Thread: How to install additional files during Automated System Recovery

SUMMARY:

This article explains how to install extra files once you use the Automated System Recovery (ASR) restore feature. specially, this article explains how to modify or add the [InstallFiles] section of the Asr.sif file to specify the files and the device drivers that are necessary during the graphical user interface mode (GUI Mode) ASR Setup that are not included on the Windows Product CD-ROM.

MORE INFORMATION:

The ASR restore method is made up of two phases: Phase I (Text Mode Setup) and Phase II (GUI Mode Setup). In Phase II of the ASR restore method, there may be programs or device drivers that are necessary but that are not included on the Windows Product CD-ROM disk. The ASR restore process gives a mechanism to copy these extra files to the destination computer during Phase I. These files will then be accessible later in the restore process.

The [InstallFiles] sections of the Asr.sif files have the records that discover the device drivers and files and the source and destination to which they are to be copied. Programs may skip the section when they want to indicate that the device driver files are not to be copied to the target PC. Also, if the section is there, but it does not have any records, the drivers are not copied.

The [InstallFiles] section is not necessary, e.g. if the device drivers that are necessary by the provider program were installed during a typical Windows XP installation. Another example is that the recovery program executes a vendor-specific file copy and installation procedure that did not have to use the semantics that were giving by the recovery device records.

A valid [InstallFiles] section is necessary in Phase I if ASR is to copy the driver files to a hard disk. A valid driver package must include the driver (.sys) and an installation file (.inf) for the driver to be installed during the Plug and Play section of Phase II. Also, this driver package must contain a catalog file (.cat) to avoid unknown driver warnings. All three files should be included in the [InstallFiles] section. Alternatively, third-party drivers can be installed by using a Setup program. During

this case, the Setup program itself must be integrated in the [InstallFiles] section.

[InstallFiles]Installfile-Key=System-Key,Source-Media-Label,Source-device,Source-File-Path, Destination-File-Path, Vendor-Name, Flags
The following list is an explanation of the keys that are used in the [InstallFiles] section:

• InstallFile-Key - Required

(Integer value is>=1). This key should be unique from all other keys in the [InstallFiles] section. Programs that add entries to the [InstallFiles] section must not produce the InstallFile-Key or the equal (=) sign.
• System Key - Required

The System Key is an index to the [Systems] section of the Asr.sif. This value classifies what system is being restored. (Integer value is>=1)
• Source-Media-Label - Required The Source-Media-Label is used to prompt the user to insert the media if the necessary media is not available in the Source-Device path. This may also be referred to as the Volume Label.

• Source-Device - Required

The Source-Device must be a physical device name of the source device because the drive letters on the destination PC are not guaranteed to be the same as that on the original PC when the files in this section are copied. The following strings refer to common installation media:

%FLOPPY%: For the first floppy disk drive on the computer (\Device\Floppy0)
%CDROM%: For the first CD drive on the computer (\Device\CdRom0)
%Setupsource%: For the path of the device that contains the Setup files

For all other devices, the full physical device path must be used.
• Source-File-Path - Required

This string specify the full path name of the file to be copied, which is relative to the root folder on the source media. E.g. if the Driver.sys file that is stored in the I386 subfolder on a CD-ROM must be copied, the source file path for it is I386\Driver.sys. This string must not run with a backslash (\) character.

• Destination-File-Path - Required

This string recognize the path and filename to which the source file should be copied. Because the only volumes that currently are available are the boot volume and the system volume, the destination must be in one of these volumes. Also, ASR will not generate any folders. Therefore, you are restricted to using folders that exist during this part of Setup. The following strings refer to these folders:

%SYSTEMROOT%: The folder that Windows is installed to.
%TEMP%: %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Temp directory that is created during Setup. For a temporary folder.

Unless there is a specific requirement to install to the Windows (%SYSTEMROOT%) folder, programs typically use the %TEMP% folder.

E.g. if the Driver.sys file is copied to the System32 subfolder of the destination PC in the Windows installation folder, the Destination-File-Path is %SystemRoot%\System32\Driver.sys.

• Vendor-Name - Required

This string is displayed during Text Mode Setup when the user is prompted for the specified file, if it is necessary.

• Flags - Required

The Flags key is a mixture of one or more of the following values that enables the program to customize the restore-time behavior:

0x00000001 - Prompt For Files Always: This flag causes ASR to always prompt the user for the media before any attempts are made to copy the file. This flag can be used to make sure that the file that is being copied is from the correct media, especially if the file has a common name, such as, Setup.exe, that may exist on some other media that is on the drive. This flag gives the user a chance to make sure that the correct source media is present before ASR copies the file to the destination computer.

0x00000006 - Prompt for Required Files: This flag indicates that this file is critical for the ASR process. ASR does not continue unless this file is copied. This flag must only be set for the appropriate files without which ASR cannot succeed because the user cannot perform a successful recovery unless all these files are present.

0x00000010 - Overwrite if File Already Exists: Specifies whether the file that is being copied must overwrite the file at the target destination if it already exists. This flag is ignored if the flag 0x00000001 is set.

0x00000020 - Prompt if File Already Exists: If this flag is set, the user is prompted if the file that is being copied already exists at the target location.
The following example shows a typical [InstallFiles] section with driver files that must be copied to the destination computer if the computer that is identified by the "1" key in the System section is being restored.
[INSTALLFILES]
1=1,"Volume label","%FLOPPY%","driver.sys","%TEMP%\driver.sys" ,"Vendor name",0x00000026
2=1,"Volume label","%FLOPPY%","driver.inf","%TEMP%\driver.inf" ,"Vendor name",0x00000026
3=1,"Volume label","%FLOPPY%","driver.cat","%TEMP%\driver.cat" ,"Vendor name",0x00000026

The following example shows a typical [InstallFiles] section with driver files that must be copied to the destination PC if the computer that is recognized by the "1" key in the System section is being restored.

[INSTALLFILES]
1=1,"Volume label","%FLOPPY%","driver.sys","%TEMP%\driver.sys" ,"Vendor name",0x00000026
2=1,"Volume label","%FLOPPY%","driver.inf","%TEMP%\driver.inf" ,"Vendor name",0x00000026
3=1,"Volume label","%FLOPPY%","driver.cat","%TEMP%\driver.cat" ,"Vendor name",0x00000026

The following examples explain a typical [InstallFiles] section with a program that must be copied to the destination PC if the PC that is recognized by the "1" key in the [Systems] section is being restored.

1=1,"Media label","%CDROM%","appsetup.exe","%TEMP%\appsetup.e xe","Vendor name",0x00000026