cmdlines.txt vs [GuiRunOnce] vs setup.reg

[wjtaylor]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this great forum and have been searching for some info on setting up an unattended windows 2000 CD.

I have Windows 2000 Professional

I have slipstreamed SP4 + Rollup into the CD.

I have created a winnt.sif file with the options I want with setupmgr.exe

I have created my $OEM$/$1 directory with subdirectories containing apps I want deployed

I am deploying WMP 9 with cmdlines.txt via a .bat file

I am currently testing my autoinstallation of IE6SP1 and dx90c from articles on this forum but they are untested as of now.

dx90c is being installed with the dxsetup.exe posted to the forum, but this file is significantly smaller in size and am wondering if it is completely compatible even though it may not generate the dll errors with dxdiag.

ie6sp1 is being deployed with the #e switch to download the necessary files and then run the setup.

Both are being called from cmdlines.txt via .bat files.

Some people are deploying apps with cmdlines.txt, some with [GuiRunOnce], and some with setup.reg. What are the pros and cons of each??? Is there a rule of thumb on which to use?

even with cmdlines.txt, I've noticed that some people call the install from the file and others call a .bat that does it. Some others even call cmd from their cmdlines.txt file:

"cmd /start /wait \%systemdrive%\yourapp.exe /switches (I haven't used this and the command may not be correct as written)

anyone have any comments??

In the future I will try using IExpress and compare install times. I just found out about this great utility and seems like it would be a nice addition. I could have my bat files call a compressed exe.