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#1
Easy Custom image + custom recovery OEM like system?
Ok.. I'm just throwing this out here...it's darn late hihi
I have written a 'program' (script), which will automate a recovery system for windows 7, full with a working bootmanager, (custom) partitioning, ramdisks, custom environment (winre/pe), and backup imaging , all legal and licensed according to microsoft as long as its not distributed (aka single computer [home] end user).
I decided after hourrrrssss and weeeks of reading, researching, testing, failing, testing again, reading again, installing F amounts of programs, running sysprep, MDT2010, WAIK, dism, imagex, winpe, winre, bootsect, bcdedit, you name it, I came to the conclusion.. I gotta write something up for the other poor souls around out there.
I'm not going into more details now, but I was thinking of writing this up in c++ or so and asking for donations, which will entitle support in the odd event it would not* work in your case.
However, to just test it all that it works, I wrote it in scripts (batch and vbs) which I realize now I never shall do again :P (more an OOP man myself)
I write programs normally so dealing with exceptions extensively in batch is just .... well about as time consuming as 20 % of the time I spent on R&D on all this.
Anyway, I am wondering, given I always been used to the share way, if there are people who actually are willing to donate 5 bucks or so, on a script which would take about 2 hours max to execute to set up a total personal home recovery partition system. This method, lets you use a totally customised win 7 image (yours), and any programs, tweaks, settings, customisations you desire, still will work fine.
It does not however as it stands on version 0.5b or so, help with default user profile copying (although you might have this sorted already), nor customising your base install DVD for now. That is basically why I am asking this.
If I'd know some of all these hours in delivering a 'complete' solution gives a bit back from donations, I would be willing to make the whole she-bang... meaning the whole slipstreaming (or rather stripping), customisation, possibly the sysprepping (this does raise many other issues lol.. good ol' microsoft ;p) and guide to customisation , with finally the recovery system setup too with a so-called mikepe (custom 'winre').
Im just saying, I would rather make this vigourously with a far more elegant and rigid exception handling and GUI (sufficiently basic probably), rather than relying entirely on my batch exception handling.
(it should be pretty fool-proof in fact for all normal users) as long as one can read english :) (as it's mainly text-based now).
Anyway, if there are not people who have enough to donate that or rather are willing to do research for weeks, I guess I'll just keep on doing this silly script method and prolly drop it in here in some weeks anyway :)
I have never asked for anything before, when it is not work related or so, so I don't know if this is breaking some forum etiquette but it's just a sincere question, not some demand or advertising. I started this to be honest to give it in here and saw other guides really tend to forget things, break dependencies or create forums with more pages of 'this didnt work, why does that fail' than tanks man, brilliant..etc. I realized even Microsoft's own documentation could be off in so many simple things, enough to create hours of headache for a user new to these things sigh. (Reagentc.exe docs as an example, kind of are intermixing the methods when storing a recovery image on a partition or applying a recovery image on a partition, etc.). Anyway, this is in no way an ad for selling something.. it would be semi so if I actually had enough people stating donations and even pre donated for support for a proper program.
Else I will just keep at this script crap and finalize tests and documentation in some days or a week and then I will think about what to do.
Anyway, I been scripting for hours and soon off to work and it's 7 am so hopefully this made some sense, even if was not so informative. Again, this is not some ad like : hey , i got some software that does this or that.
It's simply a guided interface which allows you to just blatently know nothing, yet through reading the small help docs in each step, will be able to perform a full recovery partition set-up like the OEMs pretty much.
the interface is just that, an interaction with these tools:
your DVD/ISO Windows 7 source files, Windows AIK/OPK, oh hey, that's it! :)
This excludes for now customisation (which would then further require vLite, WAIK 1.1).
my guide, script(s) and files do DELETE any recovery partition you would have from an OEM (unless you choose another setup than full format... C: (partition 1) has to be formatted no matter what; however not whole disk 0 necessarily.
(you do not even have to know what this means, as the interface explicitly will guide any english proficient illiterate like a baby donkey to a stable of hens). Right, geeky weird comments /off
This method allows you to update windows, install language packs, drivers, programs, anything as much as you like up till the point you create the partition system. if you feel for updating the system recovery image, you can as well. So much easier than trying to slipstream it all into an auto-unattend for example.
It's all possible as its for home user's and NOT distribution deployment.
I call it (and would keep the name for a full native application) SUCK (Single User Custom Krap)
Anyway, leave thoughts if you wish..
solar.
Point with this is , that if I see a positive feed-back , I don't really mind sharing the source as scripts, as then people can help with extending it/testing. I been only testing on the x64 even if x86 should be fine. And even if it isn't , it wouldn't take long to fix issues as I started my experience of all this with vista 32 bit. Anyway, thats the point of asking if willingness to any small donations as a appreciation factor, as then I am willing to put in those extra minutes/hours to solve related issues. I know most people would say ye sure.. and most will be happy to have it as a tool and have it free.. no problem.. but just 10 people out of the many many giving 3-5 bucks , just something lil as that is enough to think well, at least it's some form of giving thx :)
Anywayyyy. Off to the real job now, as if I haven't been in front of this screen long enough.