Slipstreamed Win2K + SP1 bootable CD

[Underclocked]

^see above
Floyd, I tried manually inserting the boot.bin and got the same negative result.

 

[Olias]

Thanks for your suggestions but I followed Andy's instructions to the letter and found them quite concise. I did not put the boot.bin file in the Win2K directory but rather used CDRWIN to point to where I put the image file. There is also not a Win2K directory on the CD, instead, all the contents of the source directory are there. Here is the directory list of the root on the CD?

Volume in drive H is Win2K_SP1
Volume Serial Number is 8A03-2550

Directory of H:\

12/06/1999 11:00p 45 AUTORUN.INF
11/02/2000 03:28p <DIR> BOOTDISK
12/06/1999 11:00p 5 CDROM_IP.5
12/06/1999 11:00p 5 CDROM_NT.5
07/21/2000 07:05a 0 cdrom_sp.tst
11/02/2000 03:15p <DIR> DISCOVER
11/02/2000 03:15p <DIR> I386
12/06/1999 11:00p 16,490 READ1ST.TXT
12/06/1999 11:00p 233,472 README.DOC
12/06/1999 11:00p 196,880 SETUP.EXE
11/02/2000 03:19p <DIR> SETUPTXT
11/02/2000 03:19p <DIR> SUPPORT
11/02/2000 03:20p <DIR> VALUEADD
7 File(s) 446,897 bytes
6 Dir(s) 0 bytes free

Could it be that the I have a bad copy of the original Win2000 CD and it is missing some essential file?

Thanks again, Mitch

 

[Floyd]

Underclocked, thanks for letting me know that manually inserting the boot.bin didn't help.

Mitch, you don't have a bad copy of the Win2k CD, there's something else going on here. For some reason the boot.bin is not being applied to the root directory of the CD. There are now at least three of us with the same problem. It shouldn't be happening when we're all following the precise step-by-step instructions. Clearly it's related to this one file, but be damned if I know why this is happening. I'm rather familiar with the terminology and, having gone over all of the possible settings in CDRWin, nothing looks awry.

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[Floyd]

Underclocked and Olias, I finally created a successful CD using Bart Lagerweij's method described here. This is an excellent page for anyone interested in creating very versatile boot disks. The required utilities are all freeware/shareware, and Bart has an easy-to-follow checklist to walk you through the CD creation. The utilities are all command line driven, but he has created a batch file that automates the process. All you have to do place a few files in the indicated folders, edit a couple of text files, and then run the executable to burn the CD.

If you just want to create the bootable CD, simply follow the steps as laid out. But if you're like me, you'll want to read about what is really happening behind the scenes (since the batch file hides all of the potentially confusing commands), that way you can put together your own custom CD's. I stumbled across this site a couple of weeks ago and have subsequently managed to turn out some pretty snazzy bootdisks.

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[Underclocked]

Floyd, thanks but I too had success using a combination of Andy's instructions and those I found here: http://www.contamination.org/windows2000/burning_cds.html
The instructions on that page were written for an earlier version of CDRWin, so some minor adjustments are required. Also, I used the boot.bin from that page and did my burn to a cdrw. It works!!!

 

[Floyd]

Hmm, I guess &quot;it's a small world&quot; applies even to the vast internet. I remember reading that page around the same time I found Bart Lagerweij's. I'm glad you got it to work. I'll have to look over that information and see if I can determine why CDRWin wasn't working properly.

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[Davegod75]

underclocked....make sure this isn't your problem

<<One important step you need to take. I ruined two CDRs because of this. In CDRWIN there is an option you select after choosing your win2k directory to create the CD. The check box is PRESERVE FULL PATHNAMES, uncheck this box otherwise it will just burn a win2k directory folder onto your CDR>>

--David

 

[JeSpre]

I don't think you should be looking for boot.bin in the root directory. Here's the contents of my working copy:

AUTORUN.INF
BOOTDISK
CDROM_IP.5
CDROM_NT.5
CDROM_SP.TST
DISCOVER
I386
READ1ST.TXT
README.DOC
SETUP.EXE
SETUPTXT
SUPPORT
VALUEADD

When I did it, boot.bin was known as a dump of the bootable part of the disc. CDRWin just integrates it to the disc, it never should appear as a file. Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt, but it should only get there if you put it in your Win2K dir.

 

[Cephas]

Yep, the boot image is placed in a portion of the cdr outside of the iso filesystem, so you wont see it as part of the cd.
Early bootable cd's just copied the image of a bootable floppy to the CD, but you can now boot other kinds of images.
The win2k boot image seems to be one of these &quot;other kinds&quot;, specifically &quot;No Emulation&quot;.
It is this mode of boot image that stuffs up nero and easy cd. I read on one of the linked sites that only cdrwin works, and sure enough after trying both nero and cdrwin, it seems that only cdrwin does it ok.
Nero allows you to pick all the right options for the boot image, then goes and buggers it up regardless :-(

I highly recommend using cdrw to experiment with before wasting cdr's on it.

 

[Davegod75]

umm i'm getting a &quot;missing Ntldr&quot; error when i try to use my disk

 

[Davegod75]

i fixed it.

 

[Floyd]

How about an explanation? Particularly if it is related to CDRWin...a few people have had mixed results for no apparent reason.

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[AndyHui]

Bump for anyone who missed this.....

 

[Shadow07]

Ok. So how did everyone make it work? I have burned in the CD and got the Missing NTLDR error when i tried the CD. I am going to try the other boot.bin file from Contamination.org.

I am running CDRWin 3.8C.

 

[Shadow07]

I got mine working. If you use the boot.bin file from the site I mentioned (url mentioned above in threads), it should work.

 

[Davegod75]

nevermind that was a premature i fixed it. I still get the ntldr error doh

 

[urbantechie]

TTT...

 

[Floyd]

Dave, it appears the problems everyone is having is related to the boot.bin file. After I managed to make a working copy (using a different method), I looked more closely at the file...a binary compare shows the boot.bin of my working copy is different than that of the one downloaded from the TheTechGuide link Andy provided. I never went back to try it again with CDRWin, but I'm sending you a copy of the boot.bin file if you'd like to try it instead. Let us know how it turns out.

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[Davegod75]

thanks man.. I'll try it soon

 

[Shadow07]

Also, if anyone wants to know how to never enter the product id again on your Windows 2000 Pro/Server/AS installation, let me know.

I have created an unattended answer file that specifies this info.

 

[superbaby]

I would like to know!

 

[SUOrangeman]

I have *seen* and INF file that automagically put in the product ID for WinME. I think it was called msbatch.inf and placed in the same directory as the install files. I've never tried it, but it's worth a shot, right?

Just search the registry for the product ID, extract that reg key. I don't know what I need to do to make a .reg become a .inf. If I find that file again, I'll post it's format.

-SUO

 

[Shadow07]

What you do is edit the unattend.txt file in the i386 folder of your Windows 2000 CD. Under the [UserData] add in a key called ProductId = &quot;Your Product Id&quot;. I would change the Unattendedinstall = Yes to No. Also, change the TargetPath, if you want install it somewhere else. Save the file as Winnt.sif in the i386 folder, and burn another CD. I should work. I know it does for me.

If you have the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit, check out pages 1042-1044 in the Deployment Planning Guide. If you do not have these books, I would strongly recommend you get it. It is a good $250+ investment.

PS The Product ID is not the key you search for in the registry, but rather the CD key for Windows 2000.

 

[superbaby]

When you leave it unattended... what does it mean? Does it mean that when you boot from the CD, the install just goes?

I would like to specify the install drive and everything, and because I run a IDE/SCSI system my drive letters change all the time and I have no idea which is which.

BTW thanks for the info!

 

[Shadow07]

Unattended means that it will require no user intervention. But, you are not going to customize the install for a corporate install. You still want some control. What I outlined is a way to never have to put in the cdkey again.