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A distribution folder enables you to supply your own files that Windows Setup automatically copies to the target computers. Setup Manager can guide you through the process of creating a distribution folder.
Such files could include help files that you want to install on every computer in your organization or device drivers not shipped with Windows 2000. They could also be your own applications that you want to deploy to the target computers.
When you create a distribution folder using the Setup Manager Wizard, you need at least enough free disk space to hold the Windows 2000 operating system CD plus the amount of disk space needed to store the files you are deploying yourself.
Use the Additional Dirs page to supply your own files to be deployed. First expand and collapse the tree-view to select the destination for the files. Once you select where to copy the files to, click AddFiles, and Setup Manager will allow you to browse for a file or folder to copy.
If you examine your distribution folder after using the Additional Dirs page, you will notice that all of the files and folders you copied were stored in a subdirectory named $oem$. Also, notice that the files you want placed in the System Drive tree were placed in $oem$\$1. Each of the special keys that are displayed on the Additional Dirs page maps to a special sub-directory of the $oem$ directory.
When an unattended Setup runs using a distribution folder, the entire tree rooted at $oem$ is copied to the temporary Windows Setup directory $WIN_NT$.~LS. At some point during Setup, trees in special subdirectories, such as $1, are copied to the corresponding location on the target computer. At the end of Setup, the $oem$ tree is deleted.