Hi,

I want to add the network driver for an Intel Pro 100 onboard ethernet card to an existing Windows XP Embedded image.
I cannot create a new Image since the image provided to me (by a company) already includes many adaptions to run on the target machine accurately (this is very complex). Can anyone give me a step-by-step instruction that explains in detail how a new driver can be added without creating a new image and what files are affected from this "extension"? Thank you so much, because it seems to be very tricky.

Not only tricky, just about impossible.

Since this is not a BartPE discussion I will move it to a more appropiate forum location.

Which is the difficult part?

AFAIK XP embedded is simply a "reduced"/"tweaked" XP, so it should be possible to install a driver to it.

Which format is the image?

On what media is it used?

When running the image have you not Device Manager?

jaclaz

Well I'm thinking the image is on a CD and updating CD's can be challenging.

The ISO-Image is loaded with PXE over the network.
I can modify the ISO Image before I deploy it, so I have to include the new network driver before...
When the netword adapter is installed correctly all further install operations will work properly.
So my question is: Is there any way to add a driver to an existing Windows Emb. Image (ISO).
Thank you!

Not directly, but you can:
1) create a RAW HD image with same contents of .ISO
2) PXE boot the RAW image
3) Install the network driver
4) Save (backup) the modified image (or just the Registry+the added drivers)
5) create a new .ISO with contents of RAW image (or find the differences like added files and Registry entries and integrate accordingly the existing .ISO) or leave alone the whole .ISO stuff and PXE serve the RAW image instead of the .ISO.

It's not as straightforward as the above five points may make it appear, but it should be doable.

Most probably it can also be done (saving contents of Ramdisk) directly from the .ISO , but RAW images are far easier to change/modify.

You will need to read "between the lines" of this:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=4952&st=0
and then thoroughfully read aec's threads on the matter (the Server 2003 SP1 Ramdisk booting was derived from XP embedded):
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=10482&hl=
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=19333&hl=

Some info can also be found here:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5968

jaclaz

Thank you for the answer!
I have already an existing Windows XP ISO that is loaded with PXE. Why do you recommend to create a raw image?
How can I backup the modified image that is loaded into RAM (step 4)?

Just a number of speculative thoughts (not knowing the contents of your .iso image) but generally XP Embedded .iso images are made:
1) with "hard disk emulation" mode (thus they contain a RAW image)
2) use the "special" driver eltorito.sys to be able to access the "hard disk emulation" image
3) use some form of software write protection, like EWF to allow "fake" writes to the otherwise read-only media

In other words, they are more or less similar to this:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=3890

All three points are only necessary for actually making a CD/DVD, it is possible to directly PXE serve a RAW HD image, that won't need them.

About backing up, you'll have to do some experiments, a good candidate is any app that can use VSS, like DriveimageXML:
http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm
or maybe self-image :
http://selfimage.excelcia.org/

To only backup Registry, ERUNT is suggested:
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/


jaclaz

hello again,

If you have made the iso and you want to add or delete files from the ISO
use this method
I use UltraISO It's a free trial. www.ezbsystems.com

To add new files to ISO Image

File | Open | Select *.iso | Open | Image windows shows bootable |
Select your files you want to add in the lower window | Drag to the top window | File |
Save


To burn:

File | Open | Click on *.iso | Open | You'll see your
files on the right | Tools | Burn




Regards Ben

@Ben Mott
And how is he supposed to install the missing driver?

jaclaz

hello again,

sorry Jaclaz

I think we have had this question before
and the Practical solution was to make the original Image using a USB NIC card (PCMCIA)?
and move the USB card from PC to PC or laptop .
I do apologize for interfering in the discussion .
regards Ben

No need to apologize.
Every opininion/info is always welcome.
But OP want to modify an existing XP Embedded image, not a PE of some kind, thus the procedure won't be the same.

jaclaz

hello jaclaz ,

thank you for that

here is some how related useful information regarding ISO and mounting them etc

more and more laptops now come without floppy drive and CD/DVD drive

An old friend of mine who had bought a bridge game on a DVD was disappointed that he could not play it on his new 10” laptop without a DVD drive as after we installed it using a memory stick
,it kept asking to put the DVD in the DVD drive to do a CRC error check to find out if DVD was the
original and not a copy.

So I decided to research into it for a solution.
The solution is that one should make an ISO of the DVD, using UltraISO
http://www.ezbsystems.com
, or imgBurn in read Mode
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
or the Free Alex Feinman ISO recorder
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
once you have created the ISO image of the DVD then you need to mount it.
That is perform a trick of disgusing it as a DVD.
There is a tiny Free program from Microsoft !!! called:
WINXPvirtualCDcontrolPanel
That will do this
http://tinyurl.com/tyxx
it is a zip file expand it and read the text file how to set its driver up.

the above software free from Microsoft works OK but it is old and frankly a bit Amateurish (DIY)
here is a more professional software from Swiss people of same subject.

Virtual Clone Drive
http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html


http://static.slysoft.com/SetupVirtualCloneDrive.exe

but unfortunatly when you mount the image it is read only and you can not add ay thing to it
not like imagex /mountrw the other Microsoft free utility.

Regards Ben

@Ben Mott
There is NO mounting utility that can make a READ ONLY filesystem (like cdfs) read/write.

There are ISO editors, that actually simply re-create the .iso from scratch.

The download for the MS utility (Official one) is this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916902/en-us
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/b...rolpanel_21.exe

jaclaz

thank very much
Regards Ben

Thakxxxx