Long pause starting SETUP in Server 2003

[rcurtis]

After running down the wrong path (with WinPE) for what I really needed to achieve, I have come to the realization that I just need to be concentrating on a plain-jane unattended process. (My apologies to the guys over in the WinPE section!)

I have followed the unattended guides posted...all I'm after is a VERY simple install which allows for installation of Server 2003 to a folder other than the default \WINDOWS folder. I KNOW how to accomplish this with the WINNT.SIF file.

Here's my problem...I created an ISO using the process outlined in the unattended guide and using CDImagePro (after editing the cmd file appropriately for pathnames and such.)

I get a CD that will successfully boot, I get a short (2 second) display of "Setup is investigating your hardware..." or similar line and then the display goes totally black. It sits there for about 4-5 minutes and then the normal SETUP blue text screen finally appears and everything appears to run as expected from that point.

I *thought* that maybe I had a problem with the xpboot.img file as supplied from the CDImagePro download since I am working with Server 2003 instead of XP...so I used ISOBuster to get the "real" img file from my Server 2003 original CD. Using that file, I used the same process (CDImagePro) but pointed to this new img file. This gave the exact same results as method #1...a long pause and then SETUP starts.

Granted...I have yet to try either of these created CDs on other hardware...but my original Server 2003 CD does not exhibit this delay...it fires right up as expected.

Any ideas?

[GreenMachine]

My idea ...

• Copy all the files of your 2003 CD to the HDD (e.g. C:\XPCD\).
  
• Use your modified CDImagePro and create an ISO image using only the original files, without WINNT.SIF. (The boot image file is the same for 2000, XP and 2003. It just differs per language.)
  

If that does not have the delay, add WINNT.SIF WITHOUT the Windows Path, and test again. If you still do not have the delay, add the Windows Path. This will at least help in pinpointing the problem. You may also want to validate the CD with a program such as CDCheck, as well as test the CD on different hardware (I know, I know, but that really is one of the first tests to perform, in all cases. Like looking at the gas gauge when the car dies.)