Okay i have this weird problem which after searching through the forum can't find a solution to.

All the entries in my [Components] section of winnt.sif file are not processed when doing a unattended install which includes addional files to install from %systemfrive%\install\application.exe etc...

But if i remove the $OEM$ folder for addional installations like adobe flash etc.. the components section gets processed from the winnt.sif file and the stuff i don't like does not get installed.

I have already double checked the character casing and that is not an issue.

Also in the components section, i only put in stuff which by default is on to turn it off. All the items which are off by default i did not include the entries.

I am using the exact same file winnt.sif for test purposes (it gives me an error when i remove $OEM$ folder).

Using win2k pro with sp4 slipstreamed on ms virtual pc on win 2003 6 month trial edition.

If any body has any ideas please help.

Some of the threads here had got their winnt.sif problems solved when they changed the position of the relevant section. So maybe a try could be given to that?

This is the order in which I have mine:

;SetupMgrTag
[Data]
[Unattended]
[GuiUnattended]
[UserData]
[Display]
[TapiLocation]
[RegionalSettings]
[Branding]
[URL]
[Identification]
[Networking]
[Components]
[SetupParams]
[Shell]
[GuiRunOnce]

It seems that (for example) having the [Components] block before the Identification block would leave [components] unprocessed.

Do tell us on how it works out.

Thanks for your tip. will try it out today.

prathapml i tried placing components section all over my winnt.sif file.

It worked only partially -- all the optional components i specified not to install were done correctly but outlook express is a pain. just keeps showing up. can anybody help me on this??

I suspect it must be microsoft's way to get people use OE.

I suspect it must be microsoft's way to get people use OE

No, its not.

Do you install any patch/update for OE?

If so, the OEaccess=off becomes useless. Installing any updates/hot-fixes/patches that target IE/OE will re-activate the IE/OE shortcuts.

no patch/updates were used for oe.

will post my sinnt.sif file tomorrow....

Is your OEMPreinstall=Yes or OEMPreinstall=No in the [unattended] section of your WINNT.SIF file? It should be OEMPreinstall=Yes to install [Components] and additional programs together.

tguy