How can I make an unattended installation where no user info and product key will be set and the user will be asked for it after the first boot up (like it works on these funny PCs you can buy in the super market)?

I've looked in ref.chm but not found something like these.

You must set "OEMPreinstall = Yes" In Unttend.txt And Winnt.sif , and make the folder $OEM$\$1\Sysprep

Exarct Delpoy.cab To this Folder.

at the end of the setup , you must run sysprep.exe -oobe

Thanks. Yes, that was the entry I focused but not really believed that its the right one.

Can I let Setup run "sysprep.exe -oobe" automatically? I know there are many ways to run something custom (cmdlines.txt, GUIRunOnce...), but which is the right one in this case?

CmdLines.txt is run at the T-12 stage during the setup.

GUIRunOnce runs after the first reboot.

So GUIRunOnce should the right one.

For the setup time line look here

Thanks, very interesting, now I'll try it out.

just a quick question....if im using this method, do i HAVE to leave the user info blank in the winnt.sif file?

and can i use this ONLY for the user info, ie store the product key in the winnt.sif file, but only hv the user enter his own info

thx

I tried it but something is wrong. After the first bootup, sysprep runs, but it displays a window with some options i can choose, but no additional prompt for user info and product key will be shown.

Here is my winnt.sif:

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

[Unattended]
    Unattendmode  	= FullUnattended
    OemPreinstall  = Yes
    TargetPath    	= *
    Filesystem    	= LeaveAlone
    OemSkipEula     = Yes
    FactoryMode    = Yes
    EMSSkipUnattendProcessing=1

[UserData]
    FullName	= "Preinstall"
    OrgName  	= "Preinstall"
    ComputerName  = *
    ProductId  = "12345-67890-ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO"

[GuiUnattended]
    TimeZone  = "004"
    AdminPassword  = "*"
    EMSBlankPassword = Yes
    AutoLogon  = Yes
    AutoLogonCount  = 1
    OEMSKIPREGIONAL = 1
    OEMSKIPWELCOME  = 1

[LicenseFilePrintData]
    AutoMode        = "PerServer"
    AutoUsers       = "5"

[Display]
    BitsPerPel      = 4
    XResolution     = 800
    YResolution     = 600
    VRefresh        = 70

[GuiRunOnce]
    Command0="start /w %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Sysprep\sysprep.exe -oobe"

[Identification]
    JoinWorkgroup   = Workgroup

[Networking]
    InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

Must I create a sysprep.inf or winbom.ini in sysprep folder?

[userData]FullName = "Preinstall"

OrgName = "Preinstall"

ComputerName  = *

ProductId  = "12345-67890-ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO"

By having the above in your winnt.sif it won't prompt you for a key or username etc., because it's already been injected during Windows setup. You need to remove the entries that you want to be prompted for. Try removing that whole [userData] block if you want to be prompted for all of those.

With the options you get in sysprep you can seal the system so the next bootup will be the end-user stage.

I only know the dutch version, but it is the last square you have to tick to go into end user mode.

[Edit]

One thing I would like to know: does the end user have to fill in the product key again? Like in unattended via network installation?

@flyakite:

No, I want that the user will be asked for a product key after the first boot up, not during the setup.

@OcTroN

No, it must not be the same key again, I think it must be the reseal thing.

If I set "OemPreinstall = Yes" in WINNT.SIF and create a sysprep.inf with the right parameters in $OEM$\$1\Sysprep it will be automatically copied to harddisk and sealed, is this right? Or is it more difficult to do?

My intention is to make an unattended CD-ROM, which installs Windows and seals it automatic after setup has done.

scp, have you got this to work? I am trying to accomplish the same thing:

Prompting for user info at the welcome screen (oobe).

Thanks.

dpcpro

this is basically the same as my previous "does sysprep add users" topic...

you have the wrong sysprep commands i believe... you should try

sysprep -reseal -reboot -nosidgen -activated

note: you only need -activated if the machine is already activated or doesn't need activation, otherwise don't use it

also, i believe if you have a user account already added, it will not ask you for one (if you create a useraccount using cmdlines.txt and useraccount.cmd it will not ask for user names, you can only have the defaults)

I am trying to prompt for the username and organization name. These switches won't work for that.

dpcpro

It appears that there is an undocumented option in oobeinfo.ini.

[Options]

RemoveOwner=1

This will clear out your RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization values that were entered in winnt.sif. Also when you get to the Welcome screen and it asks you for the user accounts, it will automatically make the first user on the list the RegisteredOwner and leave the RegisteredOrganization empty.

This is exactly what I was looking for. Even though it doesn't prompt for RegisteredOwner and Org, it makes the first user account the owner.

sysprep also has an undocumented switch -oempreinst. I am not sure what it does, but just an fyi.

dpcpro