Re: Smartdrive and unattended network install problem...

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: Patrick J. LoPresti (patl_at_users.sourceforge.net)
Date: 04/21/04 

Date: 21 Apr 2004 09:09:14 -0400

This is quite possible, but it requires a DOS network boot disk with
sufficient free conventional memory.

My project (http://unattended.sourceforge.net/) includes such a boot
disk. You can also find plenty of others on the Web (hint: search for
"Bart's boot disk").

 - Pat

bodleyhenley@yahoo.co.uk (Chicken Kebab Abdullah) writes:

> Hi,
>
> I have been trying to install xp from a network share to my dads
> laptop, which doesn't have a cdrom.
>
> The laptop has a cardbus 32bit 10/100 nic for it which I have managed
> to get working in dos so its accesses the network share where the xp
> i386 folder is.
>
> The big problem though, is that when I run the install without loading
> smartdrive, it takes forever and halts on a blue screen saying its
> copying the files.
>
> When I do load smartdrive though, I run winnt.exe and I instantly get
> the message - "setup is out of memory and cannot continue"!! :(
>
> Now what ever I do to the config.sys I just cant get enough memory as
> all the stuff to access the network and the cbopen.exe cardbus driver
> is taking all my memory up (conventional memory).
>
> Im starting to think its impossible to do this and so the only way I
> have done it so far is to network boot and load smartdrv, xcopy the
> i386 over to the local hard drive in a temp directory and then to
> reboot using a win98 boot disk which takes less memory, load
> smartdrive again and run setup from the local disk. Thats a messy way
> of doing it though and I would like to be able to run setup from the
> network share the way it is supposed to be!
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Bod.

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