If you removed the USB stick after the first reboot to prevent it looping the first setup stage again when UEFI mode is in use - it may be because the Bios's Boot order menu is set to USB first so it will just boot to the USB without the old 'Press any key to boot from xxxxx' message. Using for example a DVD then you would of got the 'Press any key to boot from CD/DVD...' line which if you did not press any key after the first copying files part then MRP would of seen the ei.cfg because the medium is physically there to search. Windows Setup.exe itself will 'see' the ei.cfg file early on and remember its contents, MRP sadly will not because it is not started at that very early stage as OOBE.cmd has not been run until after that first reboot once the expanding and copying of the Windows files has been done. It is just one of those things that i have no control over or any way to 'remember' if ei.cfg was present at that very early setup stage as the file does not seem to be stored temporarily anywhere to check for it.
Hello, First of all, thanks a lot for this huge work ! I would like to ask for 3 things : - Is it possible to add a "remove shortcut arrow" tweak in MRP configurator (a remove shortcut from icon exists, but it's not for the arrow) ? The regkey for that is : [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons] "29"="%windir%\\System32\\shell32.dll,-50" - I encounter some difficulties with User Account Pictures with Windows 10 : if they are correctly set in start menu and user account configuration panel, in most of cases, the login picture is still the Windows 10 default one, until you "force" the OEM picture. I did work correctly with Windows 1803, but not with 1903 (I tested MRP with DELL, ALIENWARE, and VBOX Folders). - It would be nice to add the option to brand a live OS with OEM settings, as did System Brand Changer 1.21 (only 1.22 beta worked with latest 10 versions, but it was removed because of bugs), especially to facilitate the User Account Pictures creation. OK, I know, it's not so hard to do it yourself without MRP, you just have to place branding folder in "%systemroot%\system32\oobe\info", run the .reg file, copy the .theme to "%systemroot%\Resources\themes", and modify USER810.bmp for UAP, but it would be a nice feature...
MRP uses the User810 file only for W8.x/10 use, User.bmp is just for Vista/7 usage. It never failed before Remember that 'editing ' the OS to remove stuff may cause the project to malfunction. There is a odd time the lock screen may not be set but that usually on w8.x due to the OS's 'features ' that seem to prevent some icons to be set. To be honest i never thought of using a tweak for the little arrow thing on shortcuts, as i assumed people would want to know that it is a shortcut still but without the ugly 'shortcut' wording. But in honesty i am unsure how many would want such an option? If enough call for that to be added for v118 i will consider adding it in ---- Any one wishes for that to be a option click like then if over 10 - i will add it in. Can't be more fairer than that. My personal 'user' tweak is the smallest arrow which looks ok to me. As for a ' online ' branding version, i have mentioned that it is on my to-do list but for now it is on the back burner due to other commitments. I believe that Alphawave's branding app was removed because m$ changed the branding side a few times very quickly - it even caught me off guard too but i managed to get back on track. In VB.NET which i think that tool is written in was not as forgiving as batch can be at times, plus Alphawaves, had/still has, health issues which prevent his time from re making a new/updated tool.
mxman2k MDL Developer Please, Tell Me: is it Permanent Activation or How Many Days Does Windows Activate?
If you use a KMS solution it is 120 days (45 for home). Or longer if using the 'other KMS' method. SLIC and MSDM are Permanent providing all criteria matches (SLIC+SLPkey+Cert || MSDM+Edition Match). MRP does not technically activate Windows itself -- it just uses what is provided.
There is a small flaw in that reg entry! Depending on the OS it can give you a 'black box' over the actual icon... shell32.dll,-50 is not always a transparent icon -- neither is imageres.dll,-17 -- check Win7/8.x and 10 in those .dll files and you will see it could be ' -13 ' or any other reference number. Typical m$ never keeps the same references! I am working on something at the moment to give the user a few choices for the arrow design - (see picture below). My first test with 'No Arrow' (the hardest) worked on w10. It should also work on other OS's too as i use a empty/transparent icon file to do the overlay for the 'No Arrow' option to mitigate the 'black box' icon. 'Classic/Small' worked OK on w10 so did 'Large' and wow is it LARGE too -- there again for touch screens i guess it be ok for those with sausage fingers - by the looks of the arrow size you could mash the screen with your palm and it would still be selected. Click for larger view (this option/design may be subject to change before release!) I prefer the give the user a choice instead of a simple yes or no if possible, it depends on the extra work required and is it worth it in the end. NOTE: It is still in the testing/experimental stage so if it gets more complex than i want to proceed with then i reserve the right to remove the 'Arrow Design' option before 118's release.
@The_Guardian I never thought it would expand like it has, remember when i first asked to take the project(s) over on oct 14th 2016 - OMG 3 yrs ago today -- i mentioned i am a bit rusty and willing to learn, that last bit was quite a challenge, but once i worked out how the internal bits worked the rest started to fall in line. Even with a serious illness earlier this year, i still have the same passion and dedication as i did 3 yrs ago. Some things never go to plan and some options have never surfaced due to some limitations or pure pain in the proverbial to get to work as expected. Although i still blame m$ at times due to changes they not document! Thanks again for letting me take the project over.
You were definitely the person for the job. Just remember to take time off for yourself from time to time so not to burn out.
Just to let everyone know that v23 of the MRPConfigCreator has a slightly different design on the first tab. It now has a button at the bottom area to click which will show the 'Current User Data' entered ie the user created 'Drive' or 'Model' Names etc. Had to do this because there was some overlay problems which i could not address as technically i am pushing AutoIt past its safe parameters - so had to compromise and have a button which when clicked shows the data in a msgbox popup. Personally i think it looks better and it also gives me some space for any later options. Click for larger picture.
Other information about MRPConfigCreator v23 and onward... Now if you click [YES] to reload a previous 'MRPConfig.ini ' file the creator will auto save to the same location as the program, remember it will OVERWRITE the old file when you click the [SAVE] button later, you can still select a different location if you wish in the save requester. If you click [NO] to load a previous 'MRPConfig.ini ' or a fresh start with no .ini next to the program then the default location will be the Desktop as before and you can change the location on the requester if required.
Took a bit of working out to get that 'switch' to work, as when i first created the Creator program i was still learning how AutoIT worked and it was all a new experience plus I was working off simple example scripts for the file system stuff which i modified for the programs use. Only took a couple of years to sort it