WINNT.SIF Being Mostly Ignored

[driger1592]

I'm creating an unattended Windows XP Pro cd with SP3 slipstreamed.

The WINNT.SIF file seems to be fully working (all settings are entered correctly) except that it always asks for my product key.

IMPORTANT EDIT: The WINNT.SIF file is not working fully. I checked it out when I had the time. See the fourth post down for more information.

[Data]
AutomaticUpdates="No"
Autopartition=0
MsDosInitiated=0
UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
UnattendSwitch="Yes"
OemPreinstall="Yes"
OemSkipEula="Yes"
FileSystem=*
WaitForReboot="No"
NoWaitAfterTextMode=1
NoWaitAfterGUIMode=1
DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
NonDriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

[Display]
Xresolution=800
Yresolution=600
BitsPerPel=32

[SystemRestore]
MaximumDataStorePercentOfDisk=10
RestorePointLife=40

[GuiUnattended]
EncryptedAdminPassword="No"
AutoLogon="Yes"
AutoLogonCount=1
AdminPassword=*
OEMSkipRegional=1
OemSkipWelcome=1

[Shell]
CustomDefaultThemeFile="%WinDir%\Resources\Themes\Panther.theme"

[UserData]
ProductKey="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX"
ComputerName=MYCOMP
FullName="My Name"

[RegionalSettings]
LanguageGroup=1
Language= "0409"

[Networking]
InstallDefaultComponents="Yes"

[Identification]
JoinWorkgroup="Workgroup"

The Product Key I have under the ProductKey setting works fine when I enter it manually, but it won't do it automatically for some reason.

All help is welcome

Thanks in advance

Edited April 13, 2009 by driger1592

[g-force]

How was SP3 slipstreamed?

Even MS says, that under Vista-Environment fails, so you got to do this with XP.

This happens with "classic" integration and with nLite.

[driger1592]

It was slipstreamed with SP3 under my current XP Pro installation (not a fan of Vista).

Also worth mentioning: the contents of the $$ and $1 folders under the $OEM$ folder do not copy to the file system during installation. However, the cmdlines.txt file does execute. Maybe I could solve this by running a .cmd file from cmdlines.txt that uses XCOPY to put the folders in the correct places before I run my RunOnceEx.cmd file, but from my understanding, that shouldn't be required.

The automated product key entry is the priority here in my eyes, but all help is welcome.

Thanks again ^^

[driger1592]

I looked into the problem more this morning (I was a bit distracted last night) and I found which settings are and aren't working in WINNT.SIF.

The [Data] section seems to work completely.

Under [unattended] it seems to all work except for maybe OemPreinstall (My $OEM$ folders don't copy, but cmdlines.txt is executed).

[Display] does not appear to be working. Windows starts up in 640x480 resolution, but I have it set to 800x600.

[systemRestore] doesn't work. The MaximumDataStorePercentOfDisk is set to 10%, but the OS has it set at 12%.

[GUIUnattended] seems to be working.

[shell] attempts to work. When Windows starts up the first time it attempts to set the theme, but it still sets to the default XP Blue theme. The Resource folder contains all the themes, and they all work if I set them manually once the OS has started.

[userData] doesn't work at all. I have to enter the Product Key manually, even though I use the same key as the WINNT.SIF file has in it. ComputerName and FullName also don't set properly.

[identification] doesn't set properly either.

If anyone knows any reason why the installation is ignoring certain parts of the WINNT.SIF file, I'd really appreciate any help you could give.

All help is welcome. Thanks again ^^

[Selena]

Have you tried using a completely clean source?

These kind of things often happen when using unclean sources.

[driger1592]

Could you define a completely clean source? Is that a Windows XP Pro CD with no Service Packs included?

[Selena]

One that has as few hotfixes slipstreamed as possible (RTM, or just plain SP1/SP2/SP3 are usually fine) and preferably no tweaks applied at all.

[driger1592]

I have an older SP2 CD that I used to use. I was making this CD because I lost that one, but I suppose I can try to find it again.

I'll see what I can come up with and post back.

Thanks again ^^ Hopefully this solves the problem

EDIT: Found the CD. It doesn't have a WINNT.SIF file on it, so I'm going to slipstream SP3 in nLite and test a minimal WINNT to check that it successfully inserts the product key automatically. After that, I'll be testing the $OEM$ folder. I'll write a new post when I know more.

Edited April 13, 2009 by driger1592

[driger1592]

I tried it first with SP3 slipstreamed and a minimal WINNT.SIF file to enter the Product Key automatically. That didn't work, so I re-did the process without slipstreaming SP3 (so only SP2 was slipstreamed). That didn't work either. I also tried ProductID and ProductKey with and without quotations in the WINNT.SIF file as was suggested in another thread, so I'm sure that's not the problem.

I haven't tried the $OEM$ folders at all because I want to get this working first.

All help is welcome as usual

[mooms]

Try with nLite to compare.

[urie]

ProductKey="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX"

change to

ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

[xcv]

Do the same thing with the "Yes" and "No"