Unattended Windows template

[biopc]

I have a small home based pc business and I wanted to inlcude a customized unattended windows installation disk with some of the computers I build. I was wondering, if I created a template from my XP Home SP2 would I be able to use some of those items on Other XP Home SP2 disks (such as a customized boot screen, updates & hotfixes, programs, etc) Would the fact that I draged and droped certain items created from one XP install disk into another XP install disk effect its activation? What's files would I not be able to interchange? I hope this makes sense ... Thank you in advance for your help.

[neil]

short answer - no it won't affect it. if it works once it'll work every time.

long answer - the whole point of an unattended installation disk is so you can install XP multiple times and get the exact same result every time - the only thing that should ever affect activation is the XP product key in the winnt.sif you use.

if clients are buying XP licences from you, then you should leave the prod key blank so the client has to enter their bought product key into the installation, this should be the only user interaction necessary on their part when installing a system.

Free products and apps you include can be installed and activated/registered with registry entries and, as long as you hold the required amount of licences for each product (to keep it legal - some apps allow you to buy 50-500+ licences), commercial products could also be included in the same way.

if done right, your template iso should have all the files you need, and you should only need to alter a few lines of text in a .reg file for each client you burn an iso for.

If you plan on giving clients your disk as a 'Reinstall/Repair' disk so they can re-install their systems to the starting point you give them, you should give them this an an extra to the normal XP disk, not a replacement, so they can install XP from scratch or add/remove extra's. (If they're buying a licence they should get a full XP disk anyway - even if it isnt a boxed version)