XP Unattened woes and activations woes...Help plz....

[daemeon2]

Hi there,

I am new here but not new to making windows do what I want.(hehehe)

I just created my first Unattended windows cd. It took me, off and on, over

6 months to get it figured out and somewhat working without any line number errors.

My questions are as follows:

1) Activation in MS virtual machine 2007...? is this possible??

2) a) Can one create a Pre-Activated XP disk? I have seen

HP and Dell disk like these with a OEM code on the

outside of machine and something entirely different

code in the registry. But yet when they install.., they do NOT

ever need to activate..UNLESS you try to install them on a

Standard built computer.., then they nag you until you install

them back onto that dell or HP computer.

B) I was wondering HOW this is done and could this be built for a REGULAR PC Tower?

c) Any special version of XP needed to build this cd ?(xp pro,oem,retail,vl..etc..)

3) What files are needed in the "preactivated" disk deal ?

4) a) IF the original OS is OEM XP Pro AND it is already activated..., will this and the files from it be needed

to create an unattened xp pro retail cd?

B) or do I use a OEM XP Pro retail installed oembios and files ??

c) do I do just one of these methods ONLY to get it to auto-activate?

d) Can this method above be used to create a corporate cd that will install and autoactivate on ANY pc??

5) the section of GuiRunOnce .............. I have (3) .cmd batch files that are supposed to run after the unattend logs in for the first time. In Virtual PC, none of them will run no matter how/what I try. The main part works awesome and does, from what I can guess, the right deal. How can I get this 3 files to kick off and run like they are supposed to???

6) I read up alot on this deal and even learned that you can set up features for Internet Exploder

like the "clear internet cache on closing" deal using the IEAKit. It has a ton of options the work on.

But the unnattend os only want the install.ins file. After login.., it shows it setting up the features of IE and outlook

express and when itwas done, I checked what it did in the options. Nothing and I mean NOTHING was set in my IE

options nor even my Outlook Express. I dont know w-t-heck I am doing wrong on this, soooo plz help if ya can..

Thanks.

7) For many years I worked as a tech doing cpu repairs and os installs. On 90% of the os installs,

I and my team had to call MS to get them to unlock (activate) the XP on those machines. This was a total

pain in the arse and took up waaaaaaaaaaaay tooo much time.

Lately, it seems, that I am having to reload alot on my main pc. ( {7} reloads in less than a month)

I, myself, am truly tired of calling MS to activate my XP. They treat me like crap and

they talk to me like I an some kind of dumb-arse. I want to eliminate this agravating process so I can

get on with my pc fun and enjoyment of redesigning xp pro.(making it faster as I would say)

This is why all the questions above on the activation issues. I even call MS and asked them about this deal.

They want tons of $$$ for which I dont got. Soooo I am here asking as I must say.., this site

has been the most informative site on unattended installs of XP I have ever seen. Many Thanks

goes out to all that helped and to those that own this site. =)

8) Final question of the night. Are there ANY other user friendly applications that will create this unattended

cd more easily ?? I bought Almeza MultiSet recently as for they state that it can do it as well.

(it is like a installer recorder application and works --so-so on OS installs)

The application "nLite" wont seem to install correctly on my machine..(4 reinstalls due to .NET issues

and this software) I have hunted for months and these are the only two i can find and have knowledge

of.

M-A-N-Y Thanks in your reading and helping on these issues. I cant handle getting no more grey hair !! ;-)

Thanks,

Daemeon2

P.S.

here is my winnt.sif file

[Data]
    AutoPartition=0
    MsDosInitiated="0"
    UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
    UnattendMode=FullUnattended
    OemSkipEula=Yes
    OemPreinstall=Yes
    FileSystem=*
    UnattendSwitch="yes"
    WaitForReboot="Yes"
    DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
    TargetPath=\WINDOWS
    AutoActivate=YES

[GuiUnattended]
    AdminPassword=*
    EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
    OEMSkipRegional=1
    TimeZone=35
    OemSkipWelcome=1

[UserData]
    ProductKey=THISI-SARET-AILCD-OFXPP-ROSP3 (THIS IS A RETAIL CD OF XP PRO SP3)
    FullName="Daemeon"
    OrgName=""
    ComputerName=DAKILLER

[Display]
    BitsPerPel=32
    Xresolution=1024
    YResolution=768
    Vrefresh=85

[TapiLocation]
    CountryCode=1
    Dialing=Tone
    AreaCode=478

[RegionalSettings]
    LanguageGroup=1
    Language=00000409

[Identification]
    JoinWorkgroup=WORKGROUP

[Networking]
    InstallDefaultComponents=No

[NetAdapters]
    Adapter1=params.Adapter1

[params.Adapter1]
    INFID=*

[NetClients]
    MS_MSClient=params.MS_MSClient

[NetServices]
    MS_SERVER=params.MS_SERVER

[NetProtocols]
    MS_TCPIP=params.MS_TCPIP

[params.MS_TCPIP]
    DNS=Yes
    UseDomainNameDevolution=No
    EnableLMHosts=Yes
    AdapterSections=params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1

[params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1]
    SpecificTo=Adapter1
    DHCP=Yes
    WINS=No
    NetBIOSOptions=0

[Branding]
    BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes
    IEBrandingFile=INSTALL.INS

[URL]
    AutoConfig=0
    Home_Page=http://www.google.com

[IEPopupBlocker] 
    BlockPopups=Yes
    FilterLevel=Low
    ShowInformationBar=No

[WindowsFirewall]
    Profiles = WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall

[WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall]
    Mode = 0

[Proxy]
    Proxy_Enable=0
    Use_Same_Proxy=1

[Components]
    AccessOpt = Off
    Chat = Off
    Dialer = Off
    Fax = Off
    Fp_extensions = Off
    Fp_vdir_deploy = Off
    Freecell = Off
    Hearts = Off
    Hypertrm = Off
    Media_clips = Off
    Media_utopia = Off
    Minesweeper = Off
    Msnexplr = Off
    Pinball = Off
    TerminalServer = Off
    TSWebClient = Off
    msmsgs = Off
    zonegames = Off

[Shell]
    DefaultStartPanelOff = Yes

[GuiRunOnce]
    %systemdrive%\install\main.cmd
    %systemdrive%\install\regfix.cmd
    %systemdrive%\install\appinst.cmd

Here is my .cmd files

***MAIN.CMD***
@Echo off
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
Echo ===============    [ Now installing the drivers.... ] ====================
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\drivers.EXE
ECHO Please wait...
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO ===============    [ Now Installing Flash Player.... ] ====================
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\flash.exe
ECHO Please wait...
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO ===============    [ Now Installing Internet Exploder Favorites.... ] ====================
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\ie.exe
ECHO Please wait...
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO ===============    [ Now Installing Java For Windows.... ] ====================
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO.
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\java.exe
ECHO Please wait...
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
ECHO ===============    [ Finished installing the applications.... ] ====================
EXIT

***REGFIX.CMD***
@Echo off
Echo Now adding all the application registry entries....
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\Alk.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\dvdfab.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\goldwave.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\isobust.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\KM.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\popcop.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\textpad.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\tiks.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\wa5.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\winzip.reg
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\appregs>\wrext.reg
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
Echo Finished installing application registry entries...
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
Echo Now adding all windows registry hacks.....
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\winregs>\allwin.reg
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
@echo
Echo Finished installing windows registry tweaks...
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
exit


****appinst.cmd ***

@Echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
Echo Now installing the applications....
@echo off
@echo off
ECHO.
ECHO Installing WinRAR 3.71
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\wrar371.exe /silent
ECHO.
ECHO Installing WinZip 9.0
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\wz90.exe
ECHO.
ECHO Installing WinAmp 5.5
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\wa55.exe
ECHO.
ECHO Installing Nero 6.6 Custom
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\nero.exe
ECHO.
ECHO Installing DVDFab Platinum v5.0.5.0
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\DVDFab.exe
ECHO.
ECHO Installing GigaGet v3.2
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Giga.exe
ECHO.
ECHO Installing Quick SFV v2.x
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\qsfv.exe
ECHO.
ECHO Installing "The Hidden Royale Noir Theme" From Microsoft....
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\royale.msi /qn
ECHO.
ECHO Installing Popupcop v2.60.xx
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\puc.exe
ECHO.
ECHO Installing FoxReaderv2.x for .pdf files
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\fox.exe /s
ECHO.
ECHO Installing Tiks Texas Holdem Game
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\tiks.exe
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO Installing Nod32 v3.0
ECHO Please wait...
REGEDIT /S <%systemdrive%\install\>\nod.reg
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\nod32.msi /qn
ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO Installing IsoBuster v2.4
ECHO Please wait...
start /wait %systemdrive%\install\isobstr.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
ECHO Killing ISOBuster.exe process
taskkill.exe /F /IM isobuster.exe
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
@echo off
Echo Finished installing the applications.......
exit


**** these are cheap and cheesy batch file.., they work when I run them manually like clockwork.
******

Edited July 24, 2008 by daemeon2

[daemeon2]

bump..,bump..., I really could use some help on deciphering the activation issues I have plz.

Thanks,

Daemeon2

[daemeon2]

nevermind..., I found the answers.

Daemeon2