Hi guys i'm trying to make my windows xp sp2 unattended, but it doesn't seem to work right.

- basically this is what i do, create a xp sp2 cd using nlite, then i create a unattend.txt/.bat files using xpsp2 deploy tools

- i copy the contents of the xp sp2 cd i made using nlite to a folder, c:\xpcd\

- i rename unattend.txt to winnt.sif and insert the winnt.sif file into i386 of the xp sp2 (c:\xpcd\i386\winnt.sif)

- then i make an image using cdimage_pro

this is what my winnt.sif looks like:

;SetupMgrTag

[Data]

AutoPartition=0

MsDosInitiated="0"

UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[unattended]

UnattendMode=FullUnattended

OemSkipEula=Yes

OemPreinstall=No

UnattendSwitch="yes"

FileSystem=*

TargetPath=\WINDOWS

[GuiUnattended]

AdminPassword=*

EncryptedAdminPassword=NO

OEMSkipRegional=1

TimeZone=35

OemSkipWelcome=1

[userData]

ProductKey=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

FullName="username"

OrgName="organization"

ComputerName=pcname

[TapiLocation]

CountryCode=107

AreaCode=416

[RegionalSettings]

LanguageGroup=13,17,3,2,5,16,4,12,15,7,8,10,11,9,6,14,1

[identification]

JoinWorkgroup=Microsoft

[Networking]

InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[Components]

msmsgs=off

msnexplr=off

freecell=off

hearts=off

minesweeper=off

pinball=off

solitaire=off

spider=off

zonegames=off

Is there nything wrong with the winnt.sif file?

the problem is when i install xp using virtual pc 2004 and daemon tools to mount the iso of the unattend xp image created using cdimage_pro. it installs up to the part after networking components, and it just restarts then says setup is being restarted, and it never finishes the xp installation, always goes back... i need help please help thank you!

This one works for me:

;SetupMgrTag

[Data]

AutoPartition=0

MsDosInitiated="0"

UnattendedInstall="Yes"

AutomaticUpdates=yes

[unattended]

UnattendMode=FullUnattended

OemSkipEula=Yes

OemPreinstall=Yes

TargetPath=\WINDOWS

Repartition=No

FileSystem=*

UnattendSwitch="yes"

WaitForReboot="No"

OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\000;Drivers\001;Drivers\002;Drivers\003;Drivers\004;Drivers\005;Drivers\006;Drivers\007;Drivers\008;Drivers\009;Drivers\010;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\011;Drivers\012;Drivers\013;Drivers\014;Drivers\015;Drivers\016;Drivers\017;Drivers\018;Drivers\019;Drivers\020;Drivers\021;Drivers\022;Drivers\023;Drivers\024;Drivers\025;Drivers\026;Drivers\027;Drivers\028;Drivers\029;Drivers\030;Drivers\031;Drivers\032;Drivers\033;Drivers\034;Drivers\035;Drivers\036;Drivers\037;Drivers\038;Drivers\039;Drivers\040;Drivers\041;Drivers\042;Drivers\043;Drivers\044;Drivers\045;Drivers\046;Drivers\047;Drivers\048;Drivers\049;Drivers\050;Drivers"

DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

[GuiUnattended]

AdminPassword=*

EncryptedAdminPassword=NO

OEMSkipRegional=1

TimeZone=110

OemSkipWelcome=1

[userData]

ProductKey=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

FullName="xxxx xxxxxxx"

OrgName="xxxxxxxxx"

ComputerName=xxxxxxxxxxx

[Display]

BitsPerPel=32

Xresolution=1280

YResolution=1024

Vrefresh=75

[TapiLocation]

CountryCode=

Dialing=Tone

AreaCode=

[RegionalSettings]

LanguageGroup=1

Language=00000413

[identification]

JoinWorkgroup=WORKGROUP

[Networking]

InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[Hibernation]

Hibernation=Yes

[shell]

CustomDefaultThemeFile="%Systemroot%\Resources\Themes\Royale.theme"

Home_Page=http://www.msfn.org

[Components]

msmsgs=off

msnexplr=off

[GuiRunOnce]

%systemdrive%\install\start.cmd

Yes, I've come across this exact same problem across a wide range of different hardware/NIC types.

My organisation uses a PXE (network) boot setup, but the principle is exactly the same as using a CD with winnt.sif.

Having had a look at the setup logs of a few machines that have failed, it seems to be that Windows Setup tries to join a workgroup or domain with a duplicate name (COMPUTERNAME in our case). Windows setup doesn't like this, then tries to create a random name instead (like sysprep does), it's at this point that it reboots and ends up in an endless cycle.

The simple workaround seems to be to ensure that winnt.sif makes reference to a unique name on the network. It does seem to be a bug in the new SP2 setup procedure - I haven't yet come across anything from MS that reports anything similar though.

HTH