nailed it! Sorted out my problem with timezone, components, and screen res, all because of one line: UnattendMode=ProvideDefault So, I changed it to: UnattendMode=FullUnattended The difference is you won't get setup boxes prompting you the questions with default answers provided. I suppose I can live with that. by the way, also got MSN 5, Net Framework 1.1, WMP9, all my favourite reghacks, patched uxtheme, and powertoys silently installed automatically. Find out how at http://unattended.netfirms.com