XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

Unattended installation of Windows XP is a hands-free method of installing Windows XP and convenient for system administrators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), value-added resellers (VARs), users who install Windows XP on many computers or who frequently install Windows XP on the same computer.
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It is step by step Setup with all of the information that the End User is prompted to provide during a typical Windows setup in a scripted file called the answer file. The answer file basically fills in the text portion of the setup and can even setup options.
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Answer Files An unattended answer file is simply a text formatted file and its role is to provide the setup process with the data it needs to complete the installation of Windows XP Professional without having a user type in the information. An answer file is made up of a number of headings, and under each heading are pairs of parameters and their assigned values.
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REQUIREMENTS 1. At least one computer - One that has a Windows XP Operating System already in place. 2. Windows XP CD - To retrieve the tools you are going to need. 3. One formatted floppy disk or other Storage media - This is where we will put the finished answer file.
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Put in Windows XP CD. If autorun is enabled it should pop up the Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP. In this window you should see a set of options. Here you want to select Perform additional tasks. If autorun is disabled, you can simply open My Computer. Then you will need to right click on the drive you have your Windows XP CD in and in the drop down menu click on Explore. This will allow you to view the contents of the CD.
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XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

In the next set of options you want select Browse this CD. You should now see the contents of the CD. Now open the Support folder and then the Tools folder.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

make a new folder on your desktop and extract the contents of A compressed file called DEPLOY.CAB to that folder. We want setupmgr.exe.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

Welcome to the Windows Setup Manager This Wizard is going to take us through the options of creating the answer file. Just click next here.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

Create or Modify the Answer File Since this is first answer file, select Create a new answer file and click next. Once you have created an answer file successfully, you can edit it with the Setup Manager by selecting Modify an existing answer file and providing a path to it.
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Types of answer files

Windows Unattended Installation - It uses setup scripts to answer installation questions and to automate the Setup process. This simplifies the installation of the operating system. Sysprep Install (System Preparation Tool) - Disk imaging, which is also known as cloning. This is a timesaving way to install Windows XP on multiple computers that use identical or similar hardware configurations. Remote Installation Services (RIS) - Enables you to perform a clean installation of Windows XP Professional on multiple computers throughout a network. You can simultaneously deploy the operating system on multiple clients from one or more remote locations.
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XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

Choose the Windows Unattended Installation option

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Windows Platform
Version of Windows XP are you going to install (For Example, Windows XP Professional).

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User Interaction during Windows Setup: Fully automated - This option will not prompt you for any information. Provide defaults - This option will fill in the info you supply but you will be able to change it if you choose to. Hide Pages - This option does pretty much the same thing as the fully automated with the exception of letting you see the Setup Wizard. Read only - This option does pretty much the same thing as the Provide defaults option with the exception that you would not be able to change any of the settings. GUI Attended - This option only allows the text portion of the Setup to be automated.
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Fully automated option

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Distribution Folder
Select No because we will be installing from a CD. (This has different further Options). If you wanted to install from a network share, you would choose to create a distribution folder. The distribution folder option gives you the flexibility to add other files as well, such as drivers not found on the Windows XP CD.
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License Agreement
We obviously can not forget about the License Agreement. We have to check this now because we will not be seeing it during the install.

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Customize Software
Now its time to input your personal information.

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Display Settings
Everyone is different when choosing display settings (which most commonly used). Select Windows Default if not sure.

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Time Zone
In which Time Zone you are living.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

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Product Key
Put Product Key here. Saving it to the answer file will automatically put it in for you.

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Computer Names
If you plan to use your name as a user on this computer it cant be the same as the name here. You can also have the setup automatically generate the name by ticking the box at the bottom. If you plan to use the exact same setup on multiple computers then you would add their names here as well. If youre willing to accept computer names that follow no pattern, you can allow Setup to create each computers name on the fly by appending seemingly random letters and numbers to the first few letters of your organizations name.
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When you enter multiple names during the setup process, Setup Manager automatically generates the Uniqueness Database File (UDF) that is required to add those unique names to each computer during setup. If the administrator imports names from a text file, Setup Manager converts each name to a Uniqueness Database File. The administrator can also set an option to generate unique computer names.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

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Administrator Password
If you dont want someone to look at your answer file to figure out what it is tic the Encrypt password box. You can also specify the number of times it allows the computer to auto logon as the Administrator. I choose 1 because there are certain settings I change that can only be done by being logged on as Administrator. A user with administrative rights is not the same. *Note - Automatic Logon does not work if the local administrator password is encrypted in the answer file.
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Networking Components
By default the Setup Manager includes the Microsoft Networks Client, File and Printer Sharing, and TCP/IP. If you rather set this up later, leave it at the typical settings.

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TCP/IP Settings
To configure TCP/IP properties in answer file, you must create a unique answer file for each computer you are setting up on your network.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

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Workgroups and Domains

Add the name of the workgroup or server domain your computer is going to be on if any.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

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Dial-Up Settings
To set up dialing options, do so here.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

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Regional Settings
By default this is set to English (United States).

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Language Support
If you need Language support, do so here and click next.

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Browser and Shell Settings

There are three choices, will use Default Internet Explorer settings is the only one we can use because the other two require a distribution folder to be made. We chose to install from the CD instead.

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Installation Folder

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Install Printers

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Run Once
The Run Once section set up the command to add the printer.

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Additional Commands
This is an advanced feature. It allows you to have setup install things that you would normally want to install right after Windows XP. If you desire to venture into it and what it can do for you, Creating a Combination Installation is an example of one way to use this. This would require you to choose different options in the setup manager than we did here. For this article we are going to leave it blank. Now click Finish.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

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Save the Answer File

Now put in your formatted floppy disk into your A drive. Where it says Location and file name, type in A:\winnt.sif. It should look just like the image below. Since we are using the CD Boot method, we must name the answer file winnt.sif. Click OK.

XP Unattended Installation by MAZHAR IQBAL BUTT.

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Setup Manager Complete

You have now created your first answer file. Here it is telling you that it has created two files for you. winnt.sif - This is the answer file winnt.bat - You will also need this batch file on the floppy. It tells the answer file where to find the files needed for Windows Setup.

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Execution of Unattended Setup Now Right click on your winnt.bat file and in the menu click edit. This is a batch file. A batch file is a file containing instructions that are executed one after the other. Notice that in the batch file it tells you that it may need to be modified. The batch file here says: 1. The answer file is winnt.sif 2. Setup files are located on E:\ (My CD-ROM Drive) in the I386 folder. 3. Tells Setup to begin using winnt32 with a script to tell it to use the unattended method. If you use this answer file on another computer you may have to change the drive letter to whatever the CD-ROM is set at.
E:\i386\winnt32 /s:%SetupFiles% /unattend:%AnswerFile%
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FAST TRACK SOLUTIONS

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Clean Installation of Windows XP Professional Windows XP will work best with at least a 300 MHz Pentium II processor and 128MB of RAM to operate, as well as 1.5GB of available space. A clean installation of Windows XP Professional will take between 60 and 90 minutes, depending on the hardware.
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Performing an Upgrade to Windows XP Professional The following operating systems are supported for an upgrade installation:Windows 98,Windows NT 4.0,Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows XP Home Edition.Windows 3.x,Windows 95,Windows NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, and Windows for Workstations are not supported for an update, so a clean install will be required for these systems. Use the Dynamic Update feature during the setup process for update setup files from Microsofts Web site.
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Network Installation of Windows XP Professional The network installation of Windows XP Professional works just like the CD installation, and the installation steps will parallel those of the clean or upgrade installation. The simplest way to prepare for a network installation of Windows XP Professional is to create a network share and copy the i386 folder from the Windows XP Professional CD to the share.
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Automating the Windows XP Professional Setup The Winnt.exe and Winnt32.exe programs are used to run setup from DOS and Windows command prompts, respectively. A network distribution point is required for the automated setup.The distribution point is a network share that includes the contents of the /i386 folder, as well as a number of optional subfolders that can contain additional files needed for the setup process.
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An unattended answer file is simply a formatted text file to provide the setup process with the data it needs to complete the installation of Windows XP Professional without having a user type in the information. The Sysprep tool prepares a computer disk to be imaged and copied to another disk. It is responsible for assigning a new SID to the target computer once the new image has been applied. Use a Sysprep answer file, called Sysprep.inf, to provide answers to the questions posed by the mini-setup after deploying a Sysprep image.
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