From: daavid@bohra.cpg.oz.au (Daavid Turnbull)
Subject: Re: Setup Toolkit provided with SDK
Organization: Computer Power Software
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 00:17:52 GMT

In article <BvrowE.C7M@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> jvanderm@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (JVANDERM - MUTUAL GROUP) writes:
>      
> How do you speed up the initialization process during installs using the 
> tools provided with MicroSoft's SDK?   MicroSoft has been so kind as to 
> provide us developers with a tool (the Setup Toolkit) to easily create 
> Windows installs.  Unfortunantly the initialization process (when actually
> running the install) seems to take for ever!  Well, more realistically, maybe
> a minute or so.  Has anybody else use the tool?  If so, did you experience
> the same thing?  Can I do anything to speed up the initialization process?
>
I have used this tool to do our Windows Installations which came to 3 3.5"
and 4 5.25" disks.

Yes it is slow to initialise itself, god knows what it is doing.  I suppose
we should be grateful that we get the rather bland message box up saying
"....Initializing setup".

We have had a number of other problems which I wold consider to be far more
serious.

1) Sometimes the disk images it creates are to big to fit on the disks.
It does not seem to allow effectively for the gap between the end of the
files and the last sector the file occupies.

2) It manages to screw up the disk lables.  For example you might get
a three disk image labled "Disk1", "Disk3" and "Disk4".

The workaround has been to get in and manually edit the .inf file, shuffle
disk image components and the like.  This works but is highly error prone.
We should be able to produce and do a test install cut in a couple of hours.
Our last maintenance cut took two enginer a day.

The look and feel of the finished install is good (but it sounds a lot
better if DrWatson is not running.)  The package incorporates some clever
concepts.  The compression algorythms hare highly efficient, if a little
slow at cat time.

The look and feel of the setup tool kit is shoddy.  The documentation is
particulary weak, especially when compared with the rest of the c7 doco.
It does little more than outline the available api's.  It is built up around
MS-Test.  Unfortunately I spent weeks working things out by trial and 
error before our copy of MS-Test arrived.

The tools are poorly integrated and the front end of dos based layout tool
does not accept a response file and is command line argument heavy.
(Ie: you must keep your paths short short short!)

The product feels like it was included at the last minute after having been
put together by a couple of students on there mid term break.

It is the only component of the c7 package for which we would desire an
emergency upgrade.  Microsoft in Australia have been unable to help much,
I often found that I knew more about the product then they did.  They 
have been unable to indicate when fixes for the more major problems will
be available. We are seriously considering seeking out an alternative
product.
seriously considering an alternative installation package.
-- 
	Daavid Turnbull
	daavid@bohra.cpg.oz   +61 3 823 0222    (fax) +61 3 824 8068
	uunet!munnari!bohra.cpg.oz!daavid
	CP Software Export Pty Ltd                   ACN 006 640 133