[nLite puzzle]

Update from the weekend:

I opened a virtual Windows XP x86 in VMWare player, and brought into it an ISO of Win XP x86 SP2 that I ripped with imgburn in WIndows 7 x64. I installed nLite in the vm, and slipstreamed the cd key into the ISO files, making a new ISO. I installed vmware player in the vm, and I attepted to install the slipstreamed Win XP into a vm inside a vm, bypassing the warning it gave. It did the exact same way every other attempt went...the cd key was not there. On the other hand, everything else was unattended.

So, I copied the slipstreamed ISO to a flash drive, and took it to my Acer Aspire One netbook (running Linux Mint x86), and installed it in virtualbox. At first, it wasn't as promising as the other attempts had been, in that I had to press f8 to accept, C to create a partition, and so on. But after the files copied and the vm rebooted, everything else was unattended and the screen with the cd key did not come up at all.

So I went back to my desktop, dragged out an old Windows 2000 cd and made a slipstreamed ISO out of it. Then I burned it to a cd and installed it in a very old Dell Latitude cp/i laptop. It went the same way as the virtualbox installation had gone at first, but once it rebooted, everything was unattended.

Thanks to everyone who offered help.

[nLite puzzle]

http://www.techtalkz.com/windows-server-2003/41270-unattended-winnt-sif-being-ignored-2k3-x64-cd-install-but-works-2k3-x86-cd.html

1 - DID YOU put the sample in the CORRECT FOLDER (above applies also to XP, BTW)

2 - (I asked this before...) DID YOU BOOT TO THE CREATED CD? (see my POSTS ABOVE!)

Do NOT tell me this DOES NOT WORK!

I ALSO stated that in order to install via WINNT32.EXE you MUST use the provided parameters (I gave links to the appropriate ones) and (not really sure about this) it MUST BE DONE FROM x64-OS/WinPE (x64 WILL NOT "UPGRADE" FROM x86)!

In addition, IF you use VMWARE, then it MUST be run on an x64 OS AND it must be set up AS an x64 Machine! PERIOD!

Do I REALLY have to load my Dell up to prove it (currently unhooked and loaded with OEM MCE)?

I am not now nor have I been mixing x64 with x86. I don't know how I am giving that impression. I thought I had been fairly clear about that. Everything at home is x64. Everything at work is x86. It the x86 that has not worked today. But to be very clear:

My work pc is a Dell Optiplex 620. It is running Windows XP Pro SP3 (x86) that was upgraded via download from a Windows XP Pro SP2 (x86) cd installation. The same cd I used to make the files I tried to slip the cd key into. These are the same files I substituted the WINNT.SIF that was attached above into. The cd key is not showing up when the installation in VMWare player gets to that point.

So, to answer your questions:

1. I haven't been trying it today with x64, so no, or I don't know.

2. I have been booting to the created ISO in VMWare, so no CD actually exists.

I didn't say it wouldn't work, just that it hasn't worked for me yet.

And no, you don't have to load your Dell up and prove it. Better you would load MY Dell up and prove it.

[nLite puzzle]

Here is the BASE need winnt.sif file I use.

Please add your key and try it. (Just to rule out any thing nLite + WinXP 64-wise.

;SetupMgrTag 
[Data] 
    AutoPartition=0 
    MsDosInitiated="0" 
    UnattendedInstall="Yes" 

[Unattended] 
    UnattendMode=DefaultHide 
    OemSkipEula=Yes 
    OemPreinstall=no 
    TargetPath=\WINDOWS 

[UserData] 
    ProductKey=*****_*****_*****_*****_*****
    FullName="" 
    OrgName="" 

[Identification] 
    JoinWorkgroup=WORKGROUP 

[Networking] 
    InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[Components]
    msmsgs=off
    msnexplr=off

Dell drivers page. http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/Index

Thanks. Didn't work. Same blanks for cd key.

I put my cd key in with hyphens. Should I have used underscores, or does it matter?

[nLite puzzle]

f6flpy3286.zip <--- 32bit i.e. x86 architecture...

Attach (Not paste) your winnt.sif file, it is in the I386 dir.

Remove your serial.

The drivers ARE on the dell site...

I ripped them and attached them here for you.

Duh...I should have been able to see that they were x86 drivers; in my defense, this was the first time I had tried this. But onward...

Where did you find the Dell drivers? If I put in my service tag #, only 12 things show up, but if I look at Precision 490s in general, 83 things show up. I selected sata, not SAS, and 3 urgent downloads were there. I tried all three of them. 2 of them didn't work, and the other told me it was not for my hardware.

I will attach the sif file for the x64 try when I get home.

I just tried the one at work again, with an entirely new attempt at inputting the cd key for a fully unattended install. Same thing, the cd key does not appear. Attached is the sif.

Thanks.

WINNT.SIF

[nLite puzzle]

So, as has been said several times in this thread, and echoed in the most recent link Kel posted, if the OP slipped SP2 while in Win7, that very likely could have caused his problem. The integration will appear to have succeeded, but the product key will not be accepted when the OS is actually installed. To eliminate this possibility, the integration, and any use of nLite, needs to occur under XP, either within a VM or on an actual XP install. The OP might want to try this and see if it indeed solves all his current problems.

Cheers and Regards

I think I need to clear something up...

1. I tried this on two different PCs

2. It was two entirely different slipstream attempts, using two entirely different Windows XP CDs.

3. One (at home on a PC running Windows 7) was with Windows XP Pro x64.

4. The second was at work on a PC running Windows XP Pro SP3 x86 and done with the same XP SP2 cd that was used to install Windows on this machine.

5. Both were tested in VMWare Player.

6. Neither showed that the CD key had been entered.

fwiw, I did a real install of the XP x64 last night at home. The SP2 slipstreamed, the sata drivers did not. I think I may have put in the wrong drivers. I had downloaded f6flpy3286.zip (I saw this in a tutorial) and slipped that driver into the installation, but it did not work. I found out what they are (made sure with Belarc), but in all honesty I can't find them anywhere. They do not seem to be on the Dell website. So I was checking out the installation with sata turned off in the bios.

Fortunately, I had an image backup of my Windows 7, made with Macrium Reflect. This morning, I restored back. The little woman will just have to get used to 7.

[nLite puzzle]

Good test suggestion, Ponch.

However, the CD key issue is not strictly an nLite problem. It occurs from the command line also and is not limited to Win7. But it does seem to be limited to XPx86 SP3 sources--not XPx64 SP2.

That might be the case for my home pc, although I still don't understand why the key is not being displayed. It's not just being rejected as being invalid - it's not being displayed. However, this would not be the case at my work pc. I am running Win XP sp3 32-bit, and using the same cd (although it is sp2) to test slipstreaming the cd-key to an unattended installation (and using the same cd-key, a VLK, to do it).

It does appear that sp2 successfully integrated into the x64 installation I am trying to make. Now if the sata drivers work, I'm in business. I really don't absolutely have to have the cd-key integrated, I just saw that that was possible, and I wonder why it isn't working for me.

[nLite puzzle]

Why not simply start install process up to the partition choice ? If the partitions appear, the disk is seen correctly, the drivers are in.

As for your key, it might indeed be rejected if you ran nLite under Win7, this is a known (unpatched) bug. Does the key appear in the "Last session_u.ini" (don't post that here) ?

yes, it does.

[nLite puzzle]

3 - Why SP2? Get and use SP3

XPx64 was built from 2003 SP1 code, so no SP3 exists for it. SP2 for Win2003 is roughly equivalent to SP3 for XPx86. (They were released in 2007 and 2008, respectively.)

And you should specify whether your test was for XPx86 or XPx64 for the same reason: different code base.

The test I made here at work was on 32-bit Windows XP; however, I did the same thing on my pc at home with 64-bit xp, and got the same result - no entered cdkey. However, this was done on Windows 7.

Now, I should say that the reason I did this test with the cdkey at work is that that is the only slipstream test I can do here. I really couldn't try and slipstream SP3. Our bandwidth is so low, downloading SP3 would take a long time, and slow everyone else down, too. I only wanted to see if slipstreaming would work. What I want to do at home is to make sure that the sata drivers and the SP2 loaded into my x64 installation. Right now, I don't have much confidence that they did.

[nLite puzzle]

The Windows XP cd I used for the files is SP2 VLK.

VLK media is typically only available in the Enterprise Channel... I'm not sure if you will get help about this.

Either way, most times you need to attach your lastsession.ini to get help with nLite.

Here is the attachment. I stopped the installation at the point where it asked for the cdkey.

Last Session.ini

[nLite puzzle]

The Windows XP cd I used for the files is SP2 VLK.

VLK media is typically only available in the Enterprise Channel... I'm not sure if you will get help about this.

Either way, most times you need to attach your lastsession.ini to get help with nLite.

Here is the attachment.

[nLite puzzle]

Hello. This is a long story, but it gets you to where I am right now.

On my main pc, a Dell Precision 490, I am currently running Win 7 Ult x64. 2 1TB HDs, 6 GB ram. Since the wife likes XP much better, I acquired XP Pro x64. While trying to install it the other day, I discovered it did not have SATA drivers, and, at that point, I was not aware I could turn SATA off in the BIOS. Anyway, after looking around, I found that I could slipstream the drivers using nLite. I went through the instructions, and it completed fine. I even downloaded SP2 and slipstreamed that, and it seemed to work fine, too.

Now before I erased my Win 7, I wanted to make sure that slipstreaming worked. So today at work, I slipstreamed the cdkey into a Win XP sp2 cd that we have here.It seemed to take, so I tried to test it in VMWare player. Everything went fine until it got to the point whre a cd key would be entered. The blocks were blank. I thought I had doen something wrong, so I looked for instructions on the web, made a new iso and tried it again. Same result. Verified that the cdkey is in the WINNT.SIF file.

I am now wondering if the sata drivers and SP2 actually went into the x64 iso I made at home.

Is there a trick to this? The Windows XP cd I used for the files is SP2 VLK.

[Hello]

Hello, all. I have just joined while looking for the solution to a problem.

Thanks for all of the useful contributions. Perhaps I can add something.