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Bob Cerelli's Windows Page Web

Installation Tips

SpeedUp My PC
This is a great program. I've been using it regularly to automatically clean out things like old Temp Files, Internet Cache, Cookies etc. It is very customizable and user friendly

 

For additional detailed information, see the Installation Section

Automatically Inserting the Product ID for Office and FrontPage 2003 - Added 2/6/07
Upgrading to Windows2000 or XP - Added 4/26/04
Slipstream Service Packs into Office Installations - Added 1/31/03
Installing WindowsNT, Windows2000 and WindowsXP - Added 10/25/02
Office2000 / OfficeXP Automatic Inserting the Product ID - Added 8/16/01
Windows SUWIN Setup Error Codes - Added 5/27/01
Installing WindowsME Without a Previous OS - Added 9/25/00
Win95 SETUP switches - Updated 11/9/99
Creating a Network Install Tab - Added 2/11/98
Installing Windows95 OEM SR2 over an existing version of Windows - Added 2/23/97
Office95 Upgrade Without Existing Version - Submitted 1/28/97
Upgrading Without a Previous Version of Windows Installed - Submitted 12/21/96
Automating Office95 Installations - Added 5/8/96
Installing Windows95 with no Plug and Play search - Submitted 2/28/96
Installing Windows95 with no MSN or InBox Icons - Added 2/28/96
New Win95 Batch Install Program

  

SpyEraser
I've been using the program a lot lately to help remove spyware from customer's computers. It has quite a few options like Live Guard, Startup and Scanning Options. If you are infected with spyware, or more importantly, want to help prevent getting infected, you might give this program a try.

Automatically Inserting the Product ID for Office and FrontPage 2003

Added 2/6/07

  1. Copy the source files to a directory on your hard drive
  2. Go to the \FILES\SETUP directory
  3. Edit the SETUP.INI file
  4. Under [Options], add a PIDKEY entry as in the example
    PIDKEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  5. You don't want to include any dashes in the PIDKEY

Upgrading to Windows2000 or XP

Added 4/26/04

In general, I do not recommend doing in place upgrades.
For example, you currently have Windows98 and want to upgrade to XP, and upgrade directly over your current operating system.
There are just too many problems that can occur this way.
It might seem like it will take too long otherwise but typically you spend more time trying to fix problems than if you did a clean install.

However....

This does not mean you need to format your hard drive first and erase all your data in order to get the benefits of a clean install.
Preparation is the key.

  1. Write down what apps are installed and have all the source files available.
  2. Save any configurations like e-mail settings to a simple text file.
  3. Copy the source files for the new operating system to a directory on the hard drive.
  4. Boot with a simple Win98 DOS disk. Make sure Smartdrv is loaded to speed up the actual install.
  5. On the C: drive, rename the \windows and \progra~1 (program files directory)
  6. Change to the location of the source files that were copied and start the install of the new operating system.
  7. Now you will have a clean install and everything is still on the hard drive.
  8. You will need to reinstall your applications but typically this doesn't take that long if things are ready ahead of time.
  9. If you have enough hard drive space, I also like to copy all my source files to something like an Install directory along with any product ID's. Then you don't need to keep looking for them.

Slipstream Service Packs into Office Installations

Added 1/31/03

You can update the source files for Office with the Office Service Packs and Updates you need.
These can later be burned to a CD or copied to a network share for distribution.
It saves a lot of time not needing to manually apply all the service packs after installation.

Overview

There are basically three steps to slipstreaming a Service Pack into an Office Installation:

  1. Do an Office Administrative Install to a Hard Drive
  2. Download and Extract the Service Pack
  3. Apply the Service Pack to the Install

Administrative Install

  1. Create a directory on your hard drive where you want to do the install (e.g. C:\OFFICE)
  2. Do an administrative install of Office to a directory on your hard drive (x::setup.exe /a)
  3. You don't need to enter in the license at this point
  4. When prompted, place it in a C:\OFFICE directory
  5. Click on the Install Now button
  6. It will look like it is doing a regular install but the files will be copied to the C:\OFFICE

Download and Apply Service Packs

  1. Download the Office Administrator Service Pack updates from Microsoft
  2. Extract it to a C:\UPDATE directory (again, this is only as an example)

Office2000

  1. SR1 Download
    SP2 Download
  2. Extract the DATA1.EXE file to C:\UPDATE (data1.msp)
  3. Start / Run
  4. msiexec /a c:\office\data1.msi/p c:\update\data1.msp  SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb
    msiexec /a c:\office\data1.msi /p c:\update\Sp2admin.msp SHORTFILENAMES=1
  5. Repeat for any additional extracted msp files

Outlook2000 Security Update

  1. Outlook2000 Security Download
  2. Extract the three MSP file to the Update directory
  3. Start / Run
  4. msiexec /a c:\office\Data1.msi /p C:\Update\OQFE7082_Client.msp SHORTFILENAMES=1
    msiexec /a c:\office\Data1.msi /p C:\Update\OQFE7140_Client.msp SHORTFILENAMES=1
    msiexec /a c:\office\Data1.msi /p C:\Update\OQFE7160_Client.msp SHORTFILENAMES=1
     

OfficeXP

  1. SP1 Download
    SP2 Download
  2. Extract the files to the Update directory
  3. Start / Run
  4. msiexec /p c:\update\MAINSP1_Admin.msp /a c:\office\your.msi SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE
    (where your.msi file is the actual one depending on the version of OfficeXP (PROPLUS.MSI, SBERET.MSI)
  5. Repeat for any additional extracted msp files

All you need to to is create a new CD with the updated source files and use this for future installations.

Installing WindowsNT, Windows2000 and WindowsXP

Added 10/25/02

This is a general way to partition your hard drive for installing any version of NT.

The reason for the change is that with Win98, if the operating system failed to boot,
you could easily reinstall and the previous settings and applications would still be installed.

With NT based systems, this is not always possible and often requires a complete reinstall.
Even the Recovery options don't always work that well.
I've had it erase my C: drive on more than one occasion!! Good thing for backups.

  1. Create a smaller C: partition
    With NT 4 - 2 gigs -  FAT
    With Windows2000 or WindowsXP - 4 gigs - FAT32
  2. Install the base operating system on that partition
  3. Create a D: partition for the rest of the drive
  4. Install all your apps and keep your data on the D: partition
  5. Then use a program like Partition Magic or Ghost to make an image of the C: drive
  6. If you keep this image relatively current, should the OS fail to boot, you can simply restore that image.
  7. This restore typically takes only about 10 minutes. Much faster than reinstalling any OS.

 

Installing WindowsNT, Windows2000 and WindowsXP

Added 10/25/02

This is a general way to partition your hard drive for installing any version of NT.

The reason for the change is that with Win98, if the operating system failed to boot,
you could easily reinstall and the previous settings and applications would still be installed.

With NT based systems, this is not always possible and often requires a complete reinstall.
Even the Recovery options don't always work that well.
I've had it erase my C: drive on more than one occasion!! Good thing for backups.

  1. Create a smaller C: partition
    With NT 4 - 2 gigs -  FAT
    With Windows2000 or WindowsXP - 4 gigs - FAT32
  2. Install the base operating system on that partition
  3. Create a D: partition for the rest of the drive
  4. Install all your apps and keep your data on the D: partition
  5. Then use a program like Partition Magic or Ghost to make an image of the C: drive
  6. If you keep this image relatively current, should the OS fail to boot, you can simply restore that image.
  7. This restore typically takes only about 10 minutes. Much faster than reinstalling any OS.

 Office2000 / OfficeXP Automatic Inserting the Product ID

Added 8/16/01

To create your own CD so either version will automatically fill in the product ID:

  1. Copy the source files to a directory on your hard drive
  2. For either product, you need to modify the SETUP.INI file
  3. In the [OPTIONS] section, add a line PIDKEY=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
        (where the X's are replaced with your product id without the dashes)
  4. For Office2000 the SETUP.INI file is on the root of the CD
  5. For OfficeXP the SETUP.INI file is in the FILES\SETUP directory

Windows SUWIN Setup Error Codes

Added 5/27/01

Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q129/9/71.asp

which details all the SUWIN Setup Error Codes you might receive during an install of
Win95, Win98, Win98SE and Millennium

Installing WindowsME Without a Previous OS

Added 9/25/00

You can install WindowsME without having a previous operating system installed. 

  1. You just need to have a pervious version's CD available.
  2. I recommend copying the source files to the hard drive and installing from there.
  3. When you are prompted for a previous operating system, simply insert your 
    Windows95/98 CD and browse to the directory where the source files are located.
  4. You can then continue installing on a clean system without having to install a previous version.
  5. This should save a lot of time in the event you need to reinstall WindowsME from scratch.  

Setup Switches

There are several switches that can be used when running SETUP

SETUP Switches
There are several switches available to use along with SETUP.
Some are undocumented.
filename Runs the particular INF file
/ID Ignores the DIsk Space check
/IS Ignores the routine System check
/IQ Skips the test for cross-linked files
/IM Skips the memory check
/IN Runs setup without the Network Setup Module
/IW Bypasses needing to read the License screen.
Needs to be upper case when run within Windows
Undocumented.
/IP Ignores Plug and Play
Undocumented
/IR By passes the checkin into the system CMOS. Useful for some combinations of motherboard and Award BIOS ver 4.50 P
Undocumented
/D If you do not want Setup to use your existing Windows configuration (such as your current Win.ini and System.ini files), use this switch.
Undocumented
/N Allows setup to run without a mouse
Undocumented
/NTLDR Eliminates check for previous operating system.
/P Detection Switch Option String - Using a /P allows you to use an additional switch for viewing and setting some detection parameters. You can separate them with a semicolon (;). For example /P g=3;i;p.
  • g=0 to 3 - This switch controls how verbose the built-in progress bar is. At maximum level (3), it shows all the resources of the detected devices along with the progress bar. This switch can help to identify which detection module causes a certain problem. The default is 0.
  • b - This switch enables Prompt Before mode. It prompts you before a detection module is called so that you can step through each detection module manually and decide if you want to skip it. The default is disabled.
  • i - This switch tells Setup not to report the existence of a Plug and Play BIOS. It is useful on systems that have a Plug and Play BIOS that is not reported in Machine.inf.
  • p - This switch enables performance logging. It writes performance timing information to the DETLOG.TXT file.The default is disabled.
  • f - This switch enables Clean Registry mode. It forces Detection to clean the root branch of the registry before starting. This switch is ignored when Setup is run in the Windows 95 graphical user interface (GUI). The default is disabled.

 

Creating a Network Install Tab

Added 2/11/98

You can create a Network Install tab that will show up in the Control Panel / Add/Remove Program icon.
This will allow you to centrally control applications that users can easily install over a network.
There are two parts to setting this up:

  1. Configuring the file with the applications that can be installed
  2. Configurating the workstation to look for this file

Configuring the APPS.INI File

The file that controls what applications can be installed is called APPS.INI.

A sample is:

[AppInstallList]
Microsoft Word=\\server\share\apps\word\setup.exe
Microsoft Excel=\\server\share\apps\excel\setup.exe

On the left hand side is the name that will appear to the user in the Network Install tab.
On the right hand side would be your location for the install program.
No DOS paths are allowed. Only UNC names will work

This file should be put on a network server. This way when it needs to be modified, it can be done in one location.

Configuring the Workstation

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_Local_Machine / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion
  3. Add a String Value called AppInstallPath
  4. Its value should be a DOS or UNC path to the location of the APPS.INI file, including the file name

Now when users open up the Control Panel / Add/Remove Programs icon, there will be a Network Install tab with the programs you specify.
This can be usefully for allowing people to automatically update virus definition files, printer drivers, install applications etc.

Installing Windows95 OEM SR2 over an existing version of Windows

Added 2/23/97

Currently, you cannot install the new OEM version of Windows95 over and existing version of Windows (3.x or 95).
In order to get around this problem, simply rename any WIN.COM file on your hard drive and install normally.
This will let you keep you current Windows settings.

It will make things easier if the location of your new version is the same as your old one.

Note: You will not be able to convert to FAT32 using this procedure. For that you need to FDISK your hard drive.

Office95 Upgrade Without Existing Version

Submitted 1/28/96

To install office 95 upgrade version you need to own another Office like application like WordPerfect or something right ?
Wrong !!

When setup goes to find an application to upgrade from just point it to the EXCEL directory on the office CD and you're off...
Enjoy.

Martin Weterings

Automated Office95 Installation

Added 5/8/96

There are several undocumented switches you can use to automate your Office95 Installation.
An full unattended install should only take 3-4 minutes from the CD.

/K Enters the CD key
/K "12345678"
The CD key should not have the dash
/Q 0 - Quiet Install - with Exit screen
1 - No exit screen
T - Shows nothing on the screen during install
/N User's Name
/N "Name"
/O Organization Name
/O "Org"
/T Specify the STF file
The default is the SETUP.STF on the root of the Office95 CD.

This is an ASCII text file you can copy to a local or network drive, modify the applications you want to install and then point your installation to use that file

/T X:\NEW.STF
/U Uninstalls all apps but leaves common files in place
/UA Uninstalls all apps and removes common files
/R ReInstalls previously installed Office95 apps

A whole string might look something like:
SETUP /K "12345678" /Q1 /N "YOUR_NAME" /O "YOUR_ORGANIZATION" T: C:\NEW.STF

Other Windows applications use similar STF file structure.

You could have this launch automatically at the end of your Windows95 installation if you are using INF files.
See the Installation Using INF Files section.

Installing Windows95 and Ignoring Plug and Play

Submitted 2/28/96

If you want to install Windows95 and have it not test for any Plug and Play devices,
simply add a /PI after the SETUP command.

Submitted by Maurits Pfaff
nebulous@euronet.nl

Installing Win95 with no MSN or InBox Icons

Added 2/13/96

If you want to install Windows95 and not have it create the MSN or Exchange InBox every time
you need to create a setup INF file. Instructions for doing this can be found later in this section under
Batch Install Program

Having created an INF file you want to use, add the following lines to remove both icons during installation:

  • [msn.remove]
    setup.ini,desktop,,%Setup_MSN_DESC%,MSNEXCH.EXE %Setup_MSN_DESC%

    [Install]
    UpdateINIs= msn.remove
    DelReg=NoInbox_Icon

    [strings]
    Setup_MSN_DESC="Set Up The Microsoft Network"

    [NoInbox_Icon]
    HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\"{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"

Upgrading Without a Previous Version of Windows Installed

Submitted 12/21/96

If you purchased the upgrade version of Windows95 but don't have a previous version installed, normally you cannot install it.

If you need to install Windows 95 Upgrade on your computer and you no longer have Windows 3.1, you can simply create the following file on your hard disk:
WIN386.EXE and the Upgrade version will then install.

The easiest way to create this file is to type the following at the command prompt:
ECHO [some random characters] > WIN386.EXE

Submitted by Eric Tetz
jlewis@global.california.com

Another way to Upgrade without a Previous Version of Windows Installed

Submitted 9/1/96

If you are a Windows 95 "UPGRADE" user and you must reinstall Windows 95 for any reason, you don't need to have a copy of Windows 3.x installed on your computer first. Just place the first Win 3.1 disk into your drive and during the install of Windows95 it will find the necessary files.

Submitted by Edward Garner
etgarner@aol.com

Batch Install Program

If you are re-installing Win95 and use the same settings and programs each time, there is a Batch Installation program in the Admin\Nettools\Netsetup directory on the CD or download it from Version 2.0

You can specify what applications, network, protocol etc. to load when you install Win95. Save the file, then run SETUP FILENAME.INF when you re-install Win95. . You won't be prompted for much else

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