Free Guide for WinBuilder with New VistaPE Scripts

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by mustang, Nov 30, 2007.

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  1. Bruce Mahnke

    Bruce Mahnke Registered Member

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    Noting that Mustang revised his “Beginner’s Guide to Creating a VistaPE CD” where he included a procedure for “Adding Drivers for Unsupported Hardware”, I thought I would try it out.

    This was done on WinXP, SP2 Home Edition and installed using his VistaPE WinBuilder scripts for TrueImage 10 and 11 (2 PC’s).

    This worked perfectly and I have to believe that a lot of folks will find this useful. It is a very nice addition to an already useful application.

    Bruce Mahnke
     
  2. ebenson69

    ebenson69 Registered Member

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    Hey Mustang-
    I just purchased the ATI 11 vista pe script from you. It works great. Now I added the xdd10 of yours and now vistape crashes before shell can start.
    Here is recent log. The only addtion is xdd10. after I uncheck it, it is fine. I have gone thru the script configurations on winbuilder 072a.

    C:\Program Files\Acronis\Acronis Disk Director
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis
    sn# from reg
    log file below.

    TxtAddLine - Failed to add line to file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\autorun.cmd] line: ["X:\Program Files\DD10\Common Files\Acronis\Acronis Disk Director\oss_reinstall.exe"] TxtAddLine - Failed to add line to file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\shortcut.inf] line: [!CD\Program Files\DD10\Common Files\Acronis\MediaBuilder\MediaBuilder.exe,Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0\Bootable Rescue Media Builder.lnk,!CD\Program Files\DD10\] TxtAddLine - Failed to add line to file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\shortcut.inf] line: [!CD\Program Files\DD10\OS_Selector.exe,Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0\Acronis OS Selector.lnk,!CD\Program Files\DD10\] TxtAddLine - Failed to add line to file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\shortcut.inf] line: [!CD\Program Files\DD10\OSSelectorSetup.exe,Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0\Install Acronis OS Selector.lnk,!CD\Program Files\DD10\] TxtAddLine - Failed to add line to file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\shortcut.inf] line: [!CD\Program Files\DD10\Recovery.cmd,Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0\Recovery Expert.lnk,!CD\Program Files\DD10\] TxtAddLine - Failed to add line to file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\shortcut.inf] line: [!CD\Program Files\DD10\diskedit.cmd,Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0\Disk Editor.lnk,!CD\Program Files\DD10\] INIwriteTextLine - Error adding line on INI file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\vistape.cfg] Section [shortcut] line [Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0|Acronis Disk Director 10.0|%SystemDrive%\Program Files\DD10\DiskDirector.exe||] INIwriteTextLine - Error adding line on INI file: [%BaseDir%\Target\windows\system32\vistape.cfg] Section [shortcut] line [Desktop|Acronis Disk Director 10.0|%SystemDrive%\Program Files\DD10\DiskDirector.exe||]

    8 errors occured!

    Please help. I have changed the location of the common files to:
    ....\Common Files\Acronis and C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\Acronis Disk Director
     
  3. mustang

    mustang Developer

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    What version (regular or server) and build number of Disk Director are you using? The script is set up for the latest build. Acronis made some changes in the directory names so some of the earlier builds may not work.
     
  4. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Hello k0lo. Thanks for your instruction for creating bootable USB FlashDrive. I have followed them, but when I boot from the FlashDrive I get the following error message:
    Disk error
    Press any key to restart​

    Also, when I execute the instructions from command prompt I get the following message:
    BootableUSBFlash.JPG

    Any idea what's going wrong? By the way, I do run the command prompt as administrator.
     
  5. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    paroots:

    The instructions in post #17 were for updating a working BartPE flash drive to boot VistaPE. If you do not start with a bootable flash drive then you will see the Disk Error - Press any key to restart message. It is not sufficient to just format the drive with Vista Disk Managment; it will not be bootable.

    To make the drive bootable it needs the MBR boot code and the partition used has to be set Active. If you have partitioning software (Acronis Disk Director, Partition Magic, PartedMagic, etc) you could check the status of the active flag to see if it is set.

    Otherwise, you could download and use PeToUSB, which will make a flash drive XP bootable (it will boot to ntldr). PeToUSB will format and copy files but you can skip the copy files step. After running PeToUSB on your flash drive you will then need to make it Vista bootable (to boot to bootmgr) by using the bootsect /nt60 X: command.

    I think that the other error you were seeing was because Windows was treating the flash drive as a removable drive instead of a fixed disk (with a partition table, etc). Once you prepare the drive with PeToUSB you should not get the error.
     
  6. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Thanks k0lo. I tried following your instructions using PeToUSB and everything seemed to go well. Unfortunately, when I boot I get the message:
    BOOTMSG is missing
    Press any key to restart​

    However, there is a file named, BOOTMSG in the root of the flashdrive. This is what the file structure looks like:
    WindowsExplorer.JPG
    Any idea what's wrong?
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2008
  7. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    That's progress. BOOTMGR is missing is an error message produced by the partition boot record, so this shows that your flash drive is booting and it is transferring control to the VistaPE partition.

    Is the file BOOTMGR actually present on the flash drive? It needs to be in the root of the drive; not inside any folders.

    I just saw the screenshot that you added, so you obviously do have the BOOTMGR file. Is there a file bcd located inside the /Boot folder?
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2008
  8. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Thanks again k0lo. Yes, there is a file named BCD in the Boot folder. And of course, the VistaPE CD from which I copied the files, works fine. I used mustang's guide to create it.
     
  9. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Hello again k0lo. Can you describe how to include Firefox in the VistaPE build? I have determined that my VistaPE has an internet connection via the Ethernet port so with a browser I might be able to do something useful! By the way, I used both WAIK and the Vista DVD since mustang said that provides the most flexibility. Now I can use my Vista DVD that I just slipstreamed with SP1 too.
     
  10. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Hello again k0lo. Can you describe how to include Firefox in the VistaPE build? I have alredy determined that my VistaPE has an internet connection via the Ethernet port so with a browser I might be able to do something useful! By the way, I used both WAIK and the Vista DVD since mustang said that provides the most flexibility. Now I can use my Vista DVD that I just slipstreamed with SP1 too.
     
  11. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    If possible, try booting your flash drive on more than one PC. You may be one of the unlucky ones with a PC BIOS that does not properly support booting from USB flash drives.

    There is one more thing that you could try. Instead of relying on the normal boot mechanism (OS in a primary, active partition and jumping to the IPL in the partition boot record), you could instead try using a boot manager on the flash drive. This solution has worked for others with problematic PCs. A good boot manager to use is Grub4DOS, which, coincidentally, is automatically installed by WinBuilder when building your VistaPE disk. Forum member MudCrab has written a fully-illustrated guide that describes the process. You can have a look here.

    To include Firefox or other software (you can also include Windows Vista Explorer and IE7) just check off these items in WinBuilder when creating your VistaPE build. For best results (assuming your PCs have more than 512 MB RAM), check the "Force place all programs to RAM (Boot.wim)" checkbox on the "Extended Configuration" tab as shown:

    VistaPE.jpg

    For further help with WinBuilder, consult the Boot Land forum.
     
  12. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Thanks alot k0lo (Mark). I will give it a try right now. The only thing that confuses me prior to getting started is how you got 'Firefox' to appear in the WinBuilder menu. Did you have to add a script or in any way tell WinBuilder to look for Firefox?
     
  13. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    paroots:

    When you start WinBuilder, go to the "Download" tab and select "Recommended" from the drop-down list of Downloads on the left. Expand the branch "VistaPE", then expand "App" then "Network" and put a checkmark next to the Firefox script. Click the "Download" button at the bottom.

    When finished downloading, go back to the "Scripts" tab and expand "App" then "Network" and make sure that Firefox is checked off. You can do likewise for other programs of interest.

    Also, be sure to uncheck any program scripts that you do not want. Each additional program requires more space in the final build.
     
  14. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Yes, under Network in my WinBuilder, I just have Map Network Drive listed. I'm wondering how you got all the other choices?
     
  15. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    You have to download first before the selections will appear on the "Scripts" tab. If you still don't see the other choices, try selecting "Complete" on the Download tab instead of "Recommended". Also, be sure that the server "vistape.net/project" is selected on the Downloads tab under "Servers".
     
  16. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    Thanks again k0lo. It worked like a charm. I booted up and am browsing with Firefox. I used both WAIK and my newly slimstreamed Vista with SP1. This VistaPE has lots of potential uses. Also, I hear that SP1 more than doubles the number of drivers so it should be more universal hopefully.
    Pete
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2008
  17. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Pete:

    Glad to hear that finally worked. Yes, VistaPE is a really nice project and it is amazing how much capability you can pack into a few hundred megabytes.
     
  18. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    What would be really handy is a tool for disk partitioning. Currently I use the DOS-based FDISK. I notice that in that in the Download/Recommended area under VistaPE/App/Disk Tools, there is a script called DiskPartition.script. I'm assuming that's only usable if I have corresponding software on my computer (as with Firefox)?

    Update: Just built another VistaPE with Firefox, Opera, DiskPartitioner, MBRWizard, etc. They all worked fine. What I now realize is that these applications get loaded from the internet and don't depend on what's installed in one's PC. Unfortunately, the DiskPartition program didn't seem to find my FlashDrives.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2008
  19. paroots

    paroots Registered Member

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    k0lo:
    I just succeeded in creating a bootable USB flashdrive of VistaPE using a modified version of MudCrab's guide. Basically, what I did is ignore references to WinBuilder and in its place used the files from a previously burned CD of VistaPE. I then used, as instructed, grubinst_gui.exe to copy the MBR to the USB flashdrive. Everything worked just as advertised without having to run WinBuilder again. My flashdrive is only 256 MB so I used one of my smaller VistaPE CDs. Here are the very simple steps if you have an existing VistaPE CD available:
    1. Copy contents of VistaPE CD to empty flashdrive
    2. Copy or Move the file grldr from the boot folder on the USB Device to the Root folder.
    3. Run grubinst_gui.exe in Administrator mode. Right-click on the program file and select Run as administrator from the pop-up menu.
    4. Select Disk, Refresh, and select correct USB flashdrive
    5. Refresh parts list and select Whole Disk (MBR)
    6. Click Install then Quit
    7. Test​
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2008
  20. Earthling

    Earthling Registered Member

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    That certainly sounds as if it should work, but it doesn't on my PC, which seems incapable of booting anything from USB. But prompted by k0lo I used a similar method to install VistaPE on a small hard disk partition and it boots about as fast as is possible from there. It's so incredibly useful I can't now imagine being without it.
     
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