Windows install shortcut

[Bozo]

When installing 2000, XP, or 2003 you can bypass the "Press F6" for drivers.
When you boot up the computer and you get "Press any key to boot from CD" or 'Setup is inspecting your hardware". As soon as you press any key or see "Setup is ...." insert your floppy. The setup proram will read the disk and load the drivers at the appropriate time. There is no need to press F6 and go though that menu.
If you have more than one floppy, you must use "Press F6....."


Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[Pradeep]

Or use Vista and behold how it allows you to add drivers further down the track, i.e. if you forgot to hit F6, no problems, and it display what devices you may install on to. And most importantly, drivers don't have to be on floppy

 

[Bozo]

That will be nice! But, Vista won't be out untl August '06 or later and most research firms (http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39154185,00.htm) say wait until 2008. That means a lot of 2000/XP installs in the meantime.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[Mercutio]

How often do you need to "press F6" during an XP install to begin with?
And if you're doing it a lot, why aren't you making image-based installs?

 

[CougTek]

I've tried nLite this morning and it's awesome. You should try it Bozo. It let you tweak and trim down your Windows installation. And you can add the drivers you need, service packs and hotfixes too. IMO, it's a must-have tool.

 

[Mercutio]

Do the new versions work better than the original? Anyone had it fail yet?

 

[i]

Coug ... do you have a link to some more background about nLite? Is it free? Who makes it?

 

[Mercutio]

http://nuhi.msfn.org/

It's free. It needs the .NET application framework, making it by my count, the only useful application that uses the .NET application framework.

It's basically a wizard for creating a custom Windows install disc. You can add drivers and slipstream in service packs and hotfixes. You can also remove components, if you're not in love with including things like MSN or messenger.

 

[Bozo]

I use NLite. I can't seem to get it to load SCSI/SATA drivers during the initial part of the install. The motherboard I'm working on now has Intel RAID built in. I've added the drivers but the hard drives are not found. I must be doing something wrong.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[CougTek]

Coug ... do you have a link to some more background about nLite? Is it free? Who makes it?

http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

This is the link I've bookmarked. I don't know muh about it. It was in my bookmarks (someone must have mentioned it a while ago) and I decided to try it this morning and I think it's a wonderful tool.

 

[sechs]

Do the new versions work better than the original? Anyone had it fail yet?

I'd like a comprehensive answer here. Last time I tried to use it, it did more mangling than helping.

 

[Bozo]

I've been playing with the latest version. Can't seem to find anything wrong with this one.
The version previous to this had problems.

Bozo :mrgrn: