XP Unattended Install: unattend.txt vs. winnt.sif

[bnc119]

Hi everyone, I'm studying for MSDN Exam 70-270: Win Xp installation and Administration. I am having trouble with the following question, and cannot seem to get a straight answer anywhere:

You are the desktop administrator for your company. You want to deploy Windows XP Professional to 50 new computers with the least amount of administrative effort. You want to use a fully automated installation process.

Each new computer is configured with a 20-GB hard disk, a CD-ROM drive, and floppy disk drive. The computers do not contain network adapter cards. You specify the company's standard installation settings and save them on a floppy disk, in an answer file named Answers.txt. You use a Windows XP Professional CD-ROM to start the unattended installation on the first computer, and then you insert the floppy disk into the computers floppy disk drive. However, Setup prompts you for configuration information. You want to ensure that during future installations Setup will finish without prompting for configuration information. What should you do?

A. Change the name of your answer file to Unattend.txt.

B. Change the name of your answer file to Winnt.sif.

C. Use the Rbfg.exe utility to create a RIS bootable floppy disk. Copy your answer file to this floppy disk.

D. Create an MS-DOS startup disk- Copy your answer file to this floppy disk.

I cannot determine when to name the answer file Unattend.txt and when to name it Winnt.sif. I'm thinking it has to do with where the answer file is located; in this case, the floppy disk. My hunch is that the answer is (A). Does anyone know more about this?

Thanks

[mtvento]

This comes from the ref.chm wich can be found in the deploy.cab file from the "support" directory of the windows xp cdrom (suppose only on the pro version, not home)

Unattend.txt

An answer file is a way to script the answers for a series of graphical user interface (GUI) dialog boxes. The answer file for Setup tells Setup how to interact with the distribution folders and files you create and supplies Setup with all of the information that the end user is prompted to provide during a typical Windows Setup. For example, the answer file contains a FullName entry in the [userData]section. This entry instructs Windows Setup to prompt the end user to provide a full name.

The answer file for Setup is commonly called Unattend.txt, but for a network preinstallation, you can name the file anything you like. For a CD-based Setup, the answer file must be named Winnt.sif.

You can create or modify an Unattend.txt file by using a text editor or through Setup Manager.

check the second paragraph!

hope it can help you.

good luck for your exams.