Install image compaining with autounattend file

[bash]

Hi,

I have the following:

1 WDS Server running on 2003 server with SP2

X numbers of brand new laptops intended to run Windows Vista Business.

This is what I did:

1) Installed one laptop with Windows Vista x86 SWE with all drivers, applications and updates.

2) Then from C:\windows\sysprep\ I run sysprep with OOBE and restarted the machine in order to capture an image of the whole disk (only 1 partition available)

3) Configured the wds adding a BOOT image and the install image from the resource computer.

4) Opened SIM creating unattend.xml in order to inject Video drivers into the install image.

5) Booted the first laptop on the network using PXE. Installation over the network completed sucessfully.

Now I want to make the installation more unattended and therefore would like to get ridd off windows asking me user intervention.

For example:

BOOT IMAGE

---------------

a) Language option

B) User Credentials

Is there any way to let boot.wim know those information either injecting or using xml file?

INSTALL IMAGE

------------------

a) How can I wipe the disk, create partition and tell WDS to install the image in the created partition?

B) Later after computer is restarted, once again I have to choose language and region option. How can I tell my installation image to use predefined values? I also have to select a box admitting my acceptance of license condition!!

c) Normally Administrator account is disabled. How can I remove any other accounts in the image, enable the Administrator account and do Autologing using the administarator account?

4) There are also many other things one can automate such us, network, firewall, creating localAccount, etc, etc..

I have created unattend.xml file via SIM and opening my install.wim

Then I edited and put value describing most of the things I explained above. However, none of those values are implemented when doing new installation over the network using wds together with my install image!!!!

My questions are:

What is the name of the file allowing me to implement the tasks I need, "unattend.xml" or "AutoUnattend.xml"? It shoudlnt matter file name as long as it has correct extension, right?

Where is its default location? Please remember that I am using an image from a reference computer and only need to automate few things.

When must I create the correct xml file, while doing SYSPREP /OOBE ........ or when using SIM and have my reference computer image already in the WDS Server?

Thanks

Bashir

Edited February 4, 2009 by bash