fred2k3

I am delighted to say I have finally got the unattended install working. I was shocked to discover the reason for the deployment failing was that the deployment server and client machines BIOS date & times were different! Why this should cause it to fail is beyond me, but it's all working now so that's good.

About a month ago I set out to deploy an XP embedded wim file, which I already have prepared, over a network. After reading many articles Windows Deployment Services seemed like a good option. Since then I have met setbacks and obstacles at virtually every turn and I'm starting to wonder if my approach is wrong. • Firstly, I learn I can't use the actual image I want to deploy without using another image as a "boot image" • WDS seems only to accept Vista or Win7 boot.wim files which you can grab from the O/S disc • The Win7 boot image file didn't work with my client machine because it was missing a NIC driver • Managed to inject the NIC driver into the boot image using DISM • Now I can finally PXE boot to the boot image file, but there are 3 or 4 screens requiring manual input to pick my install image • Trying to create an answer file using SIM, but all the main components are missing so I can't answer the options I need - presumably because I'm interrogating a boot image? • I've just learned that I can't even use WDS to link an answer file to a customised boot image! Weeks of effort for no useful result so far - Is it just me or is this ridiculously complicated? EDIT: Apologies if this has just come across as a big rant - it wasn't supposed to. I have logged this with Microsoft Tech Support so will hopefully be able to come back with the aswer soon.

Thanks for the advice Tripedacu. So basically I can't automate the boot image installation in WDS if it's modified in any way? I have injected a NIC driver which I need otherwise it can't progress.

Hi Jessica, Thanks for your reply. As stated in the original post, I have tried right clicking on the boot image in WDS and going to properties - there is no option available to attach an answer file. When I try the same thing with Install images I can see the tick box, so I know where the option should be - it's just not there for the Boot image. Is this because you can only create answer files for install images, or is there something wrong with my wim file?

Hello, I am trying to create an unattended install using WDS 2003. This is where I'm up to: I have a modified Win 7 boot image (with NIC drivers injected) which loads through WDS 2003 over a PXE boot and allows me to go on to select my install image (Win XP embedded). I understand that to make this process unattended I need to create an answer file using SIM tool from AIK. I've read various articles on how to do this and have managed to validate and save an xml answer file but I can't get it working. I only need to bypass the following 4 screens to make it unattended: 1. Language/Locale setup 2. Logon credentials (for the Deployment Server) 3. Selecting the Install Image 4. Partition settings Firstly, are the follows steps correct: - I'm loading my modified Win7 boot image (Selecting the Setup image rather than the PE image) into SIM to create the answer file. - I'm adding my component settings (language/locale) to the OOBE pass. Second of all, I'm not sure my answer file is linking to the boot image - In WDS 2003 I have right-clicked on the server icon, gone to properties, gone to the Client tab, and located my answer file against x86. But how does it know to link this a particular image? I keep seeing forum posts about right clicking on the boot image in WDS and selecting the answer file but there is no option to do this. There is against the install images, but not boot. Any advice would be a great help here! Thanks. Sorry to keeping bombard with questions, but this may provide a clue. When I add my boot image to SIM it asks me to pick the image from within the image file! My options are Windows PE x86 and Windows Setup x86. They appear to contain the same components and packages, and they have the same restrictions when you try and add a component to a particular pass. So which one am I supposed to use?

Thank you for your reply Tripredacus. Previous to this I did have networking issues on the boot image - that was resolved by injecting a NIC driver into the boot image (hence my description "modified boot image") although I suppose all that information was superfluous to the current problem. I am going to restart the process as I'm at a dead end and wondering if something got corrupted when I started messing with the modified boot image in SIM, looking at answer files. I will heed your advice on creating a specific user for the deployment service though. EDIT: Yes, starting again did the trick. File obviously didn't like being opened in SIM.

Hello, I'm trying to create an unattended install using WDS 2003. My boot image is a modified win7 boot image, and the install image is XP Embedded. When I tested in attended mode last week I successfully got the install image onto the client. Now when I try it I keep getting the message "The specified username or password is incorrect" and infuriatingly I can't remember what I tried last week when it did work although I'm sure it was just domain\user In the logon box (in the Win7 boot image) is says on the title bar "Deployserv01.Deployserv.local" If I log into the actual Deployment server (i.e. the sever 2003 machine) the domain name is displayed simply as "deployserv" I have tried just about every combination of: Deployserv\Administrator Deployserv01\Administrator Deployserv.local\Administrator Deployserv01.Deployserv.local\Administrator etc. ...in upper and lower case that I can think of and they all get rejected. The network must be working otherwise it wouldn't retrieve the boot image. I've rebooted the server and the client and it keeps happening. I know I've got the password correct because I log into the server with the same one. Any help would be appreciated.

Tripredacus - Yes I'm using AIK for Win7 on Server2003R2. This has been solved now - it was because I was selecting index 1 when mounting the image to inject drivers, and this may have been corrupting the image. Selecting index 2 (the setup index) was the correct method. Thanks again for the help.

Many thanks for your reply Jessica, I couldn't find any articles when I search - must refine my Google skills! I will give MDT a try and let you know how I get on.

Hello, I'm attempting to setup a customised boot image in Windows Deployment Services 2003 to act as a Windows PE boot, but the image file keeps disappearing when I refresh WDS. This only occurs with the custom boot image - if I add a fresh boot.wim (from a Windows 7 disc) it doesn't do its vanishing trick. The customisation I've done involves adding a network driver to an offline image using DISM from Win AIK: Here is the Procedure When I then add the boot image in WDS it says it has been added successfully, but if I refresh the service it disappears without a trace.