Is this a bug or broken be design?

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I downloaded the latest version of Windows 10 from Microsoft, latest update to add with NT Lite, some tweaks, ui changes, etc. All is fine and no issues. But as soon as I try to add any files directly to the mount folder, the ISO crashes when it should be loading OOBE.

What I did originally a few months ago, when the install.wim is mounted, I right clicked and went to that location, I took ownership of the entire folder so I could change the default wallpaper, and make a folder that will have OldNewExplorer and SecureUXpatcher in it for later use cause they require hands on setup and can't be automated safely, then I restored permissions back to TrustedInstaller using "NT service\TrustedInstaller". Compiled the ISO, deployed in a VM for testing, all was good, and now I'm running that version right now and have been for the last 6 months.

I don't have any of the original files, so I've repeated all of my exact previous steps that I had written down cause I knew I would forget most of this when it came time to do some more tweaks. Now I want to add Start11 and AutoDarkMode, again, both need personal touches to setup within the software so they can't be automated. However, if I touch the mount folder, its broken. If I add the files through Post-Setup and not touch the mount folder, it works fine, but then deletes the FilesU folder after setup so all of the installers are gone lol.

So I started testing what's going on. I just change the permissions on that mount folder to me and then immediately change it back to TrustedInstaller without adding anything or changing a thing, and it's broken. I can still operate NT Lite just like normal, but the mount folder is like, contaminated at that point without any user input that it's broken. So after compiling the ISO, deploy to a VM for testing, the install works fine but as soon as it should be loading OOBE, it just reboots a few times and brings a blue error screen saying "Why did my PC restart?" and I can't get around this.

I literally did exactly this process a few months ago and it works fine, I'm typing this right now using it. But now a few months later, try to pick up this project again, and suddenly this exact process doesn't work at all. I even tried some less than legal ISO's to see if this was possibly a Microsoft thing in newer ISO's as some kind of tamper proof method, and it's the same issue every single time no matter what ISO I use.

If I take over permissions of the mount directory, it will be broken after and it will not boot into OOBE to finish the account setup. Like it is completely broken. I can close NT Lite, delete the autosave, try to start over, and it's broken forever. I have to delete my original ISO extraction and replace it with fresh files to fix this. I've also tried on my laptop and have the exact same issue. So this is 100% something to do with a change that was made in NT Lite and I just wanna know if this is a bug in a later build and that's why this no longer works, or, if this is broken by design, and I'm forced to add a directory and files through the Post-Setup using a batch file so they can be moved from FilesU before the Post-Setup deletes that directory.. Which is way more work on my end, and which is why I was doing it the other way before to just change ownership, drag and drop what I need, replace ownership the way it was, and move on about my day and everything used to be fine. Now I can't even boot the ISO doing the exact previous steps I once did.

I'm also looking for an older NT Lite installer if anyone has a link to an official archive so I can try an older version.

Thanks for any input. I've been working on this for like three days now, so any help is appreciated.
 
Your story is exactly why we don't recommend taking ownership of Windows install files, and change their permissions.
More than likely, you will make a serious error and not restore everything.

There is a simple answer. Download NSudo toolkit.
NSudo allows you to open a CMD window as TrustedInstaller. Now you can edit protected files as you wish.

I would throw away the previous image, and start over. A clean ISO guarantees no hidden problems from last time.

Why do you need an older NTLite version? You're missing all the bug fixes.
 
I never ever change file folder or registry permissions, never. I use Power Run to run as Trusted Installer only when i need to.

garlin said:
Why do you need an older NTLite version? You're missing all the bug fixes.
Click to expand...
Got a bug? report it and wait for a fix. There are no old versions availible.
 
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The reason for an older version was because this previously worked before and I was just trying to repeat the exact steps to add more/updated files.

I'm basically just making a full Nord theme out of the box. Changing the cursor, system font, default desktop and login wallpaper, and adding the theme files needed to apply later.

So, within Windows, you could just dump the files by navigating to Windows/Cursor, Windows\Font, Windows\Resources\Themes, Windows\Web\Wallpaper\Windows to replace img0.jpg for the default wallpaper and Windows\Web\Screen to replace img100.jpg for the login.

Then add a "NORD" folder to C drive for easy access to OldNewExplorer and SecureUXpatcher as they are needed again for every Windows update.

This just saves a bunch of work later on to have it all embedded into the ISO so I can just do a clean install, it's all there and ready to go right out of the box. I just wanted to replicate my exact previous steps where I did this to achieve that goal. But I wanted to update the "NORD" folder to also have AutoDarkMode and Start11 as well as a different default wallpaper for desktop and login.

But now the previous steps break the ISO when it worked fine before on whichever older version of NT Lite I was using roughly 6 months ago when I first did this.

I'll give NSudo and Power Run a try to see what will work to make those changes. Cause they worked before and I've been using this ISO stable for like half a year. I just wanted to change thermal compound and format again for a clean install so it's all fresh and new, and it would be cool to add some updated files but now it's all broken.. and like a normal person and just doing it the normal way, I started down the rabbit hole and I'm three days in trying to make this happen now lol. I've saved negative time, it's more about the knowledge at this point lol

Thanks
 
When you want to copy an entire folder to C:\, use the $OEM$ folders.

On your ISO folder, make a new subfolder: sources\$OEM$\$1\NORD
Everything in path $OEM$\$1 maps to C:\

Copy your files there (NTLite doesn't need to be running). NTLite will automatically include $OEM$ content when writing a new ISO image.
When Post-Setup runs, C:\NORD will be transferred from the ISO.
 
I wasn't sure how to use NSudo to copy files to the mount folder with TrustedInstaller permissions. But I was able to use PowerRun to copy it in place without issues using CMD. However, the permissions on the copied files are all System instead of TrustedInstaller like they were originally. But I suspected that not changing the root permissions should have been fine since that was the cause of my root issues, which does, in fact, work flawless.

Thanks so much, now I just have to remember forward, to only copy updated files in CMD using PowerRun and I can pretend like I didn't just waste three days on this so I could save 30 minutes hahaha
 
you don't need nsudo or powerrun or any permissions. mount the image via ntlite. and right click on it select explore mounted files
 
That's exactly what I was doing, but the entire folder has permissions set to TrustedInstaller and says I don't have authorization to make any changes. That was why I originally changed the permissions over that mount folder. But making the permissions change, even when changed back, is what was breaking the ISO. Using PowerRun and CMD to move stuff around solved it because the mount folder permissions are never changed but I can still add/delete files within it.
 
crypticus said:
you don't need nsudo or powerrun or any permissions. mount the image via ntlite. and right click on it select explore mounted files
Click to expand...
When NTLite or DISM extracts an image to NTFS, the original ACL's are preserved. You (as Administrator) are still missing rights for some files.

7-Zip workaround is exploiting a loophole. 7-Zip is treating the image as an archive file, and you have absolute permission to change anything. While this trick works, it assumes you know those files already. It doesn't help users who want to browse a folder structure.
 
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