Bezalel

Which disk is the BIOS set to boot from? Where is your System partition?

The context menu items are located in the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt key.

I am trying to create an unattended W2K setup with IE6 and .NET1.1 but it looks like my cmdlines.txt file is not being processed. Here is my i386\winnt.sif file: [Data] AutoPartition=1 MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="Yes" [Unattended] OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=Yes Repartition=Yes UnattendMode=FullUnattended [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=XXXXX OEMSkipRegional=1 OEMSkipWelcome=1 TimeZone=035 [UserData] ComputerName=* FullName="XXXXX" OrgName="XXXXX" [Display] BitsPerPel=32 xResolution=1024 YResolution=768 [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=Yes [Identification] DomainAdmin=XXXXX DomainAdminPassword=XXXXX JoinDomain=XXXXX And here is my $OEM$\cmdlines.txt file: [COMMANDS] "%systemdrive%\installs\ie6sp1\ie6setup.exe /q:a /r:n" "%systemdrive%\installs\dotnet\dotnet.bat" My $OEM$\$1\installs\dotnet\dotnet.bat is: %systemdrive%\installs\dotnet\dotnetfx.exe /q:a /c:"install /q" The files are copied correctly to my hard drive and I can install using the commandlines once Windows is installed.

When you activate Windows, the activation clearinghouse should recognize that you are using the same hardware and activate without any problems. After a certain length of time (I think 6 months but cannot get verification) the activation chearinghouse makes the CD-Key available for activation on any hardware. In case you can't activate over the internet you can always activate over the phone.

The contents of the WIN51* files aren't actually used by the Windows setup. These files are on the CD just to identify to the installer what type of CD you are using. The WIN51 file tells the installer that it is installing Windows XP. The WIN51IP file tells the installer that it is installing Windows XP Professional. The WIN51IP.SP2 file tells the installer that it is installing Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2. I don't know if the contents are ever read, in case they are the contents are Windows<space><enter> use notepad to create these files and make sure they do not have a txt extension. You will also need to make your own winnt.sif file. copy the code I posted above to a new text document and change the Product Key. Be sure to save it as winnt.sif and not winnt.sif.txt

Do you have an I386 folder with about 5759 objects and a CMPNENTS folder on your hard drive? If you have both these directories you can create the CD/DVD. You will also need nLite and Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder. Create a folder anywhere on your Hard drive and copy the following items it: The I386 directory and everything in it The CMPNENTS directory and everything in it (if you will be using a CD delete the CMPNENTS\TABLETPC directory) A file named WIN51 A file named WIN51IP A file named WIN51IP.SP2 the content of each of these three files are Windows (Windows<space><enter>) You should also create a file in the I386 directory named winnt.sif with the following contents [UserData] ProductKey="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX" [Data] MSDosInitiated=0 UnattendedInstall=Yes Replace the Xs with the Product key found using the Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder, do not use the product key on your COA sticker. Use nLite to create a bootable ISO. Burn. Be sure to test the CD using a spare hard drive.

I tried again using the Pro key mentioned in http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...y/oempreac.mspx and like I expected, I got a preactivated Pro install. I than tried using a key I found on a Toshiba Preinstalled MCE and I was able to get a preactivated MCE install (and validation didn't require any additional info).

Were the OEMBIOS files that you used from a Pro or MCE CD? Either way based on my understanding of the install process you should have gotten a Pro install and not a MCE install. I will try this myself to see what happens.

You can create 1 account with a password and configure windows to autologin with that account.

There are two types of product keys that Major OEMs use the first is a generic key that is used in the factory and if the OEM provides reinstall CDs in the winnt.sif file. these keys are permanently blocked from activation by Microsoft. The second type of key is that found on the COA sticker these are blocked from internet activation but can still be activated by phone. The OEMBIOS files serve two proposes they prevent a specific OEM's CD from being used on another manufacturer's PC and they tell the OS that activation is not needed. If you build a MCE CD set using a Pro OEMBIOS set the install will work because when the OEMBIOS files are checked againstg the BIOS the installer doesn't know which edition of Windows will be installed (this is not determined until after the CD Key is entered). Once windows is installed the BIOS check will fail and you will be required to activate.

I am having an issues where the files for my Intel Wireless 2200BG are not being copied correctly or being changed after they are copied. When I look at my hard drive I am missing the files W29MLRES.DLL, w29n50.sys, and w29n51.sys. I also have the following files on my hard disk that were not on my CD: $$TEMP$$.~~~, INFCACHE.1, and w29n51.PNF.

I tried this on a Dell system. I was able to install MCE with the Dell OEMBIOS.??_ files but was still required to activate the OS

MS suggests the following script on their system builder site for installing the rollup: REM .Net 1.1 dotnetfx-eng.exe /q:a /c:"install /l /q" REM .Net 1.1 SP1 SP1-dotnetfx-eng.exe /q REM Rollup2 KB900325-usa.exe /quiet /norestart

This MS article http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...y/sitpcdep.mspx discusses how to use sysprep to deploy TabletPC from a Pro image. Can a simular method be used to convert a Pro install (from CD1 or upgraded with CD1) to MCE.

Is there any way to replace the .NET framework on CD2 with version 1.1? I don't want to just add version 1.1, I want to eliminate version 1.0 entirely.

What kind of CD is your XP-Pro CD, bios-locked or generic and what service pack? if the cd is bios locked you will have to delete (or modify the i386\winnt.sif file) and possibly replace the i386\oembios.??_ files. If the CD has no service pack you will have to slipstream SP2. If the CD has SP1 you can't use it. To determine what service pack is on the CD look for a file named WIN51IP.SP? in the root of the CD where ? represents the service pack level. In order to create the CD set you MUST have the following files: MEDIACTR.CAB, NETFX.CAB, SONIC.CAB, and PLUS.CAB, you may also need OEMBIOS.BI_ (or .BIN), OEMBIOS.CA_ (or .CAT), OEMBIOS.DA_ (or .DAT), and OEMBIOS.SI_ (or .SIG).

Can you express all of the customizations in a script? If so you can set the default profile to run your customization script and use ifmember to determine which script to run.

Here is what I did to get the files on 1 CD: From CD1 I copied all the files in the root of the CD and the i386 directory (and all subfolders). From CD2 I copied everything except the tabletpc directory. I than created a file named win51ip2 on the root of the cd using win51ip as a template. to tell the intaller that the CD2 files were on the same CD. I used this method because my CD can be used to repair a 2 CD installation and I can still use the 2 CD set if I need to repair my installation.