shawn1024

Hello, I am curious how many system reboots you experience before the 1st Windows Welcome (OOBE) screen apprears with Vista? Currently, I experience 2 reboots before the first Windows Welcome screen appears in Vista. The first screen I see is the Set Up / System location. Shawn

Good point graymadder. I have tested around this area a little with the same results as you. Here's the tag: Microsoft - Windows - Sercurity - Licensing - SLC - SkipRearm = 1 Shawn

I don't think you can run this command twice as you have it listed. The /oobe sets up the image to run oobe (Windows Welcome) as if you were a customer powering on the computer for the first time. I believe you can break into this image by using the Ctrl + Shift + F3 key sequence when the first oobe screen appears (Set up Location screen) Or try this option when you build your image: 1. Install Vista OS. 2. Run sysprep /generalize /audit /unattend:---- /shutdown --> Capture this generalized image for future image building. 3. Power unit back on and enter Audit mode. Install applications &/or verify integrity of the system/OS. 4. Run sysprep /generalize /oobe /unattend:---- /shutdown --> Capture this image and deploy. Hope this helps. Shawn

After some additional testing I have one question answered. 1. When I seal the image (run sysprep last time) The correct command should be: --sysprep /generalize /oobe /unattend:d:\oobeunattend.xml /shutdown --save image off to network share for distribution to other machines. My previous images expired because the /generalize command was not used when I sealed my first images. I am still testing "Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC | skiprearm=1" setting. Currently I have this set in my autounattend.xml, but I do not have it set in my oobeunattend.xml file. Shawn

Wondering if anyone else is running into this situation. I created a set of Vista Business images about 30 days ago that are placed on computers we sell. I imaged up one of my computers a couple days ago and noticed that the activation grace period was only showing 2 days left until the OS would need to be activated. It use to show 30 days. We are an OEM, and use the OPK tool set for Vista unattended installs. I imaged up another computer today and pressed Ctrl + Shift + F3 when the first OOBE screen appeared attempting to launch sysprep and reboot back into audit mode so I could attempt to generalize the image. Unfortunatley, the image will not reboot back into audit mode.....and I can not get past the PID entry screen. The activation grace period has apparently expired. Here's the basics on how the images were created: -OS is an unattended network installation. -After install completes I run --> sysprep /generalize /audit /unattend:d:\autounattend.xml /shutdown. -Boot back into audit mode & installl apps, then run --> sysprep /oobe /unattend:d:\oobeunattend.xml /shutdown. -Capture image to network share for deployment on other machines. Questions and/or items I am testing to fix this: -Maybe my last sysprep step should have been --> sysprep /generalize /oobe /unattend:d:\oobeunattend.xml /shutdown ?? -Our MS rep suggested using the "Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC | skiprearm=1" setting in my xml files. The only option is to run this tag during the generalize pass. I have not tested this setting out yet and am not that familiar with it to date. This gets us past the running sysprep 3 times rule? or is it the running sysprep /generalized 3 times rule? or is it breaking into a sealed image with the Ctrl + Shift + F3 3 times rule? I am a little confused on this one. Any thoughts, experience or advice on this topic is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Shawn

I don't use WDS but have created quiet a few OEM Vista Business images and have deployed them successfully on multiple systems. Here are the things that jump out in my mind: - Is the image "generalized" (ie sysprep /generalize)? This step rips out hardware specific settings so you can pass the image to other machines with out issue. -I run BCDedit commands before saving any image. If this step is skipped in my process, I would get boot errors after the image was applied to other machines besides the machine it was originally captured from. BCDEDIT /set {bootmgr} device boot BCDEDIT /set {default} device boot BCDEDIT /set {default} osdevice boot -Use WinPE2.0 for everything to include XPSP2. Shawn

I have had the same boot issue with WinPE2 (Vista) when trying to boot off a flash drive. WinPE1 (XP) boots fine from a flash drive, WinPE2 does not. However, I can place WinPE2 on a bootable CD and boot just fine. With our devices, the problem is in the BIOS which sucks. Shawn

Yeah, strange message and a bit misleading. I have tried quite a few tests to get my pnp drivers to install but all have failed except when using the %configsetroot%. There must be other options, but I ran out of test time and had to use what was working. Glad to have helped. Shawn

Hi Mavierick, I did a quick compare of your XML file and the one I have been using to perform Vista OEM installs on multiple machines. I didn't look past the WinPE Pass at this point since that appears to be where the initial problem occurs from what you have explained. I use SIM to create my XML's just so we're on the same page. I see a difference in the way we handle the PNP driver installation: Yours: <DriverPaths> <PathAndCredentials wcm:action="add" wcm:keyValue="1"> <Path>d:\sources\pnpDrivers</Path> </PathAndCredentials> </DriverPaths> Mine: <DriverPaths> <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="65caea1b" wcm:action="add"> <Path>%ConfigSetRoot%\AutoUnattend_Files\Out-of-Box Drivers\Atheros_v1.5.0.119</Path> </PathAndCredentials> <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="26a1d4e0" wcm:action="add"> <Path>%ConfigSetRoot%\AutoUnattend_Files\Out-of-Box Drivers\Intel_915GMS_Graphics_v14.25.0.4704</Path> </PathAndCredentials> <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="e4ac741b" wcm:action="add"> <Path>%ConfigSetRoot%\AutoUnattend_Files\Out-of-Box Drivers\ViMicroDriver1.00.04</Path> </PathAndCredentials> </DriverPaths> What catches my eye here is the keyValue which is assigned by SIM if I am not mistaken. I attempted to manually set the key value in the past and place the drivers on a FOB (USB Flash drive) with the appropriate path but never could get the drivers to install. The only success I have had to date is to use the %configsetroot% pathing and place the drivers on a network share or a FOB. I may revisit this area and do more tests, however, it probably wont be soon. Not sure if you're experiencing any problems setting up your hard drives, but if you are, I would revert back to a single drive, single active partition scenario, get that working correctly, then add / modify your other HDDs & partitions. Hope this helps. Shawn

Are you still trying to work this out? Let me know "where" you are in this process and I will do my best to steer you in the right direction. Based on what you posted above, I detect some confusion. Shawn

arjanv, I have not seen a way to automaticly assign the remaining disk space as you are trying to do. As far as that goes, Vista & automatic can be challenging at times. I suggest you create the second partition to a known size, set it active then extend that partition. I can paste in a sample if this doesn't make sense. Shawn

newtech, Use MS's imagex program to capture an image of your hard drive. This will create a .wim image file. Once captured, you can place the image on a DVD, network share, etc. You can then use imagex at a later date to /apply the image back to the device. The oscdimg tool you mentioned is used to create bootable iso files that can be burnt onto a DVD or CD. Shawn

I am guessing you have something set wrong in your unattend.xml file in the WinPE pass. This is the first section processed during your unattended install. When I hit these types of errors I back out any questionable entries one by one and start the installation over to see the result. Add your unattend.xml in your next post so someone can point out potential issues. Shawn

Here is my updated install method. The one listed in the begining of this thread is no longer valid as I have switched to a network base install. 1. Boot into WinPE2 2. Map network drive y: to share. 3. Run y:\source\setup.exe /unattend:y:\configsets\autounattend.xml 4. Vista install completes, unit reboots into Audit mode. 5. Run sysprep.exe /generalize /audit /shutdown /unattend:d:\autounattend.xml (d:\ is a USB flash drive) 6. Save generalized image to network share. 7. Boot generalized image into Audit mode & make final customizations to image. 8. Run sysprep.exe /oobe /shutdown /unattend:d:\oobeunattend.xml 9. Boot unit and enter Windows Welcome.

I don't leave any Display settings blank (or incorrect) in my XML file. I enter only modes that my system supports. <Display> <ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth> <DPI>96</DPI> <HorizontalResolution>1024</HorizontalResolution> <VerticalResolution>600</VerticalResolution> <RefreshRate>60</RefreshRate> </Display> I am working with one of our reps to solve this issue and he has indicated that there is a difference in the way the resolution/refresh capabilities are calculated based on the frequency range from XP to Vista. It is interesting to hear that I am not the only one experiencing this issue. Out of curiousity, what montor and video card are you seeing this behavior with?