Creating an Unattended Windows XP CD

bionic · Jul 24, 2003

"MSFN is proud to announce a new Sub Site, where you can find out how to create an Unattended Windows XP CD!

Have you ever wanted a Windows XP CD that would install Windows XP by automatically putting in your name, product key, timezone and regional settings? Followed by silently installing all your favourite applications along with DirectX 9.0a, .Net Framework 1.1 and then all the Pre-SP2 hotfixes, updated drivers, registry tweaks, and a readily patched UXTheme.dll without any user interaction whatsoever? Then this guide will show you how you can do just that!

MSFN.org would like to thank Mike Wilson for his excellent material on this, which unfortunately he stopped working on just recently. But don't worry - we've decided to keep it updated with newer customizations and improvements!

Target Audience - Home users, who are constantly fed up with manually installing applications, downloading windows updates, and tweaking their OS to perfection on every format performed.

Difficulty - Requires intermediate experience on Microsoft Windows & Batch commands"

http://www.msfn.org/unattended/

slippery · Jul 25, 2003

very nice! many thanx!

big_gie · Jul 28, 2003

Here is another one, originaly in french:
http://www.laboratoire-microsoft.org/articles/win/w2k_bootable/

English translation:
http://www.laboratoire-microsoft.org/articles/win/sp3/en/

They use a different method wich is a bit complicated to understand, but once you get the touch it gives some nice results!

bionic · Jul 28, 2003

Nice! thx

Heres one on how2 include 3rd party controller drivers using unattended install and win2k

http://www.spc.org.nc/it/TechHead/unattended_install_of_third_part.htm

And one for highpoint hpt370 users and winxpsp1

http://www.zen9156.zen.co.uk/Hacks/xp_sp1_hpt370_patch.htm

big_gie · Jul 28, 2003

excellent m8

big_gie · Aug 6, 2003

Finally, after days working on this, I was able to make a cd unattended or not. wouhou!!

What you do is follow this guide http://members.rogers.com/khauyeung/nin1.htm to make a N-in-1 CD of windows xp. In one of the folder, put your winnt.sif and voila!

Attacheted is a screenshot of the files. Hope it could help.

bionic · Aug 6, 2003

Cool!! Well done!

Will keep it in mind for later reference m8
thx

kingul · Aug 23, 2003

h**p://home.kooee.com.au/kingul/unatend.html
My link above has two unattended systems pre-built and simplified.
I did not read the rules so I have not made a proper live link.
The build is based on Bart`s bootable CD and the download includes the burner software. Just add water, Grin!. No, just add the contents of your i386 folder. In addition, I have a bootable CD Unattend which simplifies it even further. Just edit user name and codes and use a standard XP CD to install XP. The answer file is automatically copied to C: (from the floppy) thus you almost instantly remove the floppy after setup begins.
You must use fat 32 for unattended installations.

bionic · Aug 23, 2003

Welcome to the forum m8.
Nice site you got there

Why not stop by here and introduce yourself.

big_gie · Aug 23, 2003

Good m8

You must use fat 32 for unattended installations.

No you don't. It work with NTFS too. What you can do is inside the unattend.txt, replace the

Code:

[Data]
    AutoPartition=1

by

Code:

[Data]
    AutoPartition=0

so it will ask you on witch partition you wish to install.

kingul · Aug 23, 2003

I am not going to debate this point but it simply says no drive is suitable if I have prepared it with NTFS file system. In any case, I use fat 32 and many well written articles support using fat 32 rather than NTFS.
I shall not reply again.

big_gie · Aug 23, 2003

kingul said:
I am not going to debate this point but it simply says no drive is suitable if I have prepared it with NTFS file system. In any case, I use fat 32 and many well written articles support using fat 32 rather than NTFS.
I shall not reply again.

Why not?

How did you do your NTFS partition? There is some "version" of it... v1 wich is WinNT 4.0, v3.0 wich is Win2000 and v3.1 wich is WinXP. I know I had the same problem once when using partition magic for dos (v7 i think). The partition I was creating wasn't "good" for windows so it would reformat them!
v8 let you choose wich version of NTFS you want. That way you will be able to pass by the erroryouve got.

kingul · Aug 24, 2003

Firstly, I am not interested in NTFS for XP. I trial tested it with autopartition set to 0 as you mentioned. I used Partition Magic 8.2 and set it to the special XP version of NTFS. It was just an experiment.
I seem to also recall Microsoft Article which states it can only be done with fat32 but this might only apply to activating it via a boot disc. MS also state that you can not exceed the 1024 boundary which often is 7.8 GB or as low as 4GB. I disproved this with 10 GB set for auto-install.
My system is quick and simple. Pop in the auto-boot CD for Partition Magic, prepare the drive and reboot with XP auto CD. Nice and easy.
All for download from my web page. The PM CD also has autoplay menue so that I click and install everything else in windows. That is also detailed on my web site.The following is my "winnt.sif":
;SetupMgrTag
[Data]
AutoPartition=0
FilesYstem=LeaveAlone
MsDosInitiated="0"
UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=No
TargetPath=\WINDOWS

[GuiUnattended]
AdminPassword="sursii"
EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
OEMSkipRegional=1
TimeZone=255
OemSkipWelcome=1

[UserData]
ProductKey=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
FullName="Franko"
OrgName="KGP"
ComputerName=kingul

[Display]
BitsPerPel=16
Xresolution=1024
YResolution=768
Vrefresh=72

[TapiLocation]
CountryCode=61
Dialing=Tone
AreaCode=02

[RegionalSettings]
LanguageGroup=1
SystemLocale=00000409
UserLocale=00000c09
InputLocale=0c09:00000409

[Branding]
BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes

Home_Page=http://home.kooee.com.au/kingul Help_Page=http://home.kooee.com.au/kingul Search_Page=http://www.wisenut.com/WiseSearch/ [Proxy] Proxy_Enable=1 Use_Same_Proxy=1 HTTP_Proxy_Server=home.kooee.com.au:8080 Proxy_Override=<local> [Identification] JoinWorkgroup=WORKGROUP [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=No [NetAdapters] Adapter1=params.Adapter1 [params.Adapter1] INFID=* [NetClients] MS_MSClient=params.MS_MSClient [NetServices] MS_SERVER=params.MS_SERVER [NetProtocols] MS_TCPIP=params.MS_TCPIP [params.MS_TCPIP] DNS=No UseDomainNameDevolution=No EnableLMHosts=Yes AdapterSections=params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1 [params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1] SpecificTo=Adapter1 DHCP=No IPAddress=192.168.0.10 SubnetMask=255.255.255.0 WINS=No NetBIOSOptions=0

ipdave · Aug 24, 2003

kingul said:
Firstly, I am not interested in NTFS for XP.

WHY? NTFS is secure; there is NO security with FAT32.

I trial tested it with autopartition set to 0 as you mentioned. I used Partition Magic 8.2 and set it to the special XP version of NTFS. It was just an experiment.

WHY again? I use the XP installer to format, Not a 3rd party tool (can run into incompatibilities if format with other sw, then NT/XP will ask to reformat it.. (Still works, though).

I seem to also recall Microsoft Article which states it can only be done with fat32 but this might only apply to activating it via a boot disc. MS also state that you can not exceed the 1024 boundary which often is 7.8 GB or as low as 4GB. I disproved this with 10 GB set for auto-install.

1024 boundary is for the second part as bootable on a drive.

My system is quick and simple. Pop in the auto-boot CD for Partition Magic, prepare the drive and reboot with XP auto CD.

Mine boots, XP asks only for partition to install to (choose a new one or format an existing one), then installs XP-SP1, all hotfixes, NAV, Nero, and Office XP - all silently, rebooting when finished.

Nice and easy.
All for download from my web page. The PM CD also has autoplay menue so that I click and install everything else in windows. That is also detailed on my web site.

Here is my winnt.sif :
_____________________________________________________________
[Data]
AutoPartition=0
MsDosInitiated="0"
UnattendedInstall="Yes"
[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=Yes
TargetPath=\WINDOWS
Repartition=No
UnattendSwitch="yes"
WaitForReboot="No"
[GuiUnattended]
AdminPassword=*
EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
AutoLogon=Yes
AutoLogonCount=1
OEMSkipRegional=1
TimeZone=85
OemSkipWelcome=1
[UserData]
ProductKey=..........
FullName="WindowsXP"
OrgName="PC-"
ComputerName=*
[Display]
BitsPerPel=32
Xresolution=1024
YResolution=768
Vrefresh=60
[TapiLocation]
CountryCode=1
Dialing=Tone
AreaCode=803
LongDistanceAccess="99"
[RegionalSettings]
LanguageGroup=1
Language=00000409
[Identification]
JoinWorkgroup=WORKGROUP
[Networking]
InstallDefaultComponents=No
[NetAdapters]
Adapter1=params.Adapter1
[params.Adapter1]
INFID=*
[NetClients]
MS_MSClient=params.MS_MSClient
[NetServices]
MS_SERVER=params.MS_SERVER
[NetProtocols]
MS_TCPIP=params.MS_TCPIP
[params.MS_TCPIP]
DNS=No
UseDomainNameDevolution=No
EnableLMHosts=No
AdapterSections=params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1
[params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1]
SpecificTo=Adapter1
DHCP=Yes
DNSServerSearchOrder=....
WINS=No
NetBIOSOptions=0
[Branding]
BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes
Home_Page=http://www.google.com [FavoritesEx] Title1="Google" URL1="http://www.google.com" [Proxy] Proxy_Enable=0 Use_Same_Proxy=1 [Shell] DefaultStartPanelOff = Yes DefaultThemesOff = Yes [GuiRunOnce] %systemdrive%\install\main_batch.cmd %systemdrive%\install\hotfixes.cmd %systemdrive%\install\applications.cmd [/size]

kingul · Aug 25, 2003

Bravo! Bravo! You upstage everyone. Congratulations!
Why not put up a web page for all your phenomenal expertise???
Boy! Am I tired of this post?????????????????????????

ipdave · Aug 25, 2003

kingul said:
Bravo! Bravo! You upstage everyone. Congratulations!
Why not put up a web page for all your phenomenal expertise???
Boy! Am I tired of this post?????????????????????????

Hmm. No need to get personal and stupidly ugly here. There are enough good web sites out there that I have learned from, don't need to litter Google's search engine further with something I did not even invent.

I was just trying to share my own observations and experiences. Too bad some are not mature enough to understand that. That truly is tiring. Anyone who runs any flavor of NT knows the benefits of NTFS over FAT32 are immeasurable, but if you choose for some reason not to use it, fine. Don't give out bad advice to others based on your own opinion here, however. This board is to share ideas and talk about them, not to bash and belittle as a vey young teener would.

MAXIMUS95GST · Jan 22, 2004

IPDAVE,

Where is your website. I am interested in the SlipStream XP cd....

Thanks,
MAX

kingul · Jan 22, 2004

ipdave said:
Hmm. No need to get personal and stupidly ugly here. There are enough good web sites out there that I have learned from, don't need to litter Google's search engine further with something I did not even invent.

I was just trying to share my own observations and experiences. Too bad some are not mature enough to understand that. That truly is tiring. Anyone who runs any flavor of NT knows the benefits of NTFS over FAT32 are immeasurable, but if you choose for some reason not to use it, fine. Don't give out bad advice to others based on your own opinion here, however. This board is to share ideas and talk about them, not to bash and belittle as a vey young teener would.

IP Dave has displayed his feathers again to impress us all. Many respected writers point out that their is little point in using NTFS file systems at all. Try repairing a system that will not boot with NTFS then simply use any Windows boot disk to repair Fat 32 on XP or 2003. I set out to show a simplified version of unattend install which might be capable of also installing as NTFS if the line is added to the answer file appropriately. If anyone wants to download the simplified boot disk for auto install, it is on my web page:

Code:

http://home.kooee.com.au/kingull/unatend.html

big_gie · Jan 22, 2004

I Forgot about this thread!

Here are new info:

I found a better way to put multiple unattended files on the CD. Just check this site: http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3352

More info could be found @ http://unattended.msfn.org/xp/index.htm or if you have questions here is a great forum: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=70

VIPER_1069 · Jan 22, 2004

@kingul

PLEASE DON'T turn this into a FLAME war ....everyone is entitled to the OWN opinions here but PLEASE don't charge in like a raging bull to attack other members..... IF YOU don't like how other people do things then thats fair enough .....BUT let me point out we take a DISLIKE to our members being sarcastic like that, with a response that was totally uncalled for !?

you have been warned....

Creating an Unattended Windows XP CD

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