ProductKey doesn't work in a UDF file?

[MaxWilder]

Hey guys,

I'm assisting with a mass upgrade (clean installs actually) from Win2k to WinXP and we're trying to do it unattended style. (z: is the networked WinXP install folder)

z:\i386\winnt32.exe /s:z:\i386 /unattend:winxp.sif /udf:testbox1,winxp.udf /syspart:C /makelocalsource /noreboot

I've gotten most everything to work correctly while using a test ProductKey line in the answer file:

;.sif file
[UserData]
    FullName="Company Name"
    OrgName="Company Name"
    ComputerName=*
    ProductKey=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

and the ComputerName in the .udf file:

;.udf file
[UniqueIds]
    TESTBOX1=UserData

[TESTBOX1:UserData]
    ComputerName=TESTBOX1

This works fine. But our site has individual licenses for each machine. So I moved the ProductKey from the .sif to the .udf file:

.sif file
[UserData]
    FullName="Company Name"
    OrgName="Company Name"
    ComputerName=*
    ProductKey=*

.udf file
[UniqueIds]
    TESTBOX1=UserData

[TESTBOX1:UserData]
    ComputerName=TESTBOX1
    ProductKey=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

This does NOT work. I get an error message soon after starting the install, saying "The setup script does not contain a valid Product ID."

I'm stuck. Are we going to have to type each Product Key into the installer as it begins? Isn't this what the .udf file is for?? Am I just missing something that isn't explained anywhere on the web? I have a feeling I'm missing something obvious.

Thanks for any help you can give!

[Alanoll]

the UDF file is not meant for product keys, but primarily to have each computer have a seperate name.

What you could do, is install them all with one key, and run sysprep on it. Or, after install, Windows XP has a way to change the product, and you could create a script to read in the computername and have it check against a listing of names and then change the key accordingly.

Instructions for script:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...-us%3BQ328874#3

[prathapml]

Either that, or keep your winnt.sif on a floppy disk. Then its easy to modify the key for each machine (since the floppy is easily writable).

z:\i386\winnt32.exe /s:z:\i386 /unattend:A:\winxp.sif /udf:testbox1,winxp.udf /syspart:C /makelocalsource /noreboot

[MaxWilder]

Well, the goal was to do all the work up front, but I guess we'll just have to type in the key for each machine as it starts.

At least the Product Key is input at the beginning of the install!

[Alanoll]

well, you'd have to type in all the keys at some point anyway right? Surely the computers are on a network and you can configure them to have a logon script, an then use the script I linked to above to change the key. Just have the script check the computer name, then pass the necessary key to the script to chnage the key.