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Create Spanned Media

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Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2

Note

This content applies to Windows 7. For Windows 8 content, see Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK.

This topic describes how to create spanned media by using the Createspannedshares.cmd script to support computers that do not have a DVD-ROM drive. The script will split Setup files, including Windows® image (.wim) files, into individual parts that you can later burn onto multiple CD-ROMs. The script uses the following convention.

createspannedshares.cmd <Source> <Destination> [Media Size]

Where <Source> specifies a full path to the source files (the content of the product DVD and any additional source files), <Destination> specifies a path where the spanned media will be created; *[Media Size]*specifies the size of each piece of spanned media in megabytes (MB). Default is 640 MB.

Prerequisites

Before you can run this command, you must install Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) tools or Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) tools on your technician computer. The script is located in the C:\Program Files\Windows OPK\Samples directory. The script requires the ImageX tool. Media-burning software is not included with either Windows OPK or Windows AIK.

To create spanned media on CD-ROM

  1. Create a source directory on your technician computer. For example, create the following directory:

    C:\span\source

  2. Copy the content of the Windows product DVD and any additional resource files to the source directory.

  3. Remove the read-only attribute on all files. In Windows Explorer, right-click the \Source folder, select Properties, and clear the Read-only check box.

  4. At a command prompt, run the spanning script with the appropriate values. For example,

    createspannedshares.cmd C:\source C:\span [Windows]

    The script creates a \Windows subfolder based on the Media Size value. Within the \Windows subfolder, the script creates individual subfolders (CD1, CD2, and so on).

  5. Create an image (.iso) file for each subfolder, and burn each one to an individual CD-ROM. To make the first CD-ROM bootable, use the Oscdimg tool and the appropriate boot sector file (Etfsboot.com for x86-based and AMD 64-based computers, and Efisys.bin for 64-based computers).

    For example, for x86-based computers,

    Oscdimg -n -b"C:\Program Files\<version> \Tools\PETools\x86\boot\etfsboot.com" C:\span\Windows\CD1 C:\span\Windows\CD1.iso

    where <version> can be Windows OPK or Windows AIK. For subsequent non-bootable images, you can omit the boot switch (-b); for example,

    oscdimg -n C:\span\Windows\CD2 C:\span\Windows\CD2.iso

    To build an AMD-EFI .iso file use the following command:

    oscdimg.exe -bC:\winpe-x64-efi\efisys.bin -pEF -u1 -udfver102 C:\winpe-x64-efi\ISO x64-efi-winpe.iso

Note

The Oscdimg tool is not supported on an Itanium-based computer running Windows Server 2003.

To create a spanned media on DVD

The Createspannedshares script does not split media to DVD. To manually replicate the script process, follow these steps:

  1. Create a source directory on your technician computer. For example, create the following directory.

    C:\span\source

  2. Copy the content of the Windows product DVD to the Source directory.

  3. In Windows Explorer, right-click the \Source folder, click s, and then clear the Read-only check box. This removes the Read-only attribute on all files.

  4. At a command prompt, split the Install.wim file using ImageX. Because DVDs hold from 4.7 to 8.5 gigabytes (GB), specify a larger size for each split .wim file than the Createspannedshares script creates. For example, the following command creates 4 GB files.

    imagex /split C: \source\sources\install.wim C:\span\install.swm 3000

  5. Determine how many .swm files were created in Step 4, and create new folders for each file. For example, if two .swm files were created, you would create the following directory, leaving the subdirectories intact:

    C:\span\DVD2\sources

  6. Delete c:\span\DVD1\source\sources\install.wim.

  7. Copy Install1.swm into c:\span\DVD1\source\ and Install2.swm into c:\span\dvd2\source\.

  8. Create an image (.iso) file for each subfolder, and burn each one to an individual DVD-ROM. To make the first DVD-ROM bootable, use the Oscdimg tool and the appropriate boot sector file (Etfsboot.com for x86-based and AMD 64-based computers, and Efisys.bin for Itanium-based). For example, for x86-based computers,

    oscdimg -n -m -b"C:\Program Files\<version> \Tools\PETools\x86\boot\etfsboot.com" C:\span\Windows\CD1 C:\span\Windows\CD1.iso

    where <version> can be Windows OPK or Windows AIK.

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