XP Pro Network Install

[chimera451]

I have been searching for about a day now and haven't found a solution to my problem. I am trying to install XP Pro unattended over a network. Everything works fine until it comes time for my applications to install. I am using the RunOnceEx.cmd method outlined on the unattended site. Here is my cmdlines.txt file:

[Commands]
"RunOnceEx.cmd"
"c:\windows\regedit.exe /s c:\login.reg"

login.reg is just some registry settings to autologin as adminstrator after Windows is done installing since I join a domain during the install. The strange thing is that cmdlines.txt has to be executing because I autologin when Windows does its final reboot, but my applications don't install so RunOnceEx.cmd doesn't seem to executing. (I tested it by removing the login.reg file and it just comes to the login prompt - login and RunOnceEx.cmd doesn't execute) The following is my RunOnceEx.cmd file:

cmdow @ /HID
@echo off

SET KEY=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

REG ADD %KEY% /V TITLE /D "Installing Applications" /f

REG ADD %KEY%\005 /VE /D "Adobe Acrobat 5" /f
REG ADD %KEY%\005 /V 1 /D "%systemdrive%\install\Acrobat\setup.exe -s" /f

REG ADD %KEY%\010 /VE /D "WinZip 8.1" /f
REG ADD %KEY%\010 /V 1 /D "\"%ProgramFiles%\WinZip\winzip32.exe\" /noqp /notip /autoinstall" /f

REG ADD %KEY%\015 /VE /D "Office 2000" /f
REG ADD %KEY%\015 /V 1 /d "%systemdrive%\install\Office2k\data1.msi /qb" /f

REG ADD %KEY%\055 /VE /D "Cleaning Up and Rebooting" /f
REG ADD %KEY%\055 /V 1 /D "%systemdrive%\install\cleanup.cmd" /f

EXIT

When I run my RunOnceEx.cmd manually to test, it works fine. The following is my winnt.sif file:

[Data]
	AutoPartition=1
	MsDosInitiated="0"
	UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
	UnattendMode=FullUnattended
	OemSkipEula=Yes
	OemPreinstall=Yes
	OemPnPDriversPath="a lot of stuff here"
	TargetPath=WINDOWS
	Filesystem=ConvertNTFS
	DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

[GuiUnattended]
	AdminPassword=xxx
	EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes
	TimeZone=85
	OemSkipWelcome=1
	OemSkipRegional=1

[UserData]
	ProductID=xxxx
	FullName=xxxx
	OrgName=xxxx
	ComputerName=xxxx

[Identification]
	JoinDomain=xxxx
	DomainAdmin=xxxx
	DomainAdminPassword=xxxx

[Networking]
	InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[RegionalSettings]
	LanguageGroup="1"
	Language="00000409"

[WindowsFirewall]
	Profiles = WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall

[WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall]
	Mode = 0

I am not sure if something jumps out to anyone. Another question I had is about the location of the $oem$ folder. Everywhere I have read, it says that the $oem$ folder should be inline with the i386 folder when booting from CD. From what I have read, when performing a network install the $oem$ folder should be underneath the i386 folder. All the files in my $oem$ folder are copied to their proper places so I have to assume my $oem$ folder is alright, but I am not sure. Could this be causing the problem? Any help would be much appreciated.

[mmarable]

If you're installing over the network, then yes, the $OEM$ folder is supposed to be under the I386 folder, so that's fine.

When you say that the application installs don't work, what exactly is happening?

You're OEM tree copies over correctly?

Is your RunOnceEx working correctly?

Do your installs work by themselves? Can you open a command prompt and run the install string and everything works perfectly?

[chimera451]

Yes, the OEM tree copies over correctly and it creates the c:\install, c:\Program Files\Winzip, and places cmdow into c:\windows\system32. When Windows boots for the first time, it loads up but the applications don't start installing. I guess for some reason the RunOnceEx.cmd isn't applying the registry settings.

When I execute the RunOnceEx.cmd file manually after windows has loaded, I can check the registry and the values are in the correct places. Then, when I execute RunOnceEx.cmd with "rundll32.exe iernonce.dll,RunOnceExProcess" it works fine.

It has me stumped. Thanks for the help by the way.

[cluberti]

To test if it's REALLY working , try using the following in your WINNT.SIF (instead of using cmdlines.txt):

[setupParams]

UserExecute=%systemdrive%\temp\unattend.cmd

In your $OEM$\C\TEMP\ folder, create a file called unattend.cmd and add the following:

:// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

%systemdrive%\TEMP\RunOnceEx.cmd

%WINDIR%\regedit.exe /s %systemdrive%\TEMP\login.reg"

:// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copy your RunOnceEx.cmd and login.reg files to $OEM$\C\TEMP\, and then try installing. You should see the CMD prompt pop up at the T-9 stage, and add the reg entries (you could also add PAUSE to the end of the unattend.cmd file to pause the command prompt until you press a key). I use this instead of cmdlines.txt, and it works much better for what I want to do (because I need multiple reboots to install certain apps). At least you'd see if it works or not by the CMD prompt output.

[chimera451]

Ok, I will try that. Unfortunately, I am doing this at work, only work part time, and am going back in to work on Wednesday. So it will take a little time for me to find out if that works. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks!!

[chimera451]

Just thought I would give an update.

cluberti - I tried your method and it worked really well. I didn't know you could do that. It was interesting because when the command prompt opened up it showed where it was executing RunOnceEx.cmd but I was getting an error saying that it was an unrecognized command. Thinking that the name might be too long (the whole 8 character name issue), I changed the name of the file to runonce.cmd (and obviously made the appropriate change to cmdlines.txt). Now everything is working like a champ.

Thanks for all of the help everyone!!

[cluberti]

Cool

[tguy]

In Setup Manager, you can try increasing the number of times Windows will automatically login to see if you can get the extra reboot that will runonceex.cmd to execute and install your apps.

Good luck.