doi just do like this?:

;SetupMgrTag

[Data]    AutoPartition=2

and if i want the NTFS system file automaticly,,,

i do like this?:

[unattended]FileSystem=NTFS

to install to d, under [unattended] set the TargetPath to what you need, for example:

[Unattended]
	TargetPath = "D:\Windows"

As for formatting the drive, as far as I know there is no way to format a secondary partition during an unintended install. Perhaps it could be done with BartPE? never looked at that yet.

Here's my section from winnt.sif that automates creating the partition and formatting. I assume it could be modified to automate creating multiple partitions and/or formatting multiple drives.

[DiskConfig]
    Disk1="Disk1.config"

[Disk1.config]
    Size1="*"
    PartitionType1="primary"
    FileSystem1="ntfs"
    Quickformat1="yes"

Here's my section from winnt.sif that automates creating the partition and formatting.  I assume it could be modified to automate creating multiple partitions and/or formatting multiple drives.

[DiskConfig]
    Disk1="Disk1.config"

[Disk1.config]
    Size1="*"
    PartitionType1="primary"
    FileSystem1="ntfs"
    Quickformat1="yes"

Hmmmm, do you have anything else setup to be able to use those sections? If they work, they would make partioning very easy. I can easily see how to set it up to use multiple drives & partitions. Would be VERY handy.

Can't find anything about those sections in Ref.chm

Can't find anything about those sections in Ref.chm

Indeed this is very interesting. Is there some more documentation somewhere?

Can you post your full winnt.sif (without key) so we can understand how this sections work?

And do you do this as a "direct boot from CD" sort of winnt.sif, or does it require setup to be started from DOS/windows, or do you use this in conjunction with winbom.ini? (since winbom.ini offers this ability to partition).

As far as I know [DiskConfig] is for winbom.ini, not for winnt.sif

And it requres WinPE.

Hmm, come to think of it you may be right kenedy. I may have copied that from my winbom.ini...I can't remember now. In any case, here's my winnt.sif so someone else can play with the options.

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

[Unattended]
    AutoActivate="No"
    UnattendMode="FullUnattended"
    UnattendSwitch="Yes"
    OemSkipEula="Yes"
    Repartition="Yes"
    OemPreinstall="Yes"
    TargetPath="\WINDOWS"
    DriverSigningPolicy="Ignore"
    OemPnPDriversPath="<too long to list>"

[DiskConfig]
    Disk1="Disk1.config"

[Disk1.config]
    Size1="*"
    PartitionType1="primary"
    FileSystem1="ntfs"
    Quickformat1="yes"

[GuiUnattended]
    AdminPassword="*"
    EncryptedAdminPassword="No"
    AutoLogon="No"
    AutoLogonCount="0"
    OEMSkipRegional="1"
    TimeZone="20"
    OemSkipWelcome="1"

[UserData]
    ProductID="<shhhh, it's a secret>"
    FullName="DIT Customer"
    OrgName=""
    ComputerName="*"

[Display]
    BitsPerPel="32"
    Xresolution="1024"
    YResolution="768"

[Shell]
    DefaultStartPanelOff="Yes"

[Components]
    AutoUpdate="on"

[TapiLocation]
    CountryCode="1"
    Dialing="Tone"
    AreaCode="515"

[Branding]
    BrandIEUsingUnattended="Yes"

[URL]
    Home_Page="http://www.ditcomputers.com"

[Proxy]
    Proxy_Enable="0"
    Use_Same_Proxy="1"

[Identification]
    JoinWorkgroup="WORKGROUP"

[Networking]
    InstallDefaultComponents="No"

[NetAdapters]
    Adapter1="params.Adapter1"

[params.Adapter1]
    INFID="*"

[NetClients]
    MS_MSClient="params.MS_MSClient"

[NetServices]
    MS_SERVER="params.MS_SERVER"

[NetProtocols]
    MS_TCPIP="params.MS_TCPIP"

[params.MS_TCPIP]
    DNS="Yes"
    UseDomainNameDevolution="No"
    EnableLMHosts="Yes"
    AdapterSections="params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1"

[params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1]
    SpecificTo="Adapter1"
    DHCP="Yes"
    WINS="No"
    NetBIOSOptions="0"

[GuiRunOnce]
    Command0="%SystemDrive%\OEM\Commands\OEMPrep.bat"
    Command1="%SystemDrive%\OEM\Commands\Adobe.cmd"

@Jito

Hmm, Sort of confirms what I thought...

Anyways, since the above winnt.sif works for you, there's another Q:

Is there any value in winnt.sif, (like what you posted above) which tells setup to simply re-format the 1st partition on disk1 (that much alone - nothing more, nothing less) with NTFS ?

And would you be so kind as to share with us, the source (webpage, document, whatever) of where you got that info from?

Well, I work for a small OEM, so we have WinPE for use during preinstalls if we wanted to, but I much prefer the CD-based install over the network install (especially so it doesn't tie up our internal bandwidth). I may have just copied it from the winbom.ini, but I can't recall for certain. All I do remember is I just used the setupmgr that comes in deploy.cab to create the answer file.

i was wondering if it would be possible to auto-configure multiple partitions with this method?

Theoretically, yes. Just modify it like so:

[DiskConfig]
   Disk1="Disk1.config"
   Disk2="Disk2.config"

[Disk1.config]
   Size1="*"
   PartitionType1="primary"
   FileSystem1="ntfs"
   Quickformat1="yes"

[Disk2.config]
   Size1="*"
   PartitionType1="primary"
   FileSystem1="ntfs"
   Quickformat1="yes"

Etc, etc. Keep in mind that according to MS, if you specify multiple drives and only one exists, it WILL gripe at you and setup will not complete.

that applies to multiple drives right? how about auto-specifying on creating multiple partitions?

Hello.

Anyone got this to work while running cd boot with winnt.sif ??

I am trying to create a 2 GB C partition, but it won't

Here is my winnt.sif

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

[Unattended]
    UnattendMode="FullUnattended"
    UnattendSwitch=Yes
    OemSkipEula="Yes"
    Repartition="Yes"
    OemPreinstall="Yes"
    TargetPath="\Windows"
    KeyboardLayout="Norsk"
    DriverSigningPolicy="Block"
    WaitForReboot="No"
    CrashDumpSetting="0"
    OemPnpDriversPath="to long to list"

[DiskConfig]
    Disk1="Disk1.Config"

[Disk1.Config]
    Size1="2048"
    PartitionType1="Primary"
    FileSystem1="NTFS"
    QuickFormat1="Yes"

[GuiUnattended]
    AdminPassword="This is a secret"
    OEMSkipRegional="1"
    TimeZone="110"
    OemSkipWelcome="1"
    AutoLogon="Yes"
    AutoLogonCount="3"
    
[UserData]
    FullName="Admin"
    OrgName="Company"
    ComputerName=*
    ProductID="Product Key"

[TapiLocation]
    CountryCode="47"

[RegionalSettings]
    LanguageGroup="1"
    Language="414"

[Identification]
    JoinWorkgroup="WORKGROUP"

[Networking]
    InstallDefaultComponents="Yes"

[Display]
    BitsPerPel="24"
    Xresolution="1024"
    YResolution="768"
    VRefresh="75"

[Components]
    msmsgs="off"
    msnexplr="off" 
    freecell="off"
    hearts="off"
    minesweeper="off"
    pinball="off"
    solitaire="off"
    spider="off"
    zonegames="off"

[Shell]
    DefaultStartPanelOff="Yes"
    DefaultThemesOff="Yes"

Can someone please tell me what's wrong og how I can make this happen ??

-TEGB

If you're using WinPE then you can use DiskPart.exe to make partitions. Check Microsoft for documentations. U can't do it to using unatended method.

moo

@Dj-Throll

No, that [Disk1.config] doesn't work. Atleast, not directly using our current methods.

The best/simple option is, do your partitioning yourself without having it unattended.

But if you DO want it unattended, there's 2 ways to go about it:

1. WinPE

2. You need to use a different set of boot-disks, and a perl-script and so on - go here for details - http://unattended.sourceforge.net

And both the 2 ways are quite lengthy, in terms of time/testing before it gets to work. Assume sort of 2 months work, to get it working (perfectly) in those methods.

2 months to get your partitioning (a 10 second job) automated? That's a HUGE waste of time if you're a home user.