Missing C:\I386 Goes Unnoticed!?

From: Ben-Zion Joselson (anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 02/23/04 

Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 02:31:37 -0800

Last month I successfully installed Windows 2000
Professional SP4 slipstreamed, with additional $oem$
structure (located alongside I386 in the CD root) with
added drivers and selected files and folders, using a
bootable CD that I burned according to well-established
guidelines published by Oli Restorick and by Steven Bink.

If anyone is interested, here are the first relevant
sections of the winnt.sif "unattended.txt" file I used in
the setup:

[Data]
    
    AutoPartition=0
    MsDosInitiated="0"
    UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
   
    UnattendMode=ProvideDefault
    DriverSigningPolicy=Warn
    FileSystem=LeaveAlone

; OemFilesPath=<path to \$OEM$ folder> relative to where
the winnt.sif file resides, in other words, to the i386
folder.
; The $OEM$ folder is in the root of the CD alongside the
i386 folder.
  
    OemFilesPath="..\$OEM$"
   
    
OEMPnPDriversPath="Drivers\VideG450;Drivers\ScPt2Mse;Driver
s\MPusbhub"
    OemPreinstall=Yes
    OemSkipEula=Yes
    Repartition=No
    TargetPath=\WINNT

etc.

After the smooth installation I added utilities and
applications with little or no difficulties, and only
today I suddenly noticed that I386 folder is not present
at the root %SystemDrive%.

It seems strange that Windows 2000 can happily lead a
fully functional life without complaining on the absence
of such a fundamental directory - I386.

Am I right in assuming that there is no hurry to correct
this abnormal situation?

If the need seriously arises and an error message calls
for a badly needed file from C:\I386\ I shall take the
following steps listed in Microsoft Knowledge Base
Article - 311755 :
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;311755

Copy the I386 folder and all of its subfolders to the hard
disk. To do this, type the following lines at the command
prompt, pressing ENTER after you type each line

smartdrv
xcopy cd-rom:\i386 drive:\i386 /e

where cd-rom is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive, and
drive is the drive letter of the hard disk.
Restart the computer, [and then start Setup again]*.
When you receive the error message, click Browse, and then
type the path to the I386 folder on the hard disk.

*Of course I won't start Setup again! Just copy and
restart.

Still I am wondering what might have caused \I386 not to
take its place at the root %SystemDrive% during setup.

Please advise.

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