Why VirtualBox instead of Hyper-V? For me VirtualBox takes 2 days and it's very buggy. + Please disable Windows XP screensaver for VM by default
I never tried anything with Hyper-V instead of removing it from Windows 7 media using NTLite. Simply place your REG tweaks into setup folder and they will be automatically applied
I have added some experimental improvements into XP2ESD v1.6 to support x64 builds too! But there are things that needs to be remembered 1) No patched ACPI.sys 2) No patched drivers 3) Lack of drivers But yes, it's possible with upcoming version, but only XP Professional x64 for now. Hopefully I didn't break anything with adding this support..
I'm still working on Windows Server 2003 to Windows XP conversion. Somehow I get BSOD with code c000021a when I try to boot into GUI stage of Installation. My last attempt is replacing something from XP's txtsetup.sif into Windows Server 2003's one. Now I've replaced ProductType from 2 which is "Enterprise Server" to 0 which is "Professional" SKU. Edit: I'm stuck on boot screen. It doesn't boot.
[TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION:] It basically works by installing windows (clean install option) over the directory without formatting it (thus creating the windows.old folder). [1ST REASON:] I don't want to format because I'm attempting at creating a universal xp modern setup flash drive (I named it "Windows XP USB Edition"), containing a custom wim (custom image I created from copying the generalized os from vhd to wim, because i customized the os on virtualbox obviously) and the vhd (which the USB will use to load the installed generalized os through grub4dos with winvblock/firadisk). By booting the modern setup from grub4dos along with the vhd and ima (winvblock/firadisk iamge) mapped simultaneously it will detect the vhd as a partition which will install Windows to. [2ND REASON:] I prefer to customize the installation on VHD (and then generalize it and after that I copied the files to install.wim) because it is much easier to make changes on the running os rather than using Nlite or add-ons. I wonder if there's a yes/no option in XP2ESD's settings file (or one of the boot clean files) that allows users to choose whether to delete the System Reserved partiton or not (i mean you can have it to no by default, but include the option to yes for those users that want to not delete it) so the boot files will be there instead if the option is set to yes, to make it easier to boot from other bootloaders that require different file systems (like UEFI). [HOW I DID MY PROJECT:] To describe what I did, i copied the sources files from boot.wim to the sources folder of the image so I can load open setup from /sources/setup.exe and perform clean install without formatting (it created windows.old on the process). I decided for my VHD to have two partitions: 1 - Windows XP USB (C drive, first partition of VHD) 2 - Boot (D drive, second partition of VHD for bootloaders) - The active boot partition (like system reserved) that contains modern NT6 files (bootia32.efi (renamed from bootmgfw.efi for 32 bit EFI bootloader), winload.exe (for legacy boot with /usenewloader) and winload.efi all 3 from Vista Build 5219). [WHY I SUGGESTED THE CUSTOM SETUP MODAL:] I suggested for the setup.exe + .ini modal to be included on the finished output image to create a setup window with numerous buttons that open certain paths easily (like "Install Windows" on the output image, or on XP2ESD "Customize Modern setup settings (opening settings.ini of XP2ESD)", "Customize XP2ESD Sysprep settings", "How to use XP2ESD (Read me)" etc). To make it simple, I wanted you to review and maybe include the installer dialog I suggested providing lists of buttons to open files on XP2ESD but also to be copied on the output WIN_XP_AIO image to make it interactive and easier for the product to be used. Sorry If I provided a lot of details but I wanted to answer things from one go so you can get it.
I was using the iso created from XP2ESD. Maybe you should try this method without formatting on an already installed vhd to see.
How you do that? XP2ESD is builded using Windows 7 + Windows 10 setup engine. Windows 10 setup engine aka setup.exe / launcher.exe can't run under XP. Thas why I'm asking what ISOs was used and what host was "upgraded" to XP...
I'm still not managed to convert Windows Server 2003 to Windows XP to help improvement of XP2ESD. Because you said that you'll add the 2K3 to XP conversion to make Windows XP support 4GB+. I'm either getting c000021a BSOD or infinite boot screen loop.
I'm working on more important changes right now. 2003 to XP is a story side quest, that can be completed later. I mentioned it before it will need additional Kernel / HAL patching as RAM is locked to 4GB when you perform full conversion
Anybody have idea why are ignored some things on Server 2003 / XP x64? Example - I'm sure we can successfully capture and install XP x64 now, but It hangs after first boot. It seems like there is some kind of restricted access under Administrator accout? All REG ADD or shutdown command in my scripts are ignored. But when I run script manually from CMD or Explorer it works as expected. Any tips for solution?
I’m sure it’s about ignoring commands due some kind of restricted access. I see similar problems on 2003 x86. I found article about some kind of policies. Will see what I can do. Currently when I try run applications as Administrator I receive error about Administrator cannot be logged due disabled empty password or login hours or policy restrictions.. I hope its only about registry tweaking
Empty passwords are disallowed by default under XP/w2k3, I actually had to re-enable that on my main system after a reinstall today lol
I think it's related to Myfactory - it seems it works good according to log, but it's only 32bit app. Maybe scripts that are lauched from 32bit Myfactory can't handle 64bit commands. This is blind shot, but I don't see nothing more.. So I will try add some workaround to current workaround specially for x64 systems EDIT: I managed to create crazy workaround! So it's time to polish some system detection during installation