Comments on: Unattended XP Installs with Windows Deployment Services

By: LFC

LFC — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:17:46 +0000

I got some help that solved my issue. It turns out WindowsPE was running a command called startnet.cmd that was overwriting my sysprep.inf. I then found a batch script that removes the two lines in startnet.cmd that are causing the problem.

By: LFC

LFC — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:27:21 +0000

I have also been having trouble getting XP SP3 to deploy unattended. The sysprep.inf file that I have at C:\sysprep\sysprep.inf works perfectly when I deploy the syspreped image with Acronis.

However, when I build a configuration and then a deployment set in RPK 3.4, the ensuing image does not use my sysprep.inf for an unattended setup. I am trying to use the xml posted to generate a usable XPUnattend.xml, but I have not been able to get that working.

If any of the previous posters could let me know how they got their deployments working I would be forever grateful.

By: Tom Y

Tom Y — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 22:43:05 +0000

It is still necessary to include sysprep if I already captured and uploaded a sysprepped image?

By: theforce

theforce — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:33:53 +0000

Hi Rob, how are you linking your sysprep.inf to your xp.wim image that you are installing.

My unattended.xml is supplys language admin username and password etc.. but does not autoselect the image that i want to install (but I can live with that).

i deployment image is sitting image group windows xp image and is called xptestcapture.wim (so in e:remoteinstallimageswindows xp imagexptestcapture.wim) and my sysprep.inf file is sittin in e:remoteinstallimageswindows xp image$oem$$1sypprep.inf)

when i pxe boot i am presented with the screen to select image to deploy, i select my image and it expands and reboots the computer

upon reboot brings up the 30 sec timer (the screen that comes up when windows crashes), i press enter to select boot up “windows normally”. It then goes through a number of steps where I
accept licence agreement, ok computer name, enter product key, select local admin password.

the machine reboots and my xp image with all its software is installed.

What am I doing wrong?

By: WDS Unattended help

WDS Unattended help — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:40:08 +0000

[...] It is possible by using the unattend.xml file which is on the WDS server. I found this site which talks you through it…. Reply With Quote [...]

By: KignOccagma

KignOccagma — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:03:42 +0000

hi there great thread you have going there!

By: allein

allein — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:54:29 +0000

Spoony, any chance you are still here…please respond, as I am trying to accomplish the same thing as you :) And the same problem seems to be bugging me too! :-s
Did you find the solution for your problem? Could you post it here? Or email me at allein(a)net4u.hr? I am very interested to know if you managed to solve this, and how!
Thanks Rob for the article!

By: Luke Hackett

Luke Hackett — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:07:33 +0000

Hi,

I dont usually post comments on websites like these but i just had to say great instructions and thank you very much.

Regards,

Luke

By: Spoony

Spoony — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:34:21 +0000

Ok, I got my unattend.xml file working to a certain point. Basically,

It will log me into the WDS (Credentials), Select the specific Image, Create the partition I set up…..& then it just sits there. I have to manually push “NEXT” to start “deploying” the image.

I’m going to do some research on that right now, but I’ll just post this in case someone else has already ran into this problem and whats to share a solution.

Thanks Rob, for the create article.

By: Spoony

Spoony — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:08:34 +0000

I’m set on the sysprep.inf file (Fully automated) I’ve used this in the past on my WDS & works perfectly with the XP images I have created. I’ve been doing them manually and decided that I want to remotely deploy images via Wake On Lan, Unattended.xml (Basically I want to install the OS from the comforts of my own office & have it set up to where it picks the correct image to deploy, partitions the drive, & adds it the the domain)

Now here’s my question:

How do I create the unattended.xml file for XP to do all the things I mentioned above? I’m stuck on the “Windows System Image Manager” where creating the answer file comes alittle confusing for me. Is there a guide to create the answer file for an XP image? This is the only part that I’m stuck on so far…the sysprep.inf file is set and ready to go, but I’m alittle confused on this part.

Any help, or links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.