Thanks for the post about pre installing windows with imagex.exe,
my current experiences with installing it on a fresh new drive are below.
(I won't put the output here to keep it short ;P)
The other thing I tried was to mount(Junction) C:\Users to another physical drive, and it worked :]].
Code:
DISKPART> list disk
DISKPART> list volume
DISKPART> select disk 2
DISKPART> create partition primary size=100
DISKPART> create partition primary
DISKPART> for fs=ntfs quick label="7new"
DISKPART> assign
DISKPART> active
DISKPART> list volume
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 O DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
Volume 1 System Rese NTFS Partition 100 MB Healthy
Volume 2 C W7current NTFS Partition 59 GB Healthy System
Volume 3 E Users NTFS Partition 500 GB Healthy
Volume 4 System Rese NTFS Partition 100 MB Healthy
* Volume 5 D 7new NTFS Partition 120 GB Healthy
DISKPART> exit
You could also use the graphical program diskmgmt.msc :]
When I rebooted I got bootmgr is missing press ctrl+alt+del to restart (of course a feature).
After installing you might (always) need to boot from DVD and
go to "Repair your computer" (at the bottom), select "Repair and restart" (and reboot,
again from DVD), select "Use recovery .... click [Next]" and
start "Start-up Repair" (at the top).
This worked for me in multiple times (I disconnected my old system drives). The imagex installation number ?!
As there are different ISO's (install.wim) types the index number is not always the same that you want.
If you run "imagex.exe /info O:\sources\install.wim" you get a bunch of xml code,
in here is index number an what installation of windows that goes with it.
The starting tag is: <IMAGE
INDEX="1"> (The index number we need) and yust above
is the closing tag </IMAGE> is the <DISPLAYDESCRIPTION>
Windows 7 Home Basic...
I guess that's an easy one
Mounting the C:\Users to another drive
Before starting the "imagex" process I've mounted another drive to the
D:\ (7New) drive
and changed the security-rights on the folder "
D:\Users" and
drive-user-drive (E:\).
I looked up the folder rights (
C:\Users) on the currently active windows
and changed the "
D:\Users" folder and "
E:\" drive security-rights accordingly.
And mounted it to the folder
D:\Users (use mountvol.exe or the
GUI diskmgmt.msc tool).
After this I started the "imagex" process, surprisingly it work for pre installation of the windows.
After reboot the post installation of windows started and completed successfully
I can't say what it will do in the long run, I've also tried it with "C:\Programdata",
"Program Files.." these gave errors, properly because of junctions
that are required to be on the same drive.
Thx all, and good luck installing.