[TUTORIAL] Windows XP Embedded SP2 Evaluation Install/Config

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Goldfish64
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[TUTORIAL] Windows XP Embedded SP2 Evaluation Install/Config

Post by Goldfish64 »

There is a tutorial already on the subject but 1) this uses the public evaluation kit from Microsoft, 2) this is using a single VM in VirtualBox, and 3) I like pictures. This tutorial also applies to Windows Embedded Standard 2009, but you have to use Windows XP SP3 as a development system. Most of this guide is adapted from Microsoft's tutorial.

1. Creating the VM
First you'll need a VM (or physical machine) with Windows XP Professional SP2 or SP3 installed on it. Windows 2000 Professional SP4 will also work. If you wish to use the Remote Boot feature, you must use either Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003, which is not covered here. I assume you have the knowledge to create one, otherwise learn how to do that first. For the purposes of this guide, I'll be using VirtualBox.

2. Getting the installation media
Once you have your VM up and running, you'll need to download each of the files below into the same folder on the VM:
http://web.archive.org/web/201308010818 ... XPEFFI.exe
http://web.archive.org/web/201306240451 ... /disk1.cab
http://web.archive.org/web/201204151500 ... 3D5%7D.CAB
http://web.archive.org/web/201204151502 ... 09C%7D.CAB
http://web.archive.org/web/200608201746 ... F47%7D.CAB
http://web.archive.org/web/201306240652 ... /disk2.cab
http://web.archive.org/web/201306240457 ... 3/msde.cab
http://web.archive.org/web/201306221014 ... D_SP2E.EXE

To create the 3 disk folders, run XPEFFI.exe, browse to where you downloaded the files, and click Start Download Now.
When that is finished, click OK and the Welcome to Windows XP Embedded SP1 window should open:
Image
If not, go to Program Files\Windows Embedded\Installer\Disk1 and run setup.exe.

3. Installing the Windows XP Embedded tools and database
a. Firstly, the Windows XP Embedded tools need to be installed, so click on Tools Setup. Follow the wizard to install the tools, accepting the defaults and using MCQ2F-6K2HW-BFFR4-VQG8V-GDJY6 for the product key.
b. Next, install the Windows XP Embedded database engine so click on Database Engine Setup.
c. Enable file sharing. Open the firewall properties and make sure File and Printer Sharing is checked.
d. Make sure the MSSQLSERVER service is started. If it is not, start it and/or restart your machine.
e. Install the Windows XP Embedded database, so click on Database Setup. Follow the wizard to install the database, accepting the defaults and again using MCQ2F-6K2HW-BFFR4-VQG8V-GDJY6 for the product key. Once it has finished, you may close it and the Welcome to Windows XP Embedded SP1 window.

4. Upgrading the Windows XP Embedded tools and database to SP2
a. To begin installing SP2, go to Program Files\Windows Embedded\Installer\disk3 and run setup.exe. The Welcome to Windows XP Embedded SP2 window will open.
b. The database engine should be updated first, so click on Database Engine Update to update the database engine
c. Click on Tools Update and go through the wizard to update the tools.
d. Make sure the MSSQLSERVER service is started. If it is not, start it and/or restart your machine.
e. Click on Database Update to update the database. Click OK when the Database Backup dialog appears and go through the wizard to update the database. You will get a success dialog if the update went successfully. If you get a database connection error, make sure the MSSQLSERVER service is running and/or restart the machine.
f. Close the Welcome to Windows XP Embedded SP2 window and restart the machine.

5. Preparing the VM and the BOOT.INI File
a. Shut down the VM.
b. Add a second virtual hard disk in slave mode to the IDE bus that the main virtual hard disk is on. 10GB is enough.
c. Power on the VM.
d. Open Computer Management and initialize and format the second hard disk.
e. Add the following line to the boot.ini file and save it:

Code: Select all

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Embedded" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
The complete boot.ini file should look like so:

Code: Select all

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Embedded" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
5. Creating a component for the VM's devices
a. Go to Program Files\Windows Embedded\Utilities folder and run Tap.exe. The resulting Devices.pmq file will appear in the Program Files\Windows Embedded\Utilities folder.
b. Start Component Designer by going to Start->All Programs->Microsoft Windows Embedded Studio and clicking Component Designer.
c. From the File menu, click Import. Browse to Program Files\Windows Embedded\Utilities and open the Devices.pmq file.
d. The Import File dialog box will appear. Click Start to import the file, which may take a while. When it is finished, click Close.
e. The devices.sld file will now appear in the left pane. From the File menu, click Save and save the .sld file to the desktop.
f. From the Tools menu, click Component Database Manager to open the Microsoft Component Database Manager. On the Database tab, click the Import button. Browse to where you saved the devices.sld file and import it.
g. Close the dialog boxes and Component Designer.

5. Creating the configuration
a. Start Target Designer by going to Start->All Programs->Microsoft Windows Embedded Studio and clicking Target Designer.
b. From the File menu, click New. The New Configuration dialog box appears. Enter the desired name for the configuration. I'm going to use CoreSystem. Click OK.
c. From the Component Browser, drag the devices component that was imported earlier into the configuration pane.
d. Add the following components by searching for them:
• Command shell (Software\System\User Interface\Shells)
• NTFS (Software\System\System Services\Base)
• NT Loader (Software\System\System Services\Base)
• NTFS Format (Software\System\Storage & File Systems\Applications)
• User Interface Core (Software\System\User Interface\Shells\Windows Shell)
• Task Manager (Software\System\User Interface\Shells\Windows Shell)
• Windows Accessories (Software\System\User Interface\Shells\Windows Shell)
• Registry Editor (Software\System\User Interface\Shells\Windows Shell)
• Microsoft Management Console (MMC) (Software\System\User Interface\Shells\Windows Shell)
e. Click the Settings node at the top of the configuration pane. Under Target Device Settings, change the drive letter to D: as shown here.
f. From the Configuration menu, click Check Dependencies. Dependencies will be checked and added as needed, which may take a while. When it has completed, click Close.
g. If there are any tasks listed on the Tasks tab, complete each one and go through the previous step and this step until all tasks are completed. For the purposes of this tutorial, select English for the language component, Minlogon for the Session Manager component, and Communications Port for the Unimodem component.
h. Save the configuration. Once there are no dependency warnings or errors, continue to the next step.

6. Building the run-time image
a. In Target Designer, click Build Target Image from the Configuration menu. The Build CoreSystem.slx dialog box will appear.
b. Make sure the build type is set to Release and click Build. If a message is displayed about overwriting the folder contents, click Yes. If a message asking to run a dependency check appears, also click Yes.
c. The image will now build, which may take a while.
d. When the build is finished, save the configuration and close Target Designer.

7. Deploying the run-time image
a. Navigate to the run-time build folder, which for this tutorial is C:\Windows Embedded Images, and copy the contents to the root of the second virtual hard disk.
b. Reboot the machine and select Microsoft Windows XP Embedded from the boot menu. If everything is configured correctly, Windows XP Embedded will begin to boot.
c. The First Boot Agent (FBA) will run and initialize the image for the first time. The system may reboot once or twice, so make sure to select Microsoft Windows XP Embedded from the boot menu to boot back into the image.
d. The system will log in and whatever shell chosen will start. If you chose the Command shell, it will be in full-screen mode so press Alt+Enter to exit full-screen mode.

Image

If you have an issue or any questions or concerns either post them to this thread or PM me. Thanks. :)

Enjoy!
Goldfish64

Treeant34
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Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 5:47 am

Re: [TUTORIAL] Windows XP Embedded SP2 Evaluation Install/Co

Post by Treeant34 »

Wanted to say thanks for this post and add a link that is missing from the original post.

There currently isn't a link for the Tools.cab file required (not sure how it got omitted).

Hopefully I'm not stepping on toes here (newb to this forum).

Anyways the link is:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130624053 ... /tools.cab

Thanks again

T

WILSON2bGg
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Windows XP Embedded SP2 Evaluation Install/Co

Post by WILSON2bGg »

Goldfish64,

I believe I followed all the steps on your guide. When I was trying to boot Win XP Embedded for the first time, the FBA loads then reboots and it is looping? Any ideas or suggestions?

Rob
Hey what's up

oscareczek
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Windows XP Embedded SP2 Evaluation Install/Co

Post by oscareczek »

Skip "Preparing the VM and the BOOT.INI File" e and "Creating the configuration" e, then use XPe as the only drive.

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