Creating a Windows 8.1 AIO with Media Center manually

Discussion in 'Windows 8' started by ambidav, Aug 7, 2012.

  1. Simpuhl

    Simpuhl MDL Senior Member

    Aug 8, 2012
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    I just want to create an AIO iso for Windows 8.1 Pro 32/64 that can be activated with Microsoft Toolkit.

    How do I know exactly which versions I need? they need to be VL correct? how can I conver them to VL or how do I know if my copies of pro are VL or not
     
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  2. ultimate_live

    ultimate_live MDL Expert

    Mar 15, 2011
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    Without using the "ei.cfg" file, I need to enter the key for retail versions. Only VL don´t need a key, right ?
    So, how can I enter a key for retail versions (core, por, pro+wmc) using dism ?
     
  3. Mr.X

    Mr.X MDL Guru

    Jul 14, 2013
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    Firstly, ei.cfg is necessarily needed to craft an AIO unless you use "unattend.xml file method" which I am not familiarized to. Secondly, using dism to insert a key is just for the final installation step just exactly before the oobe process begins to not ask for the activation key. IMHO this key insertion using dism is worthless because it takes a long time for each index to process, mount and dismount consumes too much time, besides, you'll end up using a KMS solution or whatever you like to activate your M$ products, unless of course you have legit keys.

    Now you can see when you install Windows 8.1 (Retail) you are asked for installation key at the beginning of the process and then once more asked for an activation key at the end of the process just before the oobe starts to run.

    IMO you just use ei.cfg file, then add Retail and VL editons to your AIO, then you will not be asked for installation keys in none of the versions, but at the end you will be asked for a activation key before oobe, no problem, just click omit ​and there you go.
     
  4. MSMG

    MSMG MDL Developer

    Jul 15, 2011
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    Actually There are five ways to enter or skip key for installation

    1) Manually
    2) Insert Key into WIM Image
    3) Autounattend.XML File
    4) EI.cfg
    5) PID.txt File

    So here is the details:

    2) Insert Key into WIM Image - Time Consuming

    3) Autounattend.xml - I do make and use it for single key installations. multiple method I haven't tried.

    4) EI.cfg - I have used it to detect Image Type and also skip cd key process

    5) PID.txt - I have tried with 1 Key, don't know about multiple keys.

     
  5. Chrystopher

    Chrystopher MDL Member

    Oct 23, 2013
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    Are you using the older version of VMWare Player? Try the newest version. As i know, VMWare is focused to help user learn more about Windows 8, not 8.1. If it can't, try another Virtual Machine like VirtualBox (I'm using it to try the Windows 8.1 AIO to and no problems at all)
     
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  6. ultimate_live

    ultimate_live MDL Expert

    Mar 15, 2011
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    I was using the latest version.
    I thought it maybe a upgrade problem, I uninstalled, cleaned all the traces, and reinstalled, but the problem remains.

    If I use Virtualbox, can I import a VM I made with VMware player to virtualbox ?
     
  7. Chrystopher

    Chrystopher MDL Member

    Oct 23, 2013
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    Yes you can, but the virtual harddisk must be end with these extensions which are supported by the VirtualBox :
    .VHD, .VDI, .VMDK, .HDD, .QED, .QCOW

    When creating VM with VirtualBox, at the Harddrive window, select "use an existing virtual hard drive file" and browse for the Virtual Harddisk created by VMWare Player and it will load you previous files and settings in the Virtual Harddisk made by VMWare Player

    * Do you see the error line? It says that "access violation", maybe you didn't run VMWare Player as administrator which your Windows 8.1 AIO is located in C Drive, so maybe it needs access to the system drive. Try run it as administrator or you can use VirtualBox as i explained above :)
     
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  8. ultimate_live

    ultimate_live MDL Expert

    Mar 15, 2011
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    I ran it as Administrator, but didn´t work. I moved my ISO from C:, to another harddrive D:, and also in administrators mode, but same error.
    But MSDN ISO's of Windows 8.1 run without error.
     
  9. Chrystopher

    Chrystopher MDL Member

    Oct 23, 2013
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    Just try your Windows 8.1 AIO iso using VirtualBox and tell me if it's working or not ;)
     
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  10. Mr.X

    Mr.X MDL Guru

    Jul 14, 2013
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    @ultimate_live
    Did you set product keys for every and each indexes using the dism commands?
     
  11. ultimate_live

    ultimate_live MDL Expert

    Mar 15, 2011
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    No.
    It seems, the problem is with the recovery mode x64. I made one AIO in pt-br. But when I create the recovery mode x64, the recovery mode, boot, is in Ebglish. But when I launch the ISO (not AIO) everything is in pt-br. So, I followed the same way I used to create my AIO of Windows 8, but it seems that the problem is applying the WINPE x86 (pt-br) and WINPE x64 (pt-br) to the boot.wim. Something changed from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, and the way doesn´twork anymore. The Recovery mode x64 for the English versions work fine, because everything since the boot is in English. And I didin´t need to change the LP of the boot.wim.
     
  12. SomeoneSuperior

    SomeoneSuperior MDL Novice

    Jul 20, 2013
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    I'm having trouble to fix a weird error.I made an AIO with 8.1,8, 7 and different servers versions.When trying to install 7 Embedded Edition, i get "windows cannot find the microsoft sotware license terms. make sure the installation sources are valid and restart the installation "
    Everything else seems to be working fine.
    Any idea on how to fix this?

    Edit : Same thing happens with server 2008 r2.
     
  13. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
    Staff Member

    Nov 30, 2009
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    It is self-explanatory. You need to copy sources\license\ folder from the Embedded ISO.
     
  14. SomeoneSuperior

    SomeoneSuperior MDL Novice

    Jul 20, 2013
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    Thanks for that, actually there is no sources\license\ folder in the 7 Embedded iso.
    I will try it for 2008 R2.

    Edit : No luck,i copied the 2008 R2 sources\license\ folder in my aio sources\ but i still get the same message.:confused:
     
  15. MSMG

    MSMG MDL Developer

    Jul 15, 2011
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    If you can't find the Embedded License Files, then you can find it Windows Thin PC ISO.


     
  16. SomeoneSuperior

    SomeoneSuperior MDL Novice

    Jul 20, 2013
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    I downloaded a Windows TPC Edition from here, extracted the license folder into the sources folder of my AIO , i get the same message.
    I came accross this :

    forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/40435-Creating-a-MultiBoot-Windows-8-WinPE-Disc?p=749598&viewfull=1#post749598 (sorry can't use links until my post count reaches 20)

    I'm confused, does it means that i have to extract the licenses from the boot.wim, and not simply copy them from the extracted isos?
    If so, what is the command to use?

    Dism /Export-Image /sourceimagefile:[path]\sources\boot.wim /sourceindex:[index_number] /DestinationImageFile:[path]\boot.wim /DestinationName:"[what should i put here?]" /compress:maximum starting with my 8.1 x86 boot.wim, then for each one giving me the error?
    :confused:
     
  17. MSMG

    MSMG MDL Developer

    Jul 15, 2011
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    #1080 MSMG, Dec 30, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
    This is adding Windows Thin PC to Windows7 AIO ISO

    Export ThinPC Install.wim Wim image to Windiws 7 AIO install.wim

    Code:
    Imagex.exe /export C:\ThinPC\Sources\install.wim 1 C:\W7AIO\sources\install.wim "Windows 7 Thin PC"
    
    Copy the Thin PC EULA files to the DVD and boot.wim, otherwise the installation will fail

    Code:
    Imagex /mountrw C:\W7AIO\sources\boot.wim 2 C:\Mount
    XCopy "C:\ThinPC\sources\license\*" "C:\Mount\sources\license" /cherkyi
    Imagex /unmount /commit C:\Mount
    
    Then copy the files to the Windows 7 AIO DVD itself

    Code:
    XCopy "C:\ThinPC\sources\license\*" "C:\W7AIO\sources\license" /cherkyi
    

    The same method will workout for Windows 7 Embedded