow64.

    2.Yes, I had put the uim drivers in the pe build.

    Looks like your script did it fine - no way of checking for sure because I can't get paragon to do anything with them.

    If I get a little time at some stage I might see if there is a way round that
     
  8. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    I can only guess that, because Paragon does not include UIM in its own WinPE ISO, it expects it to be absent from any and all PE builds and therefore turns off all related archive handling features automatically when booted into a WinPE environment. But I have no idea what start-up parameter actually triggers that behaviour. Good luck with your experimenting and please let us know if you come up with any clear answers.
     
  9. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    I just noticed - if you are using winbuilder - it doesn't copy WinsCard.dll into syswow64.

    You will need that if you want to run paragon v12.

    Also, copying the installed version into pe does not include the important p2padjust function.
     
  10. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    The script ensures that the required Windows DLL support (including the WinsCard.dll file) is copied from the Winbuilder project's primary source into the SysWOW64 and System32 folders of the PE build as needed.

    The script does not, however, attempt to add any "missing" Paragon application features to whatever specific program source is selected in its interface. In at least some circumstances, doing so could be construed as piracy.

    In my own case, I extract the program folder from my licensed Paragon recovery ISO and use that as the source for my Winbuilder PE project builds. Anyone else who wants to do likewise with their own copy can use 7-zip for that purpose. Most Winbuilder projects include a version of that utility.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2012
  11. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Yes, that will work fine, of course.

    The script will probably also work for the free version of 12 when it comes out - the free version won't have those extra functions anyway:)
     
  12. Erik_FL

    Erik_FL Registered Member

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    I used the WinBuilder script to create a Windows XP PE system. It has a problem launching the Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12 software. The problem is that the system hangs.

    The solution that I found is to delete the "minint" registry key before running the program. Use a batch file to start the program.

    Code:
    @ECHO OFF
    reg delete hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\minint /f
    start /min "%SystemDrive%\Program Files\Paragon\HDM12\program\launcher.exe"
    REM reg add hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\MiniNT /ve
    exit
    
    That is only necessary on a Windows XP system, and should not be necessary for Windows Vista or Windows 7 PE. I'm not sure how to make the WinBuilder script different for Windows XP versus Windows 7. The Windows XP version would have to use a batch file to run the Paragon software rather than starting "launcher" directly. That also might cause some issues with running other software at the same time as the Paragon software.

    As far as I know Paragon HDM 2010 is the first software that requires the "minint" key to be deleted. I did not have to do that for the previous versions.

    For now, I recommend using Windows 7 PE with WinBuilder if you want to run the Paragon Hard Disk Manager. If you want to build a Windows XP PE system then use PE Builder, or modify the WinBuilder script to copy a batch file and create shortcuts to the batch file.
     
  13. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    You've encountered something that I haven't experienced myself. I use the Gena project for my Winbuilder PE1 builds from WinXP (or Win3003) sources and HDM-12 starts up fine just by using a normal "shortcut" for launcher.exe. Which Winbuilder project are you using for your PE1 builds?
     
  14. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    Follow-up: See also this response to your posting in the reboot.pro forums.
     
  15. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    Thanks to some very fine sleuthing work by Erik_FL, it has been determined that the problem is unique to the HDM-12 "Pro" edition and is due to the absence of a "Dont_Eject" parameter for its start-up. For additional details, see his comments in this reboot.pro forum.

    I've modified the script accordingly and the revised version (v.005) is now available at http://reboot.pro/16493/
     
  16. Adric

    Adric Registered Member

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    Hi Arvy,

    I don't use winbuilder, but MAKE_PE3 instead (more flexible for me) and I would like to get the BR2012 RegWrite entries in your script into a reg file. Can you or someone else that has a working 32-bit Win7PE with Backup and Recovery 2012 Free on it, export those reg entries for me and possibly list them here?

    I haven't found a tool that will create a reg file from RegWrite entries in a Winbuilder script. If anyone knows of one, please let me know.

    Al
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2012
  17. Adric

    Adric Registered Member

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    Okay, I manually created the reg entries from the WinBuilder Script and applied them to my WinPE build. I am left with three problems:

    1. I get 'Refresh operation failed' msgs when using BR2012 in Win7PE, but it still works from what I can tell.

    2. The Archives Tab is missing

    3. Help Tab doesn't work.

    Anyone care to comment?

    Thanks, Al
     

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    Last edited: Jul 14, 2012
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