When I go to build the ISO after using the 'wizard', everything is operating fine, except that in the middle of it I get the following error:

Error: CopyFile "D:\pebuilder313\plugin\nu2menu\autorun-inf.txt" to "D:\pebuilder313\BartPE\autorun.inf" returned error 5: Access is denied.

The build continues on, but at the end it says:

Builder has stopped because there are 1 build errors
ISO image is not created, you must fix the errors!
Build process done...
There where 1 errors and 0 warnings

There is plenty of space on the hard drive and memory doesn't appear to be a problem. I have done nothing to lock the file. This leaves me stumped. Any answers on this, or has anyone else seen this problem?

I am capable of sending the entire pebuilder.log file upon request in order to help narrow down the cause of this.

Whenever I get past these 'basics' I plan on asking tons of questions on the how's and how-to's of building a complete Windows (any version) OS install and/or recovery disk so that I can help my buddies recover their dumb mistakes - but that's for another forum topic altogether.

fatdogscott

A write protected autorun.inf is too simple?
Do you use a scanner that blocks inf files?

I am running Norton Antivirus Pro, but I do not believe this to be the problem's source as many other inf files get transfered and this particular file is a .txt file. I am also running Sygate Personal Firewall, but again why is it just this one file?

Btw, this seems limited to PEBuilder. I was able to build an ISO using ubcd4win.exe (neat program).

fatdogscott

Ok... check the file to make sure it isn't read only etc... then reboot the computer to ensure that nothing else is using the file and try it again.

rdsok,
Been there, done that. The file is not locked by any means of Windows. I can move it, rename it, copy and paste it, and even delete it, view and change it's attributes back and forth (it was not set to 'read-only' before i started, but it will accept being changed to that) - all without a problem within Windows. As it appears to be something to do with PEBuilder, using Safe-Mode is not required.

Before I posted this, I took all the necessary steps to assure the problem is actual. I even searched the forums high and low for something similar to this (Error 5) and came up with nothing. I checked the file's integrity and you can be assured it is not a problem. To troubleshoot this issue further, I deleted the entire project and started from scratch - same problem at the same point.

I am running Windows XP Pro Version 2002 - if that helps.

fatdogscott

Ok.. but you have yourself to blame for recieving a suggestion that you have already tried.... if you don't list what you've tried and the exact details of the method you used etc, they are likely be suggested to you.

I'll have to let the others with more experience help at this point.

Too true - my fault. I forgot and assumed that a person asking for advice from forums would not necessarily have the intelligence to make sure a problem is actually a problem.

Thanks for your input rdsok,
fatdogscott

When you built with ubcd4win.exe, it created a log file called UBCD4WinBuild.log and placed it in your build folder and at the root of your successfully created cd. If you can paste it here in this thread we might be able to help figure out the problem.

Tom

Here is the log's contents, I assume you mean to look at it for identifying my system better than I described in my earlier 'reply'.

The error shows up in the pebuilder.log file, but not in the UBCD4WinBuild.log file; however, pebuilder.log is approx. 1.11MB and I assume since there is a 'Check Post Length on this forum's input fields, this would be too much to copy and paste.


Contents of file:





[Network]
EnableNetwork=0

[Keyboard Layout]
Language=English (US)

[GUI]
Wallpaper=D:\UBCDfiles\scottfire-ubcdw.bmp
ScreenResolution=800x600
GeoShellSkin=Classic

[BuildOptions]
AutoMode=1
DontBuildRegistry=0
DontBuildFiles=0
PebuilderCommand=D:\UBCDfiles\pebuilder.exe -auto -overwrite -exit
SourceLocation=D:\UBCDfiles\WinXpPro1A
MakeISO=1
DuplicatesOnce=0
MkisofsCommand=D:\UBCDfiles\mkisofs.exe -iso-level 4 -force-uppercase -volid "UBCD4WIN" -b bootsect.bin -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -hide bootsect.bin -c boot.catalog -o "D:\UBCDfiles\ubcd4win.iso" "D:\UBCDfiles\BartPE"
LastCommand=

[BuildErrors]

[BuildSystemOS]
ProductName=Microsoft Windows XP
Build=2600.xpclient.010817-1148
ServicePack=N/A

[BuildSystemCPU]
ProcessorNameString=AMD Athlon" XP
CpuIdentifier=x86 Family 6 Model 10 Stepping 0
VendorIdentifier=AuthenticAMD
CpuSpeed=1333 MHz

[BuildSystemBios]
Identifier=AT/AT COMPATIBLE
SystemBiosDate=08/04/04
VideoBiosDate=04/11/23

[SourceMedia]
Product=Windows XP Professional
SourceSP=SP1
Localization=English


I'll be glad to forward the pebuilder.log upon request.

fatdogscott

Everything looks ok in the log file except that it detects no service pack installed on the computer that you're using to build with.



Is this accurate? I don't think I've ever tried building with pebuilder313 from XP with no service packs installed but I don't really see how that would cause this kind of a problem.

Go into safemode and try building from scratch but before doing that, make sure that you verify the MD5 for both pebuilder and UBCD4WIN.

Tom

MD5 hashes are:
PEBuilder.zip: 9a16ef663976a5328514bb3580446f6b
UBCD4WinV255.exe :9e0f281ea03eaa3e17aa9b6c0292dc6e

Safe mode reported the exact same error at the exact same point. (I should point out that I am changing the output filename on each attempt in order to see if there is anything to compare a sucessful build. This is taking up more space that I'd like, but will keep it until I can't bare it anymore.)

I'm stumped,
fatdogscott

I'm stumped at this one too. I've seen PE Builder kick out some strange errors, but I don't understand (yet) why it's erroring at this file. That has never been reported.

Now, I think you said that the config tool created your ISO?? Is this correct? Does that ISO image work then? Does it boot properly?

The file you are having issues with is just the autorun file that is placed at the root of the CD so it will autorun on systems with autorun enabled. So I'm wondering if commenting out that file would cause any issues? You would be able to create the ISO then with PE Builder but lose that functionality (which is minor). This would also be the easy way out and not really a solution.

A few others have already covered asking you what is running in the background and you've even tried Safe Mode. You haven't entered any information in the "custom" box on the Main PE Builder page have you??
I can't really think of anything else.

I am including the Win2K Pro files (F:\Win2KPro) in the 'Customs' to be added to the ISO just so that I can boot into XP mode and be able to restore a system with Windows 2000 on it by copying those files onto the hard drive, but other than that, I'm just changing the final ISO filename. This, in my opinion should just copy that directory into ISO and that is that - it shouldn't do anything else as a 'plugin' wasn't created to run anything.

If I use ubcd4win to create the ISO, I can do it as long as I don't include some of the defaulted non-used plugins (Disk Commander, McAffe, and so on) - I set everything to default except the Network settings (I chose not to include those files as most of the time I won't be using them).

I haven't yet burned the ubcd4win ISO to disk as I wanted to get to the bottom of this and do some 'tweaking' first. CD's and time cost money, well not actually the time as I am not getting paid for this, but you get the picture.

As I say, I can send the final log file that is created in order to show what is being done entirely - perhaps that might shed some light to the experts.

Thanks,
fatdogscott

That could be the issue then! If you have the entire CD copied to that folder, it should contain an autorun.inf file. I'm not sure though as I don't fully understand what the "custom" field does. I've never played with it much, haven't found much documentation for it, and always suggest to the users of the project not to include anything.

I'd be willing to buy that for a dollar if it could be explained why this is affecting a .txt file when all of the .inf files are OK.

fatdogscott

I was just about to suggest the same thing.. build the project without adding anything... testing in QEMU or other virtual enviroment... then see if you have an error.

When it builds without errors, then add your customizations one at a time until you find the one that causes the trouble.



Are you always this condescending to those trying to help you... or is this a particularly bad day.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that if you get errors after making changes to the default settings, that they must be caused by something in those changes. Instead of criticizing the suggestions that are made to you.. you should be thankful that someone took the time to answer you, its not like you've paid them to help.

Condescending??? On the contrary, I'm trying to see the logic involved on this particular issue (and I tried to add humor to lift the frustration - 'buy that for a dollar' was a line off of an old sitcom). I didn't think that by adding to the Customs line an error of this type would be created. I mean, locked up files seen by one program doesn't usually occur.

I'd be willing to try it without the 'F:\Win2KPro' added and report that.

As to this being a particularly bad day - it's just another normal day to me.

fatdogscott


***************
Results of trying it without 'F:\Win2KPro' appear to work. Apparently there is something in the Windows2K that is causing the problem. This defeats the purpose though, as I would like to have carried only one CD in order to repair a Win2KPro installation.

fatdogscott

Sorry for the misunderstanding... good luck finding the issue causing this then.

Well, evidently whatever is in the folder that you direct the "custom field" in PE Builder to will be copied to the root of the ISO image. In this case it would conflict with the fact that most (probably all) Bart PE CD's include an autorun.inf file. Just like all Microsoft OS CD's.

So adding those files to your UBCD4Win CD would be pretty easy with a simple plugin:
1. Navigate to your "C:\pebuilder313\plugin" folder.
2. Create a "2kcd" folder and open it.
3. Create a folder there called "files."
4. Copy your 2k CD to the "files" folder.
5. In your "2kcd" folder, create a file called "2kcd.inf."
6. Modify the file and add this content to the file:


Now build again.

The only thing I'm not sure of though is how much space the 2k CD will take up......you could end up with an ISO that is too big to burn to CD. Sorry, too tired and lazy to try and find my 2k CD.....not sure what pile of CD's it's in right now.

Will try that now - I just have to delete the previous attempts - making these can use up some hard drive space, but I still look forward to being able to do this.

As for the amount of space, I'm playing around with the includes of the 2k setup and trying to reduce it down. It may work, but I can't be certain of it just yet. I will let you know if you're interested.

Interestingly enough, the final pebuild.iso (without the Win2kPro) file is only 2k smaller than the ubcd4win.iso file.

fatdogscott

Win2k CD with the latest SP is 398 MB (417,678,499 bytes).. but I can't remember if this was the Pro or Server version now that I think about it.

I must be missing something, an error was caused saying that it couldn't find the files during the build. I created the 2kcd folder and also created the 2kcd.inf file by copying and pasting the above into a text file and changing the extension to .inf. Was I to copy a file into the directory and edit that one? Also, should I have saved the files into a sub-directory of 2kcd?

The folder stucture is like this:
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd"
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\BOOTDISK" - with their assocated files inside
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\I386" - with their associated files inside
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\SETUPTXT" - with their associated files inside
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\SUPPORT" - with their associated files inside
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\2kcd.inf"
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\AUTORUN.INF"
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\CDROM_IP.5"
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\CDROM_NT.5"
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\READ1ST.TXT"
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\README.DOC"
"D:\UBCDfiles\plugin\2kcd\SETUP.EXE"



fatdogscott

Folder structure:

-pebuilder313
|-plugins
|-2kcd ----->this folder contains the 2kcd.inf file
|-files ----->this folder contains your 2k CD files

Hope this makes sense to you. The plugins folder contains your 2kcd folder, which contains 2kcd.inf and "files" folder, the "files" folder contains the contents of your 2k CD.

I see you edited your post.

All those files and folders need to be in the "files" folder. Maybe my instructions weren't clear enough?? I was going to add the "open the folder" text to #3 but I thought that saying copy your CD files to the "files" folder in #4 was self explanitory.

Trying that now - so far it appears to be working. If it does, I will then try to figure out what files are common to both XP and 2K in order to reduce the ISO size.

I didn't see your instructions clearly enough, my appologies. This also gives me insight on how to create a plugin for future use.

fatdogscott


**** SUCCESS!!!! **** That managed to fix the problem (or rather side-step it, which is good enough for me), and I was also able to get the total file size under 700MB ("File size on disk: 698 MB (732,073,984 bytes)").

Many thanks to you and your team, including rdsok, for all of your efforts.

fatdogscott

No problem.

One comment you made though. Use caution when playing around with what appears to be similar files between 2K and XP. They may have the same filename, but will probably be different versions. The differences could cause unexpected issues.

Also, that's a VERY basic plugin. All it does is include the files to a folder on the CD. It does not integrate them into the project. You will have access to them but will not have any menu options, etc. for anything....which really doesn't apply to what you are doing.
For better tips on creating plugins, view the documentation Bart provides, and view several different INF and XML files for the plugins included in the project. There are several methods you can use to do many things in plugins. UBCD4Win is a "grabbag" of these different methods.

I'll have to check each file indepentanly to verify proper version and such (now that I think about it, I could use the MD5 Hash program for that).

On this subject though, I consider it closed. How about you?

fatdogscott