winnt.sif (computer name auto generate)?

[Astalavista]

ok,

we have wireless networking at our office,

I need my winnt.sif to auto generate a new Name for every computer it is isntalled on.

ie Station1, Station2, Station3, Station4 .... you get the picture.

how can i do this? i went to unattended.msfn.org but could not find any ref.

did the search thing and came up empty.

[RyanVM]

I'm pretty sure it can't be done with winnt.sif. What you might be able to do is to rename the computer at the T12 stage with a batch file and use some kind of algorithm for creating random names.

Or you can leave it blank and just put it in manually during setup.

[Astalavista]

i recall before that if u leave it blank it auto generates a random chain of alpha numeric characters.

[urgan]

Change to DefaultHide instead of FullUnattended in UnattendMode, and manually correct the name at instal time. it works for me.

[Astalavista]

I want something "AUTOMATED"

[urgan]

I think it's possible to use a list of names, and installs will use one at a time, but it requires a floppy.

Why not a batch, using batpize.exe, that checks for a file on a network share, to change it afterwards ?

[buletov]

I'm pretty sure it can't be done with winnt.sif. What you might be able to do is to rename the computer at the T12 stage with a batch file and use some kind of algorithm for creating random names.

this is the only way it can be done. i use it.

[RogueSpear]

With my RIS setups the ComputerName field has %MACHINENAME% for it's entry value. It has me wondering if you could use a method similar to Pyron's Driver method.

That is using a fake setup.exe in order to run a batch file ahead of the genuine setup.exe. For instance Dell has a DOS utility for setting and reading the Dell asset tag from the BIOS. My theory is that if you can set the environment variable %MACHINENAME% to that asset tag, you'd be all set.

Another possibility would be some DOS utility that has the ability to read BIOS strings. I suppose the main requirement would be that the utility be able to pass values.

A totally different method I was thinking about, but had not yet tried is to make a seperate WINNT.SIF for each computer. Make a seperate i386 directory for each computer and use a multiboot app (EZBoot) to generate a menu. Using the Optimize feature of UltraISO, all of the files in i386 except for WINNT.SIF would be identical and thus only recorded one time.

Any thoughts or comments?

[army20]

All you have to do is to Add those lines into your unattended file:

[userData]

ComputerName=*

[setupMgr]

ComputerName0=Alpha

ComputerName1=Bravo

ComputerName2=Charlie

ComputerName3=Delta

ComputerName4=Echo

-M

[buletov]

All you have to do is to Add those lines into your unattended file:

[userData]

    ComputerName=*

[setupMgr]

    ComputerName0=Alpha

    ComputerName1=Bravo

    ComputerName2=Charlie

    ComputerName3=Delta

    ComputerName4=Echo

-M

and on which point of setup you choose the desired name?

[army20]

ok,

we have wireless networking at our office,

I need my winnt.sif to auto generate a new Name for every computer it is isntalled on.

ie  Station1, Station2, Station3, Station4 .... you get the picture.

how can i do this? i went to unattended.msfn.org but could not find any ref.

did the search thing and came up empty.

He don't wanna chooseit ! Anyways I recommand to use setupmgr.exe From your original XP Cd [CD:\SUPPORT\TOOLS\DEPLOY.CAB] There's a place to do is easylly.

-M

[urgan]

@army20

That's the list I was thinking, but now you got me curious.

Does it work from a CD, how does it knows which have been used, by scanning the network ?

[army20]

You know What ¿ ... I've never tried it !

[Astalavista]

actually i hv that already. it only works if you are NOT using a wireless LAN.