AGates

Thank you everyone who responded. FireGeier: Sysprep seems to nuke/default all of the passwords on the system including saved network info. I knew that the setting I had would only set the Administer's password, but what I didn't know is that the Password setting was required for AutoLogon. Thank you very much for your help!

Oops. No, its not like that in the original answer file. I edited the passwords out.

Alright, so I've done the following: Installed Vista (VL Business if it makes a difference) Installed all of the extra software and goodies that I want Syspreped the image iwth /generalize and /oobe Captured a WIM and placed it on the network Created an Unattend.xml file with SIM against this WIM that I just pulled Here is what I want to do: Apply this WIM to a target computer Boot the computer and have OOBE answered by the Unattend.xml file I created earlier Heres the problem: When the machine boots it begins to process the Unattend.xml file. When it gets to the oobeSystem pass it hoses. The machine is renamed in the specialize path without a hitch. This is the message that I get: Here is the Unattend.xml File that I'm using: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend"> <settings pass="oobeSystem"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale> <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale> <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage> <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale> </component> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <OOBE> <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage> <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation> <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC> </OOBE> <TimeZone>Central Standard Time</TimeZone> <RegisteredOrganization>Company X</RegisteredOrganization> <UserAccounts> <AdministratorPassword> <Value>password</Value> <PlainText>true</PlainText> </AdministratorPassword> <LocalAccounts> <LocalAccount wcm:action="add"> <Password> <Value>password</Value> <PlainText>true</PlainText> </Password> <Description>Added user account for testing.</Description> <DisplayName>User</DisplayName> <Group>Users</Group> <Name>User</Name> </LocalAccount> </LocalAccounts> </UserAccounts> <AutoLogon> <Username>Administrator</Username> <Enabled>true</Enabled> <LogonCount>1</LogonCount> </AutoLogon> <RegisteredOwner>Owner X</RegisteredOwner> </component> </settings> <settings pass="specialize"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <ComputerName>MStudioTest</ComputerName> </component> </settings> <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim://agates/x86/base/vista_business_x86.wim#Windows Vista VL Business Base" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" /> </unattend> I really hope that this isn't something thats blatently obvious. If someone could help me wipe the look off of my face I would certainly appreciate it.

Thanks for the responses. I'll start in on this as soon as I get a chance and let you know how it went. Thanks again.

How do you get a machine to reboot to Windows PE 2.0 in a RAMDisk from the HDD? I've found a few sets of instructions on how to do it for Windows PE 2005, but obviously this won't work for the newest version. If this is possible: Will this have to be done differently if the current OS is 2000/XP and Vista? The purpose is to boot to Windows PE in a RAM Disk to image the machine. Can I use an Autounattend.xml file that I created with Windows SIM and have Windows PE use that to locate and install the WIM? If we get our Volume License server up and running and I setup a machine with an OS that supports it is there any reason that I should Sysprep it before I pull seeing how WIMs are hardware independent? Its a loaded topic I know. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The main issue is getting Windows PE to boot into a RAM Disk from the HDD. The other questions are more fluffish. Thanks!