A Few Questions... (plz help!)

[a06lp]

1) Is it possible to make a unattended winxp CD, and write it to a CD-RW? - Including all drivers, programs etc. ??

2) If Q1 is possible, can I do the same onto a DVD-RW (I have a dvd burner), and will it work the EXACT same way, just allowing me to have more space on the disc ??

3) When I want specific driver's to install automatically (assuming the machine has the proper hardware), and I am pointing within my "winnt.sif" file, I am very confused as to which directory to point to:

For example, if the FULL PATH for the inf file for my sound driver is:

"C:\XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\smwdmCH4.inf"

Then, in my "winnt.sif", under "OemPnPDriversPath=", am I writing:

a) "Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\smwdmCH4.inf"

b) "Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\"

c) "Drivers\004_audio\"

d) something else? [please explain]

4) Stupid question, but: Any drivers I put into my "C:\XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Drivers" will only install IF the hardware is there, and simply won't install if it isn't - correct?

5) If I have a Driver CD that came with my Dell Truemobile 1300 Mini-PCI 802.11g wireless card, and I want to include the drivers on my winxp unattended CD, how do I know which directories I need to copy?

There are many folders: "bin", "Omcixlt", "Setup", "User_Guide", and many files too: "autorun.inf", "setup.exe", "setup.ini", "TMSetup.exe".

PLUS, tons of files in each of the above folders.

However, the twist is that the CD includes a utility, which I do NOT want to install, but drivers, which I DO want. How do I know which files to copy, and point to in my "winnt.sif"???

Thanks in advance!!!

[bucketbuster]

All your questions are answered here:

http://unattended.msfn.org/

Q4: I believe so.

Q5:Just copy over all the directories (to be really sure) and point to the directories where the *.inf's are stored.

[a06lp]

All your questions are answered here:

http://unattended.msfn.org/

Q4: I believe so.

Q5:Just copy over all the directories (to be really sure) and point to the directories where the *.inf's are stored.

The reason I asked Q's 1-3 is because I read the unattended.msfn.org, and am still confused. Could you please help me understand?

[edbro]

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Point to the directory - not the inf file. Windows will find it automatically if the hardware is compatible. I don't think any of your options will work because your drivers folder is now copied over to the hard drive but you are telling windows to look on the cd in the "drivers" folder. Suggestion: you don't have to put the drivers folder in the $OEM$ folder. You can create a directory in the root of your cd named "Drivers" (or anything else for that matter). You can also create subdirectories under that for organization. Just point to these folders with your OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\....." statement.

4. see above

5. I don't know. You will have to look around the cd and see what looks like the drivers.

[a06lp]

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Point to the directory - not the inf file. Windows will find it automatically if the hardware is compatible.

4. see above

5. I don't know. You will have to look around the cd and see what looks like the drivers.

Suggestion: you don't have to put the drivers folder in the $OEM$ folder. You can create a directory in the root of your cd named "Drivers" (or anything else for that matter). You can also create subdirectories under that for organization. Just point to these folders with your OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\....." statement.

#3) I'm probably slow, but can you be more specific? In my original post, I gave 4 options a,b,c,d. Which one is the correct way to do it?

And could you elaborate some more on your suggestion? If I understand correctly, you are showing a way to install the drivers (if applicable), but NOT copy them to the hard drive first, right? How do I do this?

[edbro]

I edited my post. The answer is there.

By the way, this is all explained in the guide SiMoNsAyS refers to.

[SiMoNsAyS]

Q1: of course

Q2: for sure

Q3: visit unattended guide

and an example of my paths

OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\000_ata;Drivers\000_gart;Drivers\000_MemCtl;Drivers\000_SMBus;Drivers\000_SI3112;Drivers\000_usb2;Drivers\001_accton;Drivers\001_accton2;Drivers\001_alcatel;Drivers\001_ibmmodem;Drivers\001_lan3com;Drivers\001_lannvidia;Drivers\002_atiradeon;Drivers\002_intel82810;Drivers\002_voodoo2;Drivers\003_tv_out;Drivers\004_intelaudio;Drivers\004_audigy2;Drivers\004_nvidia;Drivers\005_monitor;Drivers\006_keyboard;Drivers\007_mouse;Drivers\008_bluetooth"

Q4: if hardware it's not present, drivers won't be installed

Q5: it will be small dir with lot of dlls, infs, some .sys files and maybe some exes. if it's not clear look for other drivers you got and search for something similar.

[a06lp]

3. Point to the directory - not the inf file. Windows will find it automatically if the hardware is compatible. I don't think any of your options will work because your drivers folder is now copied over to the hard drive but you are telling windows to look on the cd in the "drivers" folder. Suggestion: you don't have to put the drivers folder in the $OEM$ folder. You can create a directory in the root of your cd named "Drivers" (or anything else for that matter). You can also create subdirectories under that for organization. Just point to these folders with your OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\....." statement.

Ok, so in my exmaple:

If the FULL PATH for the inf file for my sound driver is:

"C:\XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\smwdmCH4.inf"

Then, in my "winnt.sif", under "OemPnPDriversPath=", am I writing:

"%systemdrive%\Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\"

---

And your suggestion is for me to make a totally new folder on the CD (like where the "I386" folder is) called "Drivers", and then writing in my "winnt.sif":

"OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\"

Is that correct?

[edbro]

Yes to both.

You can also point to mulitple directories, just separate them with a semicolon in your OemPnPDriversPath statement.

edit: Could one of the experts verify what I am saying about the Drivers folder being on the root of the cd? I am not 100% sure about this after all. I just looked at the guide page and they put it in the OEM install directory.

[a06lp]

Yes to both.

You can also point to mulitple directories, just separate them with a semicolon in your OemPnPDriversPath statement.

ok, one last time to confirm:

"OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\"

is the same as saying "look in the root directory of the CD in the Drivers folder"?

and

"%systemdrive%\Drivers\004_audio\SMAXWDM\W2K_XP\"

is the same as saying " look in the root directory of the drive installing to in the Drivers folder"?

Because I had a totally different idea of how this worked from that guide...

[edbro]

Yes, if you read my post above, I am wavering in my certainty. Now that I reread the guide, I think that you had it correct with your orignal option in 3.B

[a06lp]

Yes, if you read my post above, I am wavering in my certainty. Now that I reread the guide, I think that you had it correct with your orignal option in 3.B

ok, i know i'm being a pain, but this is one of the reasons i was so confused.

ok, so 3-b is correct. that's what i thought, but i wasnt sure.

two more q:

once all the drivers are copied to the harddrive:

1) Is there a way to test, for sure, that the drivers were INSTALLED (not just copied)?

2) To delete the "temp" Drivers folder which was copied (b/c it was in the OEM folder), is this ALL that needs to be done:

winnt.sif

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

start.cmd

ECHO.
ECHO Deleting Temp Installation Files...
RD /S /Q %systemdrive%\Drivers
RD /S /Q %systemdrive%\Install

[edbro]

You can check the drivers version in Device Manager.

Yes, you will have to delete the drivers folder on the hard drive after the install. The batch file you posted should do the trick.

[a06lp]

ok, thanks for all your help!!!

[edbro]

Well, I apologize for all the confusion. I'm not at home so I couldn't look at the cd I built. I was speaking from my memory and it failed me.