TrAvELAr

I had that issue once with a file being open. I had to manually download it and pass it something like a "-o" argument to get it on. That worked in my case.

I'm pretty sure that's the way it's done now. I just checked an ISO on Technet, and it has .msp files in the updates folder.

Trinity Rescue Kit is another fine option for resetting or blanking the password.

If your options are the same, one file should work. In your case, you could potentially have 2 different keys, which might be an issue. I use one file for both my x86 and x64 installs. I did have to create one for each, and then I merged them. Does that help? Here is a quick example: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend"> <settings pass="specialize"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <ProductKey>XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX</ProductKey> <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone> <DisableAutoDaylightTimeSet>false</DisableAutoDaylightTimeSet> </component> </settings> <settings pass="specialize"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <ProductKey>XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX</ProductKey> <DisableAutoDaylightTimeSet>false</DisableAutoDaylightTimeSet> <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone> </component> </settings> <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim:v:/slipstream/windowssevenenterprisecombined/sources/install.wim#ENTERPRISEX86" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" /> </unattend>

I've had no stability issues with Windows 3.11 for WorkGroups.

Depending on what filesystem it is (ext3, reiserfs, etc), there are a number of windows utilities that you can install to read the drive.

When you say created a custom CD, it leaves a lot of guessing. How did you create it? Did you remove components? Did you add anything? Are you doing an AIO?

That's one way to do it and will accomplish what you want.