Bachus

We'll see, I'm burning an image to try as I type.

(Fairly off-topci) Oh good lord...What have I done? I'm a complete moron. You know how I was saying unattended setup wouldn't work on the upgrade version of XP I've got? Guess what I forgot to put in the stinking i386 directory?

No one has any ideas? Oh well..

Exactly, so as long as you have a full version of a Windows OS newer than 95 (which won't work) then you'll be fine.

You can delete all three of those directories, actually (although apparently you won't be able to repair the installation anymore, but who does that anyway? ).

For nforce drivers, you'll need to have several entries in the OemPnPDriversPath entry. For example, the line could read: OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\nvidia\AudioDrv;Drivers\nvidia\AudioUtl;Drivers\nvidia\Ethernet and so on foreach of the directories within the extracted nforce drivers directory. You can also delete everything in the root of the driver directory as it isn't needed at this point.

I was browsing a site that had several boot screens available for download (can't remember the address, but it shouldn't matter) and found one I like. Unfortunately, the screen is included in a copy of ntoskrnl.exe and this particular version is different than the one on my computer. Wanting to avoid any potential problems that using an incorrect version of the kernal could cause, I extracted the modified images from the incorrect version and then replaced the images in my original ntoskrnl.exe with the extracted bitmaps as the site linked to in the pinned thread above instructed. However, the color pallette is still screwy and therefore the colors are all wacky. What am I doing wrong? I'm not modifying the extracted images in any way, so I figured I'd have no problems but apparently I'm wrong. What (undoubtedly silly) oversight am I making?

Well, it looks like this version of XP doesn't support unattended setups. Oh well.

The college I'm attending in the fall was nice enough to offer students copies of Windows XP Professional for ~$3. Unfortunately, the discs are Upgrade versions which require a copy of an earlier Windows version to install. Now, my first problem is getting a copy of a valid product (all of the copies of Winodows we have are part of OEM restore discs or are upgrade versions themselves). The second problem is finding out which files Setup checks for to verify that it is an eligible product to upgrade from and somehow incorporate this into my unattended disc--a task that I have no real hope of achieving, but maybe someone here will have an idea or two I can try at least.

The disc is labeld as Office XP Professional, so in theory it should behave in the same way as your copy..Of course, all theories are thrown out the window considering the proret.msi. Maybe MS maintains a different set of updates for its versions of Office it distributes through its "Campus Agreement" plan somewhere...

Alrighty, I'm back home with OfficeXP cd ready. As it turns out, I am required to enter the cd key before installing. Also, I can't seem to be able to slipstream updates into my copy of Office. It gives me the same error as when I tried to run setup with the /a switch: Creation of administrative installation images is supported only in Enterprise versions of Microsoft Office XP. Well, slight correction there. That's the error that the SP2 slipstream attempt gives, but the others spit a longer one out at me that I'm not going to type, but the gist of it is that the the updates can't be installed because a file is missing and that this update is probably for a different version of the software. For the record, I didn't have either pro.msi or proplus.msi on my disc. Instead, I'm lucky enough to have a file called PRORET.MSI. Curse you, Microsoft, and you many versions of Office... ...and I haven't even gotten to try out my unattended installation of the copy of WinXP I've got, which, for the record, is an upgrade version... That does bring up an interesting point: does anyone know what files Setup will need to determine whether I'm eligible for the upgrade? I'd like to try to include them on the disc if possible.

I've never had trouble with Nero...but I've also never burned DVDs with it, either.

I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Excellent Office guide, Aaron. It is well detailed and timed almost perfectly with my purchase of Office from the college I'll be attending beginning at the end of the month (I also picked up a copy of WindowsXP, for that matter). There's just one small problem: I can't run setup with the /a switch. I get an error telling me that creating an Administrative Installation Point is only available on Office XP Enterprise Edition (I've got Professional). Of course, I'm not home at the moment to try anything else or give much more information, but I'll be back sometime tomorrow at any rate. I can say that the Office bundle I received was three discs: the office programs themselves (I don't remember if Frontpage is included, but I don't see why that'd matter), a "media file" disc, which presumably contains junk I'll never need or use (I haven't looked on the disc yet) and a training disc, which I'd just throw away if I hadn't just paid for it. (or technically, paid for the media it is printed on--stupid MSCA agreement..). I guess I can't complain too much, I got both WinXP Pro and OfficeXP for $10.70 total as part of the MS "Campus Agreement," and all I have to do to keep them is graduate.

Actually, Aaron, that does start wscript.exe and causes the strange side effect of the cd-rom not working until you kill it. This wouldn't be a problem unless someone chose to use a second disc for more apps, which is probably why this small problem slipped by you.

If you manage that, could you post what you've done for the rest of us to look at?

;This sets the default theme to "silver" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance] "Current"="" "CustomColors"=hex:ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,\ ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,\ ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0] "Flat Menus"=dword:00000001 "Font #0"=hex:f3,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,72,00,65,00,62,00,75,00,63,00,68,00,65,00,74,00,\ 20,00,4d,00,53,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #1"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #2"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #4"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #5"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #3"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #0"=hex(b):01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #1"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #2"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #3"=hex(b):12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #4"=hex(b):19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #5"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #6"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #7"=hex(b):12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #8"=hex(b):13,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Color #0"=dword:00c8d0d4 "Color #1"=dword:00984e00 "Color #2"=dword:00e35400 "Color #3"=dword:00df967a "Color #4"=dword:00ffffff "Color #5"=dword:00ffffff "Color #6"=dword:00000000 "Color #7"=dword:00000000 "Color #8"=dword:00000000 "Color #9"=dword:00ffffff "Color #10"=dword:00c8d0d4 "Color #11"=dword:00c8d0d4 "Color #12"=dword:00808080 "Color #13"=dword:00c56a31 "Color #14"=dword:00ffffff "Color #15"=dword:00d8e9ec "Color #16"=dword:0099a8ac "Color #17"=dword:0099a8ac "Color #18"=dword:00000000 "Color #19"=dword:00f8e4d8 "Color #20"=dword:00ffffff "Color #21"=dword:00646f71 "Color #22"=dword:00e2eff1 "Color #23"=dword:00000000 "Color #24"=dword:00e1ffff "Color #25"=dword:00b5b5b5 "Color #26"=dword:00800000 "Color #27"=dword:00ff953d "Color #28"=dword:00ebb99d "Color #29"=dword:00c56a31 "Color #30"=dword:00d8e9ec "Contrast"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors] "ActiveBorder"="212 208 200" "ActiveTitle"="192 192 192" "AppWorkSpace"="128 128 128" "Background"="88 87 104" "ButtonAlternateFace"="181 181 181" "ButtonDkShadow"="113 111 100" "ButtonFace"="224 223 227" "ButtonHilight"="255 255 255" "ButtonLight"="241 239 226" "ButtonShadow"="157 157 161" "ButtonText"="0 0 0" "GradientActiveTitle"="200 200 200" "GradientInactiveTitle"="238 239 247" "GrayText"="172 168 153" "Hilight"="178 180 191" "HilightText"="0 0 0" "HotTrackingColor"="100 139 203" "InactiveBorder"="212 208 200" "InactiveTitle"="255 255 255" "InactiveTitleText"="162 161 161" "InfoText"="0 0 0" "InfoWindow"="255 255 225" "Menu"="255 255 255" "MenuText"="0 0 0" "Scrollbar"="212 208 200" "TitleText"="14 16 16" "Window"="255 255 255" "WindowFrame"="0 0 0" "WindowText"="0 0 0" "MenuHilight"="187 183 199" "MenuBar"="224 226 235" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "ScreenSaveTimeOut"="600" "ScreenSaveActive"="1" "UserPreferencesMask"=hex:9e,3e,07,80 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics] "BorderWidth"="0" "CaptionFont"=hex:f3,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,72,00,65,00,62,00,75,00,63,00,68,00,65,00,74,\ 00,20,00,4d,00,53,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "CaptionHeight"="-375" "CaptionWidth"="-270" "IconFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "IconSpacing"="-1125" "IconVerticalspacing"="-1125" "MenuFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "MenuHeight"="-285" "MenuWidth"="-270" "MessageFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "ScrollHeight"="-255" "ScrollWidth"="-255" "Shell Icon BPP"="16" "SmCaptionFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,\ 00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "SmCaptionHeight"="-255" "SmCaptionWidth"="-255" "StatusFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "AppliedDPI"=dword:00000060 "Shell Icon Size"="32" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Plus!\Themes\Apply] "Screen saver"="1" "Sound events"="1" "Mouse pointers"="1" "Desktop wallpaper"="1" "Icons"="1" "Colors"="1" "Font names and styles"="1" "Font and window sizes"="1" "Rotate theme monthly"="1" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] "ThemeActive"="1" "LoadedBefore"="1" "LastUserLangID"="1033" "DllName"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,5c,\ 00,54,00,68,00,65,00,6d,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,6c,00,75,00,6e,00,61,00,5c,00,\ 6c,00,75,00,6e,00,61,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,73,00,74,00,79,00,6c,00,65,00,73,\ 00,00,00 "ColorName"="Metallic" "SizeName"="NormalSize" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\LastTheme] "Wallpaper"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,77,00,65,00,62,00,5c,00,77,00,61,00,6c,00,6c,00,70,00,61,\ 00,70,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,42,00,6c,00,69,00,73,00,73,00,2e,00,62,00,6d,00,\ 70,00,00,00 "ThemeFile"=hex(2):00,00 "DisplayName of Modified"="Modified Theme" I still haven't figured out how to get this working during setup, but perhaps when I get some more time I'll work out a workaround..

Has anyone managed to perform a silent install of any version of Open Office?

I don't have any experience with RAID, but I don't see why not. You still have the opportunity to press F6 to install the drivers, if that's what you're asking.

Thank you. Really, thanks for everything. I don't think I've expressed my gratitude enough.

I've got a .reg file that will set it to silver for you (I'll have to work on the background later, but I think I've got those keys, too) but I can't get the changes to take effect. I can run my .reg after the reboot after the batch files run and it works fine, but during the batch installs it doesn't work. I'll post the code for you, though, and maybe one of us will figure this out. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ;This sets the default theme to "silver" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance] "Current"="" "CustomColors"=hex:ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,\ ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,\ ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00,ff,ff,ff,00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0] "Flat Menus"=dword:00000001 "Font #0"=hex:f3,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,72,00,65,00,62,00,75,00,63,00,68,00,65,00,74,00,\ 20,00,4d,00,53,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #1"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #2"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #4"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #5"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Font #3"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #0"=hex(b):01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #1"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #2"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #3"=hex(b):12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #4"=hex(b):19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #5"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #6"=hex(b):11,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #7"=hex(b):12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Size #8"=hex(b):13,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "Color #0"=dword:00c8d0d4 "Color #1"=dword:00984e00 "Color #2"=dword:00e35400 "Color #3"=dword:00df967a "Color #4"=dword:00ffffff "Color #5"=dword:00ffffff "Color #6"=dword:00000000 "Color #7"=dword:00000000 "Color #8"=dword:00000000 "Color #9"=dword:00ffffff "Color #10"=dword:00c8d0d4 "Color #11"=dword:00c8d0d4 "Color #12"=dword:00808080 "Color #13"=dword:00c56a31 "Color #14"=dword:00ffffff "Color #15"=dword:00d8e9ec "Color #16"=dword:0099a8ac "Color #17"=dword:0099a8ac "Color #18"=dword:00000000 "Color #19"=dword:00f8e4d8 "Color #20"=dword:00ffffff "Color #21"=dword:00646f71 "Color #22"=dword:00e2eff1 "Color #23"=dword:00000000 "Color #24"=dword:00e1ffff "Color #25"=dword:00b5b5b5 "Color #26"=dword:00800000 "Color #27"=dword:00ff953d "Color #28"=dword:00ebb99d "Color #29"=dword:00c56a31 "Color #30"=dword:00d8e9ec "Contrast"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors] "ActiveBorder"="212 208 200" "ActiveTitle"="192 192 192" "AppWorkSpace"="128 128 128" "Background"="88 87 104" "ButtonAlternateFace"="181 181 181" "ButtonDkShadow"="113 111 100" "ButtonFace"="224 223 227" "ButtonHilight"="255 255 255" "ButtonLight"="241 239 226" "ButtonShadow"="157 157 161" "ButtonText"="0 0 0" "GradientActiveTitle"="200 200 200" "GradientInactiveTitle"="238 239 247" "GrayText"="172 168 153" "Hilight"="178 180 191" "HilightText"="0 0 0" "HotTrackingColor"="100 139 203" "InactiveBorder"="212 208 200" "InactiveTitle"="255 255 255" "InactiveTitleText"="162 161 161" "InfoText"="0 0 0" "InfoWindow"="255 255 225" "Menu"="255 255 255" "MenuText"="0 0 0" "Scrollbar"="212 208 200" "TitleText"="14 16 16" "Window"="255 255 255" "WindowFrame"="0 0 0" "WindowText"="0 0 0" "MenuHilight"="187 183 199" "MenuBar"="224 226 235" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "ScreenSaveTimeOut"="600" "ScreenSaveActive"="1" "UserPreferencesMask"=hex:9e,3e,07,80 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics] "BorderWidth"="0" "CaptionFont"=hex:f3,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,72,00,65,00,62,00,75,00,63,00,68,00,65,00,74,\ 00,20,00,4d,00,53,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "CaptionHeight"="-375" "CaptionWidth"="-270" "IconFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "IconSpacing"="-1125" "IconVerticalspacing"="-1125" "MenuFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "MenuHeight"="-285" "MenuWidth"="-270" "MessageFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "ScrollHeight"="-255" "ScrollWidth"="-255" "Shell Icon BPP"="16" "SmCaptionFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,\ 00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "SmCaptionHeight"="-255" "SmCaptionWidth"="-255" "StatusFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "AppliedDPI"=dword:00000060 "Shell Icon Size"="32" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Plus!\Themes\Apply] "Screen saver"="1" "Sound events"="1" "Mouse pointers"="1" "Desktop wallpaper"="1" "Icons"="1" "Colors"="1" "Font names and styles"="1" "Font and window sizes"="1" "Rotate theme monthly"="1" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] "ThemeActive"="1" "LoadedBefore"="1" "LastUserLangID"="1033" "DllName"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,5c,\ 00,54,00,68,00,65,00,6d,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,6c,00,75,00,6e,00,61,00,5c,00,\ 6c,00,75,00,6e,00,61,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,73,00,74,00,79,00,6c,00,65,00,73,\ 00,00,00 "ColorName"="Metallic" "SizeName"="NormalSize" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\LastTheme] "Wallpaper"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,77,00,65,00,62,00,5c,00,77,00,61,00,6c,00,6c,00,70,00,61,\ 00,70,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,42,00,6c,00,69,00,73,00,73,00,2e,00,62,00,6d,00,\ 70,00,00,00 "ThemeFile"=hex(2):00,00 "DisplayName of Modified"="Modified Theme" And the entries for desktop wallpaper (although I really haven't tested this much) [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Desktop\General] "BackupWallpaper"="path to background" "Wallpaper"="path to background" I don't know of what use that is to you, though, since you want a plain background.

I still haven't figured out why Setup isn't setting my refresh rate and color depth like it should, among other things. i've tracked the changes made in the registry and have created a .reg file for them (and other things, such as setting Litestep as shell, customizing my folder options, and even setting the silver theme by default. The problem is that Windows seems to ignore half of these things. For example, it still refuses to set the refreshrate and color depth, it won't set my folder options or set the silver theme, but it does setup Litestep and set up the layout of my toolbars how I like. At any rate, if I run the .reg file now and reboot, all of a sudden it will accept these registry entries and everything will be fine. I'm not even going to bother trying to figure out what's going on there, but I do have an alternate idea. Would it be possible to, during the batch install, put a registry entry into the RunOnce key that, once psshutdown has rebooted the computer, will run another batch file that will run my .reg file? It should be possible, but I have no clue how to do it. Thanks alot, guys, if you can help me.

Interesting. I'm having similar problem, but oddly enough my resolution is set to 1024x768 although neither of the two other settings are used. I'm using an ATI Radeon 9500, however.

I'm still having a couple problems (of course ) that I can't quite figure out. Most importantly, my applications.cmd batch stops prematurely. I don't know what I've done, but hopefully someone can enlighten me: CLS @echo off ECHO. ECHO Installing ATI Control Panel for Catalyst 3.6 ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Applications\ATI_CP_3_6\Setup.exe -s -f1"%systemdrive%\install\Applications\ATI_CP_3_6\setup.iss" ECHO. ECHO Installing Nero Burning ROM ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Applications\Nero\Nero551042.exe /silent /noreboot ECHO. ECHO Registering Nero Burning ROM... REGEDIT /S %systemdrive%\install\Applications\Nero\register.reg ECHO Installing .NET Framework v1.1 ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\NetFramework\netfx.msi /QB ECHO. ECHO Installing ZoneAlarm Free 3.7.202 ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Applications\ZoneAlarm\zasetup_37_202.exe /s ECHO. ECHO Installing Winfast TV Tuner Apps ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Applications\ALL_TVAP_30130\Setup.exe -s -f1"%systemdrive%\install\Applications\ALL_TVAP_30130\setup.iss" ECHO. ECHO Installing WinRAR 3.20 ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Applications\WinRAR\wrar320.exe /s ECHO. ECHO Installing DivX 5.0.5 ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Applications\DivX\DivX505Bundle.exe /s ECHO. ECHO Installing TweakUI 2.10 Powertoy COPY "%systemdrive%\install\PowerToys\TweakUI.exe" "%systemroot%\System32\" COPY "%systemdrive%\install\PowerToys\TweakUI 2.10 Powertoy.lnk" "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\" ECHO. ECHO Installing Command Prompt Here Powertoy ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\install\PowerToys\CmdHerePowertoySetup.exe /s /v/qn ECHO. ECHO Deleting useless ASP.NET User Account created by .NET Framework 1.1... start /wait DELUSER /Q aspnet ECHO. ECHO Restarting the PC in 2 minutes... psshutdown.exe -r -t 60 -f -m "Windows XP will now restart in 1 minute, this will give enough time for the shortcuts to update and for the shell to fully load before its ready to restart!" ECHO. ECHO Deleting Temp Installation Files... RD /S /Q %systemdrive%\install RD /S /Q %systemdrive%\Drivers ECHO. EXIT The batch file stopped just before it installed WinRAR, for the record. Second, I found all the registry keys that need to be changed to enable the "silver" theme and have even done so through a .reg file, but I can't get it working in my regtweaks.reg file. I've probably got something set wrong in the winnt.sif file that I haven't noticed which is causing the batch files to be run under the administrator account (although I could've sworn I had everything set right to avoid this). I guess I might as well post that, too. ;SetupMgrTag [Data] AutoPartition=0 MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="Yes" [Unattended] UnattendMode=FullUnattended OemSkipEula=Yes Repartition=No OemPreinstall=Yes TargetPath=\WINDOWS AutoActivate=Yes WaitForReboot=No UnattendSwitch=no OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\Catalyst3_6KXP_INF;Drivers\Nforce2\AudioDrv;drivers\Nforce2\AudioUtl;drivers\Nforce2\Ethernet;drivers\Nforce2\GART;drivers\Nforce2\MemCtl;drivers\Nforce2\SMBus;drivers\Nforce2\USB;drivers\TV_Tuner" DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=c665c788563ce4414549de11f7e8ccc2064c23bfcf039474f84ac63d4402d4db EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes OEMSkipRegional=1 TimeZone=40 OemSkipWelcome=1 [UserData] ProductKey=removed FullName="Richard Bach" OrgName="" ComputerName=SHODAN [Display] BitsPerPel=32 Xresolution=1024 YResolution=768 Vrefresh=85 [RegionalSettings] LanguageGroup=1 Language=00000409 [Shell] DefaultStartPanelOff = Yes [Identification] JoinWorkgroup=HOME [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=Yes [Components] AccessOpt = Off AutoUpdate = Off dialer = off iis_webadmin = off media_clips = off OEAccess = off Paint = off rec = off templates = off msmsgs=off msnexplr=off freecell=off hearts=off minesweeper=off pinball=off solitaire=off spider=off zonegames=off [GuiRunOnce] %systemdrive%\install\main.cmd %systemdrive%\install\hotfixes.cmd %systemdrive%\install\applications.cmd Finally, that color depth and refresh rate problem still lingers. I don't see what the problem could be: I'm using the very same settings I specified in the .sif file right now, so it can't be an issue of the monitor or video card not supporting them and, in fact, my card is a Radeon 9500 and seeing as others have installed the catalyst drivers successfully I assume they haven't had trouble or they would've mentioned it.

I've found at least a way to at least partially set the Silver theme as default. Just use this key in a reg file: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] "ColorName"="Metallic" However, I've noticed that this doesn't change the text in the program title bar from white to black. There are probably other things that arne't done, also, but for the time being its a start. Second, I've got a tiny problem with the IE and OE cumulative updates (among a few other things). They run in the batch file with no complaints, but Windows Update does not detect them as being installed and attempting to reinstall them from the files I've downloaded results in an error message about the updates requiring IE or OE 6. I have similar problems with a WMP9 update, the javascript 5.6 update, and "Q323255_WXP_SP2_x86_ENU" but these files will install. Finally, I'm having a terrible time finding a file to download for Q817287 ("Windows Update 643 Error and the Catalog Database "). The link to the coroprate Windows Update site in the guide seems to point to the standard site. Once again, there's probably something really obvious I'm missing, but oh well.