Some AIO Tool How-to Questions

[Er1ch]

First of all I'd like to say I simply love this tool.

It appears there's no guide for the AIO tool so I'm bound to ask some questions in order to help myself and possibly others get the most out of it.

1. I want to apply the exact same custom settings to all versions of Windows in an image. When I choose 'Select All' in the WIM Manager, that causes the AIO tool to run 5 times in a row, once per Windows version. Am I doing it wrong or is there actually no way to do it in a single run?

2. Is there a way to actually reduce the size of the WIM? As far as I can tell, removing components from a single version of Windows does not achieve that. Would the WIM file become smaller if I let it run 5 times as described above?

3. I keep getting small popup windows with "hi" and "bye"... Is there a way to disable them? That's also the main reason I'm reluctant to run the AIO Tool 5 times in a row. :g:

4. Would it be feasible to include non-silent installers or just some utilities in setup? Would the W7T installer wait until the non-silent installer has finished or I have closed the utility?

5. I noticed SoLoR Updates do not include IE9 or Virtual PC (I need just Virtual PC, not the XP Mode download). Would integrating either of them cause any problems? Should I add them to the beginning or the end of the updates queue? Are there any updates to either of them besides KB2559049?

6. Is there a way to integrate .theme files besides creating an add-on for that?

7. After applying custom .reg files, I noticed these files had beed altered and WIM_ added to all keys, in example HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\... vould become HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\WIM_SOFTWARE\... Is that a known bug?

Thanks in advance!

[ricktendo]

5. SoLoR does have IE9 + VPC and there is no problem if you integrate them http://hotfix.chris123nt.com/Windows.7/Additions/

[crashfly]

1. I want to apply the exact same custom settings to all versions of Windows in an image. When I choose 'Select All' in the WIM Manager, that causes the AIO tool to run 5 times in a row, once per Windows version. Am I doing it wrong or is there actually no way to do it in a single run?

You have to remember, there are actually 5 "separate" images in the WIM. Those images are reduced in size only because the files are reduced to only 1 copy. In other words, if you have 5 versions of the same kernel.dll, then one 1 file is reference by all 5 images.

2. Is there a way to actually reduce the size of the WIM? As far as I can tell, removing components from a single version of Windows does not achieve that. Would the WIM file become smaller if I let it run 5 times as described above?

You can rebuild the WIM, however it can only reduce the size if there are the same files on each image. It might also do a mild recompression at the same time, but I am not sure on this one.

3. I keep getting small popup windows with "hi" and "bye"... Is there a way to disable them? That's also the main reason I'm reluctant to run the AIO Tool 5 times in a row. :g:

This "hi" and "bye" is probably a result of test code put in there by Legolash2o at the time of importing the registry settings. You may want to make a comment to him on that.

4. Would it be feasible to include non-silent installers or just some utilities in setup? Would the W7T installer wait until the non-silent installer has finished or I have closed the utility?

Yes. The install setup does wait. However, there is also an option in W7T that you can set on the installers of "not always installed". This just means W7T will ask you at the beginning of the installer section which ones you want to run.

5. I noticed SoLoR Updates do not include IE9 or Virtual PC (I need just Virtual PC, not the XP Mode download). Would integrating either of them cause any problems? Should I add them to the beginning or the end of the updates queue? Are there any updates to either of them besides KB2559049?

FYI, SoLoR Updates do have IE9 and "XP Mode". You just have to go the specific directories to get them.

There is a specific updated installer for IE9 that includes all of the latest updates. You may have to look around for the correct one as I believe solar has include the "zeroth" version. There is an up to date one that I use.

6. Is there a way to integrate .theme files besides creating an add-on for that?

Yes, there is a tab for that in the AIO button under W7T.

7. After applying custom .reg files, I noticed these files had beed altered and WIM_ added to all keys, in example HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\... vould become HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\WIM_SOFTWARE\... Is that a known bug?

It is not a bug. The "off-line" registry is likely loaded to that spot in the current registry. The modifications are made to loaded "off-line" registry and then unloaded. (Also the result of the "hi" and "bye" issue noted.)

Edit: I forgot to mention, it does not matter where the IE9 update gets added. Beginning or end, it works just the same. (FYI, I have tried both. It does not matter)

Edited September 17, 2011 by crashfly

[Er1ch]

Thanks a lot guys!

However, the AIO Tool only allows me to integrate .themepack files, but not .theme files. Hence the question. Would changing the file extension work?

[ricktendo]

Thanks a lot guys!

However, the AIO Tool only allows me to integrate .themepack files, but not .theme files. Hence the question. Would changing the file extension work?

Themepacks are cab files (I think) that have been renamed