I read an article I found on Google that says how to do a WIM repack of Windows Longhorn so that it uses the traditional i386 installation like Windows XP does. Is it possible to do it with this build (4039)? I know the WIM repack is not recommended, but at least it gives me more flexibility when add customizations so I can just simply use the makecab command on the customized files and drop them into the i386 folder.

What does any of you people think to this?

PS: 4039 is one of my favourite builds because it reminds me of the Longhorn concept on Youtube.

It is possible, right now they are working on doing this with 3718, it will be mostly the same process. I will help you if you like. just need ximage and sys prep. Take a look on the forums and see how they did it with 3718.

No, for some strange reason, he wants to take 4039 from WIM to i386. We are taking 3718 from i386 to WIM.
Why would you abandon a much better format (WIM) for an out-dated over-rated format (i386)?

WIMs are much, much simpler to modify if you know what you are doing. I suggest you return to google, and check out how to work with WIMs, and do something more worthwhile than try to repack 4039 into an i386 setup.

Microsoft moved to WIMs for a reason, and it was something that Microsoft had been working on a number of years, and it's got so many advantages over the old-style i386 setup. Moving backwards just brings it's own problems, you just have to have to look at the repack, and the fact that it is a shadow of the proper build, and less stable and functional.

Longhorn was built for WIMs. It is simply not designed for i386. The reason why going to WIMs works so much better than from WIMs is simply because Microsoft knew that WIMs were on their way. Since NT4, Microsoft have provided Sysprep, knowing that corporate people had already realised image-based setups were the way forward.

Now Microsoft would hardly see any reason for making Longhorn work well with i386. i386 is a dead system, it drove even Microsoft insane with it's slow speed. Why would anyone want to return to it? WIMs are really fantastically simple to manipulate. What I'm doing with 3718 is taking me no more than 2 hours to produce a build, by installing it using the i386 setup, modifying 3718 as I want (ie Activation cracks, soon UI modifications), then sysprepping, resealing, capturing a WIM image, and installing the new WIM based installer and let it run the mini-setup (or not, as the case may be).

Why would anyone want to resort to i386?

Well, what I have done is installed 4039 onto a second hard drive, but only let the setup run at the first part, and not at the second part where it attempts to install the drivers for devices. Should I copy my customized files, shell32.dll etc.... cracked winlogon.exe etc, then use ximage to make a new install.wim file. If so, which version of ximage.exe should I use?

You'd have to use the installer from a different build, since there is no leaked ximage that works with the 4039 installer, but simply delete the sources folder, copy in the 4074 sources folder without the install.wim, and capture a wim with the Build 4059 ximage, and use a hex editor to change the image index to 3, since the 4074 installer automatically uses the index 3 part of the WIM

Its OK if you can't tell me, but where can I get an appropriate hexedit program and XIMAGE 4059?

As for a free hex editor that will fit the bill, you can use HxD. Just use the built-in Tools->open Disk image feature, and you'll be set. As for Ximage, there's a few sites that may or may not have it still - http://www.tacobeta.com/longhorn.html or http://www.aldatillian.be/

I've repacked some versions of windows this way.


Hello all.

3718 had no sysprep but you can use newsid from sysinternals.

I successfully made a reduced 3718 in a 4015 panther engine like this and it works well enough.

Longhorn 4053 is the one best suited to the task imo,

which is what I use for xp/03.

Of course a few tricks are tucked away that include realtime cpu detection which overcomes the limitation claim by MS that xp cannot be used for image based deployment across multiple cpu types.

The project was dubbed 'PantherXP' a few months ago.

But everyone thinks it's an OSX mod.