Missing C:\I386 Goes Unnoticed!?

[Ben-Zion Joselson]

Last month I successfully installed Windows 2000
Professional SP4 slipstreamed, with additional $oem$
structure (located alongside I386 in the CD root) with
added drivers and selected files and folders, using a
bootable CD that I burned according to well-established
guidelines published by Oli Restorick and by Steven Bink.

If anyone is interested, here are the first relevant
sections of the winnt.sif "unattended.txt" file I used in
the setup:

[Data]

AutoPartition=0
MsDosInitiated="0"
UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]

UnattendMode=ProvideDefault
DriverSigningPolicy=Warn
FileSystem=LeaveAlone

; OemFilesPath=<path to \$OEM$ folder> relative to where
the winnt.sif file resides, in other words, to the i386
folder.
; The $OEM$ folder is in the root of the CD alongside the
i386 folder.

OemFilesPath="..\$OEM$"


OEMPnPDriversPath="Drivers\VideG450;Drivers\ScPt2Mse;Driver
s\MPusbhub"
OemPreinstall=Yes
OemSkipEula=Yes
Repartition=No
TargetPath=\WINNT

etc.

After the smooth installation I added utilities and
applications with little or no difficulties, and only
today I suddenly noticed that I386 folder is not present
at the root %SystemDrive%.

It seems strange that Windows 2000 can happily lead a
fully functional life without complaining on the absence
of such a fundamental directory - I386.

Am I right in assuming that there is no hurry to correct
this abnormal situation?

If the need seriously arises and an error message calls
for a badly needed file from C:\I386\ I shall take the
following steps listed in Microsoft Knowledge Base
Article - 311755 :
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;311755

Copy the I386 folder and all of its subfolders to the hard
disk. To do this, type the following lines at the command
prompt, pressing ENTER after you type each line

smartdrv
xcopy cd-rom:\i386 drive:\i386 /e

where cd-rom is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive, and
drive is the drive letter of the hard disk.
Restart the computer, [and then start Setup again]*.
When you receive the error message, click Browse, and then
type the path to the I386 folder on the hard disk.

*Of course I won't start Setup again! Just copy and
restart.

Still I am wondering what might have caused \I386 not to
take its place at the root %SystemDrive% during setup.

Please advise.

 

[R Dunn]

The I386 Folder is not required to be on your system for 2000 to operate.
You only need the ability to access those files (be it through CD, network
share, etc) - it's just easiest and regular practice of most technicians to
have that folder on your system in case of problems.

Rob

 

[Oli Restorick [MVP]]

Hi

When Windows 2000 is installed, it installs most of the things it will need,
including the driver files (in %systemroot%\Driver Cache).

So, while Windows NT almost used to ask for its i386 directory if you waved
your mouse pointer in the wrong area of the screen, Windows 2000 is fine.
It'll only want i386 if you add or remove Windows components.

Personally, I don't copy i386 to the hard disks of workstations, but I
always do for servers.

In any case, Windows NT never copied the i386 directory to the hard disk
itself. It was just common practice for those installing the OS to do so.
Similarly, Windows 2000 doesn't copy the source tree to the disk (and
neither does Windows XP or Windows Server 2003).

Hope this helps

Oli

Last month I successfully installed Windows 2000
Professional SP4 slipstreamed, with additional $oem$
structure (located alongside I386 in the CD root) with
added drivers and selected files and folders, using a
bootable CD that I burned according to well-established
guidelines published by Oli Restorick and by Steven Bink.

<snip>

 

[Ben-Zion Joselson]

Hi

Thanks for clearing the mystery.

My expectations were based on my other Windows 2000 Pro
IBM OEM installations, multibooting on separate drives in
the same IBM workstation. I got used to the presence of
\I386 at each root %SystemDrive% and thought it was a
necessary feature. Also at the office, workstations
include local \I386 folders even though Users are
dependent on remote administration via the Network for any
serious maintenance and upgrade.

I also had the idea that System File Protection in Windows
2000 takes advantage of the presence of compressed
pristine system files in \I386.

BTW, each IBM OEM installed \I386 folder contains "only"
4744 files & 12 folders spanning 319MB on disk, compared
to 5405 files & 93 folders in my slipstreamed \I386 359MB
folder. Whoever did the Setup at IBM surely had clear
definitions as to what may be required in future
maintenance and upgrades to the operating system.

Personally I expect to make use of the I386\LANG\
subfolders to add or modify default language settings in
the new Win2000 SP4 system. As you explained, this can be
done with or without copying the full package locally.

Another occasion to look at \I386 may be when MS releases
major "Security Fixes" and then SP5 later this year.

-----Original Message-----
The I386 Folder is not required to be on your system for 2000 to operate.
You only need the ability to access those files (be it through CD, network
share, etc) - it's just easiest and regular practice of most technicians to
have that folder on your system in case of problems.

Rob

Last month I successfully installed Windows 2000
Professional SP4 slipstreamed, with additional $oem$
structure (located alongside I386 in the CD root) with
added drivers and selected files and folders, using a
bootable CD that I burned according to well-established
guidelines published by Oli Restorick and by Steven Bink.

If anyone is interested, here are the first relevant
sections of the winnt.sif "unattended.txt" file I used in
the setup:

[Data]

AutoPartition=0
MsDosInitiated="0"
UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]

UnattendMode=ProvideDefault
DriverSigningPolicy=Warn
FileSystem=LeaveAlone

; OemFilesPath=<path to \$OEM$ folder> relative to where
the winnt.sif file resides, in other words, to the i386
folder.
; The $OEM$ folder is in the root of the CD alongside the
i386 folder.

OemFilesPath="..\$OEM$"


OEMPnPDriversPath="Drivers\VideG450;Drivers\ScPt2Mse;Driver
s\MPusbhub"
OemPreinstall=Yes
OemSkipEula=Yes
Repartition=No
TargetPath=\WINNT

etc.

After the smooth installation I added utilities and
applications with little or no difficulties, and only
today I suddenly noticed that I386 folder is not present
at the root %SystemDrive%.

It seems strange that Windows 2000 can happily lead a
fully functional life without complaining on the absence
of such a fundamental directory - I386.

Am I right in assuming that there is no hurry to correct
this abnormal situation?

If the need seriously arises and an error message calls
for a badly needed file from C:\I386\ I shall take the
following steps listed in Microsoft Knowledge Base
Article - 311755 :
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;311755

Copy the I386 folder and all of its subfolders to the hard
disk. To do this, type the following lines at the command
prompt, pressing ENTER after you type each line

smartdrv
xcopy cd-rom:\i386 drive:\i386 /e

where cd-rom is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive, and
drive is the drive letter of the hard disk.
Restart the computer, [and then start Setup again]*.
When you receive the error message, click Browse, and then
type the path to the I386 folder on the hard disk.

*Of course I won't start Setup again! Just copy and
restart.

Still I am wondering what might have caused \I386 not to
take its place at the root %SystemDrive% during setup.

Please advise.

.