waves

If I can read properly, it seems any product key from an OEM copy of windows will work on any pc manufacturer as long as you have the correct oembios files. Since PowerPacker does not yet have the ability to switch between oembios files on one disk, are there any options out there that can do this right now?

I work on all different pc brands, and am sick of calling in to activate after a reformat. All pc's have legit product keys. Is it easier to create several unattended cd's for each manufacturer, or have 1 cd that can do the same thing. I read the post regarding the 1 cd that does it all, but I am a little confused about it. I was just wondering from those of you that tried both which is the easiest way to go. Thanks.

Is there a way to have the original welcome screen that asks for user names and info, etc. so people can set up their pc to appear after running an unattended install? For example, I would like to run the unattended, make some manual tweaks, and then set the pc so that the next time it starts the original welcome screen would appear. Is this possible? Thanks.

ok, after looking at your winnt and the guide I realized that I need to have OemSkipWelcome=1, not 0. When you have oempreinstall set to yes, that's the way it has to be otherwise the install will hault. I will give it a try now. Thanks.

I created an unattended cd. It works great, except for my $OEM$ folder (parallel to my i385 folder) which contains my $$ folder, which contains my system32 folder. Inside my system32 folder I have oeminfo.ini, oemlogo.bmp, and autoit3.exe. These 3 items are NOT being copied to my system32 folder on my pc. I read a few other posts, and tried to move the $OEM$ folder inside the i386 folder, but this didn't work. I also tried to change my winnt.sif file to say OemPreinstall=Yes, and this made my unattended setup stop and prompt for info which it is not supposed to do, so I turned it off. I tried this twice to make sure and both times it stopped the install with a prompt, which I do not want during an unattended install. So my question is how do I get the setup to copy over those 3 files in my system32 folder on the cd to the pc? Is it something stupid like the fact that I have to use System32 with a capital S? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Where can you get the commandline version?

ok, can you have more than one RunOnceEx file? Is that what he is saying, or is he saying that he puts this command at the end of his RunOnceEx? I am confused. What is the commandline version?

Can someone explain what this means? I gather he has 2 or more runonceex files? And he does not want it in the 1st because it runs at t12/13. What are t12/13? I'm guessing they are certain points in windows installation?

I understand that part of it, the part I don't understand is what the actual command would look like.

Because I don't know how to!!! Could you explain?

If this is correct: 1. Remove [GuiRunOnce] entries from winnt.sif 2. Create a cmdlines.txt file containing the following: [COMMANDS] "RunOnceEx.cmd" 3. Save cmdlines.txt inside your $OEM$ folder 4. Create your RunOnceEx.cmd file and put it in your $OEM$ folder 5. Create RunOnceEx.cmd and save in $OEM$ folder then how do I create an unattended windows that will auto-install ghost and autoit? I know I have to somehow add code to the RunOnceEx.cmd, but I am not sure exactly what. If someone would be able to write the code for me I would appreciate it. Thanks.

WGA is software distributed through Microsoft's Automatic Update and Windows Update that identifies fake or counterfeit versions of Windows and informs those who fail validation how to get a legal copy of Windows. Would this affect this method of activation?

Ok, but what about my question? Does anyone know if it will work on Dell's that do not have identical hardware? Thanks.

What if the computers are not identical? For example, what if one is a dell laptop and one is a desktop with non-identical hardware? Will the slipstream still work as long as I have the oem bios files and the key from the original Dell cd from the winnt.sif? I'm not trying to do anything illegal, I just want to know if it works. Thanks.

I have a copy of the Dell reinstallation CD with SP2. It is XP Home Edition. I also have a slipstreamed copy of XP with SP2. If I take the oem bios files from the Dell CD and place them in the i386 folder of my slipstream cd, and also take the product key listed in the winnt.sif file of the Dell cd and put it in the winnt.sif file of my slipstream, will this allow me to use my slipstream copy on ANY Dell pc?

I am not too familiar with SFC. How do you run it? I agree that the average user would never run SFC. If I understand correctly, the above method works as long as SFC is not run. If it is run, what needs to be done?

What would the script or batch file look like to auto partition 3 partitions with diskpart if that is the only way it can be done. Thanks.

Thank you Brain, but I am even looking for something not as complicated. I don't need a network install. I can work directly from a cd. I just want to partition my drive into c and d with d being 4 gigs and c being the rest, and then have the unattended install start automatically, and then have ghost installed automatically. That's it. There must be a script out there that does this very easily.

bober, I have seen in many posts that people are using bartpe with diskpart to partition their drives with no problems, all fully unattended. This is what I am trying to learn. If it couldn't be done, they wouldn't say it works. Also, people have posted me that it can be done, but no one has explained how. There must be a tutorial out there somewhere, all I am asking is point me to it.

Thank you, bober, but I am looking for a guide to use bartpe. I don't know the first thing about it except for what I have been reading. I know what I want to do, but I don't know how to go about doing it. It seems like it should be so simple to run bartpe, have it partion the drive like I need, and then start my unatteded install and add ghost. The problem is, I don't know where to start. I have been searching for days. I am guessing I have to create some sort of batch file to run diskpart, then to run my unattended, then to add ghost, but I'm not sure how to do this. I know someone obviously has done this, and all I am asking is for a little help to get me going. Thanks.

Are there any tutorials on how to use and set up bartpe? For some reason no one will share any info with me.

You mention that this is exactly what the other post is about. So, to comfirm, if I create a cd with hp oembios files and product key, it will work on all hp pc's with no other alterations and no activation will be needed? And this would go for all other pc manufacturers as well?

ok, so does this mean that there is no way to use my slipstream copy of windows on any other pc but my own without having to activate, or get the oembios files from the pc first? You mention that if I use the key from the registry or the key in my dell cd I won't have to activate, but I am guessing that this is only for a dell pc, right?

I have done so much reading over the past few days. I am stuck. If anyone has some time, I would be grateful if you could at least get me started with my problem. I'm trying to figure this out on my own, but I am getting nowhere.

If you do it the way tscdoc did, and enter the product key from the pc sticker instead of the key in the registry, do you still have to call, or will it activate over the net? Also, will the registry product key work on all emachines pc's, or just his?