i am runing this patch from svcpack.inf at the t-13 minute mark and all installs ok but it asks questions during the install which defeates thepurpose of an unatended install. i am using the normal switches /Q:A /R:N but it still asks questions, would it be better to run it from the runonceex or are there other switches that are required to make it unattended?

if you had read the unattend guide, or checked the 'hotfixes for windows xp professional' thread, or searched the forum, you would have found out:

mdac uses a special command to install... that is why yours isn't working properly

go HERE, it will explain how to install....