-Getting H'er Done-

Okay, so here we go....

*This install follows the specs that Chris asked for on his Final Semester Project. I'm just doing this so that I can get my thought out on 'paper' because right now, they are really jumbled.*
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Unattended Install of Windows XP Professional w/SP2 for Virtual PC:

1. To start, we're going to put the original Windows XP CD .iso into the virtual drive. This is going to load and bring you up a "Welcome Screen" that askes you a bunch of questions. Feel free to just hit exit on the bottom left hand corner. We won't be using this.

2. Next, you're going to open you C drive and you're going to make a new folder. I called mine XPCD, so I'd remember what it was.

3. Now, you're going to go back to 'My Computer' and look for your D drive. This should still have your CD in it. If not, then just re-mount it.

4. Here is the important part, you're going to right click on the icon that looks like a box with a CD on the side, and you're going to right click it and then click Explore.

*IMPORTANT* Be sure to right click it and click Explore. Double clicking the icon will cause it to open, asking you if you want to Upgrade or install Windows over top of the current verion. If this happens, just click the 'X' on the top of the window and quit.

5. Now that you can see the contents of the CD, you're going to select them all, either by highlighting them with your mouse, or by selecting Crtl + A.

6. Next, you're going to copy them over to the new folder you made in your C drive. It'll take a few minutes, so take a breather because you're gonna need it.

7. Now that that's all done copying over, you're going to find the executable setupmgr.exe. To do this, you're going to go into the copy of the XP you just finished, and you're going to open the folder. Now inside the folder, the one I named XPCD, you're going to locate the SUPPORT file folder and open it.

8. Inside this folder, there is another folder, TOOLS. Open that.

9. Within this folder, there is a .CAB file called DEPLOY.CAB. Its icon will look like one for a zipped file. Double click that to open it.

10. Inside this .CAB file, you will see the setupmgr.exe. Right click the icon, and copy it. Paste it to the desk top.

11. Next, you're going to close all the windows you have opened, and you're going to double click on the setupmgr.exe that you just pasted to your desktop. One of those wonderful Wizards are going to pop up, so just answer to its prompts with the following information:
* The first screen that comes up is going to be the screen that tell you what this wonderful wizard does. If this is your first time, you may want to read it. if not, then just click the next button.
* Next question it's going to ask you is what you'd like to do, we're going to choose is "Create New".
* Next question it's going to ask is what type of install you are looking to preform. We're going to choose "Unattened Install".
* Next, it's going to ask you for what Operating System you want to create this install for, so we're going to select Windows XP Professional.
* Next, it's going to come up with some more options on the type of interation you want to have with the computer. We're going to use "Fully Automated"
* Next question, it's going to ask you how you want this to be preformed. We're going to tell it to "Set up from CD".
* Lastly, you're going to have to agree to the EULA. Just check the little box on the left and click 'Next'.

12. Now that that's all chosen, you're going to have to go through and input the all the information that is required, when prompted:
* First, it's going to ask for your name. Use you're full (real) name. I used mine, Rebecca Bullock.
* Next, it's going to ask you for your Organization. For reasons of this project, I put in NSCC, but it could be anything that relates to what you're doing. After that's selected, click 'Next'
* Next, it's going to ask you about colours and the screen. For these settings, set Colours: Use Windows Default, Screen Area: 1024 x768 and Refresh frequency: 85hz. Click 'Next'.
* Change your time zone to one that is relevant to you. Mine is set to Time Zone: (GMT -4:00) Atlantic Time (Canada). Click 'Next'.
* It's now going to ask you for a valid product key. Enter that and then click 'Next'.
* The next thing is the computer's name. For the sake of this project, I used my last name, Bullock. Click 'Next'
* The next requirement is the Administrator password. Make sure it's something that you'll remember. Along with this password, you're going to ask it to encrypt it for you. To do this, check off the little box, and keep going. Doing this will encrypt you password in your answer file. Click 'Next'
* Next setting is the Network components. Just add the 'typical' settings (default) and continue on by clicking 'Next'.
* Next is the Workgroup and Domain settings. I did this a little differently then most of the people I talked to for this project. I didn't add the domain for the install, but after the fact. So, for argument's sake, we're going to do it that way so as not to confuse anyone, including myself. So, when is prompt comes up, select the 'Workgroup' option, and enter a workgroup if it applies to you. For this project, we were asked to use OSYSFP.
* For this step, we're going to skip some of the prompts and go straight to Regional Settings. I used the 'Customize' Option and clicked on the 'Custom' button on the right hand side of the window. I chose English (Canada) for all 3 prompts.
* Lastly for this Wizard are the Languages. For that, I chose Western Europe and the United States option.
* So that concludes the Wizard, so just click the finish button. This will open a text file called Unattended.txt. This is your answer file.

13. This is the fun part now of the entire pre-installation process. We're going to go through the answer file to add and remove components that are speculated in the project sheet. Before we can do this though, we need a resource that has all the options that can be put into the answer key. This is when the ref.chm file comes in handy. This file is found in the same location as the setupmgr.exe was, SUPPORT/TOOLS/DEPLOY.CAB/ref.chm.

14. So here we go....
* In [Data] : AutoPartition=1, MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="Yes"
* In [Unattended]: UnattendMode=FullUnattended, OemSkipEula=Yes, OemPreinstall=No,
TargetPath=\WINDOWS, Repartition=Yes, WaitForReboot=No, KeyboardLayout=Us, AutoActivate=Yes, UnattendSwitch=Yes, DUDisable=No
* In [GuiUnatteneded]: AdminPassword=aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404eea1037b20cfffdb32cca461d7898dea8d, EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes, OEMSkipRegional=1, TimeZone=50, OemSkipWelcome=1
* In [UserData]: ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX, FullName="Rebecca Bullock", OrgName="NSCC", ComputerName=Bullock
* In [Display]: Xresolution=1024, YResolution=768, Vrefresh=85
* In [TapiLocation]: CountryCode=107
* In [RegionalSetting]: LanguageGroup=1, SystemLocale=00001009, UserLocale=00001009, InputLocale=1009:00000409
* In [Identification]: JoinWorkgroup=OSYSFP
* In [Networking]: InstallDefaultComponents=Yes
* In [NetAdapters]: Adapter1=params.Adapter1
* In [params.Adapter1]: INFID=*
* In [NetClients]: MS_MSClient=params.MS_MSClient
* In [NetServices]: MS_SERVER=params.MS_SERVER
* In [NetProtocols]: MS_TCPIP=params.MS_TCPIP
* In [params.MS_TCPIP]: DNS=Yes, UseDomainNameDevolution=No, EnableLMHosts=Yes, AdapterSections=params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1
* In [params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1]: SpecificTo=Adapter1, DHCP=Yes, WINS=No, NetBIOSOptions=0
* In [Components]: Freecell = Off, Hearts = Off, Minesweeper = Off, Msnexplr = Off, Pinball = Off, Solitaire = Off, Spider = Off, Zonegames = Off, Iis_common = On
* In [StartupOptions]: ScreenResolutionCheck = 0

*IMPORTANT* Some of the options that are listed here may already be defaults when you first open the answer file. If not, then just add them in.

15. So, now that that is completed, you are going to check it over and then you are going to save it as Winnt.sif file. To do this, go to 'File' and 'Save As' , change the name and suffix from Unattended.txt to Winnt.sif and make sure that before you save it, you chose the option of 'All Files' underneath where you write the file name is.

*IMPORTANT* If you don't chose the 'All Files' choice, the file will save as Winnt.sif.txt and won't be useable.

16. Now here is the important part that makes the regular install CD a super, unattended install CD. You're going to take the file that you just created (Winnt.sif), and copy and paste it into the i386 file folder in the copy of the CD that you made, XPCD.

17. Now, you are going to take this wonderful mess of folders and re-compile it into an .iso file. We're going to use nLite for this.

18. With nLite, you're going to start it up and basically follow the prompts.
* You're going to start by chosing the language you want to work with. English is the default, so just click 'Next'.
* Now, you're going to browse for your folder, XPCD and select it. Click 'Next' and let it check it over then click 'Next'.
* Skip over the next part by clicking 'Next'.
* Next, the task selection. You're simply going to chose 'Bootable CD' and click 'Next'.
* Now you're going to name your CD and click 'Create ISO'. Then there is a bit of a wait.
* Once it's finished creating the .iso file, save it to an external location and click finish.

19. Now that that's all done, it's time to mount it. So, we are going to start off by creating a new virtual PC (this can be found on my older post on how to install xubuntu on Virtual PC).

20. So once the new version of Virtual PC is created, you're going to mount your new boot disk, and voilà! The installation will start and complete on its own.
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Hopefully that comes into use for someone :) Good Luck!

à bientot!