[commands.txt when using floppy.]

OemPreinstall must be yes when using the $OEM$ structure. When using the CD-Boot method you are not limited to 8.3.

[commands.txt when using floppy.]

I was wrong in my previous post. According to the documentation you can use the OemFilesPath in the [unattended] section the specify where your $OEM$ directory is located. Try the following:

[Unattended]
OemFilesPath="A:"

Make sure your cmdlines.txt is located in A:\$OEM$\cmdlines.txt

SetupParams might also work for you.

[commands.txt when using floppy.]

I think you mean cmdlines.txt. In order to parse cmdlines.txt you need to have your source on a network share (or local hard drive) or a customized CD. You might be able to accomplish what you want using autologin and guirunonce.

[[Help] System properties]

Windows will not look for an OEMLOGO.BMP file unless it finds a properly formatted OEMINFO.INI file.

[[Question] - Windows WMF 0-day exploit in the wild.]

Wouldn't turing off "Show pictures" in internet explorer options prevent IE from even downloading the files without breaking other programs?

[Convert Unattended to Sysprepped Image]

If the target PCs need drivers that are not built-in and not installed on the master PC you will need to set OemPnPDriversPath.

[Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation]

So if I have a bunch of OEM machines(Dell, HP, Gateway, etc), and I'm creating an image for those machines, I can use the Product Key located in their WINNT.SIF from the Recovery CD instead of the Key on the sticker?

In that case you already have to OEMBIOS files. And yes you can use the key in winnt.sif as long as your target machine will pass the BIOS check.

You cannot use the same image for multiple manufacturers and still preserve the activation. (I'm working on that but am not ready to discuss any details.)

[[Question] - Which XP Pro Version should i use]

Using generic or OEMBIOS files from a differant vendor will just require you to activate windows. MS allows you to transfer your OEM (including Royalty) licence to a differant motherboard if the origional motherboard is defective.

[Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation]

hi, can you explain this with more detail? i have xphome on my laptop and on each install it has to be activated which is kind of a pain, are you saying that i wouldnt have to keep activating it? thanks

If your laptop was mande by a Royalty OEM (the COA sticker hase manufacturer's name or logo) and you also have access to the Windows intallation bits (hologrammed OEM CD) you can use these files to recreate the OEMBIOS files and extract the CD-Key origionally used by the manufacturer to install windows. A Windows CD made with these files will not require activation when used on the computer the files were extracted from (or other computers of the same make).

[Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation]

Theres a problem with your theory cause the windows activation also reads your PID number.

Windows Activation only checks the PID is the BIOS checks fails. Royalty OEMs don't use unique keys because their machines don't have to be activated.

[[Question] - Which XP Pro Version should i use]

My Dell Pro SP1a CD, my Hologrammed SP2 OEM CD, and My Hologrammed MCE 2005 CD all have the same setupp.ini (76487). All of them will work with any Pro OEM CD-Key. They all installed (on a HP) with the Toshiba factory key, a Sony COA key, and a Mom-and-Pop OEM key (The MCE key also works but leaves me with an unstable PC with any other CDs).

The differance between the Hologrammed CDs an those produced by the Royalty OEMs are in the OEMBIOS.??_ files, not in setupp.ini.

[how do i ID my usb devices?]

Just look for the DeviceInstanceID in the details tab of the device properties. USB devices will start with USB\VID_???? the question marks represent the manufacturer's VendorID. Unfortunately I don't know of any publicly available list of VendorIDs

[Running Batch file from CD on 2000/2003 Intsallation]

The $OEM$ needs to be in the same directory as your I386(or whatever you remaned it as) directory. and you need the following lines in your winnt.sif

[Unattended]
OemPreinstall=Yes

[CDBOOT: Couldn't find NTLDR]

How did you make the ISO? NTLDR is needed on hard drives and CDs emulating hard drives. Your Windows CD should be set to no emulation and boots to I386\SETUPLDR.BIN.

[How To Remote Shutdown A Windows XP]

In order to remotely shutdown a PC running SP2 you need to disable the firewall or create an exception for RPC.

[[Question] - Which XP Pro Version should i use]

There are two XP CDs in the action pack. You need to use the hologrammed OEM CD. You will be able to install Windows but will have to call MS to activate Windows. If you want to make a Pre-activated CD follow my instructions at http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=63258.

[2 WINNT.SIF questions]

Try these lines

[Branding]
BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes
[Data]
AutoPartition=1
MsDosInitiated=0
UnattendedInstall=Yes
[Unattended]
Repartition=Yes
[URL]
Home_Page=http://www.google.com

[[Question] - "Reverse Engineer" OEM "Restore CDs?]

The EULA states that you cannot lend your CD to another user. I don't know if using a borrowed CD to install windows is illegal or not due to the first sale doctorine but I would not considure it to be software piracy.

[Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation]

I've put together two files that can be used to make a pre-activated CD if all you got with your computer is a restore CD you will also need access to an OEM hologram CD for the rest of the files. Put the following files in the same folder

getfiles.bat

attrib -s %SystemRoot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT
makecab %SystemRoot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT
attrib +s %SystemRoot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT
makecab %SystemRoot%\system32\OEMBIOS.BIN
makecab %SystemRoot%\system32\OEMBIOS.DAT
makecab %SystemRoot%\system32\OEMBIOS.SIG
cscript //nologo getkey.vbs > winnt.sif

getkey.vbs

Dim objFS, objShell
Dim strXPKey

Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

strXPKey = objShell.RegRead("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProductName")
If Len(strXPKey) > 0 Then
  WScript.Echo "[UserData]"
  WScript.Echo "ProductKey=" & chr(34) & GetKey(objShell.RegRead("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId")) & chr(34)
  WScript.Echo "[Data]"
  WScript.Echo "MSDosInitiated=0"
  WScript.Echo "UnattendedInstall=Yes"
End If

Function GetKey(rpk)
  Const rpkOffset=52:i=28
  szPossibleChars="BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
  Do
	dwAccumulator=0 : j=14
	Do
	  dwAccumulator=dwAccumulator*256
	  dwAccumulator=rpk(j+rpkOffset)+dwAccumulator
	  rpk(j+rpkOffset)=(dwAccumulator\24) and 255
	  dwAccumulator=dwAccumulator Mod 24
	  j=j-1
	Loop While j>=0
	i=i-1 : szProductKey=mid(szPossibleChars,dwAccumulator+1,1)&szProductKey
	if (((29-i) Mod 6)=0) and (i<>-1) then
	  i=i-1 : szProductKey="-"&szProductKey
	End If
  Loop While i>=0
  GetKey=szProductKey
End Function

Getfiles.bat will generate 5 files to be placed in the i386 directory of your CD. the files are:

OEMBIOS.BI_

OEMBIOS.CA_

OEMBIOS.DA_

OEMBIOS.SI_

winnt.sif

[[Help] Attempting to copy existing file fails.]

I am writing some code to collect various files and settings from an existing installation for an unattended CD but the following line

copy %SystemRoot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT .

always fails with the following error

C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT
The system cannot find the file specified.
		0 file(s) copied.

From explorer I can see this file (it is not hidden) but from the command prompt I can't see any files in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE} directory.

[[Question] - "Reverse Engineer" OEM "Restore CDs?]

Does the CD say "Restore" or "Reinstallation". Restore CDs generally contain an image of the hard drive as it shipped from the factory but sometimes without Office becauce MS requires that the Office CDs be provided to the customer. Reinstallation CDs usually contain the OS with only slight customization such as mass storage device drivers.

If you have a hologrammed CD you may be able to extract the files from her computer to make a pre-activated CD for use in HP computers.

[[Question] - set up an environment variable in xp]

SET isn't persistant, it is only for the current command session.

System variables are stored in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Enviroment (there is a space in Session Manager)

User variables are stored in HKCU\Enviroment

[Installing from a rescue partition]

Dell added code to the MBR to determine when to boot to the recovery partition. See http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/index.htm for more information.

You cannot provide your customers with the Windows bits on any removable media other than the hologramed CDs (only the big players are allowd to do this) but you are allowed to create a recovery partition.

[Winnt.sif => joinworkgroup fails]

I think the problen is the space after the equals sign. The JoinWorkgroup value is a string and should start immediately after the equals sign. When the setup reaches the space it treats it as the end of the string. Since an empty string is not a valid workgroup name setup uses the default value which for this version is ARBEITSGRUPPE. Quotes are only needed when the string value contains deliminating characters.

[$$Rename fails]

What method are you using to install? You only need to use $$rename.txt if you start setup with winnt.exe from DOS. If you boot from the CD you can use long file names on the CD.