I've done all the steps listed in the msfn site on making a unattended instal of windows xp, but it won't do it. It installs just like normal. Is there a file that I might be missing, or in the wrong spot? winnt.sif is in the \i386 folder. Do I need something to tell setup that it's there or to use it?

are you installing via CD?

If it installs normally, you're doing something wrong.

make sure you dont have a .txt ending that's hidden instead of .SIF

Make sure in the [unattended] section you have UnattendMode=FullUnattended, if that's what you want. Aside from that, if winnt.sif is in your i386 directory then Windows Setup will use it. Make sure the file is winnt.sif, not unattend.txt or winnt.txt (that confused me when I was first trying to set up an unattended CD), too.

Nope, it's called winnt.sif

It's in the right dir

I'm using virtual pc and an iso file to test

I can't think of any thing else

On the root of the CD there is suppose to be a winnt.bat or winnt.cmd one of the 2, to point to the .sif file with out it, it wont work

Do I just use the one that setmngr program made, or is there a better one to use?

so If this is my winnt.cmd file it should work?

@rem SetupMgrTag
@echo off

rem
rem This is a SAMPLE batch script generated by Setup Manager.
rem If this script is moved from the location where it was generated, it may have to be modified.
rem
IF EXIST D:\win51 set CDROM=D:
IF EXIST E:\win51 set CDROM=E:
IF EXIST F:\win51 set CDROM=F:
IF EXIST G:\win51 set CDROM=G:
IF EXIST H:\win51 set CDROM=H:
IF EXIST I:\win51 set CDROM=I:
IF EXIST J:\win51 set CDROM=J:
set AnswerFile=.\i386\\winnt.sif
set SetupFiles=%CDROM%:\i386

%CDROM%:\i386\winnt32 /s:%SetupFiles% /unattend:%AnswerFile%

It is in the root od the cd.

I did that, still not working

is there maybe a prob with my winnt.sif file?

;SetupMgrTag
[Data]
    AutoPartition=1
    MsDosInitiated="0"
    UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
    UnattendMode=FullUnattended
    FileSystem=NTFS
    Repartition="yes"    
    OemSkipEula=Yes
    OemPreinstall="yes"
    TargetPath=\WINDOWS
    UnattendSwitch="yes"
    WaitForReboot="No"

[GuiUnattended]
    AdminPassword=*
    EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
    OEMSkipRegional=1
    TimeZone=10
    OemSkipWelcome=1

[UserData]
    ProductKey=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
    FullName="End User"
    OrgName=""
    ComputerName=User_Computer

[TapiLocation]
    CountryCode=107
    Dialing=Tone
    AreaCode=403

[Identification]
    JoinWorkgroup=WORKGROUP

[Networking]
    InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[Branding]
    BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes

[URL]
    Home_Page=http://www.grizzsden.com

[Proxy]
    Proxy_Enable=0
    Use_Same_Proxy=0

[GuiRunOnce]
    %systemdrive%\install\start.cmd

I'm getting frustrated

Do you have a winnt.si_ file in your i386 folder because that Interferes with the unattended.

No that file is not there

Got it working, thanks for the help