hi everybody,
help me to find the right place to put this topic, cause i know this is the right forum.
this is what i need:
- i want to install a enlited version of windows xp,
- then i want to install a software developed by me with visual basic or labview,
- then i want to create a image of this operative system,
- then i want that this image, placed on local hard disk, is loaded at boot time on the ram

I have 2GB of ram and i want to use 1GB (or 1,5GB) as virtual RamDisk and the remaining part as normal RAM.

i know how to install a light version of xp (with 1,5GB of ramdisk the enlite procedure is not mandatory)

About the described needed steps, i don't know:
- how to create image of running operative system
- how to create a RamDisk usable at boot time
- how to copy the operative system image from HardDisk to RamDisk
- how to automate this procedure

i found a topic about MobileOS but, if i well understood, it is based on windowsPE, moreover that topic is complicated and i didn't found a clear procedure about what i need.

Please help me it is a important task for my work.

MobileOS is the "right" topic, as it is NOT a PE, but rather a "Full XP" loaded in RAM.

Apart the fact that you are perfectly right, instructions and howto's about MobileOS are a bit scarce/difficult , the problem is that it anyway uses the Server 2003 SP1 ramdisk which is by design limited to 512 Mb.

There is an alternative, but not Freeware, though all in all affordable if you need it's features for work:
http://www.disklessangel.com/
http://www.disklessangel.com/modules.php?name=guide

The developer windrv is also one of the contributors of the grub4dos project and a member here and on boot-land, where you can ask him help about the usage of the app.

jaclaz

512MB could not be enough for my purpose.
i know about disklessangel but it is not free and it is from china; because of my factory policy i can't buy directly from china.
i need a free (and easy if possible) procedure to setup xp on ram.

Out of curiosity, I would like what "factory policy" you are talking about.
You cannot buy directly from anywhere?
Or just from China?

If it is for work it is highly advisable to use Commercial apps, as they usually give support, easy instructions etc. or widely experimented and supported Freeware/Open Source.

If it is for fun/home/personal it is of course "better" to use experimental methods, so that in the way you will also learn something.

There is however NO known method, and definitely NOT an easy one, to boot in Ramdisk a "monolithic" XP with more than 512 Mbytes (exception made for the given link) - and remember that in order to be legally authorised to use the commonly used RAMDISK method you NEED to have a valid license for server 2003, expecially if used in a business/commercial environment.

There are however two possibilities:
1) Using a "split" system, with more than one Ramdisk, the first being the bootable one and the other(s) made by apps like IMDISK or similar
2) Experiment with Gavotte's Ramdisk:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1507
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4064

In BOTH the above cases some files from Server 2003 SP1 or R2 are needed (and consequently a corresponding license).

jaclaz

ciao caro, we are italian, i'll explain in italian:
non posso comprare da chi mi pare, non posso comprare su internet, posso comprare solo da rivenditori di fiducia della nostra azienda o comunque società italiane che propongono software alla nostra azienda. Comprare una licenza windows server non è un problema.



I could try with solution number 1.
Is it there a easy and clear procedure to boot windows server from ram?

some other questions with yes/no answers,
Does Gavotte's Ramdisk supports more than 512MB of ram?
does Gavotte's Ramdisk has known (serious) problems or bugs? is it stable?

Thank you 4 yo patience, and sorry 4 disturb.

EDIT: I tried in the past to enlite a xp windows version but the result was a 850MB of disk occupied.. i think that to fit my application and windows in 512MB will not be easy..

Well, with all due respect for the company you are working for and for it's managing board/executives, this is a policy that may have had sense in the 70's and maybe in the 80's, or if you deal in hardware (I mean actually steel hardware, like nails and screws, which tecnhology has not evolved much in the last 50 years).
But then if you buy/sell nails you won't need an XP in Ram....
Since I am Italian (as "opposed" to German or Swiss) I would solve the problem the "Latin" way
Simply convince (or "bribe" ) one of your "trusted" Italian suppliers into buying and re-selling to your company a valid license for disklessangel with a surcharge of 300% (that will anyway be less than a Server 2003 or XP Embedded license.



NO.
The base is the Mobile OS project, with all the drawbacks (in terms of lack of documentation and "uncertainties") it has.


Sure, up to 4 Gb.
It is stable AFAIK, point is whether you can find a way to make it a bootable Ramdisk.



NO prob.


Depending on how much you remove you can get anything between 130 Mb and the "full" XP roughly 1.5 Gb.....

Please be VERY, and I mean VERY aware that the use of nlite in a Commercial/business environment is PROHIBITED by it's Licence, read this:
http://www.msfn.org/board/Petition-Nuhi-t119463.html
(and linked to threads)

Though most probably Nuhi (nlite's Author) has no way to enforce his EULA, the violation of a Software License, if found during a routine inspection, could easily lead to your firm having the ISO 9001 certification suspended or revoked.

jaclaz

u're right,
i'll try the way u suggested.
bleeping winzozz