jerster

If you want the XP install process to automatically partition/format your drive, you need to edit winnt.sif [unattended] Repartition=Yes (This repartitions the drive and formats it with NTFS) [Data] AutoPartition=1 (This tells setup to install Windows on whatever free partition is available) Here's a reference

Wow that's a lot of partitions. For your needs, I think that imaging would be your best bet. If you have a volume license for XP, I would just set up one pc the way you want it, and then use Ghost or Acronis to create an image of it and then reimage all the other pcs. If the pcs aren't the same model numbers (same hardware), then just use sysprep before creating the image. You can also incorporate drivers (I've used Bashrat's Driverpacks) if needed along the way. If you need to go the sysprep route do a search of the forum for combinations of the terms "universal" "sysprep" and "driverpacks" to get you started.

Just to let you know... I used this procedure about a year ago and it works great. The only problem i had was with the drivers for the various hard drives. This wasn't a problem for me as I don't have any SATA drives or raid setups for my desktops at work. The scripts jeremyotten wrote worked fine, it was just that sysprep would take days and give me countless errors before eventually crapping out (if I can remember correctly; it's been a while). What I did was follow his directions except for this step: "4. open de generated hwid.txt and copy paste all the entries under the [sysprepMassStorage] section in C:\sysprep\sysprep.inf" I just left that section blank. By adding: [sysprep] BuildMassStorageSection=yes to sysprep.inf, it'll prevent windows from crashing when restoring an image, provided that xp recognizes your hard drive. But, if you're trying to install to SATA, chances are you'll run into trouble. One last thing, you said you couldn't find most of jeremyotten's tools. All you need (besides the scripts he provided in the post you referenced) are the driverpacks, cmd line version of 7-zip, and the SP2 deployment tools. And of course imaging software. I prefer Snap Deploy, but have used Ghost as well for that. DriverPacks 7-Zip cmd line version Deployment Tools So give it a shot...it may take a while to get it working, but once it does you'll find it to be invaluable for deploying xp.

No that wasn't the problem. It seems from what I've been reading that if you bulk import users with vbscript or csvde there can be a problem with %username% not registering. I fixed the problem by finding a script that created folders from a list off an excel file and then set permissions using cacls. I'll post the code if anybody has an interest in seeing it.

Hey everyone- I work at a high school and have been given the task of creating accounts and home directories for about 1000 students. I was able to import all the accounts but now I'm having trouble creating Home directories. I was trying to get the students to connect via a login script but it only works if I create a folder for the username in advance. I have it set up as follows: "\\server\Seniors\%username%". "Seniors" is shared with appropriate permissions. However, when i logon on using a test account, it only works if I have created a folder with the correct username under "Seniors". Do I have to create folders for each account , or can I script it so when a student first logs on it will create a home directory for them? Here's the code I'm using: Option Explicit Dim objNetwork Dim strDriveLetter, strRemotePath, strUserName strDriveLetter = "X:" strRemotePath = "\\server\Seniors" ' Purpose of script to create a network object. (objNetwork) ' Then to apply the MapNetworkDrive method. Result X: drive Set objNetwork = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Network") ' Here is where we extract the UserName strUserName = objNetwork.UserName objNetwork.MapNetworkDrive strDriveLetter, strRemotePath _ & "\" & strUserName ' Extra code just to add a message box WScript.Echo " Launch Explorer, check: "& strDriveLetter WScript.Quit