================================================================================

*** IMG_XP package ***

Make XP and Win7 Universal Image files booting with Grub4dos Menu on HDD or USB

================================================================================

Download - IMG_XP

In Win7 OS Set User Account Control Off and Reboot

1. VHD_XP_Create.exe - Make VHD file and Install XP in VHD by using Grub4dos Boot Menu on HDD

First Prepare XP Setup ISO file with integrated UpdatePack and DriverPacks as described below in Section 2
and Copy XP Setup ISO file to the Target boot drive of your computer.
-
Click to view attachment

0. Run IMG_XP.exe and Extract to simple path on your Local Harddisk - gives folder IMG_XP
1. Use IMX_XP\makebt\imdiskinst.exe to Install ImDisk driver (if not present)
- Imdisk is used by USB_XP_Fix.exe to mount VHD and HDD Image files in a virtual drive
2. Run VHD_XP_Create.exe to create XP-1.vhd and Grub4dos Boot Menu for Install of XP in VHD
- Select Local Harddisk as Target drive and select XP Setup ISO file located in root of Target Drive
3. Reboot and in Grub4dos menu select Start XP Setup on XP-1.vhd - WinVBlock driver
- XP-1.vhd has already NTFS compressed format, so you should NOT format at Setup, just keep settings
- Format XP-1.img inside XP Setup cannot be used, it results in corrupt message
4. After Reboot select Continue XP Setup and then Reboot to Start XP from Image XP-1.vhd
5. Reduce size and improve settings as usual and Install missing Drivers and Install Standard Controllers for IDE and USB
Reduce size to get rid of pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys via:
- right click My Computer > select Properties > Advanced > Change Virtual memory > select No pagefile and Set
- right click on Desktop > Screen Protection > Energy > Uncheck Sleep settings to get rid of hiberfil.sys
- Set System Restore and Windows Update Off and delete 350 MB of dllcache folder via cmd SFC /purgecache (or Run PURGE_DLLCACHE.BAT)
- In Device Manager instead of Hardware specific Controllers you can Install Standard Controllers for IDE and USB (not needed since new USB_XP_Fix.exe)
- For Universal XP don't Install the Video driver. You can Uninstall the Video driver so that you still have high resolution on any hardware.
- Set Screen Resolution to 1024 x 768 useful on all monitors (right click on Desktop)
6. USBoot DriveGuard driver is probably unneeded to prevent BSOD 7B since recent USB_XP_Fix.exe will Fix XP and Install waitbt.sys driver.
Skip this step Or Install USBoot DriveGuard driver ubdrvgd.sys to prevent BSOD 7B in booting from USB
- Download USBoot from http://usboot.org/tiki-index.php
- Extract the package, right click on ubdrvgd.inf, click on Install
- the XP boot message - DriveGuard Initialization failed - has No effect, the driver works OK
- More Info http://reboot.pro/9830/page__st__800#entry160006
- DriveGuard driver ubdrvgd.sys is installed as LowerFilters between the main driver and the hardware
7. Connect USB-HDD where you want to use XP Image, so that USB-HDD settings are known in XP registry, and Reboot
8. Reboot with other OS and copy XP-1.vhd to bootable USB-drive and create entry in Grub4dos menu.lst
- BOOT_USB.exe can be used to make USB-drive bootable with Grub4dos Menu
- BOOT_IMG.exe can be used to make Grub4dos Boot Menu on existing bootable drives
9. Run USB_XP_Fix.exe and Select your XP-1.vhd file on USB-drive and click GO
10. Reboot from USB on the same computer and Select Boot XP Image - XP-1.vhd - WinVBlock FILEDISK
11. Reboot from USB on other computers and Select Boot XP Image - XP-1.vhd - WinVBlock FILEDISK - to make Universal

When booting on other unknown machine, then XP will auto adjust itself in about 3 min and install the required drivers.
In this learning process, the registry gets extra info on how to boot on that machine and will use it next time and so XP becomes Universal.
This process requires that you have the WINDOWS\DriverPacks folder of 135 MB available with Chipset + Processor + MassStorage + LAN drivers
and that DevicePath in the registry was properly set by the Keep The Drivers Option KTD (see below and in Picture).

If you have Installed XP in VHD on AMD machine and then boot XP Image file first time on Intel machine,
then intelppm Service will have Start=1 value, which will give BSOD 7 E when booting again on AMD machine.
This problem can be overcome by running the intelppm_Start3.reg registry tweak from POST_FIX folder.
In that case intelppm Service will get Start=3 and everything will be OK all the time for AMD and Intel.

Thanks to Sha0 for making WinVBlock driver - http://reboot.pro/8168/
Thanks to cdob for making usb_xp_init.cmd - http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...22473&st=37
Thanks to sara - pmedia for her tutorial - http://reboot.pro/13731/

More Info on direct Install of XP by using grub4dos menu and WinVBlock or FiraDisk driver:
cdob - Install XP from a ISO file No RAM disk - http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/149675-ins...rom-a-iso-file/
Doodoo - http://reboot.pro/13856/page__p__122385#entry122385
sara - pnedia - http://reboot.pro/13731/
wimb - http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23553
karyonix - http://reboot.pro/8804/page__st__400__p__121737#entry121737
karyonix - http://reboot.pro/13967/


In case of a hidden boot partition containing Boot folder and file bootmgr of Windows 7,
then Grub4dos Boot menu for Install of XP in VHD cannot be made by this means.
However, in most other cases the Grub4dos boot menu is created,
e.g. on partition booting with XP or on partition booting direct with Windows 7 OS or on partition booting simply with Grub4dos.

Grub4dos Menu for Install of XP in VHD by using XP Setup ISO file and WinVBlock driver



After Install of XP then you need to fix XP-1.vhd for booting from USB-drive by using USB_XP_Fix.exe
The fix will prevent BSOD 7B and will help to allow the XP VHD to boot on various hardware and so become Universal.



menu.lst on USB drive




================================================================================

Wait4UFD driver Enables Direct Install of XP in VHD on USB
Advantage of Direct Install of XP is that one does not need to make changes in the booting of the local harddisk,
where changes might be unwanted or difficult as in the case of a hidden Boot Manager partition e.g. Windows 7

First XP Setup ISO file was prepared as described in Section 2 here
DPsBase.exe was used to Integrate DriverPacks Chipset + Processor + MassStorage + LAN + WLAN
(settings Disc - Method 2 - GuiRunOnce - Enable KTD for the DriverPacks I will Select C+P+M+L)

http://reboot.pro/topic/18107-integratedrv...it/#entry167235

1. IntegrateDrv was used to integrate Wait4UFD driver in the XP Setup Source directory containing folder i386
2. ImgBurn was used to make new XP Setup ISO file, that was copied to NTFS formatted active partition of USB-harddisk
3. VHD_XP_Create.exe was used to make 2 GB NTFS VHD on USB and to make Grub4dos Menu for WinVBlock driver
4. Boot with Grub4dos Menu from USB and Install XP in VHD using Start TXT-mode / Continue GUI-mode / Boot Windows XP VHD
5. After Install of XP then Run USB_XP_Fix.exe and Select your XP-1.vhd file on USB-drive and click GO
to make XP Universal for booting from USB connected to any computer.

================================================================================

2. How to prepare XP Setup Source ? - Prepare XP Setup ISO file with integrated UpdatePack and DriverPacks

Take care that your XPSOURCE Folder is located on your Harddisk in a simple Path without SPACES.
Copy the Content of your Windows XP Setup CD to your XPSOURCE Folder on Harddisk

First Integrate ServicePack SP3 in your XP-SP2 Source (don't use here nLite).
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/S...ice_Pack_3.html
Download from - http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/detai...ng=en&id=24

In Command Window use for English version and XPSOURCE folder on drive E:


Siginet's RyanVM Integrator 1.6 can then be used to Integrate Windows UpdatePacks in the XP-Source.
http://integrator.siginetsoftware.com/index.php?download
Download preferred version RVM Integrator 1.6.1 Beta 2.1 - http://www.mediafire.com/?ynajonymmnz

Windows XP UpdatePacks and Addons:
http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/
http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack-sp3.html
http://integrator.siginetsoftware.com/index.php?addons
http://www.ryanvm.net/forum/

For Install of XP on a modern system with SATA Drives it is needed to use DPsBase.exe
for Integrating in your XPSOURCE DriverPack Massstorage with TXT Mode Enabled.
http://driverpacks.net/downloads
In that case a lot of Extra RAID SCSI and SATA Drivers (about 120 extra) are Integrated which appear in the
XP Setup BootFolder $WIN_NT$.~BT on Install-Drive and can prevent a lot of XP Install Boot Problems.
Use DPsBase.exe to Integrate DriverPacks Chipset + Processor + MassStorage + LAN + WLAN DriverPacks
which will then be located in OEM Folder in your XPSOURCE folder.
(settings Disc - Method 2 - GuiRunOnce - Enable KTD for the DriverPacks I will Select)

Always first use RyanVM Integrator and then use DPsBase to Improve your XP-Source
DPsBase makes presetup.cmd in folder I386 and changes the I386\winnt.sif file for use of DriverPacks

presetup.cmd in folder I386 will start decompression of DriverPacks located in OEM folder
at the beginning of GUI-mode of XP Setup, which does NOT take to much time for the 5 DriverPacks

You should select to Keep The Drivers for Chipset + Processor + MassStorage + LAN
Then WINDOWS\DriverPacks is about 135 MB which is acceptable and provides a lot of extra driver support
which is useful to make XP Universal and adapt easily to very different hardware.
In that case the DevicePath is set accordingly in key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
so that XP can automatically make use of these drivers for adjusting to New Hardware

When you don't use nLite, you can copy the supplied $OEM$ folder to your XP Source folder
Change $OEM$ folder to your needs for UserAccounts and Registry Tweaks and Adding Drivers
CMDLINES.TXT is used for making UserAccounts and install of Registry Tweaks at T-12
Info see: http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/

Use DriverForge.v4.5.4.exe to Install from C:\Drivers at T-9 of GUI XP Setup (just for the last Reboot).
DriverForge.v4.5.4.exe was made by kickarse http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=110783
At end of TXT-mode XP Setup the folder $OEM$\$1\Drivers is copied to C:\Drivers
and $OEM$\$1\Install\DriverForge.v4.5.4.exe is copied to C:\Install
For Auto Use of DriverForge at T-9 add uncompressed driver folders in $OEM$\$1\Drivers
and Uncomment two rules by removing ; in winnt.sif file copied from winnt_sif to your I386 folder
This is very useful for Install of your well known Audio and Video driver during GUI-mode of XP Setup.

[SetupParams]
UserExecute = "%SystemDrive%\INSTALL\SetupPar.cmd"

Next alinea is not needed when DriverPacks are integrated as described above but given here as useful info.
PnP Drivers specified in winnt.sif can be added to $OEM$\$1\Drivers
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/34/
TEXTMODE Drivers defined in winnt.sif and located in $OEM$\TEXTMODE folder of the XP Source
can be used instead of using F6 floppy for MassStorage Drivers.
The content of the $OEM$\TEXTMODE folder is copied to XP Setup BootFolder $WIN_NT$.~BT\$OEM$
See cdob and allanf in http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...5306&st=180

Smart Driver Backup 2.12 of Jaque is very useful to Backup your drivers before install of XP
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20555

================================================================================

How to make XP Setup ISO File ?

- Use BBIE (see below) or Isobuster to Extract Boot Image bootsect.bin from Original bootable XP Setup CD
bbie will make image1.bin that you can copy as bootsect.bin to XP Setup source folder
- Reduce Size of XP Setup Source folder (if needed to fit on CD then remove folders LANG WIN9XMIG WIN9XUPG)
- Use ImgBurn and bootsect.bin to make Bootable CD

1. Remove 3 folders LANG WIN9XMIG WIN9XUPG - reduction in size = 135 MB
2. Run ImgBurn - Portable Tool in PStart Menu - IMG_XP\MULTI\PStart\Progs\ImgBurn
- Select Write files/folders to disc
- Output - Select Image File
- Browse Source folder and Select your XP Setup Source folder
- Browse Destination file - Give Name e.g. XP-Setup.iso
- Labels ISO 9660 - Give Name e.g. XP-Setup
- Advanced Restrictions - ISO9660 - Select Level X and DOS CharSet with 4x Checkbox On (allow ...)
- Bootable Disc - Make Image bootable - Checkbox On - Browse Boot Image - Select bootsect.bin file
- Bootable Disc - Emulation Type = None
Load Segment = 07C0
Sectors to Load = 4


BOOT_USB\makebt>bbie M:\XP3_1201.iso
BBIE - Bart's Boot Image Extractor v1.0, © 2001, Bart Lagerweij
http://www.nu2.nu
will make BOOT_USB\makebt\image1.bin that you can rename as bootsect.bin

================================================================================

POST_FIX Tools for XP - Readme
You can use DriverForge.v4.5.4.exe to Install any missing driver (e.g. video audio or WLAN)
by selecting Path to Uncompressed Driver Files e.g. S:\D

In that case DevicePath in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
is set to what DriverForge needs.
It means that any previous settings are lost e.g. for making use of the KTP C:\WINDOWS\DriverPacks store.

If you have selected in DPsBase.exe to Keep The Drivers by using KTP Option,
then after using DriverForge you need to run DevicePath_Reset_KTP.reg to Reset DevicePath to the KTD settings.

================================================================================

If you have Installed XP on AMD machine and then boot XP Image file on Intel machine,
then intelppm Service will have Start=1 value, which will give BSOD 7 E when booting on AMD machine.
This problem can be overcome by running the intelppm_Start3.reg registry tweak.
In that case intelppm Service will get Start=3 and everything will be OK for AMD and Intel.

================================================================================

Post Install Add DriverPacks to XP:
1. Boot with Universal XP Image file
2. Extract 3 DriverPacks to C:\ e.g. Chipset + CPU + MassStorage - will give C:\D folder
3. Use R-mouse to Open command prompt at C:\POST_FIX and run command


DevicePath in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
is set to subfolders of C:\D

================================================================================

Portable Windows HD Image files booting from USB

================================================================================

The Apps IMG_XP_Compact.exe and VHD_W7_Compact.exe of IMG_XP package
can be used to make Portable Windows HD Image files booting with Grub4dos Menu on HDD or USB

These Virtual Harddisk files are of type IMG or VHD and require WinVBlock or FiraDisk driver to boot them as FILEDISK or as RAMDISK
The Ultimate Windows 7 VHD files make use of Microsoft VHD HBA driver which allows to boot them as FILEDISK
Additinally Installed Programs and Drivers and Settings are remembered in FILEDISK just like in normal Windows OS

Source can be drive where Windows is installed or full XP Image file Or Windows 7 VHD file
In case of using existing Installed XP as source, it is handy to first create a NEW user in XP,
so that this NEW user folder is small in size e.g. only contains very few Documents and Pictures.

Also Install either WinVBlock or FiraDisk driver:
- Install WinVBlock driver see - IMG_XP\Help_Info\WinVBlock_Install.txt
- Install FiraDisk driver with R-mouse on firadisk.inf in IMG_XP\makebt\firadisk-driver- folder

Reduce size and connect USB-harddisk as described in point 5 and 6 given above
to get rid of pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys and to get USB-HDD settings are known in XP registry

After booting with other OS e.g. Portable 7 PE, then you can run IMG_XP_Compact.exe and Select the NEW user
to make XP Image file that can boot from grub4dos menu on HDD or USB

Mini XP = OS Size 400 MB - including IE8 + WLAN + Audio + Printer + 7-Zip + ImDisk and all installed drivers
Port XP = OS Size 600 MB - extra system32 complete + Windows Media Player - Multimedia support

In case of Mini XP then external VLC portable player can be used for MultiMedia support

Advised size of XP Image file is 1.0 GB and for Windows 7 VHD file is 1.6 GB.

Click to view attachment == Click to view attachment

Grub4dos Menu for Win7-1.vhd and using FiraDisk driver




================================================================================

3. Boot Win7 VHD Image file from USB

- Direct Install Windows 7 in a VHD file on local harddisk created by WinNTSetup2_x86.exe with Ctrl + Shift + V
- Copy Win7 VHD file to USB and use USB_W7_Fix.exe to fix for booting from USB-drive
- Make Boot Manager menu on USB for Win7 VHD Image file

Thanks to JFX for creating the very handy WinNTSetup2 tool to Install Windows 2k/XP/2003/Vista/7 x86/x64

Info in folder IMG_XP\WinNTSetup2_x86_x64 and here http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/149612-winntsetup-v2/


WARNING: Boot menu of your computer and your USB-drive will change needed for booting with Win7 VHD file.
WinNTSetup2_x86.exe will create or change Boot Manager menu (folder Boot and file bootmgr)


Details of Procedure to create Win7 VHD file for booting from USB-drive
1. Boot with Windows 7 or 7PE
2. Use R-mouse menu to Mount Windows 7 Setup ISO file in ImDisk virtual drive (if needed first Install imdiskinst.exe)
3. Run WinNTSetup2_x86.exe and use Ctrl + Shift + V to create Win7 VHD file on local Harddisk (or use Disk Management)
4. In WinNTSetup2_x86.exe adjust Windows 7 Tweaks and Select install.wim and Bootdrive and your attached Win7 VHD
Select all System-Only Tweaks except Turn OFF USB and select other tweaks that you like
Select Checkbox to Mount Installation drive as C:
5. Use Setup to prepare Win7 VHD file and Boot drive menu and Reboot to Start Install of Windows 7
6. Reboot 2x with Win7 VHD to finish Install of Windows 7 in VHD
7. Set System Restore and UserAccount Control Off and Reduce Size
e.g. Change settings to get rid of pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys
No pagefile.sys - Run as Administrator in cmd window: sysdm.cpl
and Change Advanced Performance Virtual memory Settings - Set to use No paging file
No hiberfil.sys - Run as Administrator in cmd window: powercfg.exe -H off
- Install Missing Drivers and Install Standard Controllers for IDE and USB and VGA
- In Device Manager instead of Hardware specific Controllers you must Install Standard Controllers for IDE and USB and Install Standard VGA Adapter
8. Install anything you need like ImDisk and 7Zip and connect your USB-harddisk to Update registry
Use Computer Properties and Set System Protection for Win7 VHD drive Off and Reboot Win7 VHD
9. Reboot with Windows 7 or 7 PE
10. Copy Win7 VHD to bootable USB-drive and use Disk Management to Attach Win 7 VHD located on USB
11. Open cmd prompt and create Boot Manager menu on USB-drive by running


where N: is your attached Win7 VHD and P: is your USB-drive

12. In Disk Management Detach Win7 VHD

13. If your USB-drive was NOT formatted in Windows 7 OS, then you need to fix the Bootsector of USB-drive P: with



14. Run USB_W7_Fix.exe of IMG_XP package to fix the registry of Win7 VHD file on USB
15. Reboot with Win7 VHD from USB

Instead of points 9-14 you can make use of VHD_W7_Compact.exe to make Portable Windows 7 VHD file of 2 GB booting from USB-harddisk.

Procedure for booting with 2 GB Portable Windows 7 VHD file on USB-harddisk
Step 1. - Direct Install Windows 7 in a 10 GB VHD file on local harddisk and created by WinNTSetup2_x86.exe with Ctrl + Shift + V
Step 2. - Run VHD_W7_Compact.exe to Copy Win7 VHD content in 10 min to New VHD file of Reduced Size on USB-harddisk
Step 3. - Reboot with 2 GB Win7 VHD file from USB

On Running VHD_W7_Compact.exe you need to Select your User Folder in folder Users of the Win7 VHD Source file
The program takes care of Attach and Detach of VHD files by using diskpart.exe of your Windows 7 or 7 PE Operating System.

The program is suitable for 32-bits Windows 7 and was tested with en-US Ultimate version,
but may work with other distributions as well.


VHD_W7_Compact.exe - makes 2.0 GB Win7 VHD file for booting from USB-harddisk







================================================================================

4. Universal Image Create and Restore - Details

- IMG_XP_Restore.exe for Restore on USB drive takes care of:
USB Services get "Group"="Boot Bus Extender" and Start=0 to prevent BSOD 7B
UsbBootWatcher.exe and UsbBootWatcher.conf are copied to USB-HDD\WINDOWS\system32 directory.
Thanks to marv and cdob for describing effect of Driver Group and Start value to prevent BSOD 7B in booting XP from USB.
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=22473

IMG_XP\makebt\registry_tweaks\HKLM_systemdst_USB_XP.reg - Added to SYSTEM registry for Restore on USB drive

IMG_XP\makebt\registry_tweaks\HKLM_systemdst_BOOT_HDD.reg - Added to SYSTEM registry for Restore on HDD drive

In all cases of Restore the DiskSignature 4 bytes in MBR at hex offset 1B8 must be taken into account:
Value of \DosDevices\C: in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices on Target Drive is set according to DiskSignature.
All other values in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices on Target Drive are deleted.
More Info on DiskSignature http://thestarman.pcministry.com/asm/mbr/index.html

User can add extra registry tweaks
to HKLM_systemdst_Add.reg or HKLM_softwaredst_Add.reg in IMG_XP\makebt\registry_tweaks folder,
which will be added in Restore to the WINDOWS\system32\config\SYSTEM and the SOFTWARE registry files on Target drive.

IMG_XP\makebt\registry_tweaks\HKLM_systemdst_Add_XP.reg - used by HKLM System CheckBox

IMG_XP\makebt\registry_tweaks\HKLM_softwaredst_Add.reg - used by HKLM Software CheckBox


After Install of Windows 7 on system with BIOS SATA = IDE Controller, then the msahci Service has Start = 3.
Subsequent booting from USB-HD with msahci Start=3 on system with BIOS SATA = AHCI controller results in BSOD 7B.
The msahci tweak to set Start = 0 has been added to HKLM_systemdst_iaStor.reg used by Add iaStor - AHCI CheckBox.
This is needed to prevent BSOD 7B in Restore of Windows 7 for support of BIOS with SATA = AHCI controller setting.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976/en-us

Adding iaStor driver prevents BSOD 7B on booting from USB-HDD on other computer systems.
Copy iaStor.sys to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers and iaStor.inf + iaAHCI.inf to C:\WINDOWS\inf
Copy iaStor.cat + iaAHCI.cat to your CatRoot folder C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}

download the latest version of the Intel Matrix Storage Manager from http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Fi...01&lang=eng
More Info on adding iaStor driver to SYSTEM registry - http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=444831
http://www.msfn.org/board/enable-ahci-inte...xp-t109450.html

IMG_XP_Restore.exe has Add iaStor - AHCI CheckBox to take care of the above and
IMG_XP\makebt\registry_tweaks\HKLM_systemdst_iaStor.reg registry tweak is added to the WINDOWS\system32\config\SYSTEM registry file on Target drive
so that HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase contains the required PCI device values.

IMG_XP\makebt\registry_tweaks\HKLM_systemdst_iaStor.reg - used by Add iaStor - AHCI CheckBox

Besides the already existing option to Add iaStor Driver, there is additional possibility to add other drivers
by dropping them previously in the corresponding IMG_XP\makebt\drivers folder.

Registry Tweaks used for Win7 instead of those for XP are
HKLM_systemdst_Add_W7.reg and HKLM_systemdst_USB_W7.reg

Additionally for Install of Windows 7 on USB-HDD primary partition with DriveLetter U:

On booting from USB this USB-HDD partition will automatically get drive letter C:
http://www.multibooters.co.uk/cloning.html

For making correct Windows 7 entry in BCD store of BOOTMGR menu it is essential that Windows 7 was set as the default option.

================================================================================

5. Solutions to prevent BSOD 7B - Run USB_XP_Fix.exe

It is often possible to prevent BSOD 7B without using any delay driver like waitbt.sys or DriveGuard ubdrvgd.sys driver.

USB_XP_Fix.exe was improved such that the CriticalDeviceDatabase registry has all entries for IDE Controller and USB Controller Services
and that all IDE and USB Controller drivers if missing are extracted previously from the XP driver.cab file.

The CriticalDeviceDatabase registry of Windows 7 has much more entries as compared to XP.
IDE ATA\ATAPI Controller has ClassGuid={4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} with entries in mshdc.inf
USB Controller has ClassGUID={36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000} with entries in usbport.inf and usbstor.inf and usb.inf

CriticalDeviceDatabase registry of XP is now improved and comparable with Windows 7 by adding
all entries for Control Class {4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and {36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}
These CDDB entries arre added in folder makebt\registry_tweaks in files HKLM_systemdst_Add_XP.reg and HKLM_systemdst_USB_XP.reg

To be Universal for a lot of hardware it is also necessary to have the WINDOWS\DriverPacks folder available with Chipset + Processor + MassStorage drivers.
In that way you provide support for another important Controller Class, the SCSI- en RAID-controllers
Class=SCSIAdapter has ClassGUID={4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

So there are two measures that make XP behave more like Windows 7 and will allow booting on all hardware:
1. improved CriticalDeviceDatabase registry with IDE Controller and USB Controller entries
combined with the built in IDE Controller drivers made readily available (unpacked from driver.cab)
2. WINDOWS\DriverPacks store with subfolder M (MassStorage) for support for SCSI- en RAID-controllers

USB_XP_Fix.exe has Checkboxes to add Intel iaStor.sys driver and AMD ahcix86.sys AHCI driver with their CriticalDeviceDatabase entries
Intel iaStor.sys is IDE Controller (iaAHCI.inf for Intel AHCI Controller) with entries ending on cc_0106
iaStor.sys can be RAID Controller (iaStor.inf for Intel RAID Controller) with entries ending on cc_0104

In general one can say that missing (or slow access to) Controller drivers are the reason for BSOD 7B
IDE ATA\ATAPI Controller has ClassGuid={4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} with entries in mshdc.inf
USB Controller has ClassGUID={36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000} with entries in usbport.inf and usbstor.inf and usb.inf
SCSI- en RAID-controllers has ClassGUID={4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} mainly supported via MassStorage DriverPack

In case of any boot problem, then always run SaveHwids.exe and post the Hwids of your machine,
so that we can try to solve the boot problem by adding CriticalDeviceDatabase registry entries combined with suitable drivers.

If you did not use the advised Keep The Drivers Option KTD when integrating DriverPacks in your XP Setup Source with DPsBase.exe
then you can later add to your Image the WINDOWS\DriverPacks folder with subfolders C and CPU and M of extracted DriverPacks.
Also after using DriverForge then any previous settings are lost e.g. for making use of the KTP C:\WINDOWS\DriverPacks store.
After booting with XP Image you can run POST_FIX\DevicePath_Reset_KTP.reg to Reset DevicePath to the KTD settings
Additionally the Environment value of KTD must be set as C:\WINDOWS\DriverPacks by using KTD_C_WIN_DP.reg

Alternatively you can use this method:

Post Install Add DriverPacks:

1. Boot with Universal XP Image file
2. Extract 3 DriverPacks to C:\ e.g. Chipset + CPU + MassStorage - will give C:\D folder
3. Use R-mouse to Open command prompt at C:\POST_FIX and run command


DevicePath in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
is set to subfolders of C:\D


USBoot DriveGuard driver is probably unneeded to prevent BSOD 7B since recent USB_XP_Fix.exe will Fix XP and Install waitbt.sys driver.
If you still have problem then Install USBoot DriveGuard driver ubdrvgd.sys to prevent BSOD 7B in booting from USB
- Download USBoot from http://usboot.org/tiki-index.php
- Extract the package, right click on ubdrvgd.inf, click on Install
- the XP boot message - DriveGuard Initialization failed - has No effect, the driver works OK
- More Info http://reboot.pro/9830/page__st__800#entry160006
- DriveGuard driver ubdrvgd.sys is installed as LowerFilters between the main driver and the hardware

================================================================================

6. Universal XP - Support in boot.ini menu for Multiple Hal and Kernel

The boot.ini menu of XP can be used to select on the fly which hal and kernel file will be used for booting.
In this way one can support booting with the same Universal Image file on computers having quite different hardware.

http://www.vernalex.com/guides/sysprep/hal.shtml
http://www.etherboot.org/wiki/appnotes/port_winnt_sanboot

The method described above is improved and used in IMG_XP_Compact.exe and IMG_XP_Restore.exe

Default XP boots by boot.ini entry LAST CONFIG with the files hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe and ntkrnlpa.exe
The boot.ini switches /hal and /kernel will copy the in boot.ini named switchfiles and on the fly overwrite hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe
At the same time the kernel name (max=6 letters) plus pa .exe file is used to overwrite ntkrnlpa.exe

A set of 7 hal files and 4 kernel files in folder halkern is generated from the XP Setup Source provided by user.
The hal and kernel files are extracted in priority from sp3.cab or sp2.cab or driver.cab (used by RVM Integrator) e.g. as

In folder halkern we rename:

In this way folder halkern contains 7 hal and 4 kernel files:


IMG_XP_Compact.exe and IMG_XP_Restore.exe will copy the files of the halkern folder to Image folder WINDOWS\system32

Multiprocessor = MP and Uniprocessor = UP

boot.ini file with Multiple Hal and Kernel for making Universal XP

================================================================================

Summary

Universal XP is reality now:

- The same VHD Image File made with VHD_XP_Create.exe can be used for booting XP
from FILEDISK on HDD or USB or from RAMDISK, on computers having quite different Hardware architecture.

- IMG_XP_Restore.exe can be used to Install on HDD partition in 3 min XP including Office + PRGS + Updates
using 1.6 GB Universal XP HDD Image as source.

- BOOT_IMG copies Universal VHD Image File to Target Drive and makes GRUB4DOS Boot Menu.
Use this e.g. on a laptop running Vista or Windows 7 to make a boot option in BOOTMGR menu for Grub4dos.
Without the need to make new partition for XP, one can now simply use BOOT_IMG.exe
to install 1.6 GB Universal XP Image file booting in 1 min from WinVBlock or FiraDisk RAMDISK.

- IMG_XP_Update.exe is used after booting with XP Image file from RAMDISK, to Update the Image file that you just booted from.
Boot with full XP Image file in RAMDISK and Update Drivers using DriverForge with Drivers folder that you supply.
Then run IMG_XP_Update.exe to improve full XP Image file in 1 minute with drivers for New Hardware.

- Most computers nowadays are ACPI Multiprocessor PC and we can use the corresponding HAL.
If you need for XP to support old computers using a different HAL then you can use Add Hal and Kernel files and
let modify by IMG_XP programs your boot.ini as described in Section 6.
http://www.vernalex.com/guides/sysprep/hal.shtml
http://www.etherboot.org/wiki/appnotes/port_winnt_sanboot

- IMG_XP_Compact.exe and IMG_XP_Restore.exe have been tested running in 32-bits XP and Windows 7
and can also be used from LiveXP or 7 PE Environment.
In all cases ImDisk must be installed in XP or Win7 by using previously the provided imdiskinst.exe file.
ImDisk is used to mount the full XP VHD Image file in a virtual drive.

To Install ImDisk driver on Vista and Windows 7 you need to turn off UAC, User Account Control
http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html

The 64-bit ImDisk driver files included in the install package will not load on 64-bit Vista or 64-bit Windows 7
unless the machine is running with testsigning switched on.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator:

Reboot to activate this.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd419910.aspx

Thanks to karyonix, more Info see:
FiraDisk - http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8804
Install FiraDisk driver in XP with R-mouse on firadisk.inf in IMG_XP\makebt\firadisk-driver- folder
Forum FiraDisk - http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=94
Windows 7 - http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=77
Windows 7 on USB-HDD - http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9196

Thanks to jaclaz for pointing me to strarc.exe of Olof Lagerkvist ,
which is used in IMG_XP_Update.exe to Update the XP Image File on HDD after booting from RAMDISK.
Updating Registry and Drivers in Image file is done in only 5 sec, a Total Update of the Image requires 1 min.

Thanks to joakim for starting the subject

Development and historical thread here:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9830
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9227

Please redownload IMG_XP.exe

There was a small bug in IMG_XP_Restore.exe so that Multiple hal entries in boot.ini were missing for Restore on Partition 1

What is the licence of your app? Is the source available?

IMG_XP_Create.exe - IMG_XP_Update.exe - IMG_XP_Restore.exe and BOOT_IMG.exe are Freeware programs.

The AutoIt3 sources are available in IMG_XP\makebt\au3scr\sources_au3 folder.

I just tried your tool for the first time and first impression is nice work.

However, on first attempts inside a vmware virtual machine (english XP sp2), I get some errors. It appears fsutil.exe gets access denied on a network share. Using vmware shared folders works though (strangely opposite of what usually is the issue with the vmware backdoor). fsz.exe works good on network shares... Then, when copying the reg files, there is an error that certain ntuser.dat files are missing in target and asks if you want to restore them (clicking yes a handful of times and it continues). Then it finishes fine without complaints.

Looking at the code simultanously as building, I noticed some descriptor files are generated, but never used. Is it junk code, or is it used for something I did not see (vdk not used)? If so, then the tool must check for existing descriptors because they are not rewritten, but appended at the end of the existing ones.

Now booting the generated image (tried both 1.6 and 1.8 Gb), I get an error 16 "Inconsistent filesystem structure" on both images. How about having prepartitioned images (not very elegant though).

A couple more questions;
1. Will this work with systemdrive on anything other than C?
2. Why are the images not gzipped?

Sha0's WinVBlock should not be forgotten as it also works on XP. It even supports memdisk, which firadisk don't. Thereby simplifying network booting of these images, which appears more and more appealing now that the "Universal" has gotten more universal... Booting universal over HTTP is cool!

I will not have much time to test this tool now, but will run some tests when time allows. Keep up the good work on this tool!! I hope to master it soon..

Joakim

Just spitting out some more thoughts after my second attempt;

- In your NO_xcopy_IMG_XP.txt you must replace :\WINDOWS\inf\*.PNF with .PNF

What I also would have added to my exclude list (depends on preferences);


I would also run a batch to delete this;


- Add option to choose among stripped down level (moderate, medium, extreme), and have 3 different exclude files.

- Add more options for smaller sized images like 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 mb. Then universal XP can be rambooted on hosts with less than 1 Gb ram.

- Option to strip down dotnet if present.

- The estimated target system size (NTLDR OS) is not correctly adjusted for the optimizations put in the exclude file already mentioned. In my case it reported 2,2 Gb while actual size was 640 Mb. For smaller images, you must split the copy operation.

- Let the tool autodetect its physicaldiskX location so that mbr can be correctly adjusted when choosing to install ramboot solution locally. Or alternatively write the correct entries at the end on menu.lst and boot.ini on PhysicalDrive0 (as they most likely are located) or wherever they are, instead of assuming that root of current drive is correct.

- Option to inject firadisk/winvblock in offline mode to target registry if driver not installed. Have not tried from PE yet, maybe it is what it already does.

- Add minlogon as an option (boots faster).

- I tried putting target image on a secondary internal disk (inside vm) with size 1 Gb, but still the same error message. Although the image is somehow corrupted, the files on it are fine. If I copy them over to my own custom image, it almost boots (stuck at the welcome screen).

- Remove the backup hives (.bak) that occupy over 13 Mb.


And most importantly: Keep up the good work!!!


Joakim

@joakim
Thanks for your replies.

When the VMware Virtual machine is powered off, you can use VMware > File > Map Virtual Disks ...
to mount the vmdk file as a Virtual drive in your running host OS.

Then you can use IMG_XP_Create.exe to make HDD Image file from vmdk file mounted in Virtual drive.
In this way you don't have any errors.

But it has advantage to Install XP on a real partition and
after reboot use IMG_XP_Create.exe to make HDD Image file of the non-running XP, which can be any drive.

I tried to use gzipped images, but found no advantage.
The Image File is already NTFS compressed which gives the important size reduction combined with fast booting.

Stripping down Windows is possible, but also can lead to unwanted hidden errors.
Removing pchealth will mean that msconfig is not working anymore.
Removing Installer folder will mean e.g. that Office 2003 is not working anymore.

Image Size setting by the program is a rough estimate, that the user can overrule to set a desired size.

Sure you can, but it takes more time as well as not being challenging.

Apparantly something is not quite write with the erunt commands. May I suggest you add this to your exclude file;

and then use strarc instead on live systems with something like this;


Make a check for the minint key in registry to determine if in PE-mode. If so, then regular copying. Else copy targetdrive\WINDOWS\system32\config using strarc.


What?? Take a look at your stopwatch next time you ramboot, and compare gzipped vs non-gzipped. The difference is especially noticable when booting them over the network (it can really be several minutes in difference)...


I meant deleting the content of the folder, not the folder itself. Again, this is where preferences/needs come to play, and different strip-modes could be nice. For testing purposes/extreme-stripping maybe ignore the "Program Files" folder all together.

Joakim

The ERDNT messages are well known but not related to the registry files in the config folder.

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...=9227&st=77

But what do you think about the strarc commandline mentioned. You will gain from it in the sense that you save about 15 mb of space, plus the hives inside the config folder now results in a bootable system (something the erdnt.exe created ones didn't, at least on my machine). It will also work silently, ie without any message boxes for the user to click on.

Summary:
If config folder is copied with strarc, the actual content of the produced image is working. However, the produced images are still corrupt, so I need to copy the content of them onto my own custom images. Then they boot fine.

Joakim

In that case the NTUSER.DAT and UsrClass.dat registry files are NOT made at all.

For my procedure of using IMX_XP_Create.exe to make HDD Image file of a sleeping XP,
the ERDNT.exe is making perfect ALL the registry files in the Image without any errors or messages.

I know, and they work fine the way they are copied, if you are happy with the message boxes thrown up.


It still only makes sense to change the copy-routine for live systems (ie copying registry hives from your running OS).

Joakim

Or you could use VSS, and the copy routine can be the same for live and sleeping.
I've only used vshadow, dunno if autoit can use shadow copies directly.

I don't gzip images either, they're slower to load on my aging p4 test box, although I guess it depends how much of your image is empty space.

Have you gotten VSS to work correctly in any other PE build than MOA?

Either way it does not make much sense to use VSS from PE-mode in itself, unless you need to run an app that depends on the VSS service (ref VMWare Converter Standalone 4.0.1).

Regular filecopy (xcopy) should be sufficient from PE.


Joakim

True, I've only used VSS from full xp.

May I suggest you add this to your exclude file too;


and to reduce the size of dotnet2 if present;


I still end up with corrupt images, even when running the tool directly from a physical machine.

Are there anybody with non-corrupt images?

Joakim

Sorry for any confusion added about corrupt images. Your tool generates fine images. The issue where originated from an usb controller issue on the mb of my host machine, hence strange issues appeared in virtual machines that where located on usb.

I am also soon finished with a modified version of your IMG_XP_Create.exe.

It will remove everything except ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini and the WINDOWS folder. It will create a very stripped down XP that uses minlogon.exe.

Therefore the size of your systemdrive, in terms of amount of data on it, will not restrict the image creation, because only a very small part of it is actually used. Currently it will only work for live systems (and not for PE), but I'll change that before I upload it. But of course, only if the author approves it..

The resulting XP will thus fit on images in size far below 500 Mb.

Joakim

That sounds interesting ....

Good to hear that your problem of corrupt images is solved.

Why does the new version not yet work for PE as OS ?
What is the problem ?

@joakim

As a "side effect" of your work, could you possibly have an occasion to find out the complete list of differences between a working Winlogon and a Minlogon in Registry and dependencies?

I know that if you have a working Winlogon, you only need to replace winlogon.exe with a renamed minlogon.exe, but I have found difficulties in re-adding the needed "full" Winlogon dependencies and related Registry entries to this build:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...ic=3717&hl=

@wimb_2
Sorry for the slightly OT request on your thread.

jaclaz

I spent sunday writing a vbs to cut a fullish xp down using ntfs access times.
It parses ntbtlog.txt to avoid deleting drivers that are loaded early, but I still had to manually exclude five or six files.
It cut a fully patched xp with working IE8 down to about 220MB uncompressed, although not much else is working...
It's pretty slow and dangerous at the moment, deleting files from %systemdrive%, so next I might try to adapt it
to use robocopy /MAXLAD instead.
Of course cutting driver.cab and the rest makes it pretty much the opposite of "Universal" (sorry wimb...)

Here is a modified version; http://www.mediafire.com/file/ktwkzttzwtm/...eate_Joakim.rar

Modified source included with comments where appropriate.

Copy the two txt files into the makebt folder.
Copy IMG_XP_Create_joakim.exe to same folder where IMG_XP_Create.exe is.

To adjust stripdown level, modify joakim_exclude.txt. It will be a very ripped system, but mostly all system services should work. But as dog pointed out, to correspond with thread title not too much can be removed...

This modified version works fine for live systems. But in PE-mode I had issues in the 2 tests I ran. Even wimb's original version failed, so I changed it a little bit (when reading @WindowsDir it complained about a mismatch of C:\WINDOWS and X:\I386 (not very surprising in PE though)), but still issues when it comes to formatting, even after code modification.. Too tired to do much more now, will investigate the matter further next time..

Btw, ss PE-mode and this tool working for anybody?

And, don't be too harsh on the feedback, I'm still a noob...

Joakim

Thanks for IMG_XP_Create_joakim.exe for making Image of stripped down XP and using minlogon.exe.

Have made image of my regular install of XP (Prof. SP3 + IE8 + UpdatePack integrated + some Programs).

On Reboot and After loading of FiraDisk RAMDISK, the booting of XP with minlogon.exe was freezing just before Desktop.

Will test clean XP-SP3 and report about it in order to find out what is causing the issue.

Do you have any idea ?

Another new version; http://www.mediafire.com/file/2tjdy2jmmel/...e_Joakim_v2.rar

This one will let you choose whether to use winlogon or minogon.

You can also choose to include both WinVBlock and FiraDisk in hardware profiles, and choose which one to activate and boot from at boot time. No need to install them on the host. They are both injected to the target in offline mode.

Just copy the text files and the "hardware_profiles" folder into the makebt folder. Adjust the exclude file to include more.

Currently running fine without the "Documents and Settings" folder, but will add as an option when the command line is fixed.. The winlogon option works, but not quite as expected, and takes a rather long time to build the image. Better stay with minlogon.

Only tested on a livesystem with 32-bit xp sp3 installed.

@wimb
The hang that you noticed, is present here as well. I believe it is something that happens for "older" systems with tons of applications and drivers installed (it was at the welcome screen between and 2 minutes..

@dog
It would be interesting to see the script that you use for ripping your system..

Joakim

Tested Joakim v2 to make Images of clean fresh install of XP SP3.

Booting from FiraDisk RAMDISK with minlogon or winlogon freezes just before desktop will appear.

The used space in the image is 365 MB. Too much stripping perhaps.

What is critical in the stripping preventing me to boot with XP ?

I added some more to it; http://www.mediafire.com/file/it3j4ityzxw/...e_Joakim_v3.rar

Now it works really great when run in "hot" mode on a real XP system (non-PE).

The winlogon option that includes parts of the "Documents and settings" folder are also fixed a lot. The most important stuff that is removed from the "Documents and settings" folder is the shared docs, private docs and the users deskop folder. If you are like me, who have large amounts of garbage in these places, then it is very useful to have it removed.

I added support for smaller image sizes as well as an option to compress them with gzip.

The error messages from erdnt.exe are fixed (just needed to write some empty dummy hives to your destination for replacement..).

I also tried to add both winlogon and minlogon, and see if it was possible to choose at boot time which one to load. It is not directly possible with hardware profiles as the entry is in the SOFTWARE hive (unless you have a driver that system start=1 and is capable of modifying the registry. Patched kernels was also tried without luck (loading alternative SOFTWARE hive). Last attempt was with grub4dos, but still no luck.

Anyone that knows how to perform filecopy or filerename operations on a system file this early in the boot process before all the system drivers are all loaded (with fs=ntfs).

Joakim

Hi joakim,

Great improvement

I have made in "hot" mode images of my real clean fresh install of XP SP3.
The ERDNT messages are gone, thanks for making this improvement and for adding additional option to reduce size.

Using Image File Size setting of 0.7 GB gives 666 MB Image which loads into Firadisk RAMDISK in 8 sec.
Using gzip to compress the image results in much longer load time of about 75 sec

winlogon boots fast in 23 sec total including loading the RAMDISK.
The 666 MB RAMDISK has free space of 196 MB and used space of 470 MB
The Image file is NTFS compressed.

minlogon boots very slow in about 5 minutes
You have to wait long before desktop appears.

The stripped XP with winlogon can be usefull and will allow to boot XP from Firadisk RAMDISK on systems having 1 GB RAM.

May be the UserInterface can be improved.
In stripped XP the minlogon option gives about the same value for used space in the Image as compared to winlogon.
May be we can remove the minlogon option and make Radio Button to Select Full or Stripped XP using different exclude files.
The gzip option seems to have no adavantage, it only increases the loadtime inFiraDisk RAMDISK.

As long as the files are exactly the same size, you could try grub4dos dd? I guess you might have tried that already.
I'll post my stripping scripts tonight in a new thread, but the results are *really* broken systems

The difference in size comes from the fact that the "700 mb" is actually 700 000 000 bytes rounded downwards to cylinder boundary for geometry 63/255 (512). Your filesystem will also "eat" some of the raw space of image. That's why choosing the 700 mb image option does not result in a total space of 700 mb in your rambooted system. I just put it like this because certain limits, like the 512 in ntldr/setupldr.bin, are in bytes and not Mb.

An option for levels of stripping, (ie several exclude files), may also be nice. I thought about that too..

Joakim

Hi everyone !

I'm very happy with the IMG_XP package and using it to create small XP images.
At the moment I'm trying to get rid of the ERDNT error messages that appear when I use IMG_XP_Create_joakim_v3 on a live system.
Any ideas for a quick dirty hack ?

Thanks for using IMG_XP package.

In my test of IMG_XP_Create_joakim_v3 described a few posts above I think the ERDNT messages were gone.

In fact what is needed is that NTUSER.DAT files are allready present before ERDNT is used.
The dirty trick could be to create first (empty) dummy NTUSER.DAT files, which then are overwritten by ERDNT without error message.

At the moment I don't have time to do tests, but may be the idea can help you.

I have problem when using BOOT_IMG.exe. On the prosess of Making Firadisk RAMBOOT Entry in Boot Menu, it showed AutoIt Error window: "Error: variable used without being declared."

Thanks for reporting error when using BOOT_IMG.exe
Error is unknown to me.

What you could do:
- If you have XP OS on TargetDrive then:
Copy XPRAM_1.img and makebt\grldr and menu.lst to root of TargetDrive
and Make manually your boot option for XPRAM_1.img by making in menu.lst the GRUB4DOS entry



And make GRUB4DOS boot option in boot.ini file (uncheck read only) e.g. like:


- Or Try instead in IMG_XP_Create.exe to Check and use the option for direct Install RAMBOOT Image on Target Drive


If possible you can try to find out what is causing the error:
- Copy source code BOOT_IMG.au3 from IMG_XP\makebt\au3scr\sources_au3 to folder IMG_XP
- Install AutoIt3 setup versie 3.3.0.0 http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/downloads.shtml
Direct download: http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/files/...3.0.0-setup.exe

Then in AutoIt3 run BOOT_IMG.au3 using F5
Look what is causing the error and give report of error.

Dear Wimb, thanks for your help.

It seems that $XPSourceDrive need to be declared first. After adding it to global, it's running perfectly.

Thanks again.

Thanks a lot Storage11 for finding this bug

It originated from using part of IMG_XP_Create.au3 to make FiraDisk RAMBOOT GRUB4DOS entry iside BOOT_IMG.au3 without taking $XPSourceDrive properly into account.

From what I understand "IMG_XP_by_Wimb" way is the only one can really build universal usb image.
I want to build the best possible universal image and only then restore it on my usb.

i want make smallest as possible image (For ability to use learning process on 1GB ram machine) so i use lite-xp source.

Each time i'm boot different PC install drivers with driver force (full DriverPack Dir) and use "update_img" but Each time Image size will be larger... (about 50mb more)...

1. Do I really have to install all drivers including {sound, LAN, wireless, VGA, Bluetooth,modem,ect....} (They very increase the image) Or maybe enough just to wait for the system is self-installs the necessary?

2. From what I checked, Not enough to do the learning process on "Little different hardware" You must do this each chipset/model.... Otherwise it does not work. Maybe someone here can make and share with us a package which will include updates to the registry and files necessary for different types of hardware???

Thanks everyone and especially Wimb

Good to hear that you have made it.

After booting XP from Firadisk RAMDISK, then wait about 3 min to let drivers for new hardware found to be installed.
This is a silent process, so wait really about 3 min. Then check in XP Device Manager which drivers are missing.
Use DriverForge to install any missing drivers and check in Device Manager that everything is OK.
Then use IMG_XP_Update.exe to update XP Boot Image.

After you have done this process on computers with different hardware (AMD and Intel processor, ATI and NVidia video card,
USB and PS2 mouse and keyboard etc), then you have gathered sufficient registry info.
Now is the time to Restore on USB-HDD and you will be able to boot on many computers.
In case of trouble you boot again first with XP Boot image from FiraDisk RAMDISK to improve the boot image.

But the learning process is essential to make Universal XP Boot Image.

hi,
i am getting 'makebt\win_xp.mbr not found'.. error with 'IMG_XP_Create'
what could be causing this?? is it because i'm used a vm to install xp? or have i missed something?

anyway, here's the steps i gone through:

01. made a livexp with bootsdi
02. integrate xp sp3 by dos
03. using n-lite to slim down windows
04. integrate driver pack mass srorage using 'DPsBase.exe'
05. using 'Make_USB' to create a usb bootable xp installer
06. boot usb inside vm and boot into livexp
07. install xp inside vm using 'USB_XP_Setup'
08. after xp is installed, cleaned out windows pagefile etc.
09. install 'firadisk.inf' and 'imdiskinst.exe'
10. plug in usb hdd into vm and reboot for xp to register
11. shut down vm xp and mount the xp disk image
12. start 'IMG_XP_Create' but when press 'GO', i get the error message and closes.

i tried extracting the mbr and place into '\makebt\' folder but it is renamed to 'win_xp_bak.mbr' and i get error message again.
i tried again but this time using my real c drive, but still a no go..

i will be much appreciated if someone can point out what i did wrong or missed.

@optoron

File dmadmin.exe of XP is needed in IMG_XP\makebt folder.

If dmadmin.exe is missing or from other OS then you can try to replace with Windows\system32\dmadmin.exe version of XP.

In case dmadmin.exe is missing, then simple startup of IMG_XP_Create.exe in full XP environment
will result auto in copy of dmadmin.exe to makebt folder.

This would normally occur, but apparently your XP is not full anymore ....

Thank you very much wimb_2. a 100% success!!
at one point i was slightly confused when running IMG_XP_Restore because i have to move the XPRAM_1.img to another drive before i can do a restore onto the usb hdd. and the fact that the usb hdd did not contain the xp setup disk for adding the hal files (or is it no longer required since i have already added the hal when i ran IMG_XP_Create?)...

anyway, thanks to you, i'm a now a proud owner of a portable xp.

just a thought.. can you tell me, is it because universal xp can boot in all machine due to the registry in xp, which lacks the needed info for the boot process? does that mean if i update my universal xp registry with a running xp and extract the drivers, i can boot into that machine? rather than having to boot into ramdisk, then let it find hardware and install drivers???.

anyway, you have made me a very happy man.. and i think you are really great, for sharing this fantasitic tool.
Thank you again.

optoron.

=
*** IMG_XP package Version 2.0 - Boot XP from Image file on USB ***

You can use IMG_XP_Create.exe and USB_XP_Fix.exe to make Universal XP Image file bootable from USB.

Download - IMG_XP


0. Run IMG_XP.exe and Extract to the Root of your Local Harddisk - gives folder IMG_XP
1. Use IMX_XP\makebt\imdiskinst.exe to Install ImDisk driver (if not present)
- Imdisk is used to mount the HDD Image file in a virtual drive
2. Run IMG_XP_Create.exe and Select your Target settings and click NEW to create XP-1.img and Menu for XP Setup
- Select Local Harddisk as Target drive and select XP Setup ISO file in root of Target Drive
- and Select checkbox to make grub4dos XP Setup Boot Menu in menu.lst on local bootable Target Drive
3. Reboot and in Grub4dos menu select Start XP Setup on XP-1.img - WinVBlock driver
- XP-1.img has already NTFS compressed format, so you should NOT format at Setup, just keep settings
- Format inside XP Setup cannot be used, it results in corrupt message
4. After Reboot select Continue XP Setup and then Reboot to Start XP from Image XP-1.img
5. Install missing drivers with DriverForge and Reduce size and improve settings as usual
- Set System Restore and Windows Update Off and Run PURGE_DLLCACHE.BAT to delete 350 MB of dllcache folder
- Reduce Size e.g. Change Virtual memory and Sleep settings to get rid of pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys
6. Connect USB-HDD where you want to use XP Image, so that USB-HDD settings are known in XP registry, and Reboot
7. Reboot with other OS and copy XP-1.img to bootable USB-drive and create entry in Grub4dos menu.lst
8. Run USB_XP_Fix.exe and Select your XP-1.img file on USB-drive and click GO
9. Reboot from USB and Select Boot XP Image - XP-1.img - WinVBlock FILEDISK

Thanks to Sha0 for making WinVBlock driver - http://reboot.pro/8168/
Thanks to cdob for making usb_xp_init.cmd - http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...22473&st=37
Thanks to sara - pmedia for her tutorial - http://reboot.pro/13731/

=


menu.lst on USB drive

=
*** IMG_XP package Version 2.1 - Boot XP from Image file on USB ***

You can use IMG_XP_Create.exe and USB_XP_Fix.exe to make Universal XP Image file bootable from USB

Download - IMG_XP

Update of USB_XP_Fix.exe

• Added - Option to Make Grub4dos Boot Menu for XP Image file on USB-drive
• Added - Support in boot.ini menu for Multiple Hal and Kernel - Option useful for old hardware
• Changed - Program Version - latest version is 2.1 for USB_XP_Fix.exe

More Info - http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23553

=
*** IMG_XP package Version 2.2 - Boot XP from Image file on USB ***

You can use IMG_XP_Create.exe and USB_XP_Fix.exe to make Universal XP Image file bootable from USB

Download - IMG_XP

• Added - Created Image Size selectable from 0.4 GB in small steps until 7 GB
• Added - Option to Add EWF Write Filter to protect the XP Image file for unwanted changes
• Changed - WinVBlock updated to latest version 0.0.1.8-DEV (Feb-14-2011)
• Changed - Program Version - latest version is 2.2 for USB_XP_Fix.exe

More Info - http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23553

Procedure - http://reboot.pro/13731/page__st__135__p__121808#entry121808

=

@wimb_2

When running IMG_XP_create v.2.2 I get de following error dialog:

"N T L D R or B O O T M G R or grldr NOT Found in BootSector " Solution: First Format your Target Drive and then Try Again "

My target drive is the active boot partition C: FAT32, this computer has installed XP (1st partition), Win 7 32 (2nd. part.), Win 7 64 (3rd. part.)
Grub4dos is also installed.
When booting the first menu is the Win 7 one (bootmgr).

Best regards,
0scar

@Oscar

Did you use NEW or did you use GO button ?
In other words what is your final goal.
Do you want to create NEW empty image file for direct install of XP in Image file Or
do you want to create image of existing partition using GO

After the problem occurs and IMX_XP_Create.exe has finished, you can have a look at
folder IMG_XP\makebt\bs_temp
It contains interesting info for me about the bootsectors.
Can you please upload a zip file of folder bs_temp.

I use NEW
I want to create NEW empty image file for direct install of XP in Image file

Uploaded bs_temp folder:
http://www.mediafire.com/?71h8142hkpwa2id

Bye

@Oscar

Your FAT32 bootsector is not NTLDR type as being made by XP format.
It contains some unknown name VGRCH for the bootloader.

It means you have to make the WinVBlock XP Setup boot menu manually.

Edit menu.lst for grub4dos menu and add entries like this

OK
Thank you.

The error was found and is fixed.
Please Redownload IMG_XP_22.exe

=
*** IMG_XP package Version 2.3 - Boot XP from Image file on USB ***

You can use IMG_XP_Create.exe and USB_XP_Fix.exe to make Universal XP Image file bootable from USB

Download - IMG_XP

• Added - POST_FIX folder with useful Tools - USB_XP_Fix.exe can Add this folder to XP Image file
  Contains handy registry tweaks DevicePath_Reset_KTP.reg and intelppm_Start3.reg (see Readme_POST_FIX)
• Changed - IMG_XP_Create.exe can be used in Windows 7 OS without having collected XP dmadmin.exe file
• Changed - FiraDisk Updated to latest version 0.0.1.30 - Thanks to karyonix http://reboot.pro/8804/
• Changed - Program Version - latest version is 2.3

More Info - http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23553